September 2007

Brian Bishop
From the unintended (but predictable) consequences file—another instance of government failure rears its statist head in Greece this summer. If you turn down the inevitable din of those blaming forest fires burning throughout the Hellenic peninsula on global warming, you might find the more likely cause buried deep in a wire report by the AP’s John Ross: “Forest fires are common during Greece’s hot, dry summers—but nothing has approached the scale of the last three days. Arson is often suspected, mostly to clear land for development. No construction is allowed in Greece in areas designated as forest land, and fires are sometimes set to circumvent the law.” A little property rights would go a long way here. Perhaps a wonder of the world such as the original Olympic stadium is deserving of societal oversight. Ironic that this icon of western civilization is threatened by government being stampeded into protecting every leaf and gnat within its domain. Perhaps, if everything is important, nothing is important.

Pratik Chougule
Three cheers for Atlanta. The city is debating a proposed ordinance which would ban “the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments” in a public place. Let’s hope tie-dye and Birkenstocks are next on the agenda.

Gregory Halenda
Following the August Republican presidential debate, an ABC News online poll suggested that Ron Paul won with about 78% of all votes. Still, Paul continues to hit single-digits in more traditional polls. Go upper-middle-class-white-boys-who-have-nothing-else-to-do-than-vote-repeatedly-for-ron-paul-in-online-polls GO

Sean Quigley
I applaud President Ruth Simmons’ recent participation (August 19) in the annual reading of President Washington’s Letter to the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, RI. However, I also find utterly despicable her overall message while delivering the keynote address. In addition to ascribing falsely a certain moral character to Brown’s current theoretical mission and practical actions, she also claimed, “In failing to apprehend the corrosive evil of slavery and the immoral inequities that it was to create for generations of descendants, Washington compromised his legacy as a moral leader.” Ms. Simmons, like so many of her self-righteous ilk in academia, suffers from a Howard Zinn-esque proclivity for historical revisionism.
President Washington, a courageous moral leader who served as no less than the Father of Liberty, came to detest slavery, yet knew that the nascent United States of America would not have existed without its temporary continuation. In time, however, the young republic that he kept alive would engage in a bloody civil war, the outcome of which both preserved the Union and ended the abomination of slavery. President Washington, unlike the radical abolitionists of his day, and the historical revisionists of our day, understood the need for a type of prudent change that was commensurate with practicality.
I, therefore, would advise Ms. Simmons to shelve her moral hubris, and earnestly contemplate a question whose answer will offer a remedy of wisdom for her apparent naiveté – “What is the difference between John Brown and Abraham Lincoln?”

Anish Mitra
Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has been performing well in the polls. His enormous accumulation of funds also puts him in a very competitive spot. If Mitt Romney was a dog, Michael Vick would’ve bet big on him.

Trevor Gleason
Fred Thompson appears to finally have put an end to his dithering and seems primed to announce his candidacy. Vick’s bookie has announced that the over-under for the number of times a prime time news program will make reference to Thompson’s status as the “Law and Order” candidate has been set to 17,000.