Stephen L. Goldstein The Sun-Sentinel

August 1, 2010

Stephen L. Goldstein
The Sun-Sentinel
200 E. Las Olas Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316

RE: On whyy the upturned neck always awaits the ax – Some comments on why the proletariat, the ubermenschen if you will, seem to always act in a way that vexes the good and kind wizard, AKA Goldstein.

My dear Professor,

No one ever said that being a modern American Liberal, particularly in a world where “stones are hard and water is wet”, in a world still subject to the iron laws surrounding gravity, would be easy.

As always, you are making your point, as is said in Vegas, the hard way.

Edmund Burke, alas for you, the Father of Conservatism, said “If men were angels no government would be necessary”. [He also said that the conflict between freedom and order was ongoing but that is a matter for another time.]

You cite an example of redistricting after the 2000 Census that is both egregious and Republican, as if the terms were interchangeable. You say that the lines were drawn as to make a district so Cuban that Ricky Ricardo would be elected should he present himself to the electorate.

Perhaps you should take a peek at the redistricting after the 1990 Census. That was the one that locked up – so far for 20 years – suburban White Republican districts. The quo for that quid was the creation of districts so Black that OJ Simpson would be elected should he present himself to the electorate.

In a world of moral relativism where Black and White differences are not appreciated it’s good to see that some things are still Black and White.

The reality of politics in a free society is that compromise on the edges is what enables the caravan to move on. The Federalist Papers, particularly #10, speaks of “factions” resolving their differences through, forgive me, politics.

The difference between what exists in the political arena, an arena straight from the agora, another gift for which we should give great thanks to those Dead White European Males, and what exists in Goldstein’s parallel dream universe, a universe where the anthem is “Kumbaya” and the flag is plaid, is like planning for a picnic. Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get.

Your point about people not knowing who is on the Supreme Court is well taken. It sounds like you secretly wish for a return to literacy tests, particularly if you get to grade them. Nothing like Goldstein’s thumb on the electoral scale to insure that only the right people would be elected. It would be an updated version of Cook County vote counting. Since I had an issue decided by the Supreme Court you can call me if you need to know anything about the Justices or their procedures. [One of my favorite cases is Gibbons v Ogden. Since I am from New Jersey anything that touches on the Garden State interests me. That case was about a ferry route, politics, and the glue, corruption, that bound them.]

When I see the flow of human traffic going South from Arizona, when I see people swimming to Cuba, I’ll know that we have gone over to the Dark Side.

“Democracy’, as Churchill, a man never to be confused with anything or anyone remotely modern American Liberal, said, “is the worst form of government except for all the others that have ever been tried.”

I have no way of knowing how good a man you are. In your world goals and efforts are all that counts. In the real world, the one with time and tides, results trump all else.

I do know that if the curtain is pulled back you are not a very good wizard.




Kevin Smith
Board Certified Life Coach


PS – The United States government seems to have misplaced 6,600 veterans. To get permanent residence at Arlington Cemetery first and foremost you have to be dead. To get past the front gate you have to be dead and in a casket or urn. When the roll is called someone else has to answer. They are never going to go AWOL. The search can be limited to the 625 acre plot just West of the Potomac River. I state and restate the obvious. If the government can’t take care of 6,600 dead Americans how can we expect them to take care of the medical needs of 306,000,000 living Americans?