Letters: May 3, 2004

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Klein was dead wrong in advising John Kerry's campaign to move to the middle and stay away from "the usual partisan claptrap." Why should the Democrats be the goody-goody party while President Bush and the Republicans govern like right-wing extremists with no apologies to anyone? The Democrats need to fight back hard, get down and dirty and remind their supporters that the election of 2000 was stolen. The Democrats have turned the other cheek once too often. Now it's time to hit back, and hard. FRANK CHILLE Cherry Hill, N.J.

In his Column, Klein stated that "The Republican strategy this year appears to be hardball." But for nearly four years the Democrats have barraged Bush with name calling and personal attacks. I can't understand how anyone can consider the President the aggressor in the current partisan unpleasantness or how Kerry's below-the-belt blows are counterpunching. It's like blaming the victim. ROBERT WATERS Des Moines, Iowa

JUST CALL HIM HUMBLE BILL

William F. Buckley has always seemed wrongheaded to me, but I've had to admire his articulateness. His answer to the first of your "10 Questions" [April 12], however, included the phrase "humble folk like you and I," instead of "like you and me." One hopes this grammatical bobble was not an unintended error. Or is this Buckley's folksy way of uniting with the masses against ivory-tower academics? Does this mark a late-in-life turn to grammatical populism by Buckley? I am accustomed to conservative solipsism but not conservative solecism. Humble folk like I expect more from unhumble folk like he. MICHAEL GRIFFITH Cincinnati, Ohio

Buckley responds: I intended a little fun, in the context of teasing the pretensions of left-wing faculty. Archie Bunker-talk can come in handy. It is used as "yassir" might have been used, to suggest subordinate status.

MEXICAN-AMERICAN VALUES

In "New Patriots In Our Midst," Michael Elliott contested Harvard professor Samuel Huntington's view that Mexican Americans are not interested in assimilating into U.S. society [April 12]. I reject Huntington's unfounded fears about immigration in general and Mexican Americans in particular, whether they are new immigrants or those of us whose roots reach centuries deep into U.S. history. Perhaps Huntington should venture outside academia's cocoon and learn to appreciate the patriotism and contributions made to America by those who are not Anglo-Protestant. American Hispanics serve as an important conduit to all of Latin America, which is probably the U.S.'s last potential ally in a world so much against us. SATURN NINO NORIEGA Alamogordo, N.M.

Rather than replacing Mexican culture with U.S. culture, Mexican Americans are integrating the two, creating a biculture that celebrates both Cinco de Mayo and the Fourth of July. It's the best of several worlds, all in one place. Mexican Americans can enrich us, just as the Italians, Irish, Germans, Danes and others have. That multiethnicity is what makes America great. I suggest that Professor Huntington search elsewhere for elements that corrode U.S. culture. He might start with Jerry Springer and some TV shows that ridicule our core values. MIGUEL GOMEZ WINEBRENNER Chicago