I just could not let this go unanswered... See paragraph six.
Resolved, for 2003
Some resolutions for America for the New Year.
by Lee Bockhorn
01/02/2003 8:00:00 AM


Lee Bockhorn, associate editor



IT'S A NEW YEAR, which means it's time for all of us to make our usual bold
New Year's resolutions--and promptly break them.

So, rather than futilely resolve once again to acquire washboard abs, stop
staying up until 3 a.m. most nights, and learn Italian, I've been thinking
instead about some resolutions our country should make for 2003. We
Americans have always been a can-do people, after all, so collective resolve
in the midst of a maddening world should come naturally to us. No doubt I'm
forgetting many worthy goals, but consider the following list a modest
beginning:

-Win the war: Speaking of "resolutions," since Iraq's government has baldly
defied every U.N. resolution regarding its behavior since the end of the
Gulf War, it's time we resolve to end the problem of Saddam Hussein's regime
the only practical way possible: End the regime itself, and be prepared for
the difficult but necessary task of establishing a functioning post-Saddam
Iraq afterward.

In the eyes of the world's thugs, dictators, and terrorists, American
strength, resolve, and credibility are now on the line. Look no further than
the shenanigans of the North Korean government to see what happens when
America ignores gathering dangers and pretends that evil can be placated
using a namby-pamby, "carrot and stick" approach--especially one that's all
carrot and no stick. Tyrants only understand the stick.

Winning a war requires clarity of purpose and clarity of intellect--most
especially, the willingness to call a spade a spade. So let's resolve also
to admit the obvious. For example: The only thing "special" about our
relationship with Saudi Arabia is that its rulers are especially vile and
enthusiastic in their support of those who foment hatred of America.
Furthermore, we are waging not just a vague war on "terrorism," but a war
against the militant and radical form of Islam that inspires it.

-Put the Brave New World on hold: Is it too much to ask that Congress take
some form of action on cloning this year? A full ban would be best, but at
the very least, let's follow the advice of the President's Council on
Bioethics and pass a four-year moratorium on both reproductive and so-called
"research" cloning. Despite the bathetic statements by various Hollywood
celebrities and others, no one currently suffering from Parkinson's or any
other disease is going to die from a lack of a cure because of a four-year
moratorium. Four years just might give us time to cleanse doublespeak and
emotional appeals from the cloning discussion--and permit a reasoned
national debate about whether the speculative benefits of research cloning
outweigh the damage such research would do to our respect for the dignity of
all forms of human life.

-Poseurs and loudmouths: Let's resolve to stop paying attention to
blowhards, hucksters, and self-important naïfs from all parts of the
ideological spectrum. Talk to the hand, Jesse Jackson, Ann Coulter, Michael
Moore, Bill Moyers, Pat Buchanan, Jimmy Carter, Hollywood windbags, and
every smug anti-American professor on our campuses.

-"It's Up To You, New York, New York": Two resolutions for the powers that
be in New York City: First, junk your new draconian ban on smoking in bars
and restaurants. Your city and our country face bigger problems right now
than a little second-hand smoke. Second: Resolve to find some architects who
actually believe in concepts like beauty and nobility to design the
buildings and memorial that will arise at the site of the World Trade
Center. The postmodern eyesores featured in the proposals unveiled to date
are, to say the least, less than inspiring. We can do better.

-Pop culture and more: Let's all resolve to stop listening to the "music" of
boy bands and sexpot teen-queen "singers." Let's resolve to stop treating
the marital status of people like Jennifer Lopez as a matter of
earth-shaking import. (I know I'm asking for a lot here, but a guy can
dream, can't he?) And finally--now that you've finished this web
column--let's resolve as a nation to stop watching so much TV and spending
so much time on the Internet. Do something radical, like read a book, or go
outside, or do something for those less fortunate than yourself. There's a
whole world out there beyond "reality" shows, video games where you can
pretend to commit carjackings, and reading 200 blogs a day. Go discover it,
my fellow Americans.

Happy New Year!

Lee Bockhorn is associate editor at The Weekly Standard.


© Copyright 2002, News Corporation, Weekly Standard, All Rights Reserved.

My rebuttal...

Dear Mr. Bockhorn,

On behalf of my wife, my children, my relatives, my friends and neighbors,
my employer, my health care providers, my health care underwriters and the
other million-and-a-half fellow Parkinson's patients I wish to thank you.

I cannot believe I have been so sorely misled all this time. Misled to
believe that my disease is progressively degenerative to the point of total
wasting away. I join with you and your New Year's resolution that I will not
get any worse, nor will any Parkinson's patient perish because of this
disease during a moratorium on cloning at the cellular level, or as you so
eloquently commented "so called 'research' cloning." In fact I would hope
that we would resolve this moratorium indefinitely so that I could live out
my life without fear of dying of Parkinson's. Even though I'm not a
Hollywood type, but rather a resident of Bush country, deep in the heart of
Texas I resolve that I will no longer proclaim any pitiful remarks about
anyone dying from a progressively degenerative and as yet incurable disease.

I further resolve not to recount for you the unreasonable cases of anecdotal
cure's actually being effected, not only for Parkinson's, but also for
diseases like sickle cell anemia, juvenile diabetes, strokes as well as
others. I resolve I will not point out to you the unreasonable fact that
cloning at the cellular level has been a long established laboratory
procedure. And I certainly resolve not to suggest the unreasonable premise
that Parkinson's Disease is an idiopathic condition, meaning of course that
every American, rational or otherwise, is at risk of contracting this
life-changing disease.

As a matter of fact, during all of these New Year's resolutions, I'm already
feeling much better!

My best regards and may you continue to have the best of health,

Terry Bowers
Texas State Coordinator
Parkinson's Action Network

If you care to respond to Mr. Bockhorn this is the URL...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/misc/Respond.asp?idArticle=2062

You may have to register, but it's painless and free.

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