Corzine

Jonah Goldberg reminds us of Jon Corzine, the former NJ Senator and Governor, who bankrupted his Wall Street Firm and misappropriated a billion dollars of his clients money. Shouldn't we hear more about this in the mainstream media? Where are the howls for his indictment? It's only right-wing bloggers and a few columnists who mention him. There should be national outrage that he is still not behind bars and is raising money for president. Is Romney so much of a Wall Street guy that he can't bring himself to attack the Obama-Corzine connection? What a shame. Corzine is a perfect emblem of the corrupt Democratic party and of the worst element of the 1%.

Derb leaves NRO

I am sorry that National Review has "parted ways" with John Derbyshire. I always enjoyed his writings and his Radio Derb podcasts. I have his two math books,Prime Obsession and Unknown Quantity, both of which I enjoy very much. His essay on what you should tell your children about black people is incredibly politically incorrect and Derb must have known that it would get him in trouble. He makes jokes about how such topics are forbidden all the time on Radio Derb. Some of what he says is obviously true - many white people will avoid heavily black neighborhoods or large groups of black people, especially young black males.

I didn't feel any immediate sense of revulsion at reading it, as many did. I really don't think it's a good idea just to refuse to talk about such things. Everyone has prejudices and preconceptions about other people. Nowhere in his piece did Derbyshire say that African Americans were inherently inferior. He states that within the large population of 40 million African Americans there is a lot of diversity and many are highly intelligent and law abiding individuals. However, statistics show that there is a greater tendency toward violence and criminality among them. There may be many reasons for this but it isn't that outlandish to base your actions on these statistical probabilities when dealing with strangers. This is an uncomfortable thought, but,in all honesty, many people jump to conclusions based on ethnicity. Remember Juan Williams' admission that he felt fear when he saw Arab people on a plane? Just last week, Marion Barry castigated Asians for the low quality of their business in the heavily black Ward 8 section of Washington, DC.

I think it may be better to be honest about such preconceptions and state them openly. I don't agree with the politically correct knee jerk reaction to fire someone for having some offensive viewpoints. NR is perfectly within its rights not to want to be associated with Derb, but personally I hope he continues to write and continue his Radio Derb spots on his own homepage or at