Letters, They Get Letters

Predictable letters this week in The New York Times Book Review.

Arthur Schlesinger's foolish essay on Reinhold Niebuhr receives self-righteous agreement. People who mistakenly claim Bush and the neocons get not only Niebuhr wrong, but also the Guy Upstairs, write in to smugly state that Neibuhr, and the Guy Upstairs, are on their side.

Even better are the letters attacking Nathan Glazer for daring to attack professional scold Jonathan Kozol and his views on education. Glazer (as far as I can tell) makes the plausible claim that since we spend more on public education than any other country and seem to get less bang for the buck, the solution is not more money, but spending it more wisely. This infuriates the letter-writers, who leave no doubt that the only solution is, and always will be, more money.