Jeff Millman: All that is good and right

At the risk of picking a fight with a fellow columnist, I must disagree with Dan Fishback. On Monday, he wrote, "the Republicans attract their base with a stew of simplistic lies: America is always right." Republicans in this case are telling the truth. We are always right, others are wrong and nothing is relative.

The evidence is all around us but sometimes is hard to find. What makes America infallible is that it gives anyone the ability to realize her dreams.

A shining example of this is Karyn Bosnak, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who triumphed over brutal hardship. Unable to hold a steady job, she struggled to make ends meet.

It's hard for some of us to relate to Karyn's complex situation. See, Karyn always wanted nice things, yet couldn't afford them. But she is a fighter and never -- never! -- gave up her dream.

In an 18-month shopping spree, she refused to say "no" to the daily lattes or the Prada pumps -- "they were only $100 -- a steal!." Soon, she ran up a credit card debt of $20,221.40. Startled, Karyn got the message.

"I'm done with my frivolous ways. I've stopped buying designer clothes. I've stopped using department store products. I decided that I really do like Oil of Olay. It really does work just as well... And Old Navy is actually kind of cool."

Instead of meekly surrendering like the French and filing for bankruptcy, Karyn asserted a determination and ingenuity absent in the most of world but common in Americans. She quickly made a Web site, www.savekaryn.com, and asked her country to respond with its trademark kindness.

Relying on exclamation points to make a convincing case, she wrote, "so if you have an extra buck or two, I just ask you to send it my way!" In a further appeal to logic, she wrote, "I didn't hurt anyone by spending too much money. I was actually helping out the economy."

It's people like Karyn, not the politicians, who steadfastly serve our country in this time of need.

Sometimes, it's the little things, like nuggets of individual sacrifice, rather than sweeping public policy that can change our lives. And for all of us who recognize this, repaying Karyn tax-free for her daily crusade to end our recession is more important than voting.

A microcosm of our great country, family, friends and strangers, united for a common cause, and people sent her $13,323.08 and in a little over three months.

While you can find beggars in any city worldwide, America has revolutionized the art of begging. It shows why we're the best at everything. We rallied to Karyn with the technology America owns and invented (the Internet) and applied America's foreign policy (our charity) at home.

Of course living in the world's fairest country has made it hard for Karyn, who is subject to the same antitrust laws that our government applies evenly to everyone. Unable to monopolize her concept, she was quickly exposed to competition from Bob and Ben. They ask for donations too, but according to their Web site, www.dontsavekaryn.com, they "make no pretenses... if you give us money, in the true spirit of Karyn, we are going to waste it all on stupid stuff!"

The goal of their Web site is to "make the promise of the Internet as a form of enlightenment [sic] for all of mankind into a complete joke!"

And this wouldn't be America if others didn't get a chance to express their opinion, so Bob and Ben claim that Karyn doesn't deserve donations. They say, "at least we're up-front about what we're going to do with it!"

Naturally in a country that always takes the moral high-ground, some Americans just see this sort of thing as wrong. According to the Associated Press, a new site in the works, called www.savekarynnot.com, will encourage us to give to traditional charities instead of financing Karyn's "bikini wax binge and Prada party."

But Karyn's is a classic feel-good story that warms the hearts of most Americans. Fascinated by her personal comeback, both a Hollywood producer and a book publisher contacted Karyn to buy the rights to her story. So we should expect to see more of Karyn, who isn't a role model for fiscal responsibility, but parlayed debt into the gift that keeps on giving.

If you read between the lines, Karyn's story shows what's true in America. As President Bush said in February about reducing welfare programs, "in times of personal crisis, people do not need the rules of a bureaucracy; they need the help of a neighbor."

Again, the Republicans are right. With Americans as neighbors, help is on the way and the good life is open to everyone.

Just stop by Wawa. Those panhandlers don't suffer from misfortune or illness, they're not incapable of working and they certainly don't need the government's help.

They're like Karyn. They beg day after day because in America it's lucrative and when they're done, they drive their Lexus to their apartment in Rittenhouse Square.

Jeff Millman is a senior Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major from Los Angeles, Calif.

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