THE FOUNDATION

“I suppose, indeed, that in public life, a man whose political principles have any decided character and who has energy enough to give them effect must always expect to encounter political hostility from those of adverse principles.” — Thomas Jefferson

INSIGHT

“Cutting government spending and government intrusion in the economy will almost surely involve immediate gain for the many, short-term pain for the few, and long-term gain for all.” —Milton Friedman

“God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” —Dwight L. Moody

“Independence is the recognition of the fact that yours is the responsibility of judgment and nothing can help you escape it—that no substitute can do your thinking, as no pinch-hitter can live your life.” —Ayn Rand

“Somehow strangely the vice of men gets well represented and protected but their virtue has none to plead its cause—nor any charter of immunities and rights.” —Henry David Thoreau

“Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers is another.” —Gilbert Keith Chesterton

UPRIGHT

“The claim to support the troops is a sham. Supporting the troops is merely something to be figured out later. It’s an afterthought, to be addressed after Democrats, with some Republican support, rush through a resolution telling our troops that the mission for which they are putting their lives on the line is not just meaningless but absolutely antithetical to our nation’s interests.” —Mark Finkelstein ++ “Our combat forces have never lost an engagement in Iraq. Let’s make sure they don’t lose the war in Washington. Unshackle the military and let our soldiers and Marines do their job. This will quickly silence the critics, as well as the insurgents and radical Islamist fundamentalists.” —James A. Lyons, Jr. ++ “[President] Bush came up with the ‘surge’ plan. Will it work? Nobody knows. But the one thing the American people know about George W. Bush is that he wants to win the war. What the Democrats believe is anybody’s guess.” —Jonah Goldberg ++ “What the resolution tells us is that most members of Congress, echoing what they think is the view of most voters, yearn to return to the holiday from history that we thought we were enjoying between the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sept. 11, 2001. And that they have no idea at all of how to get there.” —Michael Barone ++ “The Democrats have no idea what they stand for, the Republicans only remember what they stood for.” —Peggy Noonan

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“The Senate’s 81-0 vote on Friday to confirm Lt. Gen. David Petraeus as commander is just the latest sign of the intellectual incoherence of that chamber’s approach to Iraq. Right now, anti-war lawmakers are afraid to act on their convictions and cut off funding right away, so they seem to have opted for a two-track strategy: on the one hand, approving some funds for the war so they can’t be accused of hurting the troops that they claim to support, on the other, denouncing President Bush’s policies at every opportunity regardless of whether such actions project weakness or embolden the enemy. The unanimous vote for Gen. Petraeus—a thoughtful advocate of President Bush’s efforts to increase troop levels in Baghdad—comes as many of these same lawmakers prepare to vote for a resolution which will likely come before the Senate this week which will denounce what Gen. Petraeus and President Bush are attempting to do: win the war. Passage of such a resolution (which appears to have overwhelming support) is utterly nonsensical if senators are serious about defeating the enemy. But such an action makes perfect sense for cynical politicians who have calculated that failure is certain and want to be in the most politically advantageous position after the United States is defeated in Iraq.” —The Washington Times

DEZINFORMATSIA

Good questions: “If you believe the [Iraq] plan is… such a flop, then why did you vote to confirm General Petraeus, who is one of the architects of the plan?” —NBC’s Tim Russert to Chuck Schumer ++ “[H]ow can the public really buy the Democrats’ support of the troops but don’t support the mission? How can you do both?” —NBC’s David Gregory to Chuck Schumer

Dumb questions: “Do you believe that if there were more women presidents in the world, there would be less war?” —ABC’s Diane Sawyer to all 16 female U.S. Senators ++ “Senator Clinton, you’re against sending additional troops to Iraq, and according to our latest poll, 66 percent of Americans agree with you. So why not vote to cut off funding so the President can’t carry out this policy?” —CBS’s Katie Couric to Hillary Clinton

Vietnam nostalgia: “[Saturday’s anti-war protest] in Washington was like a day from yesteryear—the war that to many seems long ago and far away: the war in Vietnam. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people descended on the capital to protest the war in Iraq.” —Bob Schieffer, slightly embellishing the numbers ++ “President Bush has asked the American people to give his plan for Iraq a chance. But the people who marched in the streets in Washington and other cities today were in no mood to be patient.” —NBC’s John Yang

From the Leftmedia Psychosis Files: “Dick Durbin went to the floor of the Senate on Thursday night to denounce the vice president as ‘delusional.’ It was shocking, and Senator Durbin should be ashamed of himself. Delusional is far too mild a word to describe Dick Cheney. Delusional doesn’t begin to capture the profound, transcendental one-flew-over daftness of the man.” —Maureen Dowd, NY Times

Newspulper Headlines: What Would We Do Without Polls?: “Polls Say Wealth Is Important to Youth” —Associated Press

So Much for Global Warming: “Sun Returns to Black After Years in Red” —Associated Press

Oh, but the Paisley Looks Fabulous!: “Event Opposed for Its Gay Ties” —Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN) ++ At Least He Wasn’t Wearing a Gay Tie: “Jackson Ex-Lawyer Testifies in Tape Suit” —FoxNews.com

News You Can Use: “Never Give an Iguana Viagra” —Reuters ++ “Brain Damage Seems to Ease Smoking Cravings, Study Says” —FoxNews.com (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Avoiding the tough decisions: “I think it’s the height of irresponsibility and I really resent it—this was his decision to go to war, he went with an ill-conceived plan, an incompetently executed strategy, and we should expect him to extricate our country from this before he leaves office.” —Hillary Clinton

That’s the spirit!: “This plan is going to be—we believe it’s going to be a flop.” —Chuck Schumer ++ It’s called “projecting”: “It’s not the American people or the United States Congress who are emboldening the enemy. It’s the failed policy of this president.” —Sen. Joe Biden, who voted for the war ++ “We’re not opposed to the president’s plan. What I object to is the fact that there isn’t a plan.” —Sen. Jim Webb **Ok Jimbo, where’s your plan?

War isn’t about self esteem: “Americans don’t want to send our young men and women into the middle of a civil war, a war we shouldn’t have been in in the first place. We all know it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about doing the right thing. Everybody knows this except the president.” —Rep. Lynn Woolsey

Read the Constitution lately?: “It’s time for America to understand and for the president to understand that Congress is a co-equal branch of government, and that Congress has the responsibility now to bring an end to this war, to cut off the funds, [and] to bring our troops home.” —Rep. Dennis Kucinich ++ “The founders of our country gave Congress the power of the purse because the envisioned a scenario exactly like the one in which we find ourselves today. Not only is it within our power to stop Bush, it is our obligation to stop Bush.” —Rep. John Conyers

Too bad he’s not running: “When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy.” —John Kerry, who knows something of duplicity and hypocrisy

VILLAGE IDIOTS

This week’s “Ignarus Perpetuus” Award: “Someone… should call for the impeachment of George Bush [so] the world knows that the nation is not standing behind this President’s choices, that the nation, a democracy, feels differently than the man who is leading as if it were a dictatorship, and that we represent this country, he does not lead as a monarch.” —Rosie O’Donnell

A word of support to America’s Armed Forces: “Today we march for the soul of our nation, to preserve our nation’s honor. We march in protest against our government’s policy… The Iraqis don’t want us in Iraq, the American people don’t want us in Iraq. This demonstration should embolden us in our quest to reinvest in America and end the war.” —Je$$ie Jack$on ++ “I haven’t spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years because I’ve been afraid that because of the lies that have been, and continue to be spread about me in that [Vietnam] war—that they would be used to hurt this new anti-war movement. But silence is no longer an option… I’m so sad that we didn’t learn from the mistakes of the Vietnam War: blindness to the realities on the ground, hubris and arrogance in dealing with a people and culture far older than we are, and that we understand so little.” —the traitorous Hanoi Jane Fonda ++ “Those people who would try to undermine [Jane Fonda’s] credibility will fail. We welcome her back to the peace community.” —Rep. Maxine Waters ++ Re: Hanoi Jane: “[Fonda was] a traitor to our country in Vietnam… [As a result of her anti-war activism] we remained behind bars longer. She aided and abetted the enemy. She encouraged troops to desert. She betrayed us in Vietnam, and here she is betraying us again.” —Mike Benge, a POW in Vietnam for five years

SHORT CUTS

“What the Democrats will do with their newfound power is a question worth asking, provided you don’t expect much of an answer.” —William Rusher

“Last week, the senator [Kerry] took to the floor and reduced himself to tears as he announced that he’d regretfully decided not to run for president again. John Edwards shoveled him into the landfill of history with some oleaginous boilerplate about Kerry’s readiness to ‘respond to any call to serve his country.’ Was anybody calling?” —Mark Steyn

“John Warner of Virginia, eager to demonstrate that he’s no son of the hard, determined men who wrote the book on standing firm against all odds as a fabled army of northern Virginia, rushes to join partisans across the aisle to forge a resolution of regret, retreat and ruin. ‘Non-binding,’ of course. Senators never bind themselves to anything but their egos and personal interests.” —Wesley Pruden

“Members of the 110th Congress are behaving like drunken drivers with respect to the conflict in Iraq, veering wildly all over the road, seemingly oblivious to the risk they pose to others. Before they do actual harm by voting on various resolutions aimed at repudiating President Bush and further undermining his wartime leadership, they should be obliged to sit through the sort of sobering, behavior-modification program to which courts assign those found operating heavy equipment while inebriated.” —Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.

David Letterman: “Top Surprises In George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address”: Wore a “Hillary in 2008” T-shirt; Vowed to end America’s dependence on foreign films; When he said “Times are tough. That’s why when I need a little pick-me-up I reach for a Snickers!”; Concluded policy proposal with a rousing “Deal or No Deal?”; For viewers who have HDTV, he was 17 percent Bushier; Showed up late explaining he was watching “American Idol.”

Jay Leno: The Constitution does not specify how long the State of the Union address must be. You know who gave the longest State of the Union address ever? Bill Clinton. You know who gave the shortest? George Washington. It was just a couple of minutes. Well sure, when a politician cannot tell a lie, it limits how much they can say. Clinton could go on for hours. … The political experts are asking what role Bill Clinton will play in Hillary’s campaign. I’m guessing the cheating husband? … I guess you heard by now Sen. John Kerry announced he will not run for president, in 2008. He said the time is just not right. You know why it’s not right? It’s an election year. … John Edwards, who is also running for president, is being criticized because the new house he just moved into is one of the biggest houses in North Carolina. It’s 28,000 square feet on 102 acres. See, Edwards became famous for talking about the two Americas. Now both of them can fit into his backyard. … Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is now in Iraq. She made a surprise visit. Well, you thought Bush wanted to bomb the place before! … She didn’t say how long she was staying in Iraq, and President Bush said he was against setting any timetables for Pelosi to return. He said to bring her back prematurely would send the wrong message.

Veritas vos Liberabit—Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families—especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who have died in defense of American liberty, while prosecuting the war with Jihadistan.)