THE FOUNDATION

“His Example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read.” — John Adams on George Washington

INSIGHT

“In stirring up tumult and strife, the worst men can do the most, but peace and quiet cannot be established without virtue.” —Cornelius Tacitus

“Speak when you are angry, and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” —Ambrose Bierce

“Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one less scoundrel in the world.” —Thomas Carlyle

“Principle—particularly moral principle—can never be a weathervane, spinning around this way and that with the shifting winds of expediency. Moral principle is a compass forever fixed and forever true.” —Edward R. Lyman

“If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire better than another, it is a brave man—it is the man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.” —James A. Garfield

UPRIGHT

“George Washington’s long struggle for freedom has also inspired generations of Americans to stand for freedom in their own time. Today, we’re fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life. And as we work to advance the cause of freedom around the world, we remember that the father of our country believed that the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone.” —President George W. Bush

“The pain inflicted by your country’s indifference is ten-fold that inflicted by your ruthless captors… Debating non-binding resolutions aimed at earning political points only destroys morale, stymies success and emboldens the enemy.” —Rep. Sam Johnson ++ “Are the lives of courageous young American volunteers… worth so little to our Congress that they would ignore our peril for perverse personal political profit?” —Oliver North ++ “I do not condemn Clinton and other Democratic presidential candidates—Chris Dodd, Joe Biden and John Edwards—for voting for the war because I would have done the same. I fault them, though, for passing the blame to Bush as the guy who misled them. They all had sufficient knowledge to question the administration’s arguments, and they did not do so.” —Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen

“What do you suppose was the perspective of the Muslim murderer who went on that shooting spree in Utah? Does he favor concealed carry permits like the one that helped someone kill him? And how about the people who died or had to rely on someone else to defend them from that gun-wielding member of the religion of peace and love, which is otherwise known as Islam? Do they favor concealed carry permits?” —Mike Adams

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“It looks like the Muslim teen who opened fire on shoppers in a Salt Lake City mall is yet another case of ‘sudden jihad syndrome,’ a condition in which normal-appearing American Muslims abruptly turn violent. Taken together, this and other cases add up to an invisible jihad inside America. But don’t tell that to the FBI. The politically correct bureau does everything it can to avoid recognizing the obvious Islamic factor in these heinous crimes. Sulejman Talovic, an 18-year-old Bosnian Muslim immigrant, was loaded with enough ammo to ‘inexplicably’ kill dozens of victims—and he would have, if an alert off-duty cop hadn’t returned fire and stopped him. Talovic still managed to methodically murder five and wound four others with a shotgun. Witnesses say it was an act of cold-blooded violence aimed at random victims—something otherwise known as terrorism. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Talovic attended Friday prayers at a mosque about a block from the mall. Yet the FBI saw no religious motive, and quickly ruled out terrorism. Nor could it find anything to indicate terrorism in several other Muslim-tied cases since 9/11… In all these cases, the feds’ first reaction was to shrug. They said the perps were lone individuals who just went ballistic after having a bad day, as if anyone could have done such crimes. But they weren’t just anyone. They were all young Muslim men… We’re likely to see more of these seemingly random domestic attacks. They may seem isolated, but all have radical Islam at their nexus. They’re not ‘senseless’ or ‘utterly inexplicable’ or ‘impossible to rationalize,’ as the media intone. They are purposeful. These men act as conscripts called up for a mission, sick as it is.” —Investor’s Business Daily

DEZINFORMATSIA

This week’s “Yellow Ribbon” Award: “[T]hanks to a new documentary by filmmaker Rory Kennedy, ‘The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib’ —the spotlight is back on the infamous prison where revelations of abuse and sexual humiliation destroyed what was left of America’s moral high ground… The graphic images from Abu Ghraib did a lot to turn Iraq into the colossal misadventure it is today.” —Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift

Lay off the LSD: “So I was sitting around watching ‘Oprah’ yesterday afternoon when I realized how I could stop W. and Crazy Dick from blowing up any more stuff. All I needed to do was Unleash my Unfathomable Magnetic Power into the Universe! Energy flows where intention goes… The Law of Attraction dictates that like attracts like, my negativity toward the president and vice president is attracting their negativity and multiplying the negative vibrations in the cosmos, creating some sort of giant doom magnet.” —Maureen Dowd, New York Times

That’s objective: “I rated these five Presidents, in this order, as the worst: Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Ulysses Grant, [Herbert] Hoover and Richard Nixon… Not only has Bush cracked that list, but he is planted firmly at the top.” —USA Today founder Al Neuharth

Getting it backwards: “So the Democrats in the Senate failed to pass this vote so that they can even debate this Iraq strategy and there’s even some who are talking about possibly bringing up the idea of revoking the 2002 authorization to go to war. If they can’t pass a kind of symbolic vote how do they ever have the strength to do something more serious?” —NBC’s Matt Lauer *Memo to Matt: A failed cloture vote continues debate.

Newspulper Headlines: What Would We Do Without New Yorkers?: “French Have Attitude Problem Says New Yorker” —Financial Times

What Would We Do Without Terror Experts?: “Terror Expert: Terrorists Will Stop at Nothing” —Naples (FL) News

What Would We Do Without Soothsayers?: “Year of Pig Signals Conflicts Before New World Order: Soothsayers” —Agence France-Presse

We Blame Global Warming: “Man Grabs Shark With Hands; Blames Vodka” —Associated Press

They Could Die Even if It Never Does: “Thousands Could Die if a Giant Tornado Ever Hits Houston” —Houston Chronicle

News You Can Use: “Finding Toilet at Mardi Gras a Challenge” —Associated Press (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Separation of powers, anyone?: “Now it’s time to say the redeployment should start in 90 days or the Congress will revoke authorization for this war.” —Hillary Clinton ++ “[T]he President has had a blank check—no accountability, no responsibility. The days of the blank check are over.” —Nancy Pelosi ++ “[W]e [Congress] retain the power of the purse and we will have ample opportunity to exercise that power. It is a last call for us to work together… on ending this war.” —Rep. Alan Mollohan ++ Striking fear into the hearts of the enemy: “There will be resolution after resolution, amendment after amendment… just like in the days of Vietnam. The pressure will mount, the president will find he has no strategy, he will have to change his strategy and the vast majority of our troops will be taken out of harm’s way and come home.” —Sen. Chuck Schumer ++ Pure as the wind-driven snow: “We on this side are interested in protecting American servicemen from the crossfire of a civil war. Some on the other side are more interested in protecting the president from a rebuke.” —Ted Kennedy

This week’s “Theo-phobe” Award: “[The Republican Party is] controlled by two interest groups that don’t represent America… theocrats and economic royalists… I respect faith—I’m a person of faith myself… But the theocrats are a narrow band of the faithful who want to impose that faith on American government.” —Chuck Schumer, really on a role

From the ‘08 Jackass Stampede: “At every turn in our history, there’s been somebody who said we can’t… do this, we can’t do that, so we shouldn’t even try. If I have your support, if I have your energy and involvement and commitment and ideas, then I’m here to tell you, ‘Yes we can’.” —Barack Hussein Obama on whether America is “ready” for a black president. *Wait. Wasn’t Bill Clinton our first black president?

VILLAGE IDIOTS

From the sycophant files: “President Clinton would excel in the Senate. He excelled as attorney general and governor of Arkansas, he excelled as president and he’s been a model of the modern Senate spouse.” —Clintonista Paul Begala on appointing Bill to fill Hillary’s seat after she becomes president

This week’s “Gratuitous Nazi Reference” Award: “America needs to follow the policies it has introduced in Germany. We have to go through a certain de-Nazification process.” —billionaire leftist financier George Soros

Global whining: “In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to reach billions of people. We are launching SOS and Live Earth to begin a process of communication that will mobilize people all over the world to take action. The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement. We hope to jump-start that movement right here, right now, and take it to a new level on July 7, 2007.” —Al Gore on his version of “Live 8” **“They’re launching, mobilizing people, taking action, jump-starting a movement and taking it to a new level. Isn’t this the kind of energetic activity that supposedly causes global warming? But we’re sure the acts will be all-acoustic and the performers will get to the concert venues by bicycle.” —James Taranto

To have and to hold: “Today’s couples are aware of issues affecting the world around them and want to affect change. Instead of getting a truck load of items they don’t really need, many couples are deciding to use the occasion to tastefully raise funds for a cause they care about, like environmental conservation.” —World Wildlife Fund vice president Terry Macko on its new “gift registry” for donations to WWF instead of gifts for the marrying couple

SHORT CUTS

“There was one refreshing aspect to [Barack] Obama’s announcement: It was nice to see a man call a press conference this week to announce something other than he was the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby.” —Ann Coulter

“Of course, we wouldn’t need oil at all if there were a law mandating that auto makers manufacture perpetual-motion machines!” —James Taranto

“It takes a lot more integrity, character, and courage to be a conservative than it does to be a liberal. That’s because at its most basic level, liberalism is nothing more than childlike emotionalism applied to adult issues.” —John Hawkins

“[T]he punk cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has decided that discretion is the better part of mullahs and has temporarily relocated to Iran… It may be that his Persian vacation is only to marry a cousin or two and consult with the A-list ayatollahs, but the Mookster has always had highly sensitive antennae when it comes to his own physical security—he likes being the guy who urges martyrdom on others rather than being just another schmuck who takes one for the team.” —Mark Steyn

“Silly sensitivity has displaced intellectual honesty in American education. We’ve produced a generation with no sense of national identity and little connection to the nation’s collective memory. In the process, we’ve traded life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for fat, dumb and happy.” —Kathleen Parker

David Letterman: “Top Ways George W. Bush is Celebrating President’s Day”: Same as every year—watching Maury then going outside to hunt squirrels; Spent morning hiding eggs on White House lawn; Videotaped himself playing “Stairway to Heaven” on guitar, put it on YouTube; Nothing—Air Force One is stuck on the runway behind a JetBlue plane; Planning his 2008 re-election campaign.

“Top JetBlue Excuses”: 10-hour delay? Hey, that’s actually pretty good for us; It could have been worse… No, wait, it couldn’t; We don’t have an excuse right now, but sit here for ten hours while we come up with one; You gotta admit, after six hours it became a little funny; There was a monster on the wing!!!; Pilots too drunk to fly.

Jay Leno: [Monday was] Presidents’ Day—or for those of you in California, el Presidente Day! … Al Gore will be speaking at this year’s Democratic Convention—or as we call it, the Oscars. … When Al Gore presented the “Best Album” award to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Grammys, Al Gore said because of global warming, the Chili Peppers are now 20 percent hotter than they were 20 years ago. … In the latest count, there are now 25 politicians running for president—and 15 of them also claim to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby. … Al-Qa’ida released another video tape from their number-two man. This one had a shocking revelation: “The great Satan will soon taste unspeakable suffering from our hands. Oh, and by the way, I am the father of Anna Nicole’s baby.” … The number one movie at the box office is “Norbit,” where Eddie Murphy plays a huge fat woman. Or as Bill Clinton calls it, “Dreamgirls.” … The FAA is very close to raising the retirement age of pilots. That means pretty soon both astronauts and pilots will be wearing diapers. … Congress is now trying to pass a bill that would require health insurers to cover more costs for the mentally ill. Once again, Congress looking out for themselves. So typical!

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.)