THE FOUNDATION

“I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” — Thomas Jefferson

INSIGHT

“The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.” —Ayn Rand

“Many a time I have wanted to stop talking and find out what I really believed.” —Walter Lippmann

“Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.” —Francis Bacon

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” —Blaise Pascal

“These politicians, when they can’t make politics pay, can always fall back on—the honorable practice of law.” —Will Rogers

UPRIGHT

“Conservatism is a grasp and understanding of the value of every human being and the fact that when they earn money, they should be able to keep as much of it as possible so they can gain independence. That’s Reagan conservatism.” —former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore

“If we know anything about the Clintons it is this: They are incapable of taking the blame for any action—personal, business, or political. Period. It is, has always has been, and will always be, someone else’s fault.” —Rich Galen ++ “Nobody will out-mud the Clintons. You can’t beat them tactically… They’re too relentless, they’re too well-organized… If they think [Barack Obama] is a real threat, they’ll just grind him up.” —Newt Gingrich

“[T]he initial aim of campaign ‘reforms’ was less the proclaimed purpose of combating corruption or ‘the appearance’ thereof than it was to impede the entry of inconvenient candidates into presidential campaigns. In that sense, campaign reform is a government program that has actually worked, unfortunately.” —George Will

“Political correctness is not really about sensitivity and courtesy, which require mutual respect. Rather, political correctness entails intolerance for some prejudices but impunity for others.” —James Taranto

“There are no controversies over the historical claims of Islam, Judaism, or any other religious faith. But Christianity is another story. It is routinely the subject of sensationalistic TV exposès, complete with breathless claims about how Jesus ‘might be’ the son of a Roman soldier, or he might have survived the Crucifixion. And now he’s a dad, with kids.” —Brent Bozell

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“Stop the presses: Senator Barbara Boxer of California has a good idea. Ms. Boxer, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, suggested last week that a first step in reducing greenhouse gases would be to require that federal buildings use more efficient light bulbs, and ask federal bureaucrats to turn off their computers at night. ‘Don’t you think it’s time the federal government were a model of energy efficiency?’ she asks. We warmly agree, not least since the United States Government is the largest single consumer of energy in the United States. It’s also one of the most inefficient energy users. According to a 1999 report by the Alliance to Save Energy, the ‘federal government, consumes about 32% more energy per square foot than the nation’s building stock at large.’ This inefficiency costs taxpayers an estimated $1 billion a year. In Al Gore’s phrase, Uncle Sam’s leaving one giant ‘carbon footprint.’ Of course, it follows from all this that the best way to make the federal government more energy efficient would be to undertake a government-wide policy of… lights out, permanently. Save the environment; kill a federal program. Start, needless to say, with the Department of Energy, operating at an annual cost of $22 billion. The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that from 1980 to 1996 Energy frittered away more than $10 billion on programs that were ‘terminated before completion.’ On behalf of combating climate change, America could live without DOE’s Energy Hog Webgame for kids, which cost taxpayers $325,000. The Senate Government Reform Committee has identified more than $200 billion of budget savings, enough to easily balance the budget, by eliminating redundant and wasteful federal activities. They’d have to open that nuclear-waste dump at Yucca Mountain to bury all the turned-off lightbulbs and computers. At this rate, Barbara Boxer might eclipse Al Gore as the Democrat who saved the planet. The key to success is one wonderful word—‘efficient’.” —The Wall Street Journal

DEZINFORMATSIA

A little over the top: “[The American people should] really wake up and understand that they [the Bush administration] are liars and they are murderers.” —ABC’s Joy Behar on “The View”

Separation of Church and Media: “There are times when [Bill Clinton] sounds like Jesus in the temple.” —MSNBC’s noted theologian Chris Matthews, who last week dropped the “f-bomb” on air

How do you solve a problem like Bill?: “If Hillary wins, what will we do with Bill? Finding a role for the First Gentleman could be as challenging for Hillary as finding a way out of Iraq.” —Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift ++ Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy: “Newt says she’s nasty. Geffen says she’s ambitious. The name-calling part of the presidential campaign is clearly in full swing. Next thing you know, someone will tell us she’s not pretty enough to be president, and maybe that will be ‘news,’ too. After ambitious and nasty, could ugly be far behind?”—Susan Estrich *If the shoe fits…

From the gratuitous insult files: “[T]he White House is well aware of the PR nightmare that it faces [at Walter Reed]. The last thing this administration can afford is another Katrina.” —CBS’s Jim Axelrod, on the similarities… oh, never mind

Pollaganda: “A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to do it, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. While the war in Iraq remains the overarching issue in the early stages of the 2008 campaign, access to affordable health care is at the top of the public’s domestic agenda, ranked far more important than immigration, cutting taxes or promoting traditional values.”—The New York Times

Newspulper Headlines: That Was Fast: “Democrats May Cut Bush Military Budget”—Associated Press, March 1, 2:32 pm EST ++ ’“Democrats Nix Idea of Military Budget Cuts”—Associated Press, March 1, 3:07 pm EST

Maybe Al Gore Should Try This: “Snails Save Energy by Re-Using Mucus Trails”—LiveScience.com

Thanks for the Advice, Sweetie: “Honey, Root May Help Staph Infection”—Arizona Republic

That Sounds Painful!: “Inspector General Says School That Uses Shock Therapy Overcharged”—Associated Press

News You Can Use: “Unlocked Vehicles Targets for Theft”—Portsmouth (NH) Herald ++ “Lack of Sleep May Impact Upon Moral Judgement [sic]”—NewScientist.com ++ “Slippery Roads Lead to Crashes”—Wausau (WI) Daily Herald

Bottom Story of the Day: “Men Save Salamanders From Being Squished”—Associated Press (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

United we stand…: “It’s still George Bush’s war, but we run the risk of gaining some ownership of it if we don’t make it absolutely clear that we are the party that wants to get out of there.”—Sen. Russ Feingold

Talking tough: I think we ought to take action on all fronts including Syria and any other source of weapons coming in, obviously Iran is the focus—but it shouldn’t be the sole focus… I was just wondering, does the military have a plan to, if necessary, to go into Syria to go to the source of any weapons coming from Syria?” —Sen. Carl Levin, who wants to pull out of Iraq

The world’s smallest violin: “[’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’] doesn’t just hurt gays and lesbians, it hurts all our troops and this to me is a matter of national security and we’re going to fix it.” —Hillary Clinton, who seeks to be commander in chief *The self-esteem of homosexuals is a matter of national security?

From the theo-lib files: “I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs. I think he would be appalled, actually.” —“Man of the People” John Edwards on the most generous country in the history of the world

From the Purveyors of Classism: “We’ve got 46 million people uninsured in this country despite spending more money on health care than any nation on earth. It makes no sense. As a consequence, we’ve got what’s known as a health care disparity in this nation because many of the uninsured are African American or Latino.” —Barack Obama

America is dumb: “[T]he British pulled their troops at a time when we’re surging. Does that make any sense at all?” —Fightin’ John Murtha, never one to give America the benefit of the doubt. Murtha later said, “I believe that we can’t win this militarily.”

VILLAGE IDIOTS

This week’s “Periplaneta Americana” Award: “I’m just saying if [Vice President Dick Cheney] did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact.” —HBO’s Bill Maher on the assassination attempt in Afghanistan last week

From the Court Jesters: “The constitutional right of parents to raise their children does not include the right to restrict what a public school may teach their children.” —U.S. District Judge Mark Wolfe, Parker v. Hurley

Fair and balanced: “I believe that is one of the principal reasons why political leaders around the world have not yet taken action… is more than half of the mainstream media have rejected the scientific consensus implicitly—and I say ‘rejected,’ perhaps it’s the wrong word. They have failed to report that it is the consensus and instead have chosen… balance as bias.” —Al “10,000-Square-Foot Carbon Footprint” Gore

Village Victimits: “For the first time in its history and at the hands of the larger communion, the Episcopal Church may be experiencing a little taste of the irrational discrimination and exclusion that is an everyday experience of its gay and lesbian members.” —homosexual New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson

This week’s “Quid Pro Homo” Award: “[Heterosexuals] are welcome as long as they understand this is our community.” —Adam Light, a leader in the Castro Coalition, a group that seeks to preserve the homosexual culture in the Castro street neighborhood of San Francisco

Not-so-Happy Meal: “Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s, have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key.” —Prince Charles

SHORT CUTS

“They do the Carbon Emissions Offset? What is that—a ‘60s dance craze? No, it’s way hotter. I mean, cooler. All the movie stars are doing it. In fact, this year’s Oscar goodie-bag that all the nominees get included a year’s worth of carbon offsets. Totally free. So even the stars’ offsets are offset. No wonder that, when they’re off the set, they all do the offset.” —Mark Steyn

“Fame has nothing to do with intelligence. Isn’t that made clear every time most Hollywood actors open their yaps?” —Tom Purcell

“Wal-Mart says it classifies its customers into three groups: brand aspirationals, price sensitive affluents, and value-price shoppers. Wal-Mart says the new categories will replace the old customer classifications: teeth, or no teeth.” —Conan O’Brian

“John McCain announced for president on David Letterman’s show Wednesday. However, his formal announcement isn’t until April. These days if you want to run for president you have to clear it with the comedians before you run it by the public.” —Argus Hamilton

“C’mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean.” —Ann Coulter, responding to the CPAC kerfuffle

David Letterman: “Top Signs You Have A Bad Stockbroker”: He’s unavailable whenever “General Hospital” is on; Invested your entire portfolio in JetBlue; Instead of Wall Street, he works at Wal-Mart; He shaves his head and goes into rehab; Keeps using the word Ga-zillion; A few years back told Martha, “Sure, it’s legal.”

Jay Leno: Kind of an embarrassing situation for Al Gore with his whole global warming thing. Turns out his Tennessee home has been using 20 times the energy as the average household. To be fair, it is still not as much energy as John Edwards’ blow-dryer is using. … That is an inconvenient truth. He lives in a mansion in Tennessee that has eight bathrooms. And three of them are indoors. … Actually, you know why is using so much energy. Have you seen Al lately? I think he’s been keeping that refrigerator door open a little too long. … A state senator in Florida wants to outlaw the term “illegal alien” because it’s insensitive. They want to go with the more politically correct term, “WalMart-ian.” May I suggest “Mexican explorer”? … Iran is going to build an island just for women who want to go on vacation. No men will be allowed on the island. Which of course leads to the philosophical question: If something goes wrong, whose fault will it be? … Prince Charles says he wants to ban McDonald’s. He said banning McDonald’s is the key to living a healthy lifestyle. Really? Why did he single out McDonald’s? I think banning Dominos would make more sense. They deliver the junk food to your house. At least with McDonalds you have to get off your rear and walk to your car. Prince Charles says he wants to ban McDonald’s to teach people that excess is bad. Who better to teach people that excess is bad than a guy who lives in a giant castle?

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.)