GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

FBI and Gonzales under fire

An audit of the FBI’s procedures for requesting secret records by the Office of the Inspector General revealed that the Bureau erred in reporting its data collection and storage efforts. Apparently, the FBI did not ensure that all the data collected on individuals of interest in terror investigations exceeded needs or requests, and did not properly tally its efforts to Congress or an intelligence oversight board. The audit saw this as a bureaucratic foul-up that did not indicate willful abuse or lawlessness. However, this is just the sort of scandal that liberals dream about in their ongoing efforts to gut the Patriot Act.

The FBI has experienced a five-fold increase in data requests since 9/11, with requests for 2003, 2004 and 2005 totaling 142,000. The audit, which reviewed a sampling of FBI field offices, noted that there was a 22-percent underreporting of investigative cases. Many of these cases include requests for phone records and emails from some 52,000 U.S. citizens and foreigners living in the U.S. FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have accepted responsibility for the errors and have promised to reform the system.

Their candor, however, has not assuaged Democrats, who are calling for heads to roll. They already have Gonzales in their crosshairs over the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors last year—firings that Democrats insist were politically motivated. Naturally, hearings are being promised by Patrick Leahy (D-VT), head of the Judiciary Committee, and greater congressional oversight (read: more bureaucracy) will be the likely outcome. Unfortunately, by appealing to their supporters in the ACLU, the Democrat demand for oversight will undoubtedly lead to an attempt to further curtail subpoena power, which will adversely affect the FBI’s ability to combat terrorism.

Republicans, for their part, aren’t making things any easier for Gonzales, who now has both the FBI missteps and the prosecutor firings with which to contend. GOP senators and even President Bush have been quite critical of Gonzales’s handling of the firings, although the President did express confidence in the attorney general.

To no one’s surprise, the media is having a field day over the firings, a number of which were carried out because prosecutors were lax in investigating voter fraud. Bill Clinton fired all 93 federal prosecutors when he took office, with nary a peep from liberal talkingheads. Clinton’s act was clearly political, too: One of those U.S. attorneys he fired, Jay Stephens, was likely within a month of indicting Clinton ally and House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski. Others were likely pursuing Whitewater indictments. In the end, though, the opportunity to embroil the Bush White House in a fresh scandal has far outweighed the dictates of fairness, decency and common sense.

Pres. Bush’s Latin American trip

President Bush wrapped up a week-long five-nation tour of Latin America that may (or may not) offer breakthroughs on important issues such as trade, security and immigration. His talks with the leaders of Brazil, Uruguay, Guatemala, Columbia and Mexico have not signaled any major policy changes or commitments, but the real purpose of the trip was to remind Latin Americans that the United States is still concerned with its native hemisphere.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is not as warmly embraced by his neighbors as some may think, but he has clearly become the region’s leading figure. With the U.S. more focused on the Middle East and Asia, Latin America has been relegated to the diplomatic back burner, allowing Chavez to fill the void with tiresome rhetoric about a Bolivarian revolution that will remake the region in his socialist image. Even many of South America’s socialists don’t like him, but if the U.S. does not reaffirm its presence there, there will be no counterbalance to this oil-rich tinhorn and his Marxist designs.

Perhaps the single most promising thing to come out of the trip was the recognition by Mexico that it must own up to its role in America’s problem with illegal immigration. Mexican President Felipe Calderon voiced displeasure about the border fence, but his top officials conceded that Mexico needs to improve the economic factors that have led to the large waves of illegal immigrants flowing north.

This week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ award

“I am trying to build relationships with other governments in preparation for a Democratic takeover. I want to make clear that there is an opposition in America and that we are ready to take power and that when we do, we are going to have much better relationships with them.” —Demo National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, suffering from delusions of grandeur

Clinton resurrects ‘vast, right-wing conspiracy’

Hillary Clinton has hit the campaign warpath in earnest, and is again reverting to the Clinton team’s old playbook. Speaking to Democrat municipal officials in New Hampshire, Clinton resurrected her notion of “a vast right-wing conspiracy.” She was speaking of the conviction of three Republican operatives on criminal charges of “telephone harassment” for repeated prank calls to Demo phone banks, allegedly to hinder organizers’ get-out-the-vote effort during the 2006 congressional election campaign. “To the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s credit, they sued and the trail led all the way to the Republican National Committee,” Clinton said. “So if anybody tells you there is no vast, right-wing conspiracy, tell them that New Hampshire has proven it in court.”

New Hampshire Democrat Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan wasted no time in echoing Clinton’s sentiment. “People think we’re paranoid when we talk about the vast, right-wing conspiracy, but there is a real connection of these groups—the same names keep popping up,” crowed Sullivan. “They are the most disgusting group of political thugs that I have ever seen.”

Phone prankster “thugs”? Phooey! The Democrats have forgotten more about thuggery than Republicans will ever know. Consider the four Milwaukee-area Kerry-Edwards campaign workers who were sentenced to four to six months in jail for slashing the tires of twenty-five vans rented by Republicans to take voters to the polls in the 2004 election. Speaking of letters he received from Milwaukee residents, Judge Michael Brennan told the defendants, “They see you tampering with something they consider sacred, and that’s the ballot box.” It is no small detail, of course, that two of the four convicted felons are sons of Milwaukee’s Demo elite, namely former acting mayor Marvin Pratt and sitting U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore.

Note to the junior senator from New York: If you want to talk about conspiracies to deprive citizens of their right to vote, first pluck the log from thine own eye.

Pelosi introduces her global warming panel

Speaker San Fran Nan Pelosi announced the members of her formerly super-secret Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Like many things that she does, Pelosi’s committee will be mostly for show, and it will have no legislative jurisdiction. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of energy and climate change issues and, judging by its heavy liberal makeup, it will probably make policy suggestions that unfairly punish companies fingered as polluters.

The members are: Edward Markey (D-MA), chairman, Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jay Inslee (D-WA), John Larson (D-CT), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), John Hall (D-NY), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the ranking minority member, John Shadegg (R-AZ), Greg Walden (R-OR), John Sullivan (R-OK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Candice Miller (R-MI). Patrick Fitzgerald, call your office.

Court overturns DC gun ban

In a major triumph for the Constitution, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled last Friday that the Second Amendment means exactly what it says. Six plaintiffs had sued the District, saying that their rights were infringed by the District’s ban on hand guns. In the 2-1 decision the majority agreed, tossing the District’s gun ban onto the scrap heap of history.

Even more surprising was the straightforward logic the court used in reaching its decision, going back to the words of the Founders. From the ruling: “To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad).” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. The ruling is truly sweeping in its scope, and while the District said it will appeal, losing such an appeal has the potential to sweep aside more of the nation’s anti-gun laws.

New & notable legislation

The Senate passed legislation to implement the remaining proposals of the 9/11 Commission, 60-38. The bill offers a better allocation of funding to major cities that are potential terrorist targets and other provisions for tighter port, air and rail security. One part of the bill that the 9/11 Commission did not recommend would allow the nation’s 45,000 airport screeners to unionize. This survived both the House and Senate versions despite President Bush’s veto threat.

Republicans in the House and Senate have introduced a bill to allow states to opt out of the testing mandates of No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration’s education boondoggle. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), once a key supporter of NCLB, is helping to lead the charge.

The House passed a series of bills to create easier access to presidential-library records, strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and provide greater protections to government whistle-blowers. The White House has threatened to veto the measure, which it believes impinges on the power of the executive and presents a potential security threat.

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced H.R. 1342 to suspend the visa waiver program until certain entry-exit control requirements are met.

Rep. Gingrey also introduced the Parental Right to Decide Protection Act (H.R. 1153), to prohibit the use of federal funds to implement mandatory state human-papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programs. This legislation is a direct response to Texas Governor Rick Perry’s authorization for mandatory vaccination against the sexually-transmitted disease for school girls as young as ten years old—read more about Perry’s attempt to two-step around parental rights, below.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) introduced the Trade Promotion Authority Extension and Enhancement Act (H.R. 1042), to extend Trade Promotion Authority for five years and provide for its automatic renewal, unless Congress actively stops it.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Troop surge turning the tide

It gives us great pleasure to report that, one month after the commencement of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq and the enactment of a new plan to secure Baghdad, American troop deaths are down by 60 percent. Areas of the city previously controlled by militias and insurgent groups—specifically Sadr City, Al-Azamiyah and Al-Doura—are steadily coming under the control of the U.S.-Iraqi combined force.

Since the launch of the 14 February operation, the number of civilians killed in Baghdad has dropped to 265, compared with 1,440 killings from mid-January to mid-February; a drop of 82 percent. By contrast, terrorist deaths are up in Baghdad: 94 dispatched from mid-February to mid-March, up from 19 killed in the 30 days prior.

Similarly, Baghdad suffered 102 roadside bombings in the February-March period, a 37-percent decline from 163 during the January-February period. Other statistics include: 36 car bombs in February-March to 56 in January-February (down 36 percent); 109 mortar attacks in February-March to 204 in January-February (down 47 percent); ten kidnapping incidents in February-March to 98 in January-February (down 90 percent); and 22 assassination incidents in February-March to 519 in January-February for a staggering drop of 96 percent.

That’s the good news from 14 February to 14 March. This, of course, doesn’t mean that our enemy is on the verge of surrender or that we won’t see troop and civilian casualties in the future, but these numbers are very encouraging—unless you’re a Bush-hating Democrat or a headline writer for The New York Times. What, you ask, was the Gray Lady’s front-page headline for 15 March? Why, “Iraqis’ Progress Lags Behind Pace Set by Bush Plan,” of course.

Gathering of Eagles

This Saturday, 17 March, anti-war loonies will gather in the nation’s capital to protest the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. (Oddly, we don’t recall a similar protest on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.) In response, war veterans and other Patriots are planning “Gathering of Eagles” for the same day. The meeting will be at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall “[t]o stand silent guard over our nation’s memorials, in honor of our fallen, and in solidarity with our armed forces in harm’s way today.” The expectation of vandalism is certainly a valid one, considering the job Hanoi Jane Fonda’s cronies did in spray-painting the Capitol stairs in January. Peaceniks aren’t averse to vandalism or violence—as long as they can get away with it.

Cindy Sheehan and Hanoi Jane plan to lead the 17 March anti-war gathering, with Fonda presumably wearing her “Vietnam Veterans Against the War” button, despite not being a veteran… at least not for our side. Thankfully, though, she will not be unopposed.

House moves to preempt war with Iran

Rep. David Obey (D-WI) said this week: “You’ve got the legislative world, and then you have the real world.” Referring to Democrats’ plans to support the troops by bleeding them of support, Obey was attempting to explain his party’s decision to strip language from the current emergency supplemental spending bill currently before the House. The excised language would prevent any attack on Iran by U.S. forces. Apparently, Obey fears that the left wing and the far-left wing wouldn’t be able to agree on the bill’s language and appear sufficiently “unified” in their opposition to President Bush. As E.R. Beadle once observed, “Half the work that is done in the world is to make things appear what they are not.” As long as mainstream liberal Democrats are in thrall to left-wing extremists like MoveOn.Org, we can expect more such word-twisting and utter abandonment of conviction.

As usual, House Democrats have the most impeccable timing. That’s because in Iraq, the new sheriff in town, General David Petraeus, confirmed that the evidence of Iranian support of the insurgency is indisputable. We applaud General Petraeus for stating the plain truth. The Patriot has described a mere fraction of the weapons and training Iran is providing to various groups in Iraq, and the sooner Iran’s feet are held to the fire over this issue, the better.

In fact, that is about to happen, at least in a small way. The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—the U.S., Britain, China, France and Russia, plus Germany—have agreed to a new set of sanctions against Iran, which will include an embargo on Iranian arms exports and freezing assets of individuals and corporations involved with the country’s nuclear and missile programs. The draft resolution now goes before the full UNSC. Aside from our belief that such an embargo should have been in place long ago and now may do little to slow Tehran’s race to join the nuclear club, the measure is a reasonable one. Reasonable at least for the UN, where foot-dragging is a way of life.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed claims 9/11

“I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z.” Those were the words of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, long believed the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and right-hand man to jihadi leader Osama bin Laden, to a military tribunal convened at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mohammed spoke through a personal representative and the transcripts of the testimony were released this week, possibly as a precursor to military trials for KSM and other high-profile terrorists in U.S. custody.

Mohammed claimed full responsibility for planning the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC, adding in broken English, “For sure, I’m American enemies.”

Describing himself as bin Laden and al-Qa’ida’s operational commander for “all foreign operations around the world,” Mohammed claimed responsibility for a total of 31 planned and realized terrorist attacks against the U.S. and its allies. Among the plots carried out, Mohammed named the 1993 World Trade Center attack, Richard Reid’s shoe-bomb attempt in 2001 and the deadly Bali, Indonesia, nightclub bombing of 2002. Of the attacks planned but not carried out, which may or may not be exaggerations or fabrications of his own mind, Mohammed named plots to assassinate former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, an attack on the New York Stock Exchange and targets in California, Chicago and Washington State. To the surprise of many, Mohammed also claims to have beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, personally.

Comparing Osama bin Laden to George Washington, and al-Qa’ida terrorism to America’s struggle for independence, Mohammed reaffirmed what we have said from the beginning: It’s going to be a long, long war.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

’The Good Old Days’

The “Good Old Days”? Well, contrary to what the MSM would have us believe, according to Investor’s Business Daily the “Good Old Days” are now. Citing the latest Federal Reserve Board data from the fourth quarter of 2006, IBD reports that the wealth (net worth) of the average American household has leaped by a third in the last five years to roughly $487,000—$55.63 trillion overall (yes, that’s with a “t”).

To provide some perspective on that figure, IBD notes it is “roughly four times the size of our economy, and nearly a quarter bigger that the size of the entire world economy.” IBD further adds, “We’ve added as much wealth in the last decade as we did in our nation’s first 220 years.” For those members of the Leftmedia unable to connect these dots, wealth is a direct indicator of standard of living. Measured in terms of average household wealth, the standard of living existing in the U.S. today has no historical equal. This despite an uncanny lack of fiscal restraint by the federal government. Could this “fluke” of wealth be related to tax cuts or Executive trade promotion authority? Nah. Don’t be silly.

Save the environment - gas up your Hummer

Memo to the Village Glitterati who find pride and self-worth by driving hybrids: You would do better in a Hummer. Manufacturing the Toyota Prius involves a shocking amount of pollution. A plant in Ontario, dubbed the “Superstack,” mines and smelts the nickel for the Prius’ battery, each of which then travels to Europe, China, Japan and the United States. How many Prius miles would it take to offset those trips? Canadian Greenpeace energy coordinator David Martin says the vast amounts of sulfur dioxide released over northern Ontario cause acid rain, which in turn destroys plants in the area, resulting in mudslides. In fact, the surrounding environment is so damaged that NASA uses the “dead zone” for testing moon rovers.

Now for the bad news: The Prius’ EPA mileage estimates have dropped for 2008 by 25 percent due to modified standards. The hybrid now averages a puny 45-mpg—not much better than cars at half the price. The Prius also costs more to operate and has a shorter life span than a Hummer, probably the most hated of all vehicles among environmentalist wackos. The Prius has a life expectancy of only 100,000 miles, and it costs an average of $3.25 per mile to operate. By contrast, the Hummer costs $1.95 per mile for a 300,000-mile lifetime. Of course, the left rarely lets facts influence their pet causes, so don’t look for Leo DiCaprio to drive up to the next award ceremony in an H2.

The real quagmire

Looking for an appropriate substitute for the term, “quagmire”? How about “Sarbanes-Oxley,” for one? That’s the message businesses have lined up in lock-step to send the Treasury Department at meetings with Treasury big wigs this week, convened to investigate the impact of “Sarbox” and other economy-killing “business ethics” legislation.

Sarbox was a knee-jerk legislative reaction thrust upon businesses as a “quick fix” in the wake of fiascos at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, et al. Rather than fixing anything, however, this ill-contemplated legislation has become an economic weapon of mass destruction to U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly globalized market. U.S. businesses have been forced to spend billions on compliance measures—by some estimates more than $10 million apiece in Sarbox compliance alone, on average. Factor in the additional “piling-on” by collateral state and SEC regulation, and one begins to appreciate how close Congress really is to killing the goose that lays America’s golden eggs. Unfortunately, we shouldn’t look to this Treasury conference to provide any true relief. With Democrats controlling both houses, terms like “regulation relief” apply solely to laws governing abortion, sodomy and flag burning.

CULTURE

CAIR’s spin unraveling

In another instance of the rift between rhetoric and reality, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) preaches peace while rewarding terrorism. At its annual fundraising dinner in June, CAIR’s Ohio chapter honored Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam and unindicted conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center attack that killed seven and injured more than 1,000. Ironically, the theme for the fundraiser was “American Muslims: Partners for Peace & Justice.”

This should come as no surprise, since CAIR constantly refuses to condemn terrorist groups such as Hizballah and Hamas and accepts large donations from individuals and organizations closely affiliated with Arab governments. Moreover, CAIR’s co-founder, Omar Ahmed, has been quoted as stating that Islam should be the only acceptable religion in the world, and the Koran the supreme law in America.

Apparently, Wahhaj’s warning that unless America “accepts the Islamic agenda,” she will crumble like the Soviet Union meets CAIR’s definition of “peace and justice.” Yet, recent public scrutiny is drawing attention to the obvious: PR twists cannot mask blatant support for terrorism, and the rhetoric of “peace and justice” is but a thin veil behind which to hide endorsement of anti-American Islamic radicalism. It’s not the first time we have asked the question and it won’t be the last: Anyone for terrorist profiling?

Texas House bucks HPV mandate

The Texas House of Representatives sent Governor Rick Perry a decisive message this week by its 119-21 vote to nullify the governor’s mandate that schoolgirls entering sixth grade be vaccinated against HPV. Perry’s executive order requiring the STD vaccination met with harsh criticism from parents, pro-family organizations and the American College of Pediatricians, all of whom noted that the dictate infringes on the rights of parents to direct their children’s medical and moral upbringing. Moreover, many state legislators argued that Perry overstepped his authority in bypassing the legislative process.

Despite the House’s rejection, however, Perry’s office continues to push for the program, claiming that doing otherwise would endanger many girls. Although a Perry spokeswoman indicated that the governor is committed to protecting young women “while maintaining parents’ rights to opt their daughter out of receiving the vaccine,” rights trampled by the government and then magnanimously re-awarded upon request are hardly rights at all. As John Curran noted in 1790, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance…”

Gen. Pace scorned for telling truth

Our motto is Veritas vos Liberabit—“the truth will set you free.” However, it will also make some folks very angry, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff found out this week. Marine Gen. Peter Pace said in an interview, “I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts… I do not believe that the armed forces of the United States are well served by a saying through our policies that it’s OK to be immoral in any way.” Pace was lending support to the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for homosexuals in the military, which has come under renewed fire from the congressional Democrats. (Rep. Marty Meehan has introduced H.R. 1246 to repeal the policy. It has 113 co-sponsors.) Gen. Pace received withering criticism from Democrats and their accomplices in the mainstream press. The general later added that “I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views,” but laudably he has refused to retract his remarks.

Of course, the issue is becoming ever more convoluted. Discharges under the “don’t ask” policy have dropped significantly since 2001, prompting speculation that a stretched military can no longer afford to lose soldiers. Or maybe—just maybe—there are fewer light-in-the-combat-boots GIs to be discharged in the first place, which is what one might expect to see if the military’s ban on homosexuality is being faithfully enforced.

Catholic politicians should oppose same-sex ‘marriage’

Pope Benedict issued an “Apostolic Exhortation” this week saying that Roman Catholic politicians are obliged to support the Church’s position on homosexual unions, as well as abortion and euthanasia. Values to be defended include “respect for human life, its defense from conception to natural death, [and] the family built on marriage between a man and a woman…” he said. “These values are not negotiable.” Regarding enforcement, “Bishops are bound to reaffirm constantly these values as part of their responsibility to the flock entrusted to them.” Some bishops in the U.S. have already denied communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians. However, we are under no illusions that Ted Kennedy and John Kerry will change their minds.

Meanwhile, in the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the U.S., is under fire from her left flank for signing an international statement last month in Tanzania that calls for a moratorium on homosexual ordination and same-sex-union blessings. The Rev. Ruth Meyers, academic dean of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, said, “The overwhelming response I’m hearing is, ‘Wait a minute! We’re not prepared to turn back the clock’.” Ah yes. “Turning back the clock,” the favorite lefty code phrase for traditional values (in this case, scriptural teaching).

As for the brotherly spirit, New Hampshire’s homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson, declared this week, “If you want to know my homosexual agenda, it’s Jesus. I feel that this is a real extension of what I’ve been called to do in the gospels.” He went further, saying, “And I would propose to you that peoples’ coming out… being honest about who they are… is God at work.” In other words, God is at work contradicting His own revealed Word. You might not want to go there, Mr. Robinson.

And last…

John Kerry, the nuanced erstwhile presidential candidate and self-proclaimed war hero, has now published an inconvenient book on global warming. This Moment on Earth: Today’s New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future, written by Kerry and his wife, Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry, will be released on 26 March. As if Kerry himself weren’t absurd enough, he laments “Even caring about the environment has been marginalized in recent years by a calculated assault from special interests” —obviously code for “free enterprise.” Al Gore offered great praise to the book, and to “John and Teresa [who] have been long-time leaders in the battle to save the Earth’s environment.”

First Gore and now Kerry. Both lost an election to George W. Bush and took up the cause of global warming to put meaning back into life. Then again, as Ronald Reagan once quipped, “Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.”

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