THE FOUNDATION: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

“War, like most other things, is a science to be acquired and perfected by diligence, by perserverance, by time, and by practice.” —Alexander Hamilton

UPRIGHT

“Listening to the messages of al-Qa’ida’s leaders, you understand that they see their old defeats in very personal and contemporary terms. They are in a ‘long war’ against us, even if we don’t know it. And they’re committed to winning it.” —former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson ++ “The hard truth is that progress in Iraq (and there has been some since the surge began) is painstakingly slow. It will require patience and grit to prevail. But to suggest that diplomacy can solve this problem now is pure fantasy.” —Mona Charen

“With the defeat of Socialist candidate Segolene Royal, the Conservatives have a unique opportunity to show France and the world that they can not only solve their economic problems, but also do something about the immigration invasion that has put their nation—and all of Europe—in jeopardy.” —Cal Thomas

“Let us suppose, just for the sake of argument, that these names [given by the ‘DC Madam’] include Karl Rove and Ted Kennedy. Are both names equally likely to be revealed? And, if only one of these names is revealed, do you have any serious doubt which one the liberal media will reveal?” —Thomas Sowell

“Sometimes politicians get things upside down. They ignore problems that are plainly staring them in the face, while they focus on dangers that are at best speculative.” —Michael Barone

“Criminalizing even the vilest hateful thoughts—as opposed to willful criminal acts—is inconsistent with a free society.” —Rep. Ron Paul

THE DEMO-GOGUES

From the Demo Presidential Sweepstakes: “We intend to force our colleagues in the Senate and House to take vote after vote until we overcome [President Bush’s] veto… We all have to work diligently to make sure we get the votes.” —Barack Obama ++ “Congress should stand its ground and not back down to him. They should send him the same bill he just vetoed, one that supports our troops, ends the war and brings them home.” —John Edwards ++ “It is time to reverse the failed policies of President Bush and to end this war as soon as possible.” —the candidate formerly known as Rodham calling for a resolution de-authorizing Operation Iraqi Freedom ++ “The administration has been almost criminally negligent on what it has done to protect the homeland.” —Joe Biden

“[The hate crimes legislation is] about human rights and about the right of everyone in America to live free from persecution and free from violence. The vote in Congress… made it clear that hate is not an American value and will protect countless Americans.” —Howard Dean

Demo Hyperbole: “At the dawn of the 21st century, the country that faced down the tyranny of fascism and communism is now called to challenge the tyranny of oil.” —Barack Obama ++ Don’t know economics: “Well, we knew this was going to happen. Prices are now back up over $3 a gallon. If we do nothing, within all to short a time they are going to be at $4 a gallon and $5 a gallon and there will be a giant hole getting bigger and bigger and bigger in every consumer’s pocket book and wallet.” —Chuck Schumer, who would “save” people money by taxing oil profits

“It won’t be easy, but it is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war.” John Edwards on global warming

VILLAGE IDIOTS

The natives are restless: “[I]f Democrats appear to capitulate to Bush—passing a bill without measures to end the war—the unity Democrats have enjoyed and Democratic leadership has so expertly built, will immediately disappear.” —MoveOn.org threatening the Demo leadership ++ “I’ll tell you who my least favorite Dem is, and it’s Hillary Clinton. She has been an unflinching supporter of George Bush’s war. She thinks she has to act like a Republican to win this election.” —professional protestor Cindy Sheehan **We can’t tell you how many times we’ve mistaken Hillary for a Republican!

From the Eco-theology files: “The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.” —John Guillebaud, co-chairman of Optimum Population Trust and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London ++ “Humans are presently acting upon this body in the same manner as an invasive virus with the result that we are eroding the ecological immune system. A virus kills its host and that is exactly what we are doing with our planet’s life support system. We are killing our host the planet Earth.” —Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ++ “It’s in part a spiritual crisis. It’s a crisis of our own self-definition—who we are. Are we creatures destined to destroy our own species? Clearly not.” —Algore on global warming ++ “By the time I was done working with [Al Gore], I was begging him to adopt me. He’s like a father figure to me, one of my heroes. He’s so charming and lovely and smart and funny.” —Hollywonk Laurie David, who produce “An Inconvenient Truth”

DEZINFORMATSIA

How much can I hate Bush?: “Why shouldn’t we be outraged? Why shouldn’t we be angry with George Bush?” —PBS’s Tavis Smiley on Iraq and hating Bush

The politics of defeat: “The Democrats want the country to know they’re pushing back against a president who appears to be stubborn enough to stick with a failed policy in Iraq even if it means taking down his party with him. The ability to form a message out of the raw material of speeches and spin will ultimately determine the course of the war and who pays the price for whatever follows.” —Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift

The weight of the world: “Tonight… we take on the question that can make otherwise competent adults quake with fear. We’ve all been there. You come to the end of the checkout line and then comes that question, ‘paper or plastic?’ For that one brief moment, we grocery buyers are made to feel like the fate of the planet hinges on our decision. Is there a correct answer?” —NBC anchorhead Brian Williams

Stuck on stupid: “Republicans are having a hard time uniting and one thing they unite around is they don’t want the Clintons back in the White House. And yet when you say, ‘What do you think about Bill Clinton back in the White House?’ they all sort of guffawed. Well, that’s a particularly Republican response.” —MSNBC’s Chris Matthews justifying his “Clinton back in the White House” question during last week’s GOP “debate”

Talk about neurotic: “France is chauvinistic—women got the vote in 1944 and compose only a small percentage of the National Assembly—but the country seems less neurotic than America about the idea of a woman as president.” —The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd

Newspulper Headlines: The French are Royal Butt Heads: “Sarkozy, Royal Butt Heads in ‘Bad-Tempered’ Debate” —Agence France-Presse

Bad News for Kim Jong Il: “Yosemite Park Group Replaces Beloved Leader” —San Francisco Chronicle

C’mon, Ohio, You Can Figure It Out!: “Hillary Stumps Ohio” —NewsMax.com

Higher Than 100%?: “Left-Handed Women Face Higher Risk of Death” —Daily Telegraph (London)

News You Can Use: “Sweet Rat Poison Is a Danger to Children” —Buffalo News ++ “Heavy Drinking May Shrink Brain Size, Accelerate Mental Decline” —Bloomberg (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“If you tuned in to the recent Republican and Democratic presidential debates, you may have had the same reaction as many viewers looking at the crowded stages: Who’s that? The Democratic debate in South Carolina featured eight candidates, while 10 crammed into the GOP debate in California last Thursday… One possibility would be to allow viewers to vote off one candidate after each debate; it seems to work well for other TV programs. But there may a better way to improve the debate system… For starters, as this process continues, debate organizers ought to think about using various tests to narrow the fields. Has a candidate demonstrated any indicia of viability or seriousness: standing in the polls, ability to raise money, trips to the state where the debate is taking place?… Yes, at this early stage, poll standing alone isn’t enough to exclude a candidate; some serious, experienced candidates are mired in the single digits, and they ought to be given their chance to catch fire. But as the process moves forward, the bar for inclusion should move higher. Another solution to a still-crowded field would be to structure the debates more usefully to assess the quality of candidates’ thinking. Would it be too much to ask for 90-second answers? Or for a format in which candidates could question each other? The best would be to give sustained attention to a single topic, or at most a few areas… It can be argued that debates will be more important than ever this election, with its compressed and nationalized primary calendar. It’s in everyone’s interest to rethink how they are conducted.” —The Washington Post

INSIGHT

“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.” —Douglas MacArthur

“An opinion, right or wrong, can never constitute a moral offense, nor be in itself a moral obligation. It may be mistaken; it may involve an absurdity, or a contradiction. It is a truth, or it is an error; it can never be a crime or a virtue.” —Francis Wright

“The higher type of man clings to virtue, the lower type of man clings to material comfort. The higher type of man cherishes justice, the lower type of man cherishes the hope of favors to be received.” —Confucius

“Politics is the best show in America. I love animals and I love politicians, and I like to watch both of ‘em play, either back home in their native state or after they’ve been captured and sent to a zoo—or Washington.” —Will Rogers

SHORT CUTS

“Queen Elizabeth took a tour of Colonial Williamsburg in a horse-drawn carriage Thursday. The restored town is an exact replica of America 300 years ago. It’s the only place in the United States where you don’t have to press two for English.” —Argus Hamilton

“The not-visibly-insane Democrats all claim they’ll get rough with the terrorists, but they can’t even face Brit Hume. In case you missed this profile in Democrat machismo, the Democratic presidential candidates are refusing to participate in a debate hosted by Fox News Channel because the hosts are ‘biased.’ But they’ll face down Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!” —Ann Coulter

“[Democrat presidential candidate] Dennis Kucinich sees himself as an astronaut, of all things. He may not look like he’s made of the right stuff, but you only have to listen to him talk for five minutes to know he’s already a space cadet.” —Burt Prelutsky

“The Washington Post reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton is trying to win the Democratic nomination by reaching out to women. After hearing this, Bill Clinton said, ‘Oh sure, when she does it, it’s OK’.” —Conan O’Brien

David Letterman: “Top Surprises in Ronald Reagan’s Personal Diary”: Sold arms to Iran, and hair dye to Mike Wallace; Warned a young Senator Gore to “Go easy on the pastries”; Never forgave Michael Jackson for stealing “The Moonwalk”; Began each morning by taking a leak in the Rose Garden—that doesn’t seem right!; In the early 80s he caught a severe case of Pac Man fever; Had many conversations with Robert Klein about how Letterman didn’t deserve a show; More than once, he tried to rub the spot off Gorbachev’s head.

Jay Leno: Hillary Clinton used three private jets in a single day in a campaign swing through South Carolina. Today she was officially named a Hollywood environmentalist. … Did you see the Republican debate? I tried to TiVo it, but my TiVo said, “Not interested.” … Ten white guys. They called it the “Thrilla in Vanilla.” It looked like a meeting of the Hair Club for Men. I think GOP stands for Grey Old and Pale. … President Bush and first lady Laura Bush hosted the queen of England at a big state dinner. I thought this was nice of President Bush—he took the time to learn a little bit of English so he could speak with her. … The Queen was welcomed with a 21-gun salute. Well, 22 if you count Cheney’s gun, which went off accidentally. … One embarrassing moment when the queen told President Bush she had been on the throne over 55 years and Bush said, “Try Metamucil.” … [Saturday was] Cinco de Mayo, which in Spanish means they outnumber us five to one. … There is a big investigation going on in Los Angeles when there was a scuffle between police and immigration protesters. At one point, police tried to disperse the crowd using pepper spray. But they realized the crowd was immune to that, so they had to switch to the much hotter jalapeno spray. Which is illegal. You can’t use the jalapeno spray.

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.)