THE FOUNDATION: IMMIGRATION

“Born in other countries, yet believing you could be happy in this, our laws acknowledge, as they should do, your right to join us in society, conforming… to our established rules. That these rules shall be as equal as prudential considerations will admit, will certainly be the aim of our legislatures, general and particular.” —Thomas Jefferson

OPINION IN BRIEF

“It’s understandable that the White House and its Senate negotiating partners want to rush through the compromise immigration bill they agreed to Thursday. Supporters acknowledge that the delicately balanced legislation could collapse if a single destructive amendment is attached to it. Its sponsors admit they want to minimize the political debate. ‘We all know this issue can be caught up in extracurricular politics unless we move forward as quickly as possible,’ says Sen. John McCain, a key architect of the bill. But this is no way to debate the most sweeping change to our nation’s immigration laws in two decades—especially since the last comprehensive attempt, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, failed so spectacularly. The new bill is set to pass with much less analysis in the Senate than the 1986 law, known as Simpson-Mazzoli, had. Senators did not even receive the bill draft until midnight Saturday. After a test vote scheduled for today, Majority Leader Harry Reid is planning a final vote on the bill this Thursday, only one week after the compromise was struck. Shouldn’t senators have time to actually read the bill they’re being asked to vote on?… Why the rush? Because, to be blunt, the senators don’t trust the American people to make sound judgments on such emotional issues as family reunification and national sovereignty.” —John Fund

INSIGHT

“It is impossible to understand the history of economic thought if one does not pay attention to the fact that economics as such is a challenge to the conceit of those in power. An economist can never be a favorite of autocrats and demagogues. With them he is always the mischief-maker, and the more they are inwardly convinced that his objections are well-founded, the more they hate him.” —Ludwig von Mises

FOR THE RECORD

“This administration has a case of the slows on border enforcement. If we have border enforcement, we will be able at that point to start to regulate the internal problem that we’ve got. Because as long as you’ve got a revolving door and you have no border—and this 2,000-mile porous border, incidentally, is our biggest homeland security problem; it’s not just an immigration problem, it’s a homeland security problem—we need to build the border fence. We need to have a Border Patrol which is big enough to get the job done, and we need to be able to ask people when they want to come into America, knock on the front door, because the back door is going to be closed.” —Rep. Duncan Hunter

POLITICAL FUTURES

“A bi-partisan group of Senators has cobbled together an immigration bill which has so many moving parts, that it is almost impossible that it will survive in its current form so… RELAX! Any piece of legislation which is fronted by Ted Kennedy is suspect on its face. However, Kennedy said at his press conference that this was the best deal anyone was going to get. So, anyone who is serious about immigration ought to take a close look before they oppose it out of hand. It is in the nature of a legislative compromise that if you are a true believer—on either side—you will not see it as a compromise. You will see it as a sell-out. If you truly believe that illegal immigrants should be evicted then you will oppose this. On the other hand, if you truly believe that undocumented aliens should be fully accepted into American society, then you will oppose this. It will not be lost on anyone watching the Presidential campaigns that Senator John McCain positioned himself immediately behind Senator Kennedy during the press conference announcing the deal.” —Rich Galen

LIBERTY

“Because the Democrats are forcing an end to the struggle in Iraq, we must now prepare to fight terrorism in our homeland for the next thirty or more years. This is a war of civilizations. The Islamic terrorists worldwide want to destroy the U.S. and every other Western nation, along with moderate Muslim nations, e.g., Egypt, Jordan, etc. Our very survival as a nation is involved. Will we have the courage and will to do all that will be necessary to prevail? During the Cold War the pols in Washington were mostly united. But now the Democrats are not. There is no safety for the weak and foolish. When you seek to end a war without substantially achieving your essential goals by simply ceasing to fight, it is often a form of surrender. And that’s the way the Democrat-imposed outcome in Iraq will be understood around the world, especially by our enemies.” —Democrat former Mayor of New York City Ed Koch

ICHTHUS IMPRIMIS

“No man in the last century better illustrated Jesus’ warning that ‘All men will hate you because of me’ than the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who left this world on Tuesday. Separately, no man better illustrates my warning that it doesn’t pay to be nice to liberals. Falwell… exuded Christian love for all men, hating sin while loving sinners… For putting Christ above everything… Falwell is known as ‘controversial.’ Nothing is ever as ‘controversial’ as yammering about Scripture as if, you know, it’s the word of God or something… Despite venomous attacks and overwhelming pressure to adopt the fashionable beliefs of cafe society, Falwell never wavered an inch in acknowledging Jesus before men. Luckily, Jesus’ full sentence, quoted at the beginning of this column is: ‘All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved’.” —Ann Coulter

CULTURE

“In 2004 a few dozen members of Congress asked the Federal Communications Commission whether the government could define and regulate ‘excessively violent programming that is harmful to children’ without violating the First Amendment. Last month, after thinking about it for three years, the FCC had an answer: Sure. Go ahead… I’d say ‘CSI,’ ‘Schindler’s List’ and History Channel war documentaries are not appropriate for small children. Does that mean such programming should be banished to late-night hours, one solution the FCC proposes? If not, what use is ‘time channeling’? If so, it’s hard to see why news shows covering crime and war, or sports such as football and boxing, should be exempt. For those who worry about imitation of sanitized violence, even children’s cartoons are not appropriate for children. Should ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ be shown only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.?” —Jacob Sullum

THE GIPPER

“There seems to be an organized, well-financed lobby determined to preserve the natural habitat and comfort of every species except man. Well, it is time to remember that we are ecology, too.” —Ronald Reagan

GOVERNMENT

“But as Americans, our optimism comes not from an analysis of how things are, but from our belief that we can change what we see for the better. We have road maps—at least two of them in fact—the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—to guide us. How can we look at the world without thinking about inalienable rights, and doing everything necessary to protect our country? How can we think of fiscal policy or even health-care policy without remembering the limitations appropriately placed upon government and the importance of individual freedom? This is a message that needs to be delivered.” —Fred Thompson

RE: THE LEFT

“That people on the political Left have a certain set of opinions, just as people do in other parts of the ideological spectrum, is not surprising. What is surprising, however, is how often the opinions of those on the Left are accompanied by hostility and even hatred. Particular issues can arouse passions here and there for anyone with any political views. But, for many on the Left, indignation is not a sometime thing. It is a way of life. How often have you seen conservatives or libertarians take to the streets, shouting angry slogans? How often have conservative students on campus shouted down a visiting speaker or rioted to prevent the visitor from speaking at all? The source of the anger of liberals, ‘progressives,’ or radicals is by no means readily apparent. The targets of their anger have included people who are non-confrontational or even genial, such as Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. It is hard to think of a time when Karl Rove or Dick Cheney has even raised his voice, but they are hated like the devil incarnate. There doesn’t even have to be any identifiable individual to arouse the ire of the Left… If it is hard to find a principle behind what angers the Left, it is not equally hard to find an attitude. Their greatest anger seems to be directed at people and things that thwart or undermine the social vision of the Left, the political melodrama starring the Left as saviors of the poor, the environment, and other busybody tasks that they have taken on. It seems to be the threat to their egos that they hate. And nothing is more of a threat to their desire to run other people’s lives than the free market and its defenders.” —Thomas Sowell

SELECT READER COMMENTS

(Our servers automatically delete “Reply” messages to this e-mail. To submit or to view reader comments visit our Reader Comments page. Join the debate at The Patriot Post Blog.)

“It appears The Patriot is following the Leftmedia’s lead and ignoring Ron Paul. He did not even get a mention in Alexander’s essay, ‘The GOP—a party in distress’, last Friday. Why?” —Chesapeake, Virginia

Editor’s Reply: First, you know we always follow the “Leftmedia lead”! Second, we publish Ron Paul’s excellent arguments about domestic policy issues, but we do NOT support Paul as a presidential candidate because his isolationist foreign policy and national security positions are disastrously, appallingly and potentially, catastrophically wrong. Two of the president’s most important constitutional responsibilities pertain to foreign policy and national security, and Paul’s Libertarian views earn him an F- in those departments.

“Why should Fred Thompson’s entrance into the race catapult him ahead of Gov. Jim Gilmore?” —Hillister, Texas

Editor’s Reply: Same reason Fred Thompson polls way ahead of Jim Gilmore even before he is announced. Jim is a great candidate, but Democrats fear Fred Thompson and should.

“Where to start on the Hillary theme songs? My immediate reaction was ‘The Great Pretender,’ by the Platters. Then my thoughts wandered to Elton John’s ‘The B**ch is Back,’ The Rolling Stones’ ‘She’s So Sold.’ Electric Light Orchestra gave us ‘Evil Woman.’ Certainly, Tammy Wynette’s ‘Stand by Your Man’ deserves consideration and Patriot readers will no doubt appreciate ‘Jenny Take a Ride’ also by Mitch Ryder, recalling that a jenny is a female jackass. But my top vote goes to the King, Elvis Presley, for ‘Devil in Disguise’.” —Peru, Indiana

“I read your essay, ‘Murder in Black and White’ about the barbaric slaying of the young Knoxville couple last January and how it literally went unreported in the mainstream media. However, when reading stories similar to this one, I can’t help but feel ambivalent—part of me feels like throwing up my hands and saying, ‘Okay, here’s more evidence to help vilify the black race!’ You see, I am an African-American, born-again Christian female who believes in the Constitution (not the manipulation of it), a strong military, strong families consisting of mothers and fathers and that the current, so-called black leaders of today have done more to harm their constituents than help. There are plenty of African-Americans with similar worldviews. Regardless of how the media has handled this case, there are still two families (and many friends) whose lives have been forever changed. My prayer is that justice will prevail and that in time they will be able to exchange their ashes for beauty, their mourning for gladness and their despair for peace.”—Los Angeles, California

Editor’s Reply: In our book, you are an American, not preceded by a hyphen. Please understand that this was an indictment of the media, not a racial denunciation.