THE FOUNDATION: IMMIGRATION

“[B]y an intermixture with our people, [immigrants], or their descendants, get assimilated to our customs, measures and laws: in a word, soon become one people.” —George Washington

UPRIGHT

“A ‘comprehensive’ plan doesn’t mean much if the government can’t accomplish one of its most basic responsibilities for its citizens—securing its borders. A nation without secure borders will not long be a sovereign nation.” —Fred Thompson ++ “When we pass a bill that gives people the impression that there are new benefits to be had in the United States… you will have a stampede for the U.S. border that will overwhelm our border forces.” —Duncan Hunter ++ “Our country is unique because it opens its arms to immigrants from everywhere and gives them the chance to become citizens. If we start allowing ethnic groups to make claims on the Treasury because of where they were born, we’ll quickly lose the unity that makes our nation work.” —Ed Feulner ++ “Today, all too many Americans feel like aliens in our own country—strangers in a strange land… They’re the second and third-generation Americans—whose ancestors came here legally, and learned our language, identified with our history and heritage, and were proud and grateful to call themselves Americans—who are now asked to press one if they wish to continue in English.” —Don Feder

“The key question for Congress is whether or not Iraq has become the primary battleground against the same radical Islamists who declared war on the U.S. in the 1990s and who have carried out a series of terrorist operations including 9/11. The answer is emphatically, ‘yes’.” —former Democrat Sen. Bob Kerrey ++ “Without much notice and even less discussion, ‘civil war’ has become the new abracadabra phrase for American foreign policy… The assumption behind this gambit is obvious: Declaring it a civil war is like blowing a whistle at the end of the game. There’s nothing left to do but pack up the equipment and go home.” —Jonah Goldberg

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“[T]he Senate [immigration] bill’s biggest flaw [is] the guest-worker program. The U.S. has so many illegal immigrants in part because there aren’t enough legal ways to enter the country. A guest-worker program is the best way to allow that legal entry, but the Senate’s version isn’t up to the task. It would make available some 400,000 ‘Y’ visas per year, and the cap would be adjusted annually based on market fluctuations. So far, so good. The problem is that these Y visas, which are good for two years and renewable up to three times, would require the worker to return home for a year in between each renewal. There’s no economic reason for creating such turnover red tape and denying employers the benefit of experienced employees. The complexity would discourage compliance, especially among workers who might decide to enter the black market (or never leave it) rather than jump through these hoops… A bipartisan immigration bill would be good for the country if it truly leads to fewer illegals while allowing the flow of workers our economy needs. The Senate bill takes us only half way there.” —The Wall Street Journal

INSIGHT

“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat.” —Queen Victoria

“We believe that human happiness requires freedom and that freedom requires limited government.” —Charles Murray

“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.” —Nicolas-Sebasstien Chamfort

“You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.” —Malcolm Forbes

“The ordinary man is passive. Within a narrow circle, home life, and perhaps the trade unions or local politics, he feels himself master of his fate. But otherwise he simply lies down and lets things happen to him.” —George Orwell

DEZINFORMATSIA

Playing softball: “What does the current administration have to answer for? How much of [global warming], in your view, is their fault?” —NBC’s Brian Williams to Bill Clinton ++ Apocalypse now: “The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warns governments have until 2012 to ‘plant the seeds of change’ and make positive moves to limit carbon emissions.” —Sky News **“[I’m] going to go out on a limb and make a prediction: By 2012, the seeds of change will remain unplanted and the world will not have ended, though it will still be doomed.” —James Taranto

Hating America: “I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists?” —Rosie O’Donnell

They fear Fred: “Certainly if Fred Thompson is their idea of a hero, they are desperate. He is not Ronald Reagan. He seems to be uninterested in the campaign. I think his first campaign pledge for something would be, ‘Will somebody get my slippers?’ I mean, he looks like a guy about to retire, not about to enter a race for President.” —MSNBC’s Chris Matthews

This week’s “Non Compos Mentis” Award: “While it’s always risky to psychoanalyze a politician from afar, a few things in his [President Bush’s] past are consistent with the capacity for denial… The tip-off for denial is perpetual optimism, a pathological certainty that things are going well.” —Newsweek’s Sharon Begley

Not making this up: “These are anxious days at the lunch table. For all you know, there may be E. coli on your spinach, salmonella in your peanut butter and melamine in your pet’s food and, because it was in the feed, in your chicken sandwich. Who’s responsible for the new fear of eating? Some blame globalization; some blame food-producing corporations; some blame the Bush administration. But I blame Milton Friedman.” —former Enron advisor Paul Krugman in The New York Times

Newspulper Headlines: The First Step Is Admitting You Have a Problem: “Nagin Demands State Provide Mental Health Services” —Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Could It Possibly Get Worse?: “Reuters Trustees Say Sale Won’t Hurt Journalism” —The New York Times

No, It’s a Different Kind of Wind: “Will We Have Gas During Hurricanes?” —WTSP-TV Web site (Tampa, FL)

News You Can Use: “Stressed Out? Blame Your Parents” —U.S. News & World Report

Bottom Story of the Day: “Nutter Wins in Democratic Primary” —Philadelphia Inquirer

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

From the RINO Department: “We all know that this [immigration] issue can be caught up in extracurricular politics unless we move forward as quickly as possible.” —John McCain, who would love to skip debate on the issue ++ Don’t take my sunshine away: “I have been around long enough to know that opportunities like this don’t come around very often. Senators from both parties are now determined to solve this crisis, secure our borders and bring millions out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America.” —Ted Kennedy, who definitely has been around long enough

From the “Buy Partisan” Files: “I hope you don’t have any earmarks in the defense appropriations bills because they are gone, and you will not get any earmarks now and forever.” —Rep. John Murtha to Rep. Mike Rogers, who had attempted to scotch a $23 million earmark Murtha put into an intelligence-spending bill ++ “Congressman Murtha has enjoys an excellent reputation in the Congress on both sides of the aisle.” —Speaker Nancy Pelosi coming to Murtha’s defense

Belly laugh of the week: “I have a great deal of respect for President Bush certainly for the office he holds, but for him as a person as well.” —Nancy Pelosi

Hot air: “Well, I think we’ve known now for many years that the world was warming at an unsustainable rate, that it’s caused by human activity, and that we have to try to turn it around… And some people debate whether we can turn it around in a way that helps, rather than hurts, the economy… But, you know, we did the Kyoto climate change treaty in the middle of my second term as President.” —Bill Clinton

Thanks for the advice: “Congress must be sure that we are prepared to withdraw our forces without any unnecessary danger.” —Hillary Clinton

VILLAGE IDIOTS

Jimmy ought to know: “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history. The overt reversal of America’s basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me.” —Jimmy Carter, who later said his comments were “maybe careless or misinterpreted” and that he “certainly was not talking personally about any president.”

From the Village Documentarian: “It’s the op-ed page. You don’t say that’s not journalism. I present my opinion, my take on things, based on indisputable facts. They could be wrong. I think they’re right.” —Michael Moore on his “style” of documentary journalism

Stick with the weather: “History will surely judge America’s decision to invade and occupy [Iraq] as a decision that was not only tragic but absurd.” —al-G’ore, in his new book, The Assault on Reason

Looking for love in all the wrong places: “[I have] fallen out of love with politics… If I do my job right, all the candidates will be talking about the climate crisis. And I’m not convinced the presidency is the highest and best role I could play.” —global warming enthusiast Al Gore ++ Be afraid—be very afraid: “I want the public to be very scared by what they see. I want them to see a very bleak future. I want them to feel disillusioned halfway through and feel hopeless.” —actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who thinks humans face extinction from global warming

For the nanny state: “It’s unfair and na ve to expect that parents on their own are going to be able to do a great job of coping with this. They need help. They need help from the government.” —Dr. Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

SHORT CUTS

“Every politician in America is opposed to amnesty—if not the concept, then at least the word. That’s why the visa starts with the letter that’s furthest away from the one ‘amnesty’ begins with.” —Mark Steyn ++ “There’s an old rule in Washington that in dealing with any tough issue, half the politicians hope that citizens don’t understand it, while the other half fear that people actually do.” —John Fund

“Sen. Hillary Clinton has been endorsed by porn star Jenna Jameson. Jameson’s exact quote was, ‘I’m endorsing Hillary so tell Bill to stop bothering me’.” —Conan O’Brien

“The next time you’re [Michael Moore] down in Cuba… you might ask them about another documentary maker. His name was Nicolas Guillen. He did something Castro didn’t like, and they put him in a mental institution for several years, giving him devastating electroshock treatments. A mental institution, Michael. Might be something you ought to think about.” —Fred Thompson ++ “Porcine propagandist Michael Moore has a new movie coming out, ‘Sicko.’ No, it’s not an autobiography but a hit piece on American health care, which extols communist Cuba’s health-care system for wealthy foreigners.” —James Taranto

“Most fair-minded readers will no doubt take me at my word when I say that a majority of Democrats in this country are out of their gourds.” —Jonah Goldberg

David Letterman: “Top Surprises in Al Gore’s New Book”: Dedicated to his “soulmate” Lindsay Lohan; 52 chapters… to match his waist size; Chastises Bill Clinton for not sharing the hot intern action; After the 2000 election, shaved his head and checked into rehab; All proceeds go to Paris Hilton’s legal defense fund; The threat that keeps him up at night? A massive Fritos shortage; Besides the Internet, also claims to have invented Keno; Brags that he has now written more books than President Bush has read.

Jay Leno: The price of gas just keeps going up. Gas is so expensive Jimmy Carter and President Bush are carpooling. … Jimmy Carter actually said that George W. Bush is the worst in history. Then Bush said that’s not true, he said that he was the worst in math and English. He actually got a C- in history. … President Bush’s approval numbers have dropped as low as 28 percent. That’s the lowest for any president since… Jimmy Carter, so he knows what he’s talking about. … Now Jimmy Carter is backtracking. He now says that his comments were “misinterpreted.” I’m sure the phrase “the worst in history” can be taken any number of ways. … This is kind of alarming. A nature watchdog group says that we have five years to fix global warming or face catastrophic consequences. Like the possibility of another Al Gore movie. … Democrats announced that they are going to have six debates in six different cities all around the country. The good news: Hillary Clinton will use a different accent for each city. … The White House and key members from both houses of Congress have come to an agreement on an immigration bill. Now people from Mexico can finally come to this country and no longer go through all that red tape. … The Associated Press says that many of the Mexican people in Mexico are against this new immigration bill. Oh, man. Let’s hope they don’t boycott coming here.

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.)