THE FOUNDATION: PATRIOTISM

“Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.” —Joseph Warren

INSIGHT

“He who finds diamonds must grapple in mud and mire because diamonds are not found in polished stones. They are made.” —Henry Wilson

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.” —George Orwell

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” —General George Patton

“The country is behind you 50 percent.” —Bob Hope to U.S. troops in Vietnam

UPRIGHT

“At the outset I would like to note that this is my testimony. Although I have briefed my assessment and recommendations to my chain of command, I wrote this testimony myself. It has not been cleared by, nor shared with, anyone in the Pentagon, the White House or the Congress until it was just handed out. As a bottom line up-front, the military objectives of the surge are in large measure being met.” —General David Petraeus ++ “The only hope in this war is to win it, no matter how much frustration, or division in Iraq (and America) and no matter how long it takes. Osama bin Laden knows the alternative. And he is willing to impose it on the entire world if we fail.” —Cal Thomas ++ “What is in the enemy’s mind we cannot know for sure. What we do know—what 9/11 made brutally clear—is that we are at war. The enemy is in this till the finish. We had better be, too.” —Jeff Jacoby ++ “Agree or disagree with President Bush’s policies in Iraq; there has got to be some degree of maturity, some level of statesmanship, some—dare we say it?—amount of patriotism coming from the leadership of the Democratic party. Yeah. Right.” —Rich Galen

“When it comes to the question of protecting Americans from Islamist terrorists, the Democrats have little to say, or nothing. Democratic candidates have mentioned Islamist terrorism only briefly or, more often, not at all in their several debates. In contrast, Republican candidates in their debates have more to say on the subject. On this issue, it is the Republican candidates who are in line not only with their primary electorate but also with most voters in the general election.” —George Will

“Those familiar with the Clinton response to scandal know the process by heart. It inevitably goes something like this: first, deny any wrongdoing; then explain it as a misunderstanding or bureaucratic mistake; when it is clear there is actual wrongdoing begin to stonewall and obfuscate; then move on to simultaneously attacking anyone who brings up the scandal and dismissing the issue as old news.” —Richard Collins

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“To no one’s surprise, the character assassins haven’t waited for Gen. David Petraeus to deliver his report on the Iraqi troop ‘surge’ before starting the campaign to trash his honor and reputation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid claimed Gen. Petraeus made statements ‘over the years that have not proved to be factual,’ and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin suggested Gen. Petraeus had ‘manipulated’ statistics. The Democrats’ ideological soul mates at MoveOn.org have an advertisement scheduled to run in today’s New York Times titled: ‘General Petraeus or Gen. Betray Us?’ The MoveOn.org announcement in particular is worth keeping in mind the next time you hear lectures from the Democrats and the far left about how the Bush administration is ‘questioning our patriotism.’ …[Democrats] should stop slandering the good name of Gen. Petraeus—especially given that favorite talking point about how much they ‘support the troops’.” —The Washington Times

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Keep in mind these comments were made before Gen. Petraeus testified, as required by Congress: “We cannot take any of this administration’s assertions about Iraq at face value anymore. The fact remains, gentlemen, that the administration has sent you here today to convince the members of these two committees and the Congress that victory is at hand. With all due respect to you, I must say: I don’t buy it.” —Rep. Tom Lantos ++ “[Gen. Petraeus has] made a number of statements over the years that have not proved to be factual.” —Harry Reid ++ “The stay-the-course strategy by General Petraeus and the president to leave all troops in Iraq has been rejected by the American people…[who] are tired of this kick-the-can approach and are demanding a new direction in Iraq.” —Nancy Pelosi ++ “If in fact the circumstances on the ground are exactly what they are today in March of next year, will you recommend the continuation of somewhere between 130 to 160-thousand troops being shot at, killed and maimed everyday?” —Hillary Clinton ++ “I was against the war, I continue to be against the war, and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to bring American troops home at the earliest possible time.” —Ted Kennedy ++ “None of us should be fooled—not the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congress. We should not be fooled into this tactical success debate… There is no military solution.” —John Kerry ++ “I think the American military certainly made a difference there, but they were working in conjunction with the Sunni tribal leadership who made a determination that they needed to do something to stop al-Qa’ida, that al-Qa’ida was a bigger threat than the American presence, and so they began to cooperate with us.” —John Edwards ++ “The fact of the matter is that American lives remain in jeopardy and… if every single jihadi in the world was killed tomorrow, we’d still have a major, major war on our hands.” —Joe Biden **If every jihadi were dead, who would we be fighting? ++ “I feel the United States is engaging in an illegal occupation [of Iraq].” —Dennis al-Kucinich on Syrian TV

DEZINFORMATSIA

Give victory a chance: “Everything you said about [withdrawing some troops from] Iraq yesterday, and everything you will say, is a deception, for the purpose of this one cynical, unacceptable, brutal goal: perpetuating this war indefinitely. War today, war tomorrow, war forever!” —MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann rhetorically to President Bush ++ “General Petraeus or General Betray Us? Cooking the books for the White House General Petraeus is a military man constantly at war with the facts.” —Moveon.org advertisement in The New York Times at the cost of $65,000

Pollaganda: “[A]ccording to a new ABC News poll conducted face to face in more than 2,200 households around Iraq… responses about the surge were 100 percent negative…[N]o doubt we’re going to be hearing a starkly different assessment… by General Petraeus.” —ABC’s David Wright

Blame Bush: “[Fred Thompson] continued to insist that killing bin Laden would not end the terrorist threat, without realizing that this is true now because, by not catching bin Laden, W. allowed him to explode into an inspirational force for jihadists.” —The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd

“Kids”?: “When John Edwards talks about the ‘two Americas,’ he means the growing gulf caused by poverty, but the phrase could just as well refer to the divide between the people who do the theorizing about war and the America that does the fighting, the people who have the luxury of red-shirting their kids and the kids trying to reclaim their lives in hospital wards.” —Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift

From the Sociocrat Sycophant Files: “Did you get any sense of satisfaction, since [Larry Craig] was such a critic of yours during the impeachment thing?” —CNN’s Larry King to Bill Clinton

Newspulper Headlines: War of the Worlds: “Soldier From Venus Dies in Iraq” —Dallas Morning News

Breaking News From 99: “Almanac Calls for Hottest Year in 100” —Associated Press

The Rest of the Week Was Just a Blur: “Grandparents Remembered Sunday” —El Paso (TX) Times

News You Can Use: “Kids Smarter Than Apes—Sometimes, Anyway” —Reuters

Bottom Story of the Day: “Europeans Oppose Attack on Iran, Tire of Afghan War, Poll Says” —Bloomberg (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

VILLAGE IDIOTS

So take that!: “I am anxious to be here when Petraeus gives his report because we want him to know, and we want Congress to know, and we want the American people to know that we don’t believe the rosy picture that he’s going to be painting.” —Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code [Commie] Pink[o], an anti-war group

From the Ivory Tower: “[J]ust as Bush is Osama bin Laden’s best ally, he is also [Iranian President Mahmud] Ahmadi-Nejad’s best ally.” —MIT professor Noam Chomsky ++ “The effect of the first 9/11 was incomparably worse than the second 9/11. How come nobody talks about that? Well there is a simple reason. Because we were responsible for it.” —Noam Chomsky on the 11 September 1973 military coup against Chile’s communist President Salvadore Allende

“From my cold, dead hands”: “I don’t believe that any gun should be in the hand of a thinking, feeling, breathing human being. Americans are by nature filled with rage-slash-fear. And guns are a huge part of our culture. I know I’m crazy because I’m only supposed to say that in Europe. But violence corrupts absolutely.” —actress Jodie Foster

Can’t we all just get along?: “America could not survive without immigration… That’s the image we have to portray to the rest of the world: kind, generous, a nation of nations, touched by every nation, and we touch every nation in return… We’ve lost a bit of the image, but… we can fix the image by reflecting a welcoming attitude—and by not taking counsel of our fears and scaring ourselves to death that everybody coming in is going to blow up something. It ain’t the case.” —Colin Powell

This week’s “Village Victimitis” Award: “That’s two years in a row, man… give a black man a chance. I’m trying hard man, I have the… No. 1 record, man.” —rapper Kayne West throwing a fit over not winning an MTV award

SHORT CUTS

“It’s getting close to the point where Osama bin Laden could deliver the keynote speech at the Democrat National Convention.” —Rush Limbaugh

“The closest John Edwards ever got to a military uniform was representing Fayetteville, NC, where Ft. Bragg is located, the home of the 82nd Airborne Division.” —Rich Galen

“The placidity of the domestic front diminishes the chosen rationale of the conflict: if a ‘war on terror’ has no terror, who says there’s a war at all? That’s the argument of the left—that it’s all a racket cooked up by the Bushitlerburton fascists to impose on America a permanent national-security state in which, for dark sinister reasons of his own, Dick Cheney is free to monitor your out-of-state phone calls all day long.” —Mark Steyn

“Today, when America’s enemies speak, young liberal journalists cover their ears and go LA LA LA LA LA!” —James Taranto

“Chris Matthews opened his ‘Hardball’ program on Aug. 28 by saying Larry Craig had been ‘exposed as both a sexual deviant and a world-class hypocrite.’ Normally, using the word ‘deviant’ in reference to any form of sodomy would be a linguistic crime worse than calling someone a ‘nappy headed ho.’ Luckily, Craig is a Republican. As a backup precaution, Matthews has worked to ensure that there is virtually no audience for ‘Hardball.’ I shudder to think of the damage such a remark might have done if uttered about a non-Republican on a TV show with actual viewers.” —Ann Coulter

David Letterman: “Top Signs Your Neighbor is Hiding Osama bin Laden”: He’s turned backyard jungle gym into Taliban training camp; You call over there and someone answers, “Death to America… I mean, Yello”; There’s a large “No Infidels” sign on the front porch; In latest video, behind Osama is you mowing the lawn; Neighborhood suddenly reeks of figs and sheep; Got invited to summer block party—this years theme: “Sun, Fun and Jihad”; Mailbox now reads, “Rutherford/bin Laden”; Car in the driveway has a hilarious “Martyrdom or Bust” bumper sticker.

Jay Leno: In his latest video, Osama bin Laden urges all Americans to reject democracy and convert to Islam. Well, I can see that happening! Is this guy living in a cave? … No, bin Laden said he wants Americans to convert to Islam because there are no taxes in his world. Which is true. There’s also no music, no ice, no books… And from the looks of bin Laden, no toothpaste or deodorant either. … Newsweek has a big cover story on Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign. You learn a lot about him. For example, he used to work at NBC, so apparently he knows how to deal with disasters. … In Idaho, restroom enthusiast Senator Larry Craig, he said he will resign. He said he enjoyed being in Washington and he’ll miss his colleagues on both sides of the stall. First he’s going to resign, now he’s not going. Why can’t the guy just be straight with us? Even John Kerry’s going, “make up your mind.” … And here’s a joke that pretty much writes itself. Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey—remember he resigned from office because he had a gay affair—now he’s enrolled in a seminary school to become a priest. (You may fill in your own joke.) A former married governor who was having anonymous gay sex at truck stops now wants to become a member of the clergy. Well what could go wrong there?

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 granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)