THE FOUNDATION: TRUTH

“There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily.” —George Washington

INSIGHT

“The man who knows the truth and has the opportunity to tell it, but who nonetheless refuses to, is among the most shameful of all creatures. God forbid that we should ever become so lax as that.” —Theodore Roosevelt

CULTURE

“I’ve come around to the view that the culture war can best be understood as a conflict between two different kinds of patriotism. On the one hand, there are people who believe being an American is all about dissent and change, that the American idea is inseparable from ‘progress.’ America is certainly an idea, but it is not merely an idea. It is also a nation with a culture as real as France’s or Mexico’s. That’s where the other patriots come in; they think patriotism is about preserving Americanness. Yet the strangest and most ironic aspect of our national culture is that we have an aversion to talking about a national culture. Samuel Huntington, one of the country’s premier social scientists, has become something of a pariah for constantly reminding people… that America is a nation, not just a government and a bunch of interest groups. Many liberals hear talk of national culture and shout ‘Nativist!’ first and ask questions later, if at all. They believe it is a sign of their patriotism that they hold fast to the idea that we are a ‘nation of immigrants’ —forgetting that we are also a nation of immigrants who became Americans.” —Jonah Goldberg

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 Blog.)

“’Anatomy of a BIG lie’ was well researched, excellently written and truly insightful. The Patriot is great asset for truth in America. Don’t ever quit.” —Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania

“’Adolf Hitler defined that dictum in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf, writing that a big lie must be so colossal that the public would be confident that no national leaders could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.’ When I read this statement, I was reminded of when Bill Clinton pointed at ME on national TV and said, ‘I did not have sex with that woman…’ I believed him because I didn’t think even he would be so bold as to tell such a colossal lie. Silly me. Now Mrs. Bill wants to put him back in the White House!” —Smyrna, Tennessee

“Spot on Patriots! Great job, as usual. Thank God for you guys. I recommend The Patriot to every Lefty in the ‘industry’ out here on the Left Coast.” —Los Angeles, California

“My husband, a retired Army officer and Vietnam veteran, and I were watching a report on the lead up to WWII, and we were struck by the similarity between the fascists’ grab for power by gaining complete control of all media and the Democrats’ grab for power by trying to gain complete control of all media. It was refreshing to read ’Anatomy of a BIG lie’’ —a great exposition on Socialist propaganda.” —Jonesboro, Idaho

“It was another of my favorite writers, Dennis Prager, who once said, ‘The only antidote to the Big Lie is, the Big Truth, yelled just as loud, and just as long.’ Mark Alexander and The Patriot staff are certainly leading that chorus!” —Fountain Valley, California

“As I reside in the Socialist State of Maryland I need to offer a correction on your mention that our not-so-revered governor wants to increase our state sales tax by twenty percent not just one percent (from five percent to six percent).” —Annapolis, Maryland

“I just wanted to express my profound gratitude to you for shipping 200 Shields of Strength to me at no charge. Like you, I am a Christian and very concerned about the spiritual welfare of my flight students. Virtually all of my students go to Iraq and Afghanistan. At the end of my block of instruction, I give my students the opportunity to take as many of the SOS tags as they want, with the understanding that they will either use them personally or give them to immediate family members as a way to remember who controls the outcome of battle.” —Ft. Huachuca, Arizona

LIBERTY

“A year ago, I wrote that ‘the story of the Western world since 1945 is that, invited to choose between freedom and government ‘security,’ large numbers of people vote to dump freedom—the freedom to make your own decisions about health care, education, property rights, seat belts and a ton of other stuff.’ Last week freedom took another hit. Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled her new health care plan. Unlike her old health care plan, which took longer to read than most cancers take to kill you, this one’s instant and painless—just a spoonful of government sugar to help the medicine go down. From now on, everyone in America will have to have health insurance. Hooray! And, if you don’t, it will be illegal for you to hold a job. Er, hang on, where’s that in the Constitution? It’s perfectly fine to employ legions of the undocumented from Mexico, but if you employ a fit 26-year-old American with no health insurance either you or he or both of you will be breaking the law?” —Mark Steyn

IChThUS IMPRIMIS

“[T]he gift of our Lord Jesus Christ does not depend on constitutions; it does not depend on governments; it does not depend on human laws. He was given to us, a free gift by Almighty God. And wherever we are, whatever language we speak, whatever country we are in, whatever situation of oppression we may face, we can know the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.” —Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes

THE GIPPER

“One thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee… was a nation governed by professional politicians who had a vested interest in getting reelected. They probably envisioned a fellow serving a couple of hitches and then looking… forward to getting back to the farm.” —Ronald Reagan

OPINION IN BRIEF

“When the establishment wants something it usually prevails… Indeed, not until the immigration fight of 2007 did we have such a clear-cut fight. That battle began with the establishment’s prevailing. Then at the end, Senator after Senator came aboard the anti-establishment cause. It was amazing to watch. Members of both parties changed sides… Now there is another people versus the establishment fight. There were thirty years between the Panama Canal Treaty and immigration fights. So it is nothing short of remarkable that there would be another in less than a year… I refer to the Law of the Sea Treaty (called ‘LOST’ by opponents)… Now the entire establishment is allied on one side and the people on the other. Every conservative organization, from CATO to the Family Research Council, some 75 organizations in all, is armed with knowledge and ready to fight. Most members of the establishment are lined up on the other side. All of the liberals in both parties are set to fight. It is strange indeed that President George W. Bush, who withdrew the U.S. from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and withdrew the country from the jurisdiction of the World Court, is fighting with the liberals on this issue. Reagan rejected the Treaty but now George P. Schultz, who served in the Reagan Cabinets, supports it. He is and always has been a member of the establishment. On the other hand, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. , President of the Center for Security Policy, is fighting LOST with everything he has. He, too, served in the Reagan Administration. He just released a 30-second commercial for television. Clifford Kincaid also has a 30-second commercial. Both are devastating. Talk radio? It is just gearing up, which is good because it played a crucial role in the immigration fight.” —Paul Weyrich

GOVERNMENT

“[The State Children’s Heath Insurance Program (SCHIP)] without a doubt makes it easier for illegal aliens to get taxpayer-funded healthcare. The legislation wipes away the current requirement for multiple sources of identification and requires merely a name and a Social Security number to apply for benefits. The only safeguard is a single statement that says no illegal aliens can get benefits. That’s like opening the door to the chicken coop, but saying its okay because we put up a sign that says ‘No Foxes Allowed’.” —Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)

RE: THE LEFT

“If you don’t believe in God, you have no meaning in your life, and you will thus search for meaning, and you will find it anywhere. Most people, even atheists, want religion of some kind in their life. Hello, global warming, as a substitute—apparently unrecognized and not even organized—religion. Yet it is. So you can set the stage for more people, if the atheists were to ever get their way, of establishing global warming as an unofficial religion that does force people to behave in religious ways, just to a false god: the earth, a tangible god… The global warming people essentially are atheists. You cannot believe in the God of Creation and believe manmade global warming. You just can’t. You might run around and say, ‘I don’t want to destroy God’s creation.’ God’s laughing at you. You can’t! He could, but you can’t. You can’t create it; you can’t destroy it.” —Rush Limbaugh

POLITICAL FUTURES

“[Mitt] Romney would seem the near perfect Republican candidate: articulate, handsome, able to raise funds and write his own checks. He has become sufficiently conservative on social issues where he once strayed leftward. He is the only Republican candidate unequivocally opposed to gay marriage and the only one who signed the no tax increase pledge. He is acceptable enough to non-Republicans to have been elected governor of very ‘blue’ Massachusetts and then, unlike three GOP predecessors, actually governed as a Republican. But last year I began to hear from loyal Republicans that they could never vote for Romney because of his [Mormon] religion.” —Robert Novak

FOR THE RECORD

“As over 150 heads of state and government gather[ed] at UN headquarters in New York to discuss climate change, former Vice President Al Gore, the most prominent proponent of the theory of the human-induced, catastrophic global warming, continues to refuse repeated challenges to debate the issue. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who addressed the General Assembly on climate change September 24, is but the latest global warming skeptic to receive the cold shoulder from Gore. In ads appearing in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Times, Klaus has called on Gore to face him in a one-on-one debate on the proposition: ‘Global Warming Is Not a Crisis.’ Earlier in the year, similar challenges to Gore were issued by Dennis Avery, director of the Center for Global Food Issues and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Lord Monckton of Brenchley, a former adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. All calls on the former vice president to face his critics have fallen on deaf ears.” —Bonner Cohen

THE LAST WORD

“Anyone who’s ever played a game with a small child should recognize the Democrat Party’s strategy on politicizing the War on Terror. When things go poorly for their opponent, they yell ‘You Lose!’ Whereas when things go well for their opponent, they yell ‘No Fair! You Cheated!’ Unfortunately for America, the Dems consider their real ‘opponent’ to be any American who wants to win the War, rather than, say, al-Qa’ida and other Islamist murder cults. Regardless of who it is used against though, the ‘if you’re not losing you must be cheating’ strategy is foolproof and works for any occasion. Consider the first few months of the Iraq War. Anti-war (or should I say ‘Anti-Victory’) forces promised a D-Day style bloodbath, and then hysterically touted every bathroom break on the way to Baghdad as the biggest quagmire since the Somme. ‘Ha, ha—you lose!’… Using this simple two-step method, anything and everything can be criticized without the critic ever having to commit to a single idea or stance. And it works for any situation. Iran building nukes? ‘You lose!’ Using sanctions against Iran? ‘No fair! Sanctions hurt kids!’ Well how about a military strike then? ‘No fair! No war for oil!’ Let the Europeans deal with it? ‘No fair! America must provide leadership!’ Well then, let’s go it alone? ‘No fair! That’s unilateralism!’ No matter what the result or method, you can be confident it will be declared wrong by the Dems. If you actually do anything, you’re Dem’d if you do and Dem’d if you don’t.” —Mac Johnson

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.)