THE FOUNDATION: TRUTH

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” —John Adams

RE: THE LEFT

“Of course Bill Clinton was against the war in Iraq from the beginning. It’s proven unpopular. It would be different if the war had gone better, as it has in Afghanistan. Bill Clinton’s still for that one. There’s a phrase for someone who’ll stick with you through thick and then and in-between: A man to tie to. Bill Clinton’s the opposite. Not only does he disappear when the going gets tough, he was never with you from the first—at least to hear him tell it. With him, history is one of the plastic arts. There is no surer guide to William Jefferson Clinton’s view of the past than what is popular in the present. All of his statements supporting the war in Iraq now have become, in a Nixonian word, inoperative. Down the memory hole they go, as if they’d never been uttered… Bill Clinton tends to bet for and against any political proposition that involves taking a risk, then recall only the position that proved popular. That way, he can’t lose. Principle has nothing to do with it… But never fear, should the long light of history reveal that in the end this long, long struggle in Iraq has bolstered freedom and stability in that always-volatile part of the world, rest assured, Bill Clinton will have been for it all along.” —Paul Greenberg

FOR THE RECORD

“Life in much of Iraq has begun to return to what passes for near normal, though the war is far from over. Yet clearly the American military surge—begun earlier this year—is responsible for the changes in that embattled nation that has become Ground Zero in the global war on terrorism. The pessimists and defeatists who declared the surge doomed and said we were digging ourselves into a deeper hole have been proven wrong. The story of Iraq now is that terrorists have been killed, captured or driven out of territory retaken and cleansed by American and Iraqi forces—a coalition that has stabilized much of the country.” —Donald Lambro

POLITICAL FUTURES

“What plausible claim does Miss Hillary have to experience in managing a national economy, balancing a budget or fixing income inequality? Even on health care, according to her husband, the aspiring ‘first louse’ (he wants to be called first laddie, but I think the derivation from first spouse works better) claims that she didn’t have much to do with Hillary Care—it was his fault. Is the national media actually going to accept without even a murmur of skepticism Hillary Clinton’s claim to possess all the experience gained by her husband as president?… There is a difference between a candidate having a particular policy and having experience in managing such a policy… If she actually was managing the national economy from 1993-2000 from her perch as wife of the president, let her release White House documents showing her active participation in such management… Isn’t it time for The Washington Post to do one of its excellent deep research pieces in which they review in detail what substantive issues Hillary was deeply involved in from 1993-2000? Other than keeping an eye on Bill, let’s find out at what else she actually has experience.” —Tony Blankley

INSIGHT

“Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing.” —John Stuart Mill

FAMILY

“There is an ominous change taking place in American culture that could revolutionize our politics, making it more difficult to sustain our free-market system and our tradition of self-reliance, driving more people into government dependency. This change is the decline in marriage and traditional family life. Democrats sense an opportunity in this decline. It could boost their political prospects tremendously… Increasing turnout among these unmarried women could help cinch 2008 and other future elections for the Democrats… Unmarried women, it turned out, were more likely than respondents in general to want the President and Congress to pay attention to health care, the economy and jobs, and Social Security and Medicare. They were less likely to want the President and Congress to pay attention to terrorism and national security, illegal immigration, energy and gas prices, taxes and spending, and moral values… What unmarried women seem to want in greater proportion than the overall population is a government that will take care of them. As marriage and family decline in America, the political pressure will mount for government to expand. When government grows, freedom shrinks. Baby boom liberals may forever deny it, but freedom depends on the bonds of marriage.” —Terence Jeffrey

CULTURE

“Toni Vernelli was one of two women recently featured in a London Daily Mail story about environmentalists who take their carbon footprint very, very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that Vernelli aborted a pregnancy and, by age 27, had herself sterilized. Baby-making, she says, is ‘selfish’ and ‘all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet.’ Because Toni and her husband, Ed, are childless and vegan, they say they can justify one long-haul airplane trip per year and still remain carbon neutral. Sarah Irving is another like-minded nature-nurturer. She and fiance Mark Hudson decided on him having a vasectomy to prevent the possibility of an inconvenient life interfering with their carbon-perfect ones. Those of us who have managed to see a pregnancy through to birth recognize the irony of these tales. If we’re not saving the planet for our kids, for whom are we saving it?… Suddenly, the unborn is of no greater importance than the contents of our recycling bin. Like Weight Watchers dieters substituting carbs for sugars, we trade off future members of the human race to neutralize insults to Earth’s balance in the present. Here’s how the mental calculation goes: Let’s see, if I abort my child, maybe I can travel first-class to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali.Is this the slippery slope that pro-lifers prophesied? Once such utilitarian concerns edge out our humanity—and once human life is deemed to have no greater value than any other life form—how long before we begin tidying up other inconveniences?” —Kathleen Parker

GOD GRANTS LIBERTY

Constitutional Scholar Dr. Larry Arnn reads The Patriot Post: “Daniel Webster was right, ‘God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.’ Patriot Post readers understand that commission.”

The Patriot is written for, and primarily supported by grassroots leadership—Patriots like you who keep the flame of liberty shining bright in your communities and organizations. Our mission outreach includes thousands of military, collegiate and mission-field readers.

“The Patriot is a big part of my daily reading routine and one of my favorite sources for political and policy insights. Keep up the good work and please provide more college students with usable info to combat the relentless liberal drivel. I can’t thank you enough for all that you have provided this young Federalist.” —Durham, North Carolina

There are only 28 days left in the campaign to meet our 2007 Annual Fund budget, and we still must raise $193,421 before year’s end.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot’s 2007 Annual Fund today with a secure online donation—however large or small. Every dollar you contribute provides a free subscription for someone serving our nation, or a young person who will fill a family, community and national leadership role in the next generation!

If you prefer to support The Patriot by mail, please use our Donor Support Form.

I thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you as editor and publisher of The Patriot. On behalf of your Patriot staff and National Advisory Committee, thank you and God bless you and your family!

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!

Mark Alexander

Publisher

(The Patriot is not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization, nor do we accept any online or e-mail advertising. Our mission and operations budgets are funded by—and depend entirely upon—the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like YOU!)

LIBERTY

“There’s little question that the greatest generation provided their offspring, the baby boomer generation, with goods and services that their parents could not afford to give them. But tragically, the greatest generation did not instill in their children what their parents instilled in them, the values and customs that make for a civilized society. In previous generations, people were held responsible for their behavior. Today, society at large pays for irresponsible behavior… This failure to fully transmit value norms to subsequent generations represents another failing of the greatest generation. If there’s an American generation that can justifiably be called the greatest generation, it’s that generation responsible for the founding of our nation—men such as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington and millions of their fellow countrymen. This is the generation that threw off one form of oppression and laid the foundations for unprecedented human liberty. That is not a trivial achievement, for most often in mankind’s history, one form of oppression has been replaced with another far worse, as we’ve seen in Russia, China and Africa.” —Walter Williams

THE GIPPER

“While we must be cautious about forcing the pace of change, we must not hesitate to declare our ultimate objectives and to take concrete actions to move toward them. We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings… The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy, the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities, which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means. This is not cultural imperialism, it is providing the means for genuine self-determination and protection for diversity.” —Ronald Reagan

OPINION IN BRIEF

“This week the Republican Party of Virginia passed a new requirement for people wishing to vote in the state’s presidential primary. The new policy requires that 2008 GOP primary voters sign an oath of loyalty to the eventual GOP presidential nominee—regardless of who the nominee might be. For example, should a pro-abortion candidate win the Republican nomination, committed pro-life voters who sign this oath could face a general election scenario of either breaking their oath or violating their conscience. This bullying tactic will only drive voters away and worsen the wounds inflicted on the Virginia GOP in recent elections. The GOP competes well in elections when it embraces and advances principles and ideals—not heavy-handed tactics. If the party is concerned about attracting loyalty, it might reflect on the example of Ronald Reagan, who expanded the GOP coalition and attracted new voters by espousing and articulating his optimistic vision for America. The only loyalty oath the party might consider is one in which the candidates themselves pledge support for the values and principles in the party platform. Rejuvenating any political party begins not with a loyalty oath from voters but with renewing the party’s loyalty to its voters.” —Tony Perkins

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.)

“Regarding Kennedy’s ‘memoirs’ (as if he is sober long enough to remember anything) and Kerry’s treason, as a citizen of Massachusetts, let me just say, on behalf of my fellow Patriots in this state, we apologize.” —Lexington, Massachusetts

Editor’s Reply: What is it about winters in the Peoples’ Republic of Massachusetts that inspires a majority of voters to perpetually re-elect that quintessential inheritance-welfare liberal John “Winter Soldier” Kerry, lap-dog for their senior senator, the bloated, philandering drunkard Ted Kennedy? Maybe global warming is the only hope for this once great and proud state, the cradle of our American Revolution, to dislodge its affair with pathological leftists.

“Indeed, Kerry is unfit. I don’t have my SF-180 framed, but I do have a copy in order to talk to young people about each of the decorations it lists. Kerry is not going to produce his records, and The Patriot is on target with its assessment why—I also suspect his discharge was revised after Carter’s blanket amnesty for traitors.” —Boston, Massachusetts

Editor’s Reply: Speaking of SF-180s, one of The Patriot’s contractors is among the most decorated surviving veterans of Vietnam—after four Army Special Forces tours and almost a fifth, except the lower half of his body had to be reconstructed after stepping on a land mine. This unassuming fellow carries a copy of his SF-180 citation in his wallet so when folks ask about his wobbly gate, or all the nuts and bolts which hold him together set off security alarms, he can use his SF-180 to help explain. And he is decidedly not a member of Kerry’s fan club.

“Mark, I subscribed to The Patriot nearly six years ago and have not been without you three times/weekly since then. I could not start my days without your wonderful information on what is going on in our nation. I urge everyone I know to subscribe and they all thank me for telling them. We need more patriots in our country. We look to you to help us try to save our Sovereign Nation that is being sent down the tubes by the liberals of both parties. I gladly support The Patriot.” —McKinney, Texas