The Foundation

“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.” –James Madison

Government & Politics

Senate Health Care Bill in Time for Christmas?

Senate Democrats are pitching last-minute holiday deals in an effort to reach a vote on the massive ObamaCare plan before their new Christmas Eve voting deadline. With Congress remaining in session so late, concerned citizens surely must be worried that congressmen won’t be able to finish their shopping in time.

Even the public option is on clearance as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) signaled her willingness to see the Senate pass a bill without it. “It isn’t just about health care. It’s about a healthier America,” Pelosi cooed. However, she is well aware that anything goes once the bill is in conference committee, so don’t get your hopes up about defeating this monstrosity that easily.

The proposal to expand Medicare to people 55 and over died a quick death after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) announced he would not support the measure. Democrats angry with Lieberman’s stance accused him of flip-flopping because, back in September, he did support expanding Medicare to people between 55 and 64 who were out of work or unable to obtain coverage. His idea, however, became moot when the Senate decided to offer subsidies to the uninsured to purchase insurance.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) remains a wild card after the Senate shot down his amendment to restrict abortion funding in the bill. Nelson rejected the ensuing compromise. He certainly has other considerations, too, not the least of which is the attitude of his constituents. Nebraska is a solidly red state, and recent polling shows that only 20 percent of its citizens support ObamaCare. Nelson doesn’t appear to share the Obama administration’s sense of urgency, either. Asked during an interview whether he was concerned about his party’s self-imposed deadline, he replied, “Are you talking about this Christmas or next Christmas?”

Of course, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) needs Nelson’s support for the final package to avoid a filibuster, but any compromise he crafts to meet Nelson’s demands to reduce or eliminate taxpayer-funded abortions risks driving away other liberal votes. There are reports that, in an effort to cow Nelson, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel threatened to axe Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base – home to U.S. Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, which is charged with command-and-control of the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal and employs more than 10,000 servicemen and federal employees.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Reid is being so secretive with the bill, that only those called to Reid’s office for a chat have even seen the current bill.

Still, many Democrats are willing to swallow the HarryCare pill because they see even watered-down legislation as the giant first step toward their goal of government-run health care. There’s also a strong desire among Democrats to give the White House something, anything, to sign, so that Barack Obama can crow about it during his State of the Union address in January. Health care “reform” is, after all, his primary domestic policy initiative.

In a sense, Democrats are in too deep to pull out now. One Democrat strategist likened it to robbing a bank: “They’re in the bank, they’ve got their guns out. They can run outside with no money, or they can stick it out, go through the gunfight, and get away with the money.” Despite this Bonnie and Clyde strategy, let’s hope and pray this holiday season that at least three or four Democrats (and a handful of RINOs) realize that all of the ensuing murder and mayhem is not really worth it.

On Cross-Examination

ObamaCare is facing more unlikely opponents every day, including former DNC chief Howard Dean, a medical doctor. “You’re going to be forced to buy health insurance from a company that is going to take an average of 27 percent of your money,” Dean said, “and there is no choice about that. If you don’t buy that insurance you are going to get a fine.”

And Dean wasn’t done. “This bill I think is more likely to make the crisis worse than it is better because it’s so expensive,” he said. And as a result, he concluded, “[H]onestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill.” He even penned an op-ed in The Washington Post expounding on his opposition.

Granted, Dean wants something even more leftist than what the Senate is grinding out, but sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

This Week’s ‘Braying Jackass’ Award

Barack Obama’s teleprompter gave him a rather poor choice of words to describe the government’s efforts to hijack health care: “We just had a very productive session about the final stages of health care reform in the Senate. And from the discussions we had, it’s clear that we are on the precipice of an achievement that’s eluded Congresses and presidents for generations, an achievement that will touch the lives of nearly every American.”

That’s only too true – we are on the precipice. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “1 : a very steep or overhanging place; 2 : a hazardous situation.”

And about that precipice… Obama sat down for an interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson Wednesday, in which he warned, “If we don’t pass” this gargantuan expansion of the federal government, “the federal government will go bankrupt.” Didn’t he just tell Republicans to “stop trying to frighten the American people”? But he continued, “This actually provides us the best chance of starting to bend the cost curve on the government expenditures in Medicare and Medicaid.” Furthermore, he claimed, “[I]f we don’t do this, nobody argues with the fact that health care costs are going to consume the entire federal budget.”

So, spending $1 trillion dollars is going to keep the federal government from going bankrupt? The suspense is killing us – will someone please nominate this guy for the Nobel Prize in Economics?

The BIG Lie

Where in the Constitution is the authority to mandate that Americans buy health insurance?

“Well, I just think the Constitution charges Congress with the health and well-being of the people.” –Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)

And according to Nancy Pelosi’s staff, “nobody questions that.”

Support Liberty

“Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, ‘What should be the reward of such sacrifices?’” –Samuel Adams

We have all enjoyed the fruits of prosperity that our forefathers purchased at great sacrifice, many with their lives. With the current unprecedented assault upon Liberty, each and every one of us is called to make our own great sacrifices, now and throughout 2010. Our posterity deserve no less.

Before the year is out, we must raise $122,994. Help us honor our forefather’s sacrifices and restore Liberty for our posterity by making a secure online donation to The Patriot’s 2009 Annual Fund. If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.

Thank you and God bless!

Nate Jackson
Managing Editor

Copenhagen’s Income Redistribution

The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is about two things: Control for big government types and the redistribution of your income in a shakedown for poor countries. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jetted to Denmark to promise the latter this week, tossing the United States’ chips on the table to the tune of billions of dollars. “The U.S. is prepared to work with other countries to jointly mobilize $100 billion a year [to give to poor nations] by 2020,” she announced. Clinton did not specify the portion to be paid by American taxpayers, but she was obviously taking her cues from the Chicago mob in the White House: The bribe comes only if there is a deal reached at Copenhagen. The result would be that we would not only handicap U.S. producers, but tax them to the benefit of our competitors.

All this comes amid the backdrop of Climategate and its patently fraudulent science. Then there’s the record cold snap and snowstorm that Copenhagen has endured this week, no doubt attributable to insufficient sacrifices being placed upon the sacred altar of Mother Gaia. Either that, or Al Gore is to blame, since his presence at these global warming confabs always seems to bring record low temperatures.

Also, thousands of UN-accredited visitors were denied admittance and left out in the freezing warmth after flying all the way there, which sure didn’t help what was already a carbon footprint larger than any previous climate conference.

Despite Barack Obama’s arrival and his angry admonition that “The time for talk is over,” Investor’s Business Daily notes, “[A] draft climate accord by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, calling for a 50% cut in global emissions by 2050, has been kicked down the road till 2015 or 2016. Gee, maybe it’s not the most urgent threat facing humankind after all.”

New & Notable Legislation

The Senate passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill this week by a vote of 57-35, with three Democrats voting against the bill and three Republicans voting for it. The 1,000-page package includes spending increases for a number of government agencies including the FBI and the Veterans Health Administration. Operating budget funds in the bill amounted to $447 billion, while the balance went toward meeting the growing list of mandatory payments for entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.

The bill included more than 5,000 earmarks, which the Democrats took pride in because it was 3,000 fewer earmarks than the 2009 omnibus package. Taxpayers for Common Sense noted that 2010 is likely to see $11 billion in disclosed earmarks, which would be $4 billion less than 2009. However, the progress achieved in reducing pork spending may not be as much as it seems. For example, earmarks for the Army Corps of Engineers in 2009 were re-categorized as presidential earmarks, meaning that $2 billion in pork spending is no longer considered congressional in nature. Additionally, there is still no way to control the amount of money that is steered by lawmakers to particular projects or districts. So, the culture of favoritism that drives the wasteful spending in Washington still exists, it is just being made more, uh, “transparent.” Yeah, that’s the ticket.

The House voted 217-212 to use repaid TARP cash to “stimulate” job creation. The $154 billion package won’t go to the Senate floor until next year.

The House passed a $290 billion spending bill this week by 218-214 to keep the government running for another six weeks after it breeched the $12.1 trillion debt ceiling. The House and the Senate initially proposed slipping an amendment to raise the debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion into the $636 billion defense appropriation for 2010, which passed the House this week. The Senate will vote Saturday. The amendment would have allowed the Democrats to avoid dealing with the debt ceiling again until after the 2010 midterm elections. Ordinarily this type of move would have worked since few politicians wanted to see themselves on the wrong side of a defense-spending bill, particularly in time of war. Spending in Washington has gotten so far out of control, though, that a number of Democrats refused to support any raise in the debt limit, no matter what piece of legislation it was married to.

This Week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ Award

“A good, solid B-plus.” That’s the grade Barack Obama gives himself after 11 months in office when asked by Oprah Winfrey for her “White House Christmas Special.” Talk about grade inflation. Obama hasn’t accomplished any of his major policy goals, millions more Americans are unemployed than when he was sworn in, the economy remains shaky, and America’s allies openly wonder about our international commitments. If that’s B+ material, just imagine what an F looks like.

News From the Swamp: Bernanke Passes Senate Committee

“The Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 to confirm Fed Chairman Bernanke for a second term,” reports The Wall Street Journal. The entire Senate will vote in January. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Bernanke. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said, “I strongly disapprove of some of the past deeds of the Federal Reserve while Ben Bernanke was a member and its chairman, and I lack confidence in what little planning for the future he has articulated. I will be opposing a second term for Dr. Bernanke.” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) likewise opposed a second term, saying, “As chairman Dr. Bernanke failed to recognize and remedy the factors that paved the road to this dark and difficult recession.”

Bernanke had received some other good news this week: He was selected as Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” According to Time managing editor Richard Stengel, “The recession was the story of the year. Without Ben Bernanke … it would have been a lot worse.” As we have noted previously, however, without Bernanke, the recession might not have happened at all.

From the Leftjudiciary: Judge: ACORN Can’t be Defunded

You would be hard-pressed to find good news coming from ACORN these days – or any days, for that matter. Once word got out of ACORN’s willingness to help with illegal activities, Congress quickly passed a bill defunding the community organizers. But the good news came for ACORN when U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon tossed out the law, ruling that the organization was being punished “in the absence of any judicial, or even administrative, process adjudicating guilt.” Obviously, ACORN’s being caught on tape encouraging illegal acts such as tax evasion and child prostitution, in addition to participating in fraudulent voter registration wasn’t enough for the Clinton appointee to rule in the government’s favor.

Bill Quigley, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights (a group “committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change”), which filed the suit on ACORN’s behalf, predicted the federal government would not appeal the case, though it is asking Gershon to reconsider. Given the Justice Department’s tendency toward lax pursuit of voting law violations, such as the Black Panther voter intimidation case in Philadelphia, we don’t see them adamantly defending the will of Congress either. So it looks like your tax dollars will head to ACORN once again.

National Security

Department of Military Readiness: A Disarming Way With Nukes

A world without nukes – what’s not to love about that? That’s the message the Chosen One reiterated in Oslo last week as he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize – for what we’re not quite sure, other than wanting to do something about nuclear weapons. Citing his efforts to revise expiring nuclear agreements with Russia, His Worship went on to reaffirm his commitment to disarmament. There’s just one minor problem: We’re the only ones disarming.

For instance, in the tentative update to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 (START), the U.S. is set to cut nuclear delivery vehicles – ICBMs, bombers and subs – to 800 or less, half the current START limits. Since Russia has a current inventory of 814 vehicles, while America has 1,198, guess who “wins” the arms reduction game here? Of course the “winner” also loses in the national security game, but we digress. The drawdown in bombers hurts our non-nuclear war-fighting capability, as well. That’s because all of our nuclear-capable bomber platforms can also carry conventional munitions.

Forget about verification, too. The Gipper’s “trust but verify” axiom may be thrown under the bus in the new agreement. Russia announced its intention to end continuous monitoring at its Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, which is where our Red “friends” are building new RS-24 mobile nuclear missiles, purported by a Russian general to compose 80 percent of Russian ICBM forces by 2016. Good luck guessing how many they will actually build if that provision is accepted – but we can trust them, right?

Finally, while Russia is investing heavily in new warheads and missiles, our own nuclear arsenal continues to age, with no proposed modernization on the horizon. The White House has been silent on virtually all matters related to strategic deterrence (save July’s public kowtowing to Russian demands that the U.S. kill its plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic) to have any hope of moving forward on a revised START agreement. Notwithstanding Obama’s disarming overtures toward Russia, none of these efforts have even remotely slowed Iran’s full-court press to acquire nuclear weapons or North Korea’s equally aggressive efforts to expand its nuclear arsenal.

Nice work, Mr. Nobel-Prize-Winner. Hope we all remember what a great job you did to “earn” your Nobel if Washington or New York are one day awakened at 2 a.m. to an “unscheduled sunrise.”

Department of Military Correctness: Friendly Fire

As Christmas approaches, the Obama regime’s assault on our own warriors continues. As detailed previously, court-martial preparations continue for three U.S. Navy SEALs accused of mistreating a captured jihadi. But another case of political correctness gone wild recently came to light – that of Army Ranger 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna, who is now serving a 20-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth. Lieutenant Behenna was found guilty by a court-martial of unpremeditated murder in the shooting death of a jihadi named Ali Mansur, despite the fact that an expert prosecution witness had evidence that backed up Behenna’s claim of self defense. The expert, Dr. Herbert MacDonell, a specialist in blood stain forensics, was flown in by the Army prosecutors to testify in the case, though it appears that in order to get a conviction, the Army prosecutors did not call on Dr. MacDonell to testify because his evidence did not support their case.

Thankfully, in both cases, some spine is finally starting to show among our leaders. In Congress, 40 members led by Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) sent a letter to Army Major General Charles Cleveland, commander of Special Operation Command Central and the man who ordered the SEALs’ court-martial, calling on him to dismiss the charges and exonerate the SEALs. Scandalously, but not surprisingly, the letter was signed only by Republicans, few though there were. And in Lt. Behenna’s case, an e-mail from Dr. MacDonell explaining his testimony surfaced. A clemency hearing for Behenna is set for Jan. 7 in Arlington, Virginia. May justice be done.

Warfront With Jihadistan: Moving Gitmo Residents to Illinois

In other news, the administration continued its “Coddle a Jihadi” program, with a whole bunch of pork thrown in for Obama’s “home” state of Illinois, to boot. Obama has ordered the federal government to purchase a little-used state prison in rural Illinois, the Thomson Correctional Center about 150 miles west of Chicago, to house upwards of 100 jihadis now held at Guantanamo Bay. The facility will be turned into a prison that exceeds “supermax standards” according to a letter sent to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and signed by a gaggle of Obama’s national security team members – and we can certainly trust them.

Ignoring the fact that bringing the jihadis to America’s heartland paints a big target there and gives them constitutional protections, Illinois pols were gushing over the prospect of $1 billion and more than 3,000 jobs flowing their way. Quinn and Illinois’ senior senator, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, said, “This is an opportunity to dramatically reduce unemployment, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and breathe new economic life into this part of downstate Illinois.” What he left out was “and to spread radical Islam throughout our prison system.” Junior Senator Roland Burris, the empty suit (and head) who replaced Obama, echoed these comments, saying the new facility will be “a great economic benefit to the state by creating over 3,000 well-paying jobs and bringing in valuable federal dollars.” As for Obama, his political career began in the living room of two terrorists, so he’s perfectly comfortable bringing others home to Illinois.

What’s in Iran’s Stocking?

Evidence of Iranian work on highly complex “neutron initiators” emerged this week in a document leaked to The London Times. Neutron initiators provide a boost in free neutrons at the moment of fission, accelerating the rate of fission and helping to ensure that a weapon does not “fizzle” – achieving only a partial or even no yield. The specific element cited in the Iranian document, Uranium Deuteride (UD3), has no civil application, and Iran’s interest in it adds yet another log to the fire of suspicion that the rogue regime is pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civil nuclear power program. However, questions exist about both the document’s legitimacy and the logic of using UD3 as an initiator. Both the United States and China experimented with UD3 years ago, and found it far less than optimal for use in a weapon. Nonetheless, there is no other explanation for what Iran could be using UD3.

In related news, the head of the Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Patrick O'Reilly, proved himself one of the most prescient men alive on Monday when he announced that the next U.S. missile defense test would focus on the threat of a long-range Iranian missile, which would present a different and more difficult intercept geometry than the previous tests modeled on the North Korean threat. As if on cue, Iran fired its newest long-range missile, the 1,200-mile “Sajjil,” on Wednesday. The Sajjil is believed to be a two-stage, solid-fuel missile with sufficient range to hit Israel or southern Europe from launch sites deep inside Iran. In addition, Iran’s apparent mastery of missile staging means that an even longer-range missile is almost certainly within their grasp. Neither the Polish nor Czech governments could be reached for comment…

Business & Economy

Regulatory Commissars: Biting the Hand That Feeds

With soaring double-digit unemployment as the nation heads into an election year, the Obama administration determined that this is a good time to find a scapegoat for its continuing economic ineptitude. Barack Obama blamed the banking industry for making the bad loans demanded by liberal interest groups and for making loans the White House disfavors. “I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street,” Obama lectured. “America went through the worst economic year that it’s gone through in – in decades, and you guys caused the problem.”

He then went on to demand that they repeat one of the things that caused the economic crisis: Loosen lending.

Of course, they already are loaning money, but those running large banks are not economically stupid. They are borrowing (printed) money from the Federal Reserve Bank at effectively zero percent and then loaning that money to the federal government at 3 percent or better.

Meanwhile, proving that the left hand is unaware of what the right hand is doing, the federal government is actively de-collateralizing banks by artificially forcing them to reduce the value of solvent small-business loans, which obliges banks to stop lending until the government ceases destabilizing the lending market. Predictably, the flow of loans is being choked off because banks are forced to rely upon other, riskier loans. The Obama solution? Oratorical finger-wagging and intoning about social responsibilities.

Democrats’ fiscal follies extend beyond the lending realm with a congressional proposal to dramatically expand the mandate of the Federal Trade Commission. Democrats want the FTC to be able to directly litigate against and fine companies that are first-time offenders as well as enabling the agency to cobble together burdensome new rules without having to defend against inconvenient challenges by the regulated companies. Missing from the proposed new expansion is any suggestion that the FTC can be effective in regulating disparate industries with which it lacks any prior expertise, making the proposal appear more like a hammer than a scalpel. Unfortunately, when the only tool regulators have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

While the path to growing the economy remains an enigma to Obama and his fellow leftists, the solution is becoming crystal clear to everyone else: Jobs will be created only when Obama and liberal politicians lose theirs.

Tax Cut Trickery

Those of you who thought you were living large because Barack Obama gave you a small tax break every week (dubbed the “Making Work Pay” tax cut) might have to think again once you file 2009 taxes next April. While the 2009 tax tables show a small reduction, the IRS notes that married couples with two incomes and those who work multiple jobs may be having too little money withheld – leading to a smaller refund next spring, or, in some cases, people who calculated their withholding to break even will find themselves owing Uncle Sam. Let’s hope that they won’t have a nice little underpayment penalty to tack on.

Moreover, the Making Work Pay tax cut of $400 ($800 for couples) would also be reduced to those who receive the promised $250 additional benefit for Social Security recipients. Instead of taxing additional Social Security benefits seniors didn’t get because there was no cost-of-living increase this year, their taxable benefits are reduced. As always, the federal government figures out a way to win. It’s what happens when the politicians think it’s their money.

Government Employees Owe $3 Billion in Taxes

In the grand scheme of Washington finance, $3 billion is chump change. But over 276,000 federal workers and retirees collectively owed that much to the federal treasury in 2008. Among those were almost 700 congressional employees and retirees, who owed almost $7 million, and 50 Executive Office of the President current and former employees who owed just over $800,000.

As a whole, the IRS compliance rate for federal employees and retirees is 97.2 percent. We don’t know how that compares to the population at-large because the IRS stopped tracking that information several years ago, but a conservative estimate of the overall amount owed is $300 billion.

However, the IRS is cracking down in other areas. Among the compliance measures put in place this year, the IRS convinced Swiss authorities to reveal the identities of thousands who held secret bank accounts in that country to allegedly skirt tax laws. They also offered an amnesty period for foreign account holders, the Offshore Settlement Initiative Program, to allow account holders to come clean.

It’s worth noting, though, that the missing revenue represents 2008 numbers and doesn’t account for the number of tax cheats and miscreants President Obama has appointed to various offices. Look for that $3 billion total to skyrocket once the 2009 numbers are released.

Culture & Policy

Climate Change This Week: Facts Are Stubborn Things

The ice in the Arctic isn’t melting nearly as fast as the hype surrounding the theory of anthropogenic global warming. After years of predicting the end of the world while simultaneously touting themselves as its saviors, the envirofascists are now getting caught in their lies and even turning on each other as the truth comes to light.

According to its wonderfully entitled article, “Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his North Pole sums don’t add up,” the UK Times reported that Al Gore told his Copenhagen audience that “the latest research” predicts the Arctic ice will melt within five years. Dr. Mallowski, upon whose work Gore based his claim, wasted no time in correcting the wayward former vice-president, stating that Gore had used old numbers tossed about in conversation several years ago. Several other scientists chimed in, adding that they consider Mallowski’s numbers, even if quoted accurately, to be “extreme.”

Envirofascists are also falling flat on their faces closer to home. At a recent convening of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, two of President Obama’s top polar bears proved that the climate science is far from settled. John Holdren, the pretentiously titled Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the Office of Science and Technology (a.k.a. the “Science Czar”), told the committee that global temperatures could cause ocean levels to rise by six or more feet by the end of the century. Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, however, told the committee that sea levels could rise by 3.5 feet. Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) was quick to point out both the discrepancy and the folly of acting on conflicting figures arrived at by so-called experts batting for the same team.

But the debate is far from over. As snow falls during the first weeks of the Australian summer, the World Meteorological Organization is predicting that 2010 is going to be the hottest for the world – ever. That’s the great thing about this debate … there’s always more speculation to keep the argument going.

Around the Nation: DC Council Passes Same-Sex Marriage

Same-sex marriage became legal in the nation’s capital Tuesday after the city council approved it 11-2. Former Mayor Marion Barry – now a council member – voted against the measure. (If that corrupt crack addict’s vote was on moral grounds, the irony is immeasurable.)

In the ongoing battle over same-sex marriage, the vote was even more significant considering the recent decisions in Maine, New York and New Jersey – three states which usually fall in the blue column. In Maine, voters said no to same sex nuptials; in New York, the legislature, despite vigorous pressure from Gov. David Patterson, shot the measure down; in New Jersey, the legislature postponed the vote when it became clear that it would not pass. As is often the case – as demonstrated again in DC – same-sex marriage is usually legalized only when a very small group of liberals are making the decision.

The DC vote, however, is not official yet. Congress has final say over the District’s laws, so conceivably it could reject this bill within 30 working days from when Mayor Adrian Fenty signs it. But this is a power that Congress rarely exercises, and it is even less likely to given Washington’s current political makeup.

Village Academic Curriculum: ‘People’ Propaganda

Goodbye reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. Hello, globalism, wealth redistribution and ecological indoctrination. “A People’s History of the United States,” Howard Zinn’s radical history “textbook” – in which truth is optional, patriotism is disallowed and social justice is worshipped – is now a full-fledged re-educational crusade. In comradeship with two social justice organizations, Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change, Zinn has set out to infiltrate schools with his self-described “biased account” of history that seeks not to educate but to catalyze “change.”

Parroting this ideology, Teaching for Change wants your kids to “become active global citizens,” while Rethinking Schools disregards academics and opts instead for “social justice and ecological teaching.” And on being “American”? Rethinking Schools would prefer your little globalist “reach beyond this chauvinism” and instead feel “empathy” for our enemies, terrorists included.

Hollywood Leftists, including Danny Glover, Marisa Tomei, Matt Damon and Bruce Springsteen, are in on the act, too, teaming with Zinn to create “The People Speak,” a crockumentary based on Zinn’s book. “The People Speak” aired last week on The History Channel and no doubt will be a classroom supplement to “A People’s History.”

Lest you think your school immune to this socialist propaganda, consider Zinn’s textbook sells more than 100,000 copies per year. That’s 100,000 little globalists who, as Michelle Malkin observes, “will continue to come in dead last in international testing … [but] will have heavier guilt, wider social consciences and more hatred for America than any other students in the world.”

Faith and Family: Merry Ramadan

“Allah is God, we recall at dawn, Praying 'til night during Ramadan….” No, this isn’t the prayer from your local mosque. It’s what second-graders at Lantern Road Elementary School in Fishers, Indiana, were taught to sing for the school’s holiday program, which touched on Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas and Kwanzaa. Although the program supposedly was designed to teach “inclusiveness,” according to FOX News Radio’s Todd Starnes, Allah was the only god mentioned.

And while Allah’s deity was proclaimed with confidence – “Allah is God” – students were taught to wonder if there really was a Baby Jesus: “I didn’t know there was a little boy at the manger. What child is this? I’m not sure if there was a little boy or not….”

After public protests, the school nixed the Allah reference, but not before demonstrating the truth that politically correct “inclusiveness” means affirming, validating and endorsing all religions – save the ones whose values built our nation.

And Last…

As Mark Alexander noted Thursday, “The great news is that since last November, millions of Americans have joined our ranks.” Many on our staff certainly have been doing their part in recent years – and this Christmas season is no exception. Our IT Director and architect of the latest, greatest Patriot Post Web site, Jonathan Connor and wife Audra recently welcomed Kellyn Grace into the world. As we close this last Digest of 2009, we thought it fitting to greet her and extend to this newest member of our Patriot family the legacy of liberty.