The Foundation

“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. … [I]t is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable – and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!” –Patrick Henry

Upright

“A terrible thing happened to America on Sunday, March 21, 2010. The country took its biggest step ever down a road diametrically opposed to its original intent of keeping the state small so that the individual can be free and great.” –columnist Dennis Prager

“If there is anything good to say about Democrat control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, it’s that their extraordinarily brazen, heavy-handed acts have aroused a level of constitutional interest among the American people that has been dormant for far too long.” –economist Walter E. Williams

“The fact that we conservatives were able to fend off this health-care monster for so long is amazing. But the reality is, until true constitutional conservatives recapture Congress, the growth of government and the incineration of liberty will only continue apace.” –radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham

“Often the politicians who talk about health care the most believe in the Hippocratic Oath the least. Barack Obama falls into this category. He promises that his health care plan will protect the weak and vulnerable. This would be a little bit more credible if his policies weren’t already killing and exploiting them.” –columnist George Neumayr

“As America’s teetering tower of unkeepable promises grows, so does the weight of government, in taxes and mandates that limit investments and discourage job creation. America’s dynamism, and hence upward social mobility, will slow, as the economy becomes what the party of government wants it to be – increasingly dependent on government-created demand.” –columnist George Will

“On health care, [Obama’s] most alluring promises will soon be discredited, as costs, premiums and the number of uninsured (in the near term) remain high. To paraphrase Colin Powell, if you reform it, you own it, and all the discontents with the health-care system will now adhere to Democrats. A more cautious and shrewd leader would avoid making easily falsifiable representations or putting himself on the hook in this way. Not Obama. On health care, he’s immoderate in his substance, his risk-taking and his rhetoric. He’s all in, and he doesn’t care.” –National Review editor Rich Lowry

Editorial Exegesis

“Idaho requires its attorney general to sue the feds if ObamaCare passes while Virginia, the cradle of liberty, heads the line of states in front of the federal courtroom. Somewhere Patrick Henry is smiling. As the second coming of King George III seeks to impose the leftist mandate of national health insurance on the unwilling American people, the states are once again in revolt. This time they’re unwilling to be the colonies of an imperial federal government determined to spend and tax us into bankruptcy while treating the Constitution as if it were bird cage liner. Is this what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they risked being hanged by the British crown because they said we shouldn’t be taxed without representation? Well, we have representation, and they care not about the people they represent. … Not amused is Idaho, the latest state to jump into the fray last Wednesday, with Gov. C.L. ‘Butch’ Otter signing into law a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance. ‘The ivory tower folks will tell you, 'No, they’re not going anywhere,’ Otter told reporters. ‘But I’ll tell you what, you got 36 states; that’s a critical mass. That’s a constitutional mass.’ Otter shares the belief that nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is a mandate to buy health insurance or anything else. … He believes in the 10th Amendment, in states’ rights as defined in the Constitution. All powers not specifically given to the federal government belong to the states and to the people. Mandating health insurance is not one of them. Some would say these states are stepping on Superman’s cape, that federal law trumps state law. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says that’s true only when the federal law has some basis in the Constitution and is not in itself unconstitutional.” –Investor’s Business Daily

Insight

“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” –author and philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” –British statesman and political thinker Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

“The function of the true state is to impose the minimum restrictions and safeguard the maximum liberties of the people, and it never regards the person as a thing.” –German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Dezinformatsia

Chains: “As of today, it is the law of the land that every man, woman and child in America will have health care coverage.” –ABC’s Dianne Sawyer, who would have more accurately said “nearly every American will be forced to have health insurance”

Let the gloating begin: “Yes, we did. Finally, President Obama can use those words. The passage of health-care reform provided the first piece of incontestable evidence that Washington has changed. Congress is, indeed, capable of carrying through fundamental social reform. No longer will the United States be the outlier among wealthy nations in leaving so many of its citizens without basic health coverage.” –Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr.

Legacy writing: “Historians will see this health care bill as a masterfully crafted piece of legislation.” –Jonathan Chait of the New Republic

Historic bullying: “Democrats are using words like ‘historic’ to describe the sweeping overhaul that was approved, but Republicans are saying the bill does not reflect the will of most Americans.” –NBC’s Meredith Vieira (Not to mention the Constitution – no really, don’t mention it.)

Historic propaganda: “So this is incredible social transformation, but this will be put to the test in terms of whether [BO] can actually go out and campaign on this and win the argument. He may have won the vote but he hasn’t yet won the argument and the president knows that. So he’s gonna be spending yet more political capital trying to turn around public opinion.” –NBC’s David Gregory

Heaven forbid: “In many ways, President Barack Obama has run up against a Republican iron curtain in his attempts to get the country moving again. This has been painfully on display almost daily during the long health care debate when the Republicans have strived in unison to defeat Obama’s reform proposals, despite the president’s accommodating concessions.” –White House press corpse reporter Helen Thomas (What concessions?)

What’s in a name? “I just don’t believe in these ridiculous names, what’s communism and what’s socialism. People probably can’t even spell communism and socialism, much less identify it.” –Cartoon News Network commentator Roland Martin

Newspulper Headlines:

Breaking News From Genesis 1:10: “Coastal Outline Approved” –Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

So Much for the War on Drugs: “Washington Apologizes for Cocaine Use” –MLB.com

It’s Right Underneath You: “Planet With ‘Temperate’ Climate Found” –CBC.ca

Bottom Stories of the Day: “Most US Media Support Health Care Legislation” –Agence France-Presse

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

The Demo-gogues

Not what the Founders fought for: “The bill I am signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see.” –Barack Obama at the signing ceremony Tuesday

Nothing like tradition: “You will be joining those who established Medicare and Social Security and now, tonight, health care for all Americans. … This is an American proposal that honors the tradition of our country.” –House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Yes, we can … crow about socialism: “[A]t a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics. … We proved that this government – a government of the people and by the people – still works for the people.” –Barack Obama

“We didn’t give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things.” –Barack Obama (As are all thugs.)

The BIG Lie: “[T]his isn’t radical reform. But it is major reform. This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system. But it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what change looks like.” –Barack Obama

Millstone hung around the neck: “This represents another stone firmly laid at the foundation of the American Dream.” –Barack Obama

Yeah, right: “No money changed hands, of course.” –Nancy Pelosi

Uh oh: “There is nothing now that we can’t tackle.” –Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY)

It’s not a right: “This is not about health care. It’s about trying to extend a basic fundamental right to people who are less powerful.” –House Democrat Whip James Clyburn (SC)

This week’s “Alpha Jackass” Award: “Make no doubt about it. There will be no public funds for abortion.” –Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who made a grand show of being “pro-life” before voting for a bill that will almost certainly allow funding for abortions, despite Obama’s promise of an executive order to the contrary

Next up: “In the wake of health care’s passage, we have a strong case to make that [cap and trade] can be the next breakthrough legislative fight.” –Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

Village Idiots

Not exactly: “I think there’s pretty longstanding precedent on the constitutionality of this.” –White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Give it a chance: “I think what’s been going on for the better part of a year is a lot of attempts to confuse and scare Americans. … I am convinced that once people understand what’s in the bill and the fact that a lot of what they’ve been hearing has never been contemplated, has never been in the bill, that they’ll be very enthusiastic about what Congress did.” –Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Delusional: “I think they’ll be rewarded. … A ‘yes’ vote hurts Democrats much less as a party than a ‘no’ vote.” –former DNC chief Howard Dean

We blame Obama: “The hard partisanship and division that now exists [between Democrats and Republicans in DC] is unprecedented.” –Jimmy Carter, the man who until recently held the title of worst president ever

Next up: “Given how long we have been debating the need for comprehensive immigration reform, the American people want and deserve nothing less.” –Frank Sharry, executive director of the immigration group America’s Voice

Short Cuts

“Every so often, I read something written by other people that I wish I had written. For instance, Thomas Paine observed over two centuries ago: ‘To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead.’ In 21 words, Paine perfectly summed up the frustration faced by a conservative every time he attempts to debate an issue with a liberal.” –columnist Burt Prelutsky

“First: Congratulations to President Obama and the Democratic leadership. You won dirty against bipartisan opposition from both Congress and the majority of Americans. You’ve definitely polarized the country even more, and quite possibly bankrupted us, too. But hey, you won. Bubbly for everyone.” –columnist Jonah Goldberg

“Pork is the preferred legislative meat for members of Congress, but this weekend they opted for bologna as they tried to convince the public – and themselves – that their so-called ‘health care’ or health insurance ‘reform’ monstrosity will be good for us. At least Castor oil was supposed to work even though it tasted awful.” –columnist Cal Thomas

“The health-care vote reconfirms that conservative Democrats, much like the Loch Ness Monster, are widely discussed but rarely leave evidence of their existence.” –columnist Jim Geraghty

“President Obama must hit the road this week trying to sell his health care reform law. He’s working hard with his speechwriters. They’re trying to get an applause line out of telling Americans the IRS is going to fine them for not buying health insurance.” –comedian Argus Hamilton

“Do you know who will be in charge of health care? The IRS. You thought getting audited was bad? Wait until your next prostate exam.” –comedian Jay Leno