Quote of the week…

“The World Trade Center and Pentagon horrors occurred because the bin Ladens and other franchisees of Terrorist Inc., observing what has become of America and listening to the …[Leftists], became convinced that this country had grown so corrupt and so vulnerable that it could be attacked with impunity. Imagine how surprised they all must have been when the American people responded in unity and strength unprecedented here in more than half a century. Of course the ‘Hate America’ brigade hasn’t taken long to counterattack – and in the months ahead that counterattack against American resolve will grow louder and dirtier.” –Ralph de Toledano

On cross-examination…

“From Martin Luther King’s dream of an America where people are judged by the content of their character, we’ve descended to a nation where the most important thing you can say about someone is that they’re black, Hispanic, Jewish, a woman, etc. Forget personal attributes. Race alone is pertinent.” –Don Feder

Open Query…

“Will fighting the war against terrorism prevent George W. Bush from fighting for his party’s control of Congress?” –Robert Novak

The BIG lie…

“The NAACP and the ACLU were created to fight for freedom and justice in a nation dedicated to those goals. We will continue this fight now with renewed determination. Each of us has a role to play as guardians of our nation’s liberty.” –NAACP Chairman Julian Bond

News from the Swamp…

In the Executive Branch, Mr. Bush helped honor this Human Life Week’s commemorations, encouraging his pro-life supporters on the 29th anniversary of the Supremes’ Roe v. Wade decision creating out of whole cloth a supposed constitutional right to abortion. Mr. Bush noted that “unborn children should be welcomed in life and protected in law.” We at The Federalist concur, although we believe preborn citizens already are protected in law. The Declaration of Independence lists the right to life first, without distinguishing categories of “human life” among protected and unprotected individuals. The unborn are “human” (what else, pray tell, could they be, since they are composed of the identical DNA from conception to death?) and “life” (if the argument is about permissibility of killing them, then they must of necessity be alive, no?); and if the unborn were left alone, and nature took its natural course, they would soon become born citizens, and that’s all there is to that! Moreover, as scholars of the Constitution have reiterated, the 10th Amendment’s first clause certainly includes among those “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution” creation of an abortion right.

The Commoners and Lords are back in town, as Congress reconvened from the Christmas and New Year’s recess this week. Hold onto you wallets and break out those “political spin” shovels!

On the agenda for “Ought To” – sorry, we couldn’t resist that! – will be all kinds of Leftist unconstitutional big government “initiatives” (lotsa redundancies there!), such as paid prescription drug benefits, a patients’ bill of rights and agricultural subsidies. Stay tuned, and expect fireworks – with bipartisan calls for bipartisanship and declamations against partisanship being rolled out as the worst partisan weapons of all!

Two issues we suggest they really “ought to” take up: reports this week that the number of illegal immigrants in this country doubled over the past decade (including over 58,000 Middle Eastern men here illegally); and the World Trade Organization’s recent decision overturning U.S. tax laws, despite the U.S. Constitution’s assignment of the sole power to legislate U.S. laws to the Congress.

In the House of Commons, the Demos wasted no time in pouncing on the Enron bankruptcy as an excuse to revisit campaign finance reform, announcing Thursday they had collected sufficient discharge petition signatures to force a vote. “The American people deserve a full debate about how campaigns are financed,” said Massachusetts Demo-Rep. Richard Neal, who provided the last signature needed. Ironically, so-called “campaign finance reform” is about limiting “full debate.”

And in the House of Lords, a sampler of the fiery exchanges we can expect, even between Demos:

“In the United States Senate, one of the things I observed in the early days – and it’s still used – and that is that you take someone’s argument and then you misrepresent it and misstate and disagree with it. And it’s very effective. I’ve done it myself a number of times. But eventually, eventually people catch on.” –Teddy Kennedy (D-Taxachusetts) on the need to raise taxes.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this economic slowdown had begun before we passed the tax cut – and most of it hasn’t even gone into effect…Even hinting at a tax hike… is about the worst move we could make.” –Zell Miller (D-Georgia) on the need to lower taxes.

Judicial Benchmarks…

In the halls of justice on the right, the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, ruled that a high school student can sport a “Straight Pride” sweatshirt at school if he wishes. The student, 16-year-old Elliott Chambers, now has a permanent injunction prohibiting his school from the “viewpoint discrimination” of featuring inverted pink triangles (a symbol for “gay pride”) to mark “safe rooms” for homosexual students while simultaneously banning his shirt. An attorney helping on the case, Michael DePrimo of the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, said, “If schools spent more time on education and less time on indoctrination the world would be a better place.”

In the halls of injustice on the left, the Supremes handed down a 7-2 decision authorizing state governments to allow imprisoned sex offenders to be held in prison beyond the time explicitly stated in their sentence for lack of “self-control.” Justices Scalia and Thomas dissented, explaining that the vague standard doesn’t pass either the “smell test” or the “laugh test.” Hey, don’t we recall something in that dusty old Constitution about “due process”?

Court Jesters…

Little Johnnie Walker Lindh, (AKA Suleyman al-Lindh, AKA Suleyman al-Faris, AKA Abdul Hamid) the so-called “American Taliban” (oxymoron), became the newest Leftmedia cause celeb this week. National Public Radio (AKA tax dollars at play) described him as “an intelligent and curious young man” and “an inquisitive soul,” while CBS said he was “very calm, very polite…not at all the grubby renegade.” (Now you know why they call it “on the air”!) Lindh is on trial, but so is the Leftculture that produced this mutant – and the 24 hour news cycles will explore every facet of that culture.

One thing for sure – his parents must be proud! You know your kid has reached the pinnacle of his career when his lawyer has to cite the Geneva Convention when asking for visitation privileges.

Memo to the Lindh family: (Proverbs 13:24)

From the Left…

More effluent from “Most Ethical Administration” this week, as his very convenient memory prevented the former Commander-in-Chief from acknowledging the foreign policy missteps of his administration, with the Los Angeles Times reporting: “Calling terrorism the ‘dark side’ of globalization, former President Bill Clinton on Monday urged Americans to promote international security by easing the world’s disparities in wealth, technology and health care. The former president, speaking before a sold-out crowd at the Universal Amphitheatre, said that to reduce the pressures that drive the dispossessed toward terrorism, Americans must share their remarkable freedoms and extraordinary wealth.” It’s that “no fault” political deal again – never Mr. Clinton’s but usually the American people’s fault!

The Commissars…

A retired Marine Corps general was detained at Phoenix’s international airport because he attempted to carry a Medal of Honor won when he was a fighter pilot during World War II. Joseph J. Foss, 86-year-old former South Dakota governor and Friend of The Federalist, was detained for 45 minutes pending a decision on what to do with the medal and a nail file he carried. Gen. Foss said, “They just didn’t know what it was but they acted like I shouldn’t be carrying it on. I kept explaining that it was the highest medal you can receive from the military in this country, but nobody listened. I received the medal in 1943 from President Franklin Roosevelt” – for shooting down 26 enemy planes in the Pacific. If those “security” personnel had been smart, they would have sent him straight to the cockpit and let him fly the (censored by The Federalist Editor for Standards and Practices) plane!

Regarding the redistribution of your income…

From the IRS Web site: “The reasons to bring your career to the IRS keep adding up. We are where America’s growth begins, where the dollars collected support our nation’s vital programs – from powering NASA…to preserving parklands…to providing matching funds for communities across the country. In addition, you will join one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and excel among the most well-trained and dedicated workforces anywhere.” Something else “adding up” there, we’d say!

From the department of military readiness…

At Thursday’s Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld noted the need for increased spending to fund not only the war against Jihadistan but also to make up for Clinton-era neglect, saying, “There was a procurement holiday that went on far too long.” The increase in defense spending Mr. Bush will request is expected to be upwards of $48 billion, with homeland security dollars on top of that. (Friends of The Federalist in the House had estimated a boost of at least $50 billion in national security money was actually needed.) Yes, cruise missiles as Clintonista political statements got really depleted under our former national embarrassment as Commander-in-Chief!

From the states…

Tennessee’s state House redistricting plan was drafted by Democrats to unseat opponents of a proposed state income tax while keeping Democratic Party control of the chamber. But even Rep. Tommie Brown, one of the state’s ultra-Leftists, said redistricting went overboard: “I don’t believe the process has to be as unfair as it is.” Indeed – the voters sometimes awaken sufficiently to punish government abuses of power by tossing the rascals out of office! Shhh … we aren’t going to remind the Leftists of Machiavelli’s warning that princes hide such misdoings!

Out Leftcoast way, the Republican contenders for the gubernatorial mantle faced off in their first debate. The foreshortened California primary season should make interesting watching out of this trio out there – all the way to the March election, the contest will be on among the “pragmatic and experienced” Secretary of State Bill Jones in middling positions, the more-vile-Leftist-than Gray Davis, Richard Riordan, and the Reaganesque Bill Simon. We hope Right still makes might!

And perhaps we should rename the “Sunshine State” the “Put It Where The Sun Don’t Shine State”! In Recountland, Mayor John Fiore, of Wilton Manors, Florida, the city’s first homosexual mayor, is recruiting openly homosexual police officers, arguing that the police force should reflect the demographics of the city: “I’d like our police department to represent the makeup of our city. We already have minority officers and I feel that a gay police officer would certainly help truly represent the city.” The “makeup” of their city? He means a real “drag” net?

In business news…

Another major business collapse to note, but this one not getting much ink because company execs were not big campaign donors. Kmart this week filed for bankruptcy, in part, because the company’s Leftist spokesmodel and virulent (hypocritical) gun-banner Rosie O'Donnell (AKA Robustly Abominable) had driven away the retailer’s more Right-thinking customer base.

The “Dumb and Dumber” Department…

The annual Martin Luther King Day celebration in Lauderhill, Florida, had planned to present deep-voiced actor James Earl Jones with an honorary plaque, but there was a serious hitch in the proceedings, as the plaque’s inscription read: “Thank you, James Earl Ray, for keeping the dream alive.” (James Earl Ray was the assassin convicted of murdering Dr. King.) Herbert Miller, whose company goofed in making the plaque, offered this helpful explanation: “We have a lot of people who don’t speak English. Accidentally, one of the girls who doesn’t know James Earl Jones from a man on the moon accidentally typed James Earl Ray.”

Culture comment…

The Federalist alerted you two weeks ago about a questionable sculpture ostensibly intended to honor the 343 firefighters and emergency personnel murdered in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. A mock-up of the $180,000 statue, “gracing” FDNY’s Brooklyn headquarters, was clearly based on a widely published inspirational photo of firemen Billy Eisengrein, George Johnson and Dan McWilliams raising the Stars and Stripes at Ground Zero the afternoon of September 11. But the all-white trio had been deemed “not good enough” because not matching a utopian balance of “diversity” mix, and had been replaced in the artwork by a fireman threesome of one black, one Hispanic, and one white. After firefighters accused the FDNY of abandoning historical accuracy for political correctness, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta decided to rethink the plan: “‘We heard the reaction of the firefighters, and we decided to take another look at it.”

Faith Matters…

National Public Radio merits rebuke for anti-Christian bias again this week, for another set of malicious comments about the Traditional Values Coalition, the nation’s largest non-denominational church lobby. NPR’s David Kestenbaum stated, “Two of the anthrax letters were sent to Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, both Democrats. One group who had a gripe with Daschle and Leahy is the Traditional Values Coalition, which, before the attacks, had issued a press release criticizing the senators for trying to remove the phrase 'so help me God’ from the oath.” TVC’s Andrea Lafferty replied, “They can’t cite a single fact other than our press releases, and then they try to make this lame connection to the anthrax mailings. Church people may be perceived as extremists in the NPR newsroom but not in America. And NPR disconnected with America long ago.”

On the frontiers of science…

In breaking news on the scientific front, many months of experimentation have paid off, as scientist Catherine Verfaillie released results from studies at the University of Minnesota, demonstrating that adult stem cells, extracted from bone marrow, can transform into any type of human body tissue. “These may be the most important cells ever discovered,” Family Research Council concluded. Previously only stem cells from early embryos were thought to possess this ability. (The use of adult cells would spare the lives of embryos sacrificed to harvest their stem cells.)

On the frontiers of junk science…

“People tend to think of overweight and obesity as strictly a personal matter, but there is much that communities can and should do to address these problems,” proclaimed outgoing Surgeon General David Satcher, noting that obesity will soon be America’s #1 killer and implying that somehow, it is not a matter of personal responsibility. In other words, as The Federalist previously noted, using the same logic as the gun and tobacco lawsuits, fast food joints and confectioners will soon join the list of producers whose products spontaneously jump up and harm people. Quick, stock up on Ho Ho’s and lock up your Ding Dongs – the fat police are on the move!

Around the world…

Red China is bugged – we mean that literally too – as the Boeing 767 specially built and equipped in the U.S. for Maximum China Red Jiang Zemin was discovered to have been outfitted with 27 satellite-operated listening devices. The presidential aircraft, delivered last September, had not been used because the bugs were found – and shortly thereafter two senior managers of the Reds’ civil aviation office in charge of the jetliner contract were no longer found (AKA “disappeared”) and the air force officer overseeing security was in hot water. (Did someone mention that we need to reemphasize Human Intel?)

And last…

You knew this was gonna happen, didn’t you! Five Mile River Films just closed the deal for a bio-pic of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. This film company, which has produced television movies about the lives of Biblical figures including “Abraham,” “Moses,” “David,” and “Jesus,” and has company co-producer Lorenzo Minoli currently in Italy filming “Julius Caesar” for TNT, purchased screen rights to Andrew Kirtzman’s “Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City.” Hey, at least they haven’t really cut to the chase and called it “Saint Rudy” – at least not yet!