Quote of the week…

“Can anyone seriously argue that the Daschle-Biden-Leahy-Leiberman-Kerry-Wellstone-Clinton-Waxman-Frank-Boxer-Gephardt-Rangell-Hollings-Pelosi-Toricelli-Nadler-Edwards-Levin-trial-lawyers-abortion-absolutists-public-employee-union-NAACP-Streisand-West-Wing-Jackson-Brown-Free-Mumia-suckerfish-and-solar-car-carnival is prepared to lead the defense of this country, and of the West?” –Hugh Hewitt

On cross-examination…

“Why do so many of these anti-Americans, who profess hatred of the West and reverence for the purity of an energized Islam or a fiery Palestine, enroll in Chico State or UCLA instead of madrassas in Pakistan or military academies in Iraq?” –Victor Davis Hanson

Open Query…

“The same way I can turn on my computer whenever I want and write about whatever I want, Citizens Against Hastert should be able to advertise about anything they want, whenever they want. It’s called freedom. [Leftists] appreciate it in other areas, why not when it comes to political speech?” –Rich Lowry

The BIG lie…

“We must continue the progress toward freeing ourselves from this form of discrimination. America will never be America until we do.” –Sen. Ted Kennedy, of the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts, pushing his “Employment Non-Discrimination Act” (AKA “ENDA”) to add “sexual orientation” to protected classes for government recognition and monitoring against discrimination.

News from the Swamp…

In the Executive Branch, Vice President Dick Cheney was the real target of an unwelcome edict from a federal judge Wednesday, who ordered the Department of Energy to hand over to the Natural Resources Defense Council thousands of documents related to meetings between energy industry officials and Mr. Cheney’s Energy Task Force. Declaring DoE was “woefully tardy” in complying with a Freedom of Information Act request to disgorge the documents, District Judge Gladys Kessler said, “The subject of energy policy, especially since the terrible events of Sept. 11, 2001, is of enormous concern to consumers, to environmentalists, to Congress, and to the industry,” and she gave the Energy Department until March 25 to comply.

Memo to NRDC tree-huggers: Inquiring minds want to know…how do you plan to establish a connection between the transcripts of those meetings and accounting practices at Enron?

And speaking of Enron, have you watched any of those pious hypocrites on the Hill grilling Enron executives about their “creative accounting”? Well, the Enron managers should be skewered, but need we remind you that those folks asking all the questions are presiding over the largest accounting “smoke and mirrors” disaster in the history of the nation – one which will make Enron look like tiddlywinks! That’s right, we are talking about the Social Security debacle that will begin to emerge about 2008 when all those T-Bills being held in the so-called Social Security Trust Fund need to be redeemed to make distributions to retirees. This will, in a few short years, create a $400 billion hole in the central government budget.

Elsewhere on the Hill, Sociocrats launched a new line of attack against the White House on Thursday. After months of claiming “no daylight” between their position and that of President Bush, Messrs. Daschle, Byrd and Conrad are now suggesting that the success of our war with Jihadistan is, in Daschle’s words, “very much in doubt.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, until now the chamber’s most stalwart defender against so-called campaign finance reform (AKA “incumbent protection”), declared he will not delay the bill’s passage but is ready to cut a deal on its final form. (For the early part of the week, action was delayed while the Lords debated “vote fraud reform” first.) We surely hope Sen. McConnell has not been pressured by White House political operatives to help “quiet down” the issue so that Mr. Bush can expediently sign this bad legislation he has previously opposed and knows to be unconstitutional – especially since the President is on record last year saying he will veto this travesty.

We repeat from last week our memo to Mr. Bush: Two wrongs don’t make a right … nor do they make an excuse. And they certainly don’t make a “smart” political move! Call a press conference at the National Archives, read the First Amendment to our Constitution and then ceremoniously dispose of this “Incumbent Protection Act” – as you promised you would do in January!

Judicial Benchmarks…

In the halls of justice on the right, Los Angeles Judge A. Howard Matz dismissed a suit by Left-lawyer Ramsey Clark and cohorts on behalf of the Gitmo detainees, concluding that they have no standing to sue on the Jihadis’ behalf, and – more importantly – that no American court has jurisdiction over a naval base on Cuban territory. Judge Matz said, “There is nothing in the record even suggesting that any of the Guantanamo detainees supports this petition. Not one friend, relative, diplomatic representative, fellow countryman or anyone with a direct tie to a particular detainee has authorized this petition. Common sense suggests that something is seriously awry in petitioners’ claims to be the appropriate representatives for the detainees. This conclusion is reinforced by yet another telling factor: nowhere have petitioners alleged, much less filed a declaration, that they attempted to communicate with the detainees and were prevented from doing so. Although petitioners may regard such efforts as futile and thus unnecessary, to bolster their standing as ‘next friends’ it would have been helpful if they had tried anyway.” Now, the appeal is on to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Memo to plaintive plaintiffs Clark et al.: You know your cases belong in a Cuban court!

In the halls of injustice on the left, the Supremes for the second time this year refused to consider the possibility that the First Amendment and the Ten Commandments are fully consistent with each other – this time declining to hear an appeal from Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon to review a lower court ruling prohibiting display of the Ten Commandments on the Indianapolis statehouse lawn. As Chief Justice William Rehnquist has remarked before, those would be the same Ten Commandments carved in the marble relief above the Justices’ bench.

From the Left…

Je$$e Ja¢k$on put in an appearance Thursday in New York City, offering support to union attempts to obtain severance pay for laid-off Enron workers – by joining a suit with the former employees and the AFL-CIO in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York to obtain the money for the former Enron employees.

The Commissars…

From Ms. Hillary’s “It Takes A Village” Files: A new study from the University of Washington, generalizing from research in Washington state, suggests with dismay that around half of all children under 12 years of age are cared for by extended family members and not by state-regulated child development “experts.” Study co-author Richard Brandon, director of the UW’s Human Services Policy Center, gave the game away, saying, “About 30 percent of these children are in care enough hours a week for its quality to affect their development.” And Nina Auerbach, chief executive officer of Child Care Resources, chimes in, “There’s this whole group of people out there caring for kids, and nobody is watching them, and nobody is helping them. We can’t just ignore this whole segment of care anymore.” (We guess, to the professional child care business, parents are “nobody”!)

Regarding the redistribution of your income…

“The United States has been studying ‘birth defects and other reproductive and developmental outcomes’ by cooperating with those charged with implementing China’s controversial eugenics program – which has been linked to its brutal one-child policy. On Feb. 14, 2002, two congressional researchers stumbled on a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of $1,000,000 for Peking University Health Science Center through our Centers for Disease Control. This award is part of a little known program that has been underway some 10 years. During that time, we have sent one or more of our scientists to the People’s Republic of China to study ‘the promotion of optimal birth outcomes’ at the National Center for Maternal and Infant Heath. At this time, China is the only country in the world to officially promote eugenics: the improvement of a race by controlled selective breeding. After Hitler’s attempt to create a ‘pure’ line of Germans with the Nazi death camps and euthanasia centers, the practice was roundly condemned by all civilized societies. …The Feb. 14 announcement states that this award ‘will begin on or about June 3, 2002, and will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period of up to five years.’ President Bush was right to put a hold on the $34 million slated for the United Nations Population Fund because of its involvement in China’s coercive population control program. Now, he should be urged to end our cooperation with this research program.” –Jane Chastain

From the department of military readiness…

Last week, The Federalist described the “controversy” swirling among the pressies about the Office of Strategic Information – and whether that office’s use of deception against our country’s military enemies was legitimate, and whether the deception might include targeting the media. (The uproar really only makes sense if the Leftmedia number themselves among our country’s military enemies.) This week the reaction from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: “The office has clearly been so damaged that it is pretty clear to me that it could not function effectively. So it is being closed down. …There’s lots of things that we have to do, and we will do those things. We’ll just do them in a different office. …The office is done. What do you want, blood?”

National security analyst Frank J. Gaffney Jr., observed wryly that OSI has itself been successfully targeted with disinformation: “It is a terrible shame, that one of the most effective acts of disinformation in the war on terrorism has been perpetrated for the purpose of destroying an organization that was not going to engage in disinformation, but did in fact have very important functions to perform to ensure the success of the war. As Secretary Rumsfeld has said, those are important functions. I hope that they will all be continued, and I hope that it will be done nearly as well.” Exactly so!

In better news, Mr. Rumsfeld allowed expiration of the charter of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), the 53-year-old advisory group to the Pentagon on military women. Conservative groups have recently challenged DACOWITS as a hotbed of hyper-feminist activism. A defense official explained, “We are developing a new charter that we believe will enhance the role and effectiveness of the committee, but while broadening its focus.”

From the states…

The Federalist alerted you more than a month ago to a Left Coast fact just now being recognized and reported elsewhere – that the California Republican gubernatorial contest next Tuesday would not be the cakewalk conventional wisdom predicted for RINO contender Richard Riordan, vying with “pragmatic and experienced” conservative Secretary of State Bill Jones and conservative newcomer Bill Simon. The Federalist (#02-04 Digest) wrote, “The foreshortened California primary season should make interesting watching out of this trio out there – all the way to the March election….” Recent polls indicate Simon has drawn even or ahead of Riordan in the primary’s closing days.

But savvier commentators are now drawing parallels with another California governorship race. Friend of The Federalist Lyn Nofziger was there and recounts: “Californian Republicans will decide whether they are still the party of Ronald Reagan or to all intents and purposes will become nothing more than the Democrat Lite party. …Thirty-six years ago a two-term Democrat governor named Pat Brown rooted for the conservative candidate to win the Republican primary. He got his wish and in November took a thrashing from the conservative who happened to be a ‘dumb B actor’ named Ronald Reagan. Simon is no Reagan, but should he win next Tuesday he will be in position to restore the Republican Party, which has been in great disarray in the last for years, as a conservative force in the state. A victory by Riordan will have just the opposite result. Even if he follows up by winning the governorship in November he will lead a party half of whose members will refuse to follow and that will remain torn apart going into the 2004 presidential campaign. This is going to be fun to watch.”

In the People’s Republic of Illinois, the mother of a 16-year-old was denied entrance to Hope Clinic, the Granite City abortion facility in which her daughter was having an abortion. She even requested a police escort to enter, but was informed under state law, “Parental consent is not necessary” for access to abortion “services.”

In economic news…

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, wearing his rosy-colored scenarios, waxed optimistic this week that the economy will soon pull out of the recession. We consulted our 10 favorite economists for confirmation, and got 20 different opinions.

The “Non Compos Mentis” Department…

Bill “Hubby” Clinton had some sweet sentiments this week: “Hillary gave me a little card when I ran for president in ‘92 and it’s something I’d just keep reading every time I’d get discouraged. It said: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Obviously, Madame Lewinsky was an extension of the delusion.

Court Jesters…

An attorney for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has served notice the organization intends to sue the state of New Jersey, accusing the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s deer management programs of “placing the interests of hunters, who amount to barely more than 1 percent of New Jersey’s population, above the safety of the more than 8 million New Jersey residents and countless out-of-state travelers who use the roads.” The case stems from a November accident in which two activists, driving a PETA-owned car, struck a deer on the New Jersey Turnpike. We think this is the best PETA could come up with, once their lawyers ruled out suing for “mental cruelty.”

Faith Matters…

And many people are recognizing that our children need to be reminded of that regularly! A movement is gaining steam nationwide for states to pass legislation calling for posting of our national motto “In God We Trust” in schools. (Congress declared the phrase our national motto in 1956, after having the words printed on paper currency the prior year. Coins had first borne the motto in 1864 during the Civil War.) “It’s been tested for its constitutionality in federal court. It is secular. It’s not a religious statement and it’s something we should be proud of – it’s our national motto,” affirmed Michigan state Rep. Stephen Ehardt.

Around the world…

Early results of President Bush’s jaunt to Red China have been mixed, to say the least! Communist government authorities released 47 Chinese Christians who had been seized at a prayer service during Mr. Bush’s visit, and Chinese arms control negotiators on the way to Washington are suggesting the U.S. must abandon claims that the Red Giant is violating agreements by continuing to export banned weapons of mass destruction technology to terror-sponsoring states.

In the Middle East, in the midst of continuing bloody exchanges between Palestinians and Israelis, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah this week floated a plan for Arab nations to recognize Israel and normalize international relations with their erstwhile adversary – if Israel withdraws from territory taken in the Six-Day War of 1967. Though Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has expressed “interest” in the proposal, and offered to begin direct talks with Saudi Arabia, this plan is unlikely to bear fruit. But the willingness of so-called “moderate” Arab regimes to further “moderate” toward U.S. ally Israel comes none too soon, as a Gallup poll of Muslims in nine nations indicates that twice as many hold unfavorable as favorable opinions of the U.S. Of particular note – and concern – are findings that while 67 percent considered the 9-11 attacks on the U.S. “morally unjustified,” 61 percent did not believe Arab groups were responsible for the attacks, and 15 percent actually held the terror murders of innocents “morally justified.”

In Africa, Angolan government Reds ambushed and killed longtime freedom fighter and U.S. ally Jonas Savimbi, leader of UNITA in opposing Communist and other repressive tyrannies enslaving his country. Conservative commentator Howard Phillips called Savimbi a “great Angolan patriot, truly a man who served as a loving, self-sacrificing father to those of his countrymen who shared his love of freedom and who were willing to die to escape the bonds of Portuguese colonialism and Communist tyranny.” Savimbi’s death lessens chances any time soon for true liberty for his countrymen.

And last, President Bush (41) is chastened, chagrined, and apologetic. Seems that he recently referred to the American al Qaeda fighter John Walker Lindh as “some misguided Marin County hot-tubber,” and some Marin-ated ones have objected! Noting that he received only 23% of the Marin vote in 1992, Mr. Bush responded, “Call off the dogs please. I apologize. I am chastened and will never use 'hot tub’ and ‘Marin County’ in the same sentence again.”