GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Campaign watch: Democrat chaos

After Tuesday’s near-knockout blow in the North Carolina primary, Barack Obama looks to be in position to secure the Democrat nomination. His 15-point win in the Tar Heel State, despite the popular governor’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton, has convinced most voters that the former First Lady is finished. The exception, of course, is Hillary, who vowed to keep fighting. “I’m staying in this race until there’s a nominee and obviously I am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee,” she declared.

Even former presidential candidate George McGovern, who was on the wrong end of a landslide in 1972, is telling Clinton to get out. And McGovern knows a loser when he sees one. The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto quipped, “For 36 years [McGovern] has been known as the guy who lost 49 states, and that’s got to grate. For 24 years he has been known as the first guy who lost 49 states. George McGovern is 85 years old. He won’t get many more chances to see someone lose 50 states.” Undeterred, Clinton remains ambitious, even lending her campaign $6.4 million over the last month.

With Clinton’s prospects for winning the top of the Democrat ticket fading rapidly (unless her campaign still has a bombshell yet to be detonated) will she consider an Obama-Clinton ticket? Former Clintonista turned ABC correspondent George Stephanopoulos reports, “This is what some people close to the Clintons are talking about: Is there a way to negotiate a settlement with Barack Obama to have Senator Clinton on the ticket? I mean, first of all, would Senator Obama go for it? Can he get over the bitterness of this campaign? Can he be convinced that it’s the strongest ticket? Third, of course, would Senator Clinton take it? I think if it was offered in the right way, yes.”

Of course, some analysts suggest that Clinton is riding this one to the finish line in order to weaken Obama’s chances for victory, opening the door for another Clinton campaign in 2012. After November, she can claim, “I told you so.” However, we believe that moderate Democrats are lamenting the fact that the party has hitched its wagon to Obama, but realize that if the Democrat National Committee takes action to derail his campaign, the party would implode. So, expect his campaign to declare victory on 20 May.

We conclude that the Demo elite are prepared to sacrifice the presidency knowing that their majorities in the House and Senate will still carry water for their numerous constituencies. But given Obama’s mesmerizing effect on the proletariat, though he may be down, he is certainly not out. The $64,000 question remains, is there still a majority of American voters who can discern a charlatan from a statesman?

For his part, the charlatan is aggressively recasting himself as the middle-of-the-road, regular guy who can unite the party and the country. “Security and opportunity; compassion and prosperity aren’t liberal values or conservative values,” he preached Tuesday night, “They’re American values.” He continued by turning his attention to his general-election opponent: “[W]hile I honor John McCain’s service to his country, his ideas for America are out of touch with these values.” We beg to differ. It is Obama’s elitist, leftist and ultimately Marxist ideas that are out of touch with American values.

This week’s ‘Braying Jackass’ awards

“Senator Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans is weakening again…[W]hites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me… I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on.” —Hillary Clinton

“We cannot win with eggheads and African-Americans.” —Clintonista Paul Begala

“I’ve drunk more beers with Joe six-pack, Jane six-pack and everybody else than most white Democrats… Stop the division, stop trying to split us into these groups.” —Donna Brazile to Begala

But remember, Republicans are the divisive party.

Demos chisel away at safe Republican seats

A special congressional election in Louisiana last week ended in defeat for Republican candidate Woody Jenkins. Flush with cash and support from the RNC, the Club for Growth and Freedom’s Watch, Jenkins still managed to lose by three points to Democrat Don Cazayoux. The district voted 59 percent for George W. Bush in 2004 and was considered a solid Republican district, much like former Speaker Dennis Hastert’s old seat in Illinois that went to a Democrat in March. Democrat Caucus chairman Rahm Emanuel’s strategy of recruiting culturally conservative candidates with moderate voting records seems to be working well. However, it is worth noting that Jenkins was widely considered to be one of the worst candidates the GOP could have put up, having lost four races in the last 25 years. Republicans believe they will be able to reclaim the seat in the fall, but Newt Gingrich (for one) warned that the GOP could be headed for disaster if they don’t start recruiting solid candidates.

Money is also an issue. The National Republican Campaign Committee is reportedly short on cash, and NRCC chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma accused colleagues of not doing enough to raise funds and campaign for one another. Gingrich wrote that the GOP needs to fix its messaging and not rely on an anti-Obama or anti-Clinton campaign in the fall. He wrote, “This model has already been tested with disastrous results.”

Judicial Benchmarks: What kind of judges…?

This week, Republican presidential nominee John McCain chastised his likely opponent, Barack Obama, on his decision to go “right along with the partisan crowd” in voting against two superbly qualified Supreme Court nominees who were constitutional adherents, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. “[T]he duties and boundaries of the Constitution are not just a set of helpful suggestions. They are not just guidelines to be observed when it’s convenient and loosely interpreted when it isn’t,” said McCain, who has vowed to nominate constitutional constructionists. “In federal and state courts… there are still men and women who understand the proper role of our judiciary, and I intend to find them and promote them… My nominees will understand that there are clear limits to the scope of judicial power.”

On the other hand, if Obama’s past Senate voting record wasn’t incriminating enough, he recently gave some revealing, and disturbing, insight into how his nominees would be chosen: “We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old—and that’s the criteria [sic] by which I’ll be selecting my judges.” An Obama presidency led by empathy rather than by constitutional dictates would certainly be in keeping with his pledge to bring “real change” to Washington. Uh, you can keep the change, Barack.

This week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ award

“Mr. McCain predictably criticized liberal judges, vowed strict adherence to the Founders’ views and promised to appoint more judges in the mold of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. That is just what the country does not need.” —New York Times editorial

New & notable legislation

House Democrats plan to push through a $195-billion war-supplemental bill, bypassing the typical House Appropriations Committee process and preventing House Republicans from any amendments to the proposed legislation. The plan has the bill divided into three sections for the Democrats’ priorities—posturing and pandering to the Leftist anti-war base, sending pork back home to congressional district faves and only then actually getting the money to the troops. For example, the bill includes $11 billion for extending unemployment benefits. The idea is to allow House Democrats to vote on a date certain for retreat and defeat, which Senate Democrats have agreed to strip out of the bill, while leaving intact the war funding complete with larded-up domestic earmarks. President Bush plans to veto the bill if it costs more than he requested.

The House passed legislation Thursday aimed at “rescuing” homeowners from foreclosure by enabling them to swap their unaffordable mortgages for ones backed by the federal government (read: taxpayers). Thirty-nine Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the bill. And the GOP wonders why it receives so little funding…

Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced legislation (H.R. 5911) to curb government incentives for ethanol production, noting that tax credits for corn farmers and protective tariffs have created an artificial demand for the popular biofuel. As we reported last week, 25 percent of this year’s corn crop will go to developing ethanol, and this has caused a ripple effect of rising food prices across the nation and around the world. Corn farmers will go where the money is, and as long as the federal government remains giddy over ethanol, we can expect farmers to continue to turn their attention away from food production and toward fuel production. The problem with the love affair with ethanol is that the value of the product is vastly overstated. It takes inordinately large amounts of corn and water to make ethanol, which has to make reasonable minds question whether the supposedly environmentally friendly fuel is worth all the effort. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that ethanol may generate more pollutants than scientists originally believed. So, if ethanol is not clean and if it is so expensive to produce, why do we keep fooling with it instead of tapping ANWR and the coastal oil reserves?

NATIONAL SECURITY

Releasing terrorists from Gitmo

Over the nearly seven years of the War on Terror, the U.S. has detained 770 enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; 390 have been released. This is largely thanks to the ACLU, which has great concern for terrorists who might be a bit uncomfortable with three square meals, five prayer times and recreation time each day. The ACLU even started the “Close Guantanamo” campaign, complete with orange ribbons to symbolize the orange jumpsuits that are in fashion at Gitmo. Closing the prison, however, may not exactly be a good idea. Recently, one of those 390 prisoners that have been either released or turned over to the UK, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan and other countries turned up dead. As a suicide bomber. Abdullah Salim Ali al-Ajmi was turned over to Kuwait, which promptly released him. He crossed into Iraq and assisted al-Qa’ida fighters in a string of suicide attacks, culminating in his own in April in Mosul.

Taliban leader Abdullah Mehsud resided at Gitmo for more than two years until his release in 2004. He made his way back to Afghanistan, where he rallied and led 5,000 Taliban fighters, but he blew himself up with a grenade in 2007 to avoid capture again. We sure are glad the ACLU is living up to its name and fighting for American civil liberties. Oh, wait…

Department of Military Readiness: Deepwater

“We have to identify and eliminate threats well before they reach our shores. Deepwater is critical to making sure the Coast Guard has the capability to stop a threat before it gets to the border.” —USCG Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins, 23 April 2004.

The Deepwater program Adm. Collins referred to was a group of eight Coast Guard vessels that should have been an invaluable weapon for stopping terrorists, smugglers and illegal aliens. However, the eight ships now sit unused in Baltimore after being deemed unseaworthy. Call us crazy, but when $100 million gets towed to the junkyard and scrapped, we have to ask a few questions. Why, for example, are we building two deepwater fleets, one of which has proved to be an expensive contracting failure? Why do we need two naval forces (USN and USCG) dedicated to defending against aggressors in the littorals and oceans of the world?

Integrated Coast Guard Systems is the contracting group assigned to help the Coast Guard fleet to meet their goals. Integrated lengthened eight of the USCG’s 49-ship fleet of 110-footcutters by adding 13-foot ramps to the stern, a design intended to facilitate the launch and recovery of small craft. For whatever reason, the unlucky 13 feet stressed these vessels to the point of making them unseaworthy, and now they are symbols of what not to do.

So, where do we go from here? Already the Bush administration and Congress are at odds over reauthorization plans. Maybe a good start would be to revisit the MOU and mission statements of the three interested war-fighting entities. Duplication of effort has its place in defense thinking, but it’s expensive, and shipbuilding may not be one of the areas where duplication is good. Finally, it seems to us that of the three, the U.S. Navy has the size, expertise and experience to handle all of DoD’s future shipbuilding tasks.

Chinese naval advances

At a time when the United States Navy is de-emphasizing large-scale, open-sea “blue water” operations in favor of littoral “brown water” operations, the Chinese Navy seems to be doing exactly the opposite. Satellite photographs obtained by the respected defense periodical Jane’s Defense Weekly depict the construction of a massive nuclear submarine base on Hainan, the island that became a household name when an American EP-3 spy plane was forced to land there in April 2001. The photographs show enormous tunnels leading into the underground submarine base, which analysts believe can shield as many as 20 submarines from prying reconnaissance satellites. Because Hainan is situated near deep water, the new base will make it easier for Chinese submarines to “break out” into Pacific shipping lanes without detection. China will also be able to oppose U.S. Naval operations more forcefully in the Taiwan Strait.

In addition to attack submarines that can disrupt the sea lines of communication, Hainan’s caverns will likely house the new Type 094 ballistic missile submarine, each of which carries a dozen 5,000-mile-range JL-2 nuclear missiles. Each missile is believed to hold three or four independently targetable warheads. The piers at Hainan are capable of servicing at least two carrier battle groups, and China is expected to build at least six aircraft carriers within the next decade. Lyle Goldstein, the director of China Maritime Studies at the U.S. Naval War College, summed it up best: “What was gray before is now becoming clear. China can now effectively fight a nuclear war.”

Profiles of valor: USMC Cpl. Dollard

In June 2007, U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Ian Dollard was on patrol with his team in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, when they encountered a jihadi ambush. One Marine was hit by enemy fire in the first attack, and then the platoon commander, 1st Lt. Paul Brisker, was hit by a second attack from another position. Dollard quickly put his life on the line using his body to shield Brisker from further fire while he administered first aid. In the process, his armor was hit twice, but he pressed on, dragging Brisker more than 25 yards to a Humvee. However, as Dollard approached the vehicle, he was hit in the leg. He ignored his injury, making sure the platoon was supported on their way out and back to their operating base. Only then did he tell his Staff Sgt. , “Oh, by the way, I got shot too.” Brisker eventually made a full recovery, and we’re proud to report that Cpl. Dollard was awarded the Silver Star.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Economy improved, but not out of the woods

As we noted last week, the Leftmedia has been forced to admit (ever so grudgingly) that the American economy has not collapsed. Indeed, many sectors are improving. Recent first-quarter growth means no recession, and employment has largely remained steady. Stocks are up and financial markets have been rallying since March—all strong indicators that the worst of the nation’s financial pain may have passed.

As reassuring as those indicators are, however, it may not yet be time to celebrate. It remains to be seen just how much the financial crisis has affected other aspects of the economy through changes in consumer demand and investments. It is often the case that broader economic problems continue to worsen even after the end of a financial crisis, and we may see that play out in coming months.

However, whatever the demagogues on the campaign trail may say, additional economic bad news will not mean that the economy is collapsing, and it definitely won’t mean that the government needs to do more. Economic freedom remains the best guarantee of economic prosperity—even when the business cycle causes some pain and investors make some bad decisions.

Gas-tax holiday a bad idea

Sometimes-Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently proposed a summer holiday from the federal gas tax as a way to alleviate pain at the pump. Democrat Hillary Clinton jumped on board, proposing that the evil oil companies pay the tax instead: “We have a choice. We can choose to have you continue to pay the federal gas tax this summer or we can choose to try to make the oil companies pay it out of their record profits.” She then blasted her opponent, Barack Obama, for not standing up for the little guy and joining in the fun. Shockingly enough, Obama was actually right on this one when he said, “Only in Washington can you get away with calling someone out of touch when you’re the one who thinks that 30 cents a day is enough to help people who are struggling in this economy.”

Obviously, Hillary has not been reading The Patriot, as we note with regularity that taxing oil companies’ “windfall profits” will hurt only consumers. We have also pointed out that the federal government makes a bigger windfall on a gallon of gas than the oil companies, but Clinton has yet to chastise the government for its highway robbery at the gas pump. Indeed, that would be the day in which severe cooling overtakes a certain nether region. And then there’s that old standby, supply and demand—lower prices would produce more demand, which would produce higher prices. Sometimes, we do wonder whether some politicos have ever heard of that foundational block of our nation and freedom: capitalism.

Income Redistribution: Fun with student loans

Eager to hide yet another blunder by congressional socialists attempting to create a command-and-control economy, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) wants to slip through a new law eliminating audits of the student-loan program in addition to a taxpayer-funded bailout to lure lenders back to the student-loan market. Last September, Congress decided the evil specter of profits in the student-loan industry should be banned in the interests of liberal purity through the “College Cost Reduction and Access Act.” The misguided law drastically reduced the interest rates on federally insured student loans, thus rendering student loans little more than another social program and thereby unprofitable.

These same Democrats now are astounded that private lenders quickly abandoned the market when it became impossible for them to make a profit. Now liberals are seeking to cover up their mistake by eliminating audits of the failed program and by wasting taxpayer dollars to lure lenders back. Meanwhile, families are discovering they are unable to obtain student loans in time for fall classes because liberals in Congress, perhaps unwittingly, destroyed the market. If Democrats had restrained their crusade against profits, the market would have continued to operate effectively without government subsidies. We’re not holding out hope they will learn from hindsight.

CULTURE

Newsweek v. America

Forget religious freedom, individualism or entrepreneurship. Apparently America’s greatness is measured in shopping malls, Ferris wheels and Hollywood movies. Or so says Newsweek’s May 12 cover story, “The Post-American World,” an excerpt of Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria’s new book (nothing like free advertising). It seems America no longer boasts the largest mall, tallest wheel or biggest blockbuster machine. “Once quintessentially American icons have been usurped,” Zakaria writes, adding, “[t]hese factoids reflect a seismic shift in power and attitudes.”

Au contraire!

First, rather than signaling a loss of American leadership, these “factoids” actually prove it. Even Zakaria admits, “This is all happening because of American ideas and actions.” But beyond this, America’s greatness has never been her shopping malls or Ferris wheels. The Pilgrims did not brave Plymouth in search of a sale, nor did American soldiers storm the beaches at Normandy to lay claim to an amusement park. The same desire for freedom that inspired our forebears continues to burn in the heart of every American Patriot. That fire continues to illuminate the shining City on a Hill. And that is why three-quarters of Americans today say they are proud to be American. Perhaps that number would be even higher if outlets like Newsweek weren’t working so hard to drive it down.

Climate change this week: Ice caps and bugs

Contrary to the claims of the ecological-alarmist movement, death by global warming is not quite around the corner. But inconvenient truths are not enough to sway the legions of journalists and Hollywood celebs led by chieftain former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore (who by the way blamed global warming for the cyclone that hit Myanmar this week, killing tens of thousands of people).

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), global sea ice, long a concern of Gore and his minions, actually increased in April. This data sharply contrasts the claims made by some scientists and most media outlets that several species are facing imminent extinction. In the face of their own extinction, however, many alarmists have resorted to using warm and cuddly species to get the rest of us to jump on the bandwagon. As National Geographic photographer Paul Milkin stated in his interview with ABC’s Sam Champion, “[I] realize what I need to do is try to tell these stories through National Geographic magazine by using such animals as polar bears to hang this campaign on, to say that if we lose the sea ice in the Arctic, and projections are to lose sea ice in the next 20 to 50 years, we ultimately are going to lose polar bears as well.”

Milkin is not the only person trying to scare us with futuristic what-ifs. A recent BBC article claims that tropical insects may begin to die out, if the temperature rises by 5.4C by 2100. This may have secondary effects on plant pollination and food supplies. Maybe. But be afraid anyway.

Non Compos Mentis: Stephen King

Famed horror author Stephen King made a comment at a writers symposium for high-school students in April that came to light this week. King told the students, “I don’t want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got, the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that. It’s, it’s not as bright.” Oddly enough, this reminded us of a [similar comment by a certain presidential candidate | | http://PatriotPost.US/news/stuck.asp] four years ago: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” That was, of course, John F. Kerry, who has a history of betraying U.S. service personnel.

Kerry defended his remarks as a “botched joke” about President Bush. King, on the other hand, lashed out at his critics, fuming, “That [right wingers] would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt.” He then added that he supports the troops, but called the war in Iraq a “waste of national resources… and that includes the youth and blood of the 4,000 American troops who have lost their lives there and for the tens of thousands who have been wounded.” King should stick to writing horror.

Faith and family: Happy Mother’s Day

Sunday is Mother’s Day. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12) President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation in 1914 proclaiming Mother’s Day a national holiday. Then again, we don’t need a holiday to express our appreciation to moms everywhere. May God bless each and every mother among our readers. We wouldn’t be without them.

And last…

Dan Rather may not be reporting the news anymore, but he still insists on making the news. Rather sued CBS some time ago for damaging his reputation (okay, quit laughing) and forcing him out after his “fake-but-accurate” story on President Bush’s National Guard service just before the 2004 election. In April, a judge threw out the suit, saying Gunga Dan hadn’t specified how CBS had injured him. Dan didn’t throw in the towel, though. Instead, he re-filed his $70-million suit this week, accusing CBS of ruining his chances of hiring on with another news agency. He says he has talked to ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox, A&E, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and HBO, but all rejected him for bringing “too much baggage” or for being “too hot to handle.” He ended up with seldom-heard-of HDNet. Furthermore, “although now working, Mr. Rather’s (on air) exposure is dramatically limited and, accordingly, his reputation and standing in his trade and profession have not recovered from the damage caused by the defendants’ conduct,” Rather’s court papers say. Having spent 40 years at the network, Rather is now a millionaire, so we cry no tears for him. And besides, CBS itself doesn’t provide much exposure for its current $15-million anchor, either. Anyone notice a pattern here?

Veritas vos Liberabit—Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families—especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)