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THE FEDERALIST(r) BRIEF The Conservative e-Journal of Record * Veritas Vos Liberabit * 28 January 2002 Federalist Edition #02-05 Monday Brief *To support The Federalist, Link to -- http://www.Federalist.com/support.asp *To sponsor The Federalist, Link to -- http://www.Federalist.com/sponsor.asp *To retrieve today's Brief as HTML printer-friendly text or PDF Link to -- http://www.Federalist.com/current2002.asp *To change your e-mail address or format, see instructions in footer. ______----********O********----______ THIS WEEK'S FEATURED SITE The Todd Beamer Foundation mission includes meeting the long-term needs of children who lost a parent in the attack on our nation September 11th, 2001, assisting future victims of terrorism, and continuing Todd's passion for mentoring and equipping youth to make the same heroic choices he did throughout his life. Please join us in supporting this foundation bearing the name of a real American Patriot. Visit -- http://www.beamerfoundation.org CONTENTS: The Foundation Insight Good News ICTUS Imprimis Family Culture Liberty Opinion in Brief Editorial Exegesis The Gipper Government On the Left Political Futures For the Record Policy Pages Reader Comments The Last Word ______----********O********----______ THE FOUNDATION "It is only when the People become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty. Let us, by all wise and constitutional measures, promote intelligence among the People, as the best means of preserving our liberties." --James Monroe ______----********O********----______ INSIGHT "A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of great men to come, who shall be able to instruct, to lead, and to inspire. A people who worship at the shrine of true greatness will themselves be truly great." --Calvin Coolidge ______----********O********----______ GOOD NEWS "A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother." (Proverbs: 10-1) ++ "He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored." (Proverbs 13:18) ++ "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!" (Isaiah 5: 20-23) ++ "Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy." (Romans 8:14-16) ++ "God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) ______----********O********----______ ICTUS IMPRIMIS "Law, natural or revealed, made for men or for nations, flows from the same Divine source: it is the law of God.... Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine.... Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other." --James Wilson ______----********O********----______ FAMILY "Let me suggest that beneath the popular support for marriage there has slowly developed, almost unnoticed, a subversion of it, which can be summarized this way: whereas marriage was once thought to be about a social union, it is now about personal preferences. Formerly, law and opinion enforced the desirability of marriage without asking what went on in that union; today, law and opinion enforce the desirability of personal happiness without worrying much about maintaining a formal relationship. Marriage was once a sacrament, then it became a contract, and now it is an arrangement. Once religion provided the sacrament, then the law enforced the contract, and now personal preferences define the arrangement." --James Q. Wilson ______----********O********----______ CULTURE "De-Christianizing America has been high on the progressive agenda, and, thanks to the government (especially the federal courts), it has been a great success. Nor can we overlook the contribution of the entertainment industry, which now determines what passes for 'culture.' The main practical vehicle of de-Christianization has been the Sexual Revolution. A few radicals have called for the abolition of the family, but most liberals have been more discreet, avoiding hostile rhetoric while quietly but constantly pursuing policies that result in lower birthrates and fatherless children." --Joseph Sobran ______----********O********----______ LIBERTY "Currently the road most Americans seem to want to take is the road to government control in the belief than government can give them more security without diminishing their liberty. Of course, that is not true. If Americans turn to government to secure their freedom at the expense of the constitution they will lose it. The Constitution and the first ten amendments -- the Bill of Rights -- make it plain that the Founding Fathers had no faith that government could be trusted to guard the rights of individuals. It is well to remember that under the Constitution government does not give us our rights; they are our birthright. It is government's job to protect those rights. Unfortunately government too often moves instead to limit them. Today a soft generation that in recent years has willingly accepted government limitations on freedom in exchange for laws enacted in the name of the common good now appears willing to give up even more of its fundamental liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. Thus we see a new push for a mandatory national identify card masquerading as a national drivers license, except that we'd all have to carry one. With the new technologies now available these would be so-called 'smart-cards' and they could be used to track our movements, activities and purchases. All such information would go into a centralized -- read federal government -- computer. And if you think such a system would not be abused by every segment and every level of government you are living in a dream world. The push for such a card is being led by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators which says its purpose is to make us all safer. Also less free, but it doesn't say that. Every American who values his freedom should protest this proposal, even if it eventually means taking up arms in defense of liberty." --Lyn Nofziger ______----********O********----______ OPINION IN BRIEF "Ted Kennedy says the tax cut is responsible for the $150 billion reduction in the surplus in 2001. However, the cut in tax rates couldn't be responsible, because it hasn't taken effect yet. Where was Ted Kennedy last year when that bill that would have eliminated his $5,000 pay raise went through? You don't see Kennedy volunteering to give back his pay raise. Instead, he wants you to feel guilty over the puny little $300-$600 rebate on your taxes you received last summer. Sen. Kennedy is rich. The move to block the rate reduction to people in his tax bracket may seem like a magnanimous gesture, but don't be fooled. Kennedy wants you to allow him to stimulate the economy by extracting more hard-earned money from the taxpayers of America so that he can dole it out to his friends, who, in turn, give him hefty campaign contributions, which helps keep him in office. Our money is his power. Ted Kennedy is blaming the economic downturn, which began under Bill Clinton, on George W. Bush. The only men (and women) who are dumber than Sen. Kennedy are the ones in Massachusetts who keep sending this man back to Washington every six years." --Jane Chastain ______----********O********----______ EDITORIAL EXEGESIS "The Enron debacle is the nation's most famous business failure not just because it happened suddenly, amid a thunderclap of revelations about misstated profits and possible criminality, but also because it offers the tantalizing prospect of a Bush scandal. So far the expectation has been unrealized, as the company's SOS calls to Washington were met with the proverbial 'drop dead' from Bush officials. Although Democrats can't quite decide whether the scandal is that Bush officials gave Enron special favors or that they gave it this death-bed cold shoulder (or maybe a little of both, depending on the day), the Enron disaster will linger for months. ...The administration is not resisting congressional investigators solely because of its stiff neck. It has a legitimate interest in preserving its right to keep some of its internal deliberations secret. But the best way to do so may be to reveal as much information as possible while continuing to deny any legal obligation to do so. In particular, the administration should disclose information about the Cheney energy task force and about Enron contacts with administration officials. The administration appears to be beyond reproach in this matter. It should do itself the favor of acting like it. ...If the administration provides full disclosure, criticizes and prosecutes any lawbreaking that has occurred, and stands for carefully designed reform where necessary, neither partisan nor ideological opportunists will be able to feast on Enron's carcass." --National Review ______----********O********----______ THE GIPPER "If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. We see around us today the marks of our terrible dilemma -- predictions of doomsday, antinuclear demonstrations, an arms race in which the West must, for its own protection, be an unwilling participant. At the same time we see totalitarian forces in the world who seek subversion and conflict around the globe to further their barbarous assault on the human spirit. What, then, is our course? Must civilization perish in a hail of fiery atoms? Must freedom wither in a quiet, deadening accommodation with totalitarian evil?" --Ronald Reagan (1982) ______----********O********----______ GOVERNMENT "The tragedy-in-process that moves our country toward socialism is based on the success of liberalism in teaching people to look to big government rather than to themselves for the satisfaction of their needs -- and to man's law, rather than to God's commandments, for moral direction. The ultimate tragedy will consist of a massive redistribution of wealth and power -- not as is commonly believed from one citizen to another, but from all citizens to the government." --Linda Bowles ______----********O********----______ ON THE LEFT "Inclusiveness is good in general but wretched when it means altering historical reality to impose proper quotas on past events. Retro-quotas are an old story in schools, textbooks and the art world. Museums are under pressure to produce 'gender-fair' exhibits with half the works by women, even in shows about eras in which virtually all painters were men. Out of concern for the self-esteem of minority students, history texts routinely do the same false balancing act, mugging the truth so all cultures end up with at least as much achievement as the West, preferably more. Along the way, a level of comfort with dishonesty has been reached. This helps explain why tinkering with the Sept. 11 flag-planting seemed like a small or nonexistent issue to backers of the diversity movement, including the media. The model of the statue, presented on Dec. 21, drew virtually no press attention until conservative commentators discovered it three weeks later. But it's worth taking seriously. Doctoring images and removing or adding people for political purposes is what backward and repressive societies do. Part of the amusement of watching the Soviet empire was seeing officials being airbrushed out of old photos taken during parades in front of Lenin's tomb. Reality was unimportant. Images were at the mercy of politics. Do we want our images to go that way too?" --John Leo ______----********O********----______ POLITICAL FUTURES "A prediction: In coming decades, involuntary euthanasia will be commonplace in Europe, and Gen-Xers' battles to stay alive into old age will be treated with the same cold contempt as they treated the silent screams of the unborn. Millions will be put to sleep like aged and incontinent household pets. Since the 1960s, the radical young have pleaded for a world free of the strictures of the old Christian morality. They are close to getting what they have demanded; and my sense is that they will not like what they get." --Pat Buchanan ______----********O********----______ FOR THE RECORD "What is it that the Bush administration's European critics like so much about civilian casualties? It's a natural question, given the Europeans' evident contempt for one of the purposes of the Geneva Convention: to deter un-uniformed soldiers from hiding among the civilian population -- a practice that obviously makes it impossible for an attacking army to distinguish between legitimate targets and noncombatants. In other words, the Geneva Convention seeks to protect innocent civilians by keeping soldiers in uniform, and by defining those combatants who don't wear uniforms as being outside the rules of warfare and undeserving of the privileges afforded to legitimate prisoners of war. During the bombing in Afghanistan we heard a lot from the Europeans about collateral damages, so it is strange that they should now turn around and be willing to overlook the chief cause of civilian casualties in Afghanistan: al Qaeda and Taliban troops who not only didn't wear uniforms, but actively hide among civilians. ..Not only has al Qaeda not signed the Geneva Convention, al Qaeda and the Taliban aren't even governments. Remember, it wasn't just the United States that said that the Taliban wasn't the legitimate government of Afghanistan, even the United Nations took that position. At its heart, the Geneva Convention ... is about reciprocity between governments -- you treat our prisoners decently, we'll treat yours decently. Saying it applies to al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners is like saying the START II agreement should apply to relations between the U.S. and Belgium, or -- even more aptly -- to U.S. relations with the Hell's Angels. Because al Qaeda and the Taliban are, in essence, armed, criminal gangs, and nothing more." --Rich Lowry ______----********O********----______ POLICY PAGES/POINTS OF INTEREST Terrorist Attack on America Confirms Need for Missile Defense HERITAGE http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/bg1477.html ______----********O********----______ SELECT READER COMMENTS (To submit an editorial comment or read other comments, link to: http://www.Federalist.com/postededs.asp) "From the New York Times: ' "I would gladly have him for my own son," said Bill Jones, a family friend, whom Mr. Lindh lived with in San Rafael for two years after his separation from Ms. Walker.' Bill Jones is the former owner of a gay bathhouse in San Francisco. That's right. John bin Walker's father, Frank Lindh, left little Johnny's mother when he was 16 -- for another man. Anyone mention, among the reams of speculation about 'why,' that his father's sexual disorientation might have had some influence on Johnny's 'problem childhood'." "Not to compete with the fundraising that supports The Federalist, but I'm sure a number of conservative readers would support a fund to buy ONE WAY tickets for: Altman, the Baldwins, Barbra, Rosie, and any others who find our current administration so unpleasant." "Is it possible that those who detained this remarkable American patriot, General Joe Foss, simply didn't know what the Medal of Honor is?" Editor's Reply: More than just possible -- highly likely! "In the year 2000, the last full year for available statistics, 638,902,993 people flew the friendly skies. If all the baggage had been searched by experts, it would not have prevented the events of September 11 -- and isn't that, after all, the point!" "Nail clippers deadly weapons? Parking areas so far away from the airport that you have to catch a bus or train to the terminal. What happens when the terrorist training camps teach karate and judo and a jet is hijacked by those who need no weapons? Will the sage Mineta decree that all passengers must be handcuffed to their seats?" ______----********O********----______ THE LAST WORD "At least once per day, without fail, my computer, like every computer I have ever owned, has some kind of emotional breakdown. It simply stops working ... often when I'm not touching it ... and puts out a message on the screen informing me that an error has occurred. It does not say what the error is, nor where it occurred. For all I know, it occurred in New Zealand, and my computer found out about it via the Internet, and became so upset that it could not go on. When this happens, I have to turn my computer off and start it up again. When I do, my computer puts a snippy note on the screen informing me that it is scanning its disks for errors, because it was shut down improperly. 'But I didn't do anything!' I shout, but my computer ignores me, because it is busy scanning its disks. You just know that if it finds any errors, it's going to blame me, even though I don't even know where its disks are. While my computer is busy, I scan my wart. I have a wart on my right leg. It has been there for many years. I call it Buddy. I keep an eye on Buddy, in case his appearance changes. I've read that it's a bad thing, medically, when a wart suddenly changes its appearance. If I ever look down and see that Buddy has turned green, or he's wearing a little pair of Groucho glasses, I'll know it's time to take some kind of medical action. Such as quit drinking." --Dave Barry This Week's Leftoons: http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/garner.htm http://www.cnsnews.com/cartoon/welcome.asp -- PUBLIUS -- *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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