-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! * Veritas Vos Liberabit * THE FEDERALIST(r) DIGEST The Internet's Conservative Journal of Record http://www.Federalist.com Date: 18 February 2000 Federalist #00-07.dgst To retrieve today's Digest as printer-friendly text or PDF, link to: http://www.Federalist.com/PDFdigest99-10.asp To support or sponsor The Federalist, link to: http://www.Federalist.com/support.asp ______--------********O********--------______ THE FOUNDATION "I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." --Thomas Jefferson ______--------********O********--------______ FEDERALIST PERSPECTIVE In the news this week, it's the eve of the South Carolina primary, and, though Mr. Bush has a statistical lead, columnist Don Feder surmised, "What began as a coronation is starting to look like a decapitation." If the fact that both the Bush-McCain2000 and McCain-Bush2000 Internet domain names have already been locked up is any indication, this promises to be a close race! Mr. Bush did pick up an important endorsement from American Conservative Union leader David Keene. "Our message is clear. There is only one viable choice left for conservatives in this election, one man who we believe will fight for the key aspects of our agenda, such as smaller government, tax relief, a strong national defense and the sanctity of human life. That man is George Bush. Many of the positions [McCain] has staked out in recent years and on the campaign trail should be considered for what they are -- outright assaults on the conservative Reagan agenda." The endorsement from Mr. Keene -- a true Reagan conservative -- should not be confused with that collection of crowning endorsements Mr. Bush hailed from establishment Republicans in Congress. The latter has boomeranged, as voters consistently say Congress is one of the least trusted American institutions -- just behind government in general. Many of Mr. Bush's themes, which he has spent about $50 million delivering, echo those that Congress has repeatedly failed to deliver -- especially that "fairer flatter tax." Memo to Mr. Bush: Kill the "compassion" thing. It is analogous to the " kinder, gentler wimp" thing. Bury it quietly. If you possess leadership qualities like courage and strength -- and we have it on good authority you do -- show it! And as for your political tactics thus far, this is not your father's campaign ground. Mr. John McCain picked up the endorsement of Gary Bauer, who like McCain, calls himself a "conservative" but promotes government policies and programs rather than free enterprise and liberty as solutions to the day's ills. "Right now, Bauer would be more at home in the Democratic primary than the Republican," notes Cato Institute's Mike Tanner. Mr. Bauer quoted Ronald Reagan at length in his endorsement of McCain but should know that McCain's momentum is totally rooted in his "anti-Clinton/anti-establishment" persona. He is not a member of President Reagan's legacy team. The Family Research Council, an excellent advocate of many conservative issues upon which Mr. McCain has equivocated, issued this bulletin following Bauer's endorsement: "Gary Bauer resigned as President and Chairman of the Board of Family Research Council in January 1999, and he is not an employee of Family Research Council." Firewall! On Mr. McCain -- whom we dubbed McCain-Feingold in honor of his obsession with campaign finance "reform" (cosponsored by another one of those infamous Demo Rhodes Scholars, Russ Feingold) -- let's set the record straight. First, Bush or McCain will defeat Al "Yes-I-Believe-Bill-Clinton" Gore. As we noted in January, "Put straight-talkin' McCain mano a mano with Clinton's enabler, and Gore will look like a convict at a parole board hearing." Both candidates shine next to Gore. Though McCain is an attractive candidate, "charming," in fact, he is bent on using government as an instrument of reform, rather than reforming government. In other words, Mr. McCain, like many of his Potomac brethren, subscribe to the Reagan antithesis: Government is the solution, not the problem. His legislative agenda has been all over the board, for reasons known only to John McCain. He does not offer a clear perspective on the role of government. Despite his charm, McCain should drop the "war hero" thing. This is, after all, the man who had the audacity to produce a campaign ad at National Cemetery, using this hallowed ground dedicated to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, as a backdrop for political fodder. Rather than acknowledge his arrogance, McCain said, lamely, that he just didn't know it was against National Park Service regulations -- then blamed the whole affair on his handlers. We were not impressed! McCain does certainly deserve our respect for his considerable sacrifice -- as do millions of combat veterans, but as former POW Mike Benge notes, "We, the returned POWs, are not heroes; we are just survivors. The heroes are the ones who gave their all, and their names are etched on that somber black granite wall called the Vietnam Memorial." Of course, none of this dampens the enthusiasm of McCain's admiring court of press yada-yadas, most having never served in the military, much less having ever observed combat -- except on some 10-part PBS special on "The 60s." It is no wonder they gaze upon McCain with such awe. Finally, Rich Galen notes, "The State of South Carolina owes McCain a huge vote of thanks. If he had not won his big victory in New Hampshire there would not have been a tenth of the money spent on printing, phone calls, television ads, radio ads, buses, cars, hotels, or meals." Memo to Mr. McCain: Government IS NOT the solution. Government IS the problem. We know Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan is a friend or ours, and despite your advertised assertions to the contrary, you are no Ronald Reagan. In other political news, Michael Kelly reminds us: "The national media...greatly influence who wins and loses these things, and almost ubiquitously, the candidates the media want to win are Democrats.... This, the media assure Republicans, is not a matter of bias, only an endless coincidence." Network and print "media polls" have already emerged as a heavy tool for shaping voter opinion. For more on this media ploy, see today's Second Opinion, "Polling Pravda!" Comment... "I'm going to kill everyone." --Erick Ramirez Fuentes moments before he was shot dead by handgun owner Bricie Tribble. Fuentes had broken into Tribble's Arizona home an hour after he abducted another woman from a nearby WalMart parking lot, raped and shot her. Tribble's husband and nine-year-old nephew were also in the home. Query... "How many tragedies does it take before the members of the Republican leadership bottling up (gun control) legislation get the message?" --Al Gore Memo to Al: There are about 30,000 gun control laws already on the books, at federal, state and local levels. The problem is not a shortage of laws -- which only serve to constrain law-abiding citizens. The big lie... "Our police are hampered by the lack of full gun registration. We need to follow the lead of other civilized nations in securing our streets!" -- Bill Clinton Memo to Bill: See memo to Al. >From "The most ethical administration"... We are shocked -- SHOCKED -- to hear Clinton's cronies have been obstructing justice again, this time concealing electronic files from numerous investigations, according to a former White House data manager. And speaking of files, prosecutors want to depose the First Femme (Hillary!) to determine her role in obtaining some 900 FBI files of former Republican (read "enemy") White House employees of the Bush administration. The White House is again claiming "executive privilege," saying that Ms. Rodham-Clinton qualifies as a high-ranking federal official. On this point we agree: Ms. Rodham-Clinton is certainly rank! Campaign Journal... Sad news for the Reform Party: Hair Trump has decided not to run for president. His candidacy would have ensured that even the most mediocre candidate in the most obscure party looked really good! Worse news yet, the Reform Party (AKA the "Perotestant Reformation" as political observer Lowell Ponte calls it) disintegrated last weekend. Jesse "The Reformer" Ventura deserted his comrades in hopes of tag teaming with the McCain-Feingold reform effort. "The senator hasn't called me yet, but you know if he did, I'd certainly give a little weight to it. I greatly respect McCain because he's very bright in copying the method that I used in Minnesota." POW meets the WWF! >From Bore2000 -- The "Family Values" Campaign... This month's "Political Devolution" Award goes to Messrs. Al Gore and Bill Bradley for their running debate on who is the most reliable advocate for killing unborn children: "The parsing of words is not what women need," Bradley said of Gore's past equivocation on abortion. Gore fired back, "I don't need a lecture from Sen. Bradley about how to protect a woman's right to choose," still yet to specify .. "choose" what. "Early in my career, I did wrestle with the issue of [public funding for abortion]. But since then, I have come to believe that poor women deserve the same constitutional right to [kill their unborn children] that more affluent women have." The nation's top abortion advocacy group, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, endorsed Mr. Gore this week. On the HILLARY! Rodham-Clintonista trail... "I'm a big believer in tipping. We should support working people," said Ms. Rodham-Clinton. But in Albion, New York, she stiffed a waitress, single mom Trish Trupo, after a free meal at the Village House Restaurant. Two orders of scrambled eggs, home fries and rye toast, and HILLARY! departed without leaving a tip. "If it was myself and someone picked up my check, I would leave a little bit extra," said Trupo. Welcome to Ms. Rodham-Clinton's "Village" Ms. Trupo. Now if Ms. Rodham-Clinton had really wanted to give Ms. Trupo a tip, she should have told her when to buy cattle futures! Memo to Ms. Trupo: This is the same woman who once declared a 15-cent income-tax deduction after "donating" a pair of her husband's used undershorts to Goodwill. News from the Swamp... In the House of Commons, a fine example of bipartisanship! In the past, House chaplains have been appointed by the Speaker, without committee consideration, but Denny Hastert took it upon himself to appoint a bipartisan panel to make recommendations for the next chaplain. The panel provided three unranked candidates, from whom Hastert selected a Protestant over a Catholic. And the ensuing brouhaha is precisely why such "bipartisanship" is so perilous. The House later voted, recording only a single "nay," to award New York's Cardinal John O'Connor the Congressional Gold Medal. Rep. Chris Smith noted, "Over the years, there have been those who have belittled, mocked and rejected Cardinal O'Connor's clear Christian teaching on the sanctity of human life and the duty of all men and women of good will, especially politicians, to protect the vulnerable." Leave it to those Republican anti-Catholics to award their highest civilian honor to -- a Catholic cardinal. Regarding your IRS overpayment... Mr. Clinton is giving away millions of dollars in "relief" for surging home heating oil bills -- the result of surging oil prices and declining Gore polls. Inquiring minds want to know, since gasoline prices rose 9 cents per gallon in the last two weeks, and 40 cents over the same time last year, when do those of us who don't use public transportation get our "relief"? >From the states... About that LAPD "corruption problem," where is Daryl Gates when you really need him? In the halls of justice... American Spectator publisher Terry Eastland reminds us, "The high court is our most important court, and the odds are strong that the next president will have at least a seat or two there to fill. But the lower courts also deserve notice. ... There are 632 district judgeships and 179 seats on the 13 circuit courts of appeals." What kind of judges would Mr. McCain appoint -- given that the court would most likely find the substance of his campaign finance reform proposals unconstitutional? >From the department of military readiness... The active force missed its recruiting goal by nearly 6,300 last fiscal year and is projecting another shortfall this year. Documents show the Army Reserve is also hurting. It missed its enlisted accessions by more than 10,000. And last, a note to all those South Carolina cross-dressing Demo Confederate flag offendees, who plan to for vote for Mr. McCain. You may recall he said, "I have ancestors who have fought for the Confederacy, none of whom owned slaves." Turns out his great-great-grandfather, William Alexander McCain, owned 52 slaves on the family's plantation in the Mississippi Delta. Better get that McCain flag down. ______--------********O********--------______ INSIGHT "It is becoming impossible for those who mix with their fellow men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally." --W. R. Inge {} "Do not hold as gold all that shines as gold." --Alain de Lille {} "The mind is always the dupe of the heart."--François Duc de La Rochefoucauld {} "Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear." --Benedict Spinoza {} "Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true." --Demosthenes {} "The concessions of the weak are the concessions of fear." --Edmund Burke {} "Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known." --Montaigne {} "While there's life, there's hope." --Marcus Tullius Cicero {} "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side." --James Russell Lowell ______--------********O********--------______ THE GOOD NEWS "An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips." (Proverbs 24:26) ______--------********O********--------______ UPRIGHT "Flush times make for lousy politics. Office-seekers traditionally feast off human misery...but we lack the requisite measures of grief and envy." --Tony Snow {} "...[S]omething that liberal Republicans never understood: The Republican party must appeal to both economic and social conservatives if it hopes to win. It must fuse or lose." --William A. Rusher {} "McCain wants to reform campaigns by expanding government control of political speech, imposing additional regulations on citizens' contributions and candidates' and independent groups' expenditures." --George Will ++ "Mr. McCain has not assumed the mantle of Ronald Reagan. He is, instead, carrying the banner of Nelson Rockefeller." --Mark R. Levin {} "George Bush should quit telling us he's a leader. Men who are real leaders don't have to run around anointing themselves as such. I don't recall that Ronald Reagan ever referred to himself as a leader. But the entire world knew it." --Lyn Nofziger {} "In the genteel press, Al Sharpton is carefully referred to by euphemism -- community leader, activist. Actually, he is a professional monger of racial hatred, a career inciter of race-violence." --Michael Kelly {} "Hillary! (her newest name) is, like Gore, heir and successor to Clintonism, a poll-driven politics of rank cynicism, reflexive mendacity and pious indignation at the vast conspiracies arrayed against their righteousness. What could be more important than putting a stake through that?" --Charles Krauthammer ++ "Mrs. Clinton is religious, after a fashion. Hers is the social gospel of the mainline Protestant churches that substitutes activism for faith. Practitioners of this creed have nothing but disdain for traditional Christians and Jews." --Don Feder {} "One gets the sense that the liberal media is terrified by the possibility that conservatives actually mean what they say." --Jonah Goldberg on conservative support for Alan Keyes. ______--------********O********--------______ SECOND OPINION POLLING PRAVDA! If the media reports it, it must be "pravda" -- "truth." John McCain's campaign finance "reform" proposals will effectively protect the media's Fourth Estate from the Constitution's First Amendment, free speech being the only obstacle to the liberals' hold on public opinion, and thus public office. His proposals, if ever approved, could hand the media a virtual monopoly on candidate selection. How? Listen to Mr. Gore's talking head netwonks slip their so-called "media polls" into broadcasts as if they were "news"? Such polls are outcome-based, designed to portray a particular perspective -- liberal! This "news" then builds "me too" momentum and becomes self-fulfilling. Each week The Federalist provides a few examples of liberal media bias in our Dezinformatsia section, but there is no bias more insidious than the use of media polling to shape public opinion. To understand this effect, recall if you will how, during the Clinton impeachment, media polls saturated the TV airwaves. Television is the news source of choice for the masses, thus a major medium for shaping and molding public opinion. The "news" was full of outcome-based polling such as this from talking head Dan Rather: "The Republican-led House schedules key votes on an impeachment inquiry as the latest CBS poll indicates more than half of the public would be satisfied with no punishment for the President at all." Arguably, if the public is saturated with the media's liberal perspective, and the media then polls on that perspective, such outcome-based polling will shape public opinion. It certainly elevated the Senate's fears of media-driven public opinion, which delivered Mr. Clinton's acquittal. Now, the media are warming up their quadrennial polling apparatus to influence the election of the next president, prompting us to revisit two important definitions from The Federalist Dictionary for understanding how the media polling process shapes public opinion. Pollaganda -- n. 1. Media polling used to manipulate public opinion and advance a particular bias. This is primarily accomplished by television networks, on which most people rely for daily news. (Those who rely on print media for information are less likely to be subjected to extreme bias, and more inclined to discriminate between balanced and biased reporting.) Pollagandize -- v. 1. To engage in pollaganda. 2. The systematic propagation of television media polls to manipulate public opinion by: first, saturating viewers with "reporting" which reflects a doctrinal bias; second, designing and conducting public opinion surveys which reflect that bias; and third, further proselytizing viewers by treating media poll results as "news." 3. Using pollaganda to induce "bandwagon psychology" (the human tendency to aspire to the side perceived to be in the majority), thus driving public opinion toward an original media bias. Most people answering early polling questions about who will receive their vote do so on the basis of name recognition. And, of course, name recognition is driven primarily by the television media -- both media buys and free media bias. Then the media conducts and reports its outcome-based polling, setting up the bandwagon momentum, which greatly influences the outcome of elections. Exercising free speech -- via public advocacy lobbies -- remains one of the last vestiges of defense against the media's ability to control public opinion. If that exercise is bridled by McCain-Feingold, and the media becomes the sole moderator of the "truth," our constitutional guarantee to free, open debate will have about as much standing as dissenting opinion had under Stalin and his successors. ______--------********O********--------______ EDITORIAL EXEGESIS "Arizona Senator John McCain has suddenly discovered that waging a negative campaign has a downside. After the attack ads he ran in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr. McCain learned that his unfavorable rating has increased among South Carolina's electorate. All of which explains why he has abruptly halted some of the most disingenuous commercials the presidential campaign has seen so far. ... A McCain campaign adviser told The Washington Post that his candidate 'wants to run the same kind of campaign he ran in New Hampshire.' Doubtless he would, but Mr. Bush is responding to his attacks this time. It's a little late for Mr. McCain to demand a cease-fire now." --Washington Times ______--------********O********--------______ DEZINFORMATSIA "Howard, who are the Republicans who are not happy with...red meat for conservatives, the positions rather strident tonight: anti-gay, pro-Jesus, and anti-abortion and no gray matter in between?" --MSNBC's Brian Williams on "gray matter." {} "President Clinton, survived impeachment and remains a colossus on the world stage as witnessed by his prosecution of the war in Kosovo, plus the peace accord in Northern Ireland, and peace with negotiations in the Middle East, which wouldn't have happened without his prodding." --Newsweek's Eleanor Clift choosing the "Biggest Winner of the Year." **About those peace accords.... {} "Eschewing the sharp partisan rhetoric that had colored much of the budget debate, Clinton yesterday was rather dispassionate, saying simply that the budget bill 'avoids risky tax cuts that would have spent hundreds of billions of dollars from the Social Security surplus and drained our ability to advance education and other important public purposes'." --Charles Babington in the Washington Post on "eschewing the sharp partisan rhetoric." ______--------********O********--------______ VILLAGE IDIOTS "I shouldn't be eating hamburgers, because the methane gas cows release is the No.1 contributor to the destruction of the ozone layer; and the No. 1 reason they destroy the rainforest is to make grazing ground for cattle. So it's very ironic that I eat beef, being the environmentalist that I am. But then again, if I ordered the tuna sandwich, I would be promoting the fact that they have large tuna nets that capture innocent little dolphins...." -- Leo DiCaprio, Hollywonk and chair-lifeform of "Earth Day 2000." DiCaprio just announced his support for Al Gore. **What happened to the last boat Leo jumped on? {} "Is this remotely Christian? ... No theme in the New Testament is more pronounced than the injunction that those who have themselves been forgiven of their sins should forgive others." --New Republic's James Woods on George Bush's support for capital punishment. {} This month's "Village Victimitis" Award: "I feel vindicated. It is now loud and clear that these guys are capable of planting evidence and framing people." --O.J. Simpson on reports of corruption in the LAPD. ______--------********O********--------______ SHORT CUTS "I was able to smack in both directions more efficiently that way." --Alan Keyes on being seated between Bush and McCain in Tuesday's debate. {} "We overdid it a little." --Rudy Giuliani after leaving a 70% tip for a waitress in Huntington, NY. {} "Can you define 'is' for us yet?" --One of many "heckling" questions asked during Mr. Clinton's first live online news interview this week. {} "By the way, the Jenny Craig ads with Monica Lewinsky do work. Every time I see one I lose my appetite." --Steve Frank {} "Speaking of irony, which is almost unavoidable in this Age of Clinton, the legal establishment's extended circumambulations in the matter of William Jefferson Clinton, Esq., do point to one clear conclusion about how constitutional standards have evolved from 1789 to 2000, to wit: A fellow may be good enough to be president of the United States, but not good enough to be...a lawyer. Hey, what a country." --Paul Greenberg Night Lines: Leno.... Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura says he is leaving the Reform Party. He said that it is full of phonies. That is pretty bad when someone from professional wrestling thinks you're a phony. .... Clinton said that one of the toughest things about Hillary's campaign for the New York Senate is having to listen to people criticize her. He said people lying about his wife drives him nuts. Apparently, lying TO his wife, there is nothing wrong with that. ... According to O. J.'s girlfriend, O.J. has proposed to her, which is quite a surprise. The last time O.J. was on his knees was when he was looking for the other glove. {} While Dave's recovering....Conan O'Brien says: Earlier in the week, Hillary Clinton had breakfast at a diner in Upstate New York and she didn't give the waitress a tip. But that is not true. She did tell her, "Stay away from my husband." (**) Denotes Editor's Comment Visit the most comprehensive tribute to Ronald Reagan on the Internet at: http://www.Reagan2000.com/ -- 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 ] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
