Publisher's Note: To our loyal readers — many of you have complimented our staff on the new PatriotPost.US Web site. We are launching the site in stages to ensure that its functionality is flawless. All features from the previous site — the Founder's Quote database, archives, historic documents, reader comments, etc. — will be available soon, and there will be new features designed to reach a larger demographic. Though this redesign incorporates entirely new methods and technologies, the navigation will be similar to the previous site. We appreciate your patience during this upgrade process. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please . —Mark Alexander, Publisher

THE FOUNDATION

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection." --Thomas Paine

UPRIGHT

"One of the weirdest, most perceptually jarring things about the economic crisis is that everything looks the same. We are told every day and in every news venue that we are in Great Depression II, that we are in a crisis, a cataclysm, a meltdown, the credit crunch from hell, that we will lose millions of jobs, and that the great abundance is over and may never return. ... And yet when you free yourself from media and go outside for a walk, everything looks . . . the same." --Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan

"Unemployment is still below 7 percent; it was around 25 percent when Franklin Roosevelt became president. Less than 20 banks have failed, not the 4,000 that went under in the first part of 1933." --Hoover Institution historian Victor Davis Hanson

"There is a condign symmetry about this financial crisis. A government-induced crisis is getting a government-insured resolution. The excesses of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are being mopped up by huge federal spending, made all the more massive by all the reckless endeavors of the politicians, the regulators and the financiers who frivoled with the intemperance of Freddie and Fannie." --American Spectator editor in chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.

"I desperately hope that circumstances will force Obama to repudiate his past. At present we do not know whether this will happen; and so far, I have seen nothing to suggest that it will. Unlike those who see in the emerging shape of his administration evidence that he will be a pragmatic centrist, I do not think it necessarily shows anything of the kind." --British journalist Melanie Phillips

"If we don't know the constitutional limits placed on Congress and the White House, politicians can do just about anything they wish to control our lives, from deciding what kind of light bulbs we can use to whether the government can take over our health care system or bailout failing businesses. We just think Congress can do anything upon which they can get a majority vote." --George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams

INSIGHT

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." --President Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools." --British author and economist Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

"Reaching consensus in a group is often confused with finding the right answer." --American writer Norman Mailer (1923-2007)

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." --American author and humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910)

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

"While Americans sat through football games, planned their 'Black Friday' morning shopping, and all in all enjoyed a quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving, terrorists in India were slaughtering more than 200 innocent people. Westerners, particularly U.S. and British citizens, were primary targets. The fact that it was a peaceful American Thanksgiving went unnoticed by most. The fact that this has been the case since the Al Qaida attacks on America of Sept. 11, 2001, also went little noticed. That all of this coincides with and is a result of President Bush's prosecution of the war on Islamist extremism is never highlighted. Our final editorial today notes general news media bias in favor of Barack Obama. Imagine what that media would have had to say, and where all the blame would have gone, had America been attacked at home again on Bush's watch. We aren't suggesting that President Bush's strategy is the sole reason for our relative safety here at home. But it has certainly contributed in great measure. And before the new President and his eager Congress get to work dismantling what Bush has built, they better think very carefully. Bush's much-maligned Patriot Act, with its access to international communications traffic; his seizure and confinement of enemy combatants at Guantanamo, and his buildup of security forces at home and abroad, all of these things have helped to keep America safer. America is not safe from attacks such as just occurred in Mumbai, India. Indeed, a credible threat to the New York subway system was being watched this weekend. But we are safer than we were seven years ago and President Bush's administration deserves much of the credit for that this Thanksgiving weekend." --New Hampshire Union Leader

THE BRUSHFIRE OF FREEDOM

Founding Patriot Samuel Adams noted, "It does not take a majority to prevail ... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." That describes YOU!

There are only 28 days left in the campaign to meet our 2008 Annual Fund budget, and we still must raise $247,693 before year's end in order to continue providing The Patriot to hundreds of thousands of subscribers across America, who then forward each edition to friends, family and colleagues -- literally millions of Americans are being reached with our message of constitutional conservatism.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot's 2008 Annual Fund today by making a contribution -- however large or small. (If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.)

Every dollar you contribute provides a free subscription for someone serving our nation, or a young person who will fill a family, community or national leadership role in the next generation.

I thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you as editor and publisher of The Patriot. On behalf of your Patriot Staff and National Advisory Committee, thank you and God bless you and your family.

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher

(The Patriot is not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization, nor do we accept any third-party online or e-mail advertising. Our mission and operations budgets are funded by -- and depend entirely upon -- the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like YOU!)

"Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions." --George Washington

DEZINFORMATSIA

Gushing: "[T]hey're very -- I don't know how to put it. I don't want to gush. They're very cute, and very -- and very funny in this interview together." --ABC's Barbara Walters previewing her "Good Morning America" interview with Barack and Michelle Obama

Checking the cabinet: "Two initially surprising centrist choices for [Barack Obama's] so-called team of rivals -- Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, and of course Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates. In a way, this inoculates President-elect Obama from criticism that he is somehow soft in the area of foreign policy, doesn't it?" --CBS News anchor Katie Couric ++ "We have not seen this kind of combination of star power and brain power and political muscle this early in a cabinet in our lifetimes." --ABC political analyst George Stephanopoulos

Good grief: "Enough with the Lincoln analogies; Reagan is the president that Barack Obama is most closely modeling himself after." --Newsweek's Eleanor Clift **Of course! We're always confusing the two.

Hope for change: "[T]here are many who had such an optimistic and hopeful opinion of things, and you certainly can't expect things to change on a dime overnight, but there are many who suggested that with the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama administration there would be something of a lull in terrorism attacks. There had been such a global outpouring of affection, respect, hope, with the new administration coming in, that precisely these kinds of attacks, it was thought -- at least hoped -- would be dampered [sic] down." --MSNBC's Alex Witt on the Mumbai attacks

Please, no: "Will the mountain of crises our country faces make Barack Obama do great things?" --MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews with another tingle running up his leg

Caution is foolish?: "I mean this is an enormous crisis, you've got to hit it with an enormous stimulus to buck the economy up. I'm still worrying that they're going to be a little bit short, because you just have to put all your notions of what is prudent aside. Being cautious is actually a very foolish thing right now." --former Enron advisor Paul Krugman in The New York Times

Newspulper Headlines:

Good Thing No One Listens to Records Anymore: "Atlantic Hurricane Season Blows Away Records" --Associated Press

Gunns Don't Kill People, Gunns Rob People: "Gunn Pleads Guilty to Robbery Charge" --Paris (Texas) News

The Same Thing He Says About Everything Else: 'Arf!': "What Your Dog Says About You" --Forbes.com

Maybe With His New Job, He Can Afford Tires and Air Conditioning: "Richardson Seen as Tireless, Warm" --Boston Globe

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Russia Turns Away From Vodka in Hard Times" --Daily Telegraph ++ "Vatican Warns That Mobile Phones Threaten the Soul" --Cellular-News.com

News You Can Use: "Tips to Stop Wild Turkeys From Terrorizing You" --Boston Globe Web site

Bottom Stories of the Day: "Obama Doodle Not for Sale, Owner Says" --Chicago Tribune

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Look out: "Understand that I will be setting policy as president. The buck will stop with me." --Barack Obama **Somehow, that's not reassuring.

Not exactly: "I hope and believe that the American people will come to feel as I do that we brought together one of the most talented national security teams ever assembled. A team prepared to meet the serious challenges we face today and the emerging threats that will confront us tomorrow." --Joe Biden

Don't forget what he said then: "What exactly is this foreign policy expertise? Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no. ... It's what's wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected. ... She'll say anything and change nothing. ... The question is, what kind of judgment will you exercise when you pick up that phone ... In fact, we've had a red-phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. Sen. Clinton gave the wrong answer." --Barack Obama during the campaign on his pick for secretary of state, Hillary Clinton

Uh oh: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. Things that we postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before." --Obama chief-of-staff select Rahm Emanuel

For the children: "In the first weeks [of the new administration], we will pass the bill for insuring 10 million children in America right off the bat." --House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

VILLAGE IDIOTS

From the Moral Equivalence File: "We have an FBI and, and, and, and, and we're not prejudiced against somebody who's worked at the FBI. It's an honorable place to work. And the KGB, I think, was an honorable place to work. And it, it gave people in the former Soviet Union, a communist country, an opportunity to do something important and worthwhile." --CNN founder Ted Turner

More moral confusion: "Get rid of the phrase 'war on terrorism.' Ask for a creative solution in which we all participate. ... You know, terrorists call mechanized death from 35,000 feet above sea level with a press of a button also terror. We don't call it that, because our soldiers are wearing uniforms. They don't see what is happening, and innocent people are being killed. So, you know, terror is a term that you apply to the other." --author Deepak Chopra

Post cards from Obama's buddy: "And the question is, what is terrorism? And what is violence?" --former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers ++ "I think this election is automatically a historic moment. It automatically restores a certain amount of goodwill in the world. I hope he uses it. I hope [Obama] closes Guantanamo immediately. I hope he withdraws from Iraq immediately. But those hopes aren't idle. They are built on building an irresistible social movement to see that those things happen." --Bill Ayers

Goodbye capitalism?: "I think, really, what we're seeing here right now with them, with the banks, we're seeing the end of capitalism -- the end of capitalism as we know it. And I say good riddance -- it hasn't helped the people or the planet." --documentarian Michael Moore

SHORT CUTS

"In the old days -- from the Venetian Republic to, oh, the Bear Stearns rescue -- if you wanted to get rich, you did it the Warren Buffett way: You learned to read balance sheets. Today you learn to read political tea leaves. If you want to make money on Wall Street (or keep from losing your shirt), you do it not by anticipating Intel's third-quarter earnings but by guessing instead what side of the bed Henry Paulson will wake up on tomorrow." --columnist Charles Krauthammer

"We've moved beyond show me the money. This is throw me the money." --economist Lawrence Kudlow

"The costs of Washington's bailout fiesta are now so huge, you can see them from space. The latest number, which includes the Citigroup rescue, is $7.7 trillion. That's roughly half of America's GDP." --National Review editor Jonah Goldberg

"Bill Clinton agreed to extensive scrutiny to help get Hillary the secretary of state post. He may have to give up his speaking engagements. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton will have to grapple with age-old battles between mortal enemies, like Sunnis and Shiites, Israelis and Palestinians, and Bill Clinton and spare time." --comedian Argus Hamilton

Jay Leno:

Welcome to "The Tonight Show." I have some wonderful news for you. Everyone in our audience tonight is getting a Federal bailout. Congratulations!

This week, they will flip the switch on the White House Christmas tree, which has over 25,000 lights on it -- one light for every CEO that's looking for a bailout.

Last Friday was, of course, Black Friday. And if you had money in the stock market, [Monday was] Black Monday. The stock market lost 679 points. Not even a stock market, that's a flea market.

I tell you, the economy is bad. In fact -- you know the White House turkey? Turned down the pardon. Said all his money's in the market. Nothing left to live for.

In political news, President-elect Barack Obama has named Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. I am no political expert. I don't pretend to know much about international affairs. But speaking strictly as a late-night talk show host, a Clinton back in office? Yes!

During her confirmation hearings, Republicans could force her to answer a lot of embarrassing questions about Bill Clinton's financial affairs. To which Hillary said, "What kind of affairs? Financial? Oh, no problem!"

THE FOUNDATION

"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." --Thomas Jefferson

INSIGHT

"All socialism involves slavery.... That which fundamentally distinguishes the slave is that he labors under coercion to satisfy another's desires. The relation admits of many gradations. Oppressive taxation is a form of slavery of the individual to the community as a whole. The essential question is -- How much is he compelled to labor for other benefit than his own, and how much can he labor for his own benefit?" --Herbert Spencer

OPINION IN BRIEF

"[O]ne kind of economic distortion ... will come from the political directives issued by newly empowered politicians. First, bank presidents are gravely warned by one senator after another about 'hoarding' their bailout money. But hoarding is another word for recapitalizing to shore up your balance sheet to ensure solvency. Is that not the fiduciary responsibility of bank directors? And isn't pushing money out the window with too little capital precisely the lending laxity that produced this crisis in the first place? Never mind. The banks will knuckle under to the commissars of Capitol Hill. They control the purse. Prudence will yield to politics. Even more egregious will be the directives to a nationalized Detroit. Sen. Charles Schumer, the noted automotive engineer, declared 'unacceptable' last week 'a business model based on gas.' Instead, 'We need a business model based on cars of the future, and we already know what that future is: the plug-in hybrid electric car.' The Chevy Volt, for example? It has huge remaining technological hurdles, gets 40 miles on a charge and will sell for about $40,000, necessitating a $7,500 outright government subsidy. Who but the rich and politically correct will choose that over a $12,000 gas-powered Hyundai? The new Detroit churning out Schumer-mobiles will make the steel mills of the Soviet Union look the model of efficiency. The ruling Democrats have a choice: Rescue this economy to return it to market control. Or use this crisis to seize the commanding heights of the economy for the greater social good. Note: The latter has already been tried. The results are filed under 'History, ash heap of.' " --columnist Charles Krauthammer

CULTURE

"We are witnessing a new hysterical style, in which the Baby Boomer 'me generation' that now runs America jettisons knowledge of the past and daily proclaims that each new development requires both a radical solution and another bogeyman to blame for being mean or unfair to them. We haven't seen such frenzy since the Y2K sham, when we were warned to stock up on flashlights and bottled water as our nation's computers would simply shut down on Jan. 1, 2000 -- and with them the country itself. Get a grip. Much of our current panic is psychological, and hyped by instantaneous electronic communications and second-by-second 24-hour news blasts. There has not been a nationwide plague that felled our workers. No earthquake has destroyed American infrastructure. The material United States before the September 2008 financial panic is largely the same as the one after. Once we tighten our belts and pay off the debts run up by Wall Street speculators and millions of borrowers who walked away from what they owed others -- and we can do this in a $13 trillion annual economy -- sanity will return." --Hoover Institution historian Victor Davis Hanson

GOVERNMENT

"For years, using the powers of the Community Reinvestment Act and other regulatory powers, along with threats of legal action if the loan approval rates varied from the population profile, politicians have pressured banks and other lending institutions into lending to people they would not lend to otherwise. Yet, when all this blows up in our faces and the economy turns down, what is the answer? To have more economic decisions made by politicians, because they choose to say that 'deregulation' is the cause of our problems. Regardless of how much suffocating regulation may have been responsible for an economic debacle, politicians have learned that they can get away with it if they call it 'deregulation.' No matter what happens, for politicians it is 'heads I win and tails you lose.' If we keep listening to the politicians and their media allies, we are all going to keep losing, big time." --Hoover Institute economist Thomas Sowell

GOD GRANTS LIBERTY

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever." --Thomas Jefferson

The Patriot is written for, and primarily supported by grassroots leadership -- Patriots like you who keep the flame of liberty shining bright in your communities and organizations. However, our mission outreach includes thousands of military, collegiate and mission-field readers.

"Thank you to all of The Patriot staff for making every day brighter for me and my colleagues. As a third year law student, I don't have a lot of time to follow policy issues, but always have something of merit to add on such issues in forum debates, thanks to The Patriot." --Law Student at Georgetown U

There are approximately four weeks left in the campaign to meet our 2008 Annual Fund budget, and we still must raise $262,976 before year's end.

Please, if you have the ability, take a moment to support The Patriot's 2008 Annual Fund today by making a contribution -- however large or small. (If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.)

Every dollar you contribute provides a free subscription for someone serving our nation, or a young person who will fill a family, community and national leadership role in the next generation.

I thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you as editor and publisher of The Patriot. On behalf of your Patriot Staff and National Advisory Committee, thank you and God bless you and your family!

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher

(The Patriot is not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization, nor do we accept any online or e-mail advertising. Our mission and operations budgets are funded by -- and depend entirely upon -- the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like YOU!)

THE GIPPER

"You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream--the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, 'The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.' " --Ronald Reagan

LIBERTY

"Congratulations, tolerance mau-mauers: Your shakedown of a Christian-targeted dating website worked. Homosexuals will no longer be denied the inalienable 'right' to hook up with same-sex partners on eHarmony. What a landmark triumph for social progress, eh? New Jersey plaintiff Eric McKinley can now crown himself the new Rosa Parks -- heroically breaking down inhumane barriers to Internet matchmaking by forcing a law-abiding private company to provide services it was never created to provide. 'Men seeking men' has now been enshrined with 'I have a dream' as a civil rights rallying cry of the 21st century. Bully for you, Mr. McKinley. You bully. Neil Warren, eHarmony's founder, is a gentle, grandfatherly businessman who launched his popular dating site to support heterosexual marriage. A 'Focus on the Family' author with a divinity degree, Warren encourages healthy, lasting unions between men and women of all faiths, mixed faiths or no faith at all. Don't like what eHarmony sells? Go somewhere else. There are thousands upon thousands of dating sites on the Internet that cater to gays, lesbians, Jews, Muslims, Trekkies, runners, you name it. No matter. In the name of tolerance, McKinley refused to tolerate eHarmony's right to operate a lawful business that didn't give him what he wanted. He filed a discrimination complaint against eHarmony with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights in 2005. To be clear: eHarmony never, ever refused to do business with anyone. The company broke no laws. Their great 'sin' was not providing a politically correct service that a publicity-seeking gay plaintiff demanded they provide." --columnist Michelle Malkin

RE: THE LEFT

"On ABC's 'Good Morning America,' co-host Robin Roberts couldn't stop gushing about the Obama cabinet picks: 'Some would say it's a team of rivals, a la President Lincoln, or is a better comparison a team of geniuses as FDR did?' George Stephanopoulos unsurprisingly agreed: 'We have not seen this kind of combination of star power and brain power and political muscle this early in a cabinet in our lifetimes.' Smelling salts all around, please. If this proposed incoming Obama administration wasn't so stuffed with Clintonites, starting with Hillary, that line might have sounded insulting to Bill Clinton. Sixteen years ago, all these same tributes were being offered to Bill Clinton's superior intelligence, Bill Clinton's grace under pressure and a superior incoming Clinton staff. Even Stephanopoulos was ogled back then over the charisma of his 'power whisper.' ... Conservatives and Republicans have a very important role to play now in holding this alleged Team of Geniuses accountable. This disgraceful 'news' media won't, period. They will line up to serve Obama only slightly less explicitly than Chris Matthews, who typically blurted out that his new job as a television host was to ensure President Obama's success. We say 'blurted out' because Matthews tends to ... blurt. But give him credit for one thing: the courage to admit the attitude of servitude that his colleagues so piously deny." --Media Research Center president L. Brent Bozell

FAITH AND FAMILY

"Writing at Slate, a Catholic, Melinda Hennenberger (who apparently voted for Obama), worries about the President-elect's strong pro-abortion views -- suddenly realizing that if he was serious about his promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, it might well mean either that staff at Catholic hospitals are forced to perform abortions against their will or (in her view, the more likely scenario) Catholic hospitals across the country will simply close their doors. Well, yes. Could it be that pro-life Obama supporters are suddenly realizing that pro-lifers -- including Archbishop Charles Chaput and other prominent Catholic clergy -- weren't kidding when they called Barack Obama the most extreme pro-abortion politician ever in mainstream American politics? She ends her piece like this: 'At the very moment when Obama and his party have won the trust of so many Catholics who favor at least some limits on abortion, I hope he does not prove them wrong. I hope he does not make a fool out of that nice Doug Kmiec, who led the pro-life charge on his behalf. I hope he does not spit on the rest of us -- though I don't take him for the spitting sort -- on his way in the door. I hope that his appointment of Ellen Moran, formerly of EMILY's List, as his communications director is followed by the appointment of some equally good Democrats who hold pro-life views.' It's not clear what in the substance of President-elect Obama's voting record makes such hopes at all reasonable. And somehow, I doubt this was the kind of 'hope' Obama supporters had in mind when they voted for him." --Carol Platt Liebau

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"Thank you for a truly inspired and encouraging Thanksgiving edition. I wish to point out that John Winthrop acquired his "shining city on a hill" from none other than the Greatest Teacher, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Winthrop's phrase is a slight adaptation of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:14: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;" (New American Standard Bible). Our beloved President Reagan never wore his religion on his sleeve. He was too clever for those who were seeking quick and easy ways to slander and criticize him. Rather than quoting from The Book, he quoted others who quoted from or paraphrased The Book, thus confounding his opponents. The more you educate me about Ronald Reagan's wit and political acumen, the more I feel privileged and honored to have been a active duty Soldier serving him as Commander and Chief, while we fought together and won the longest war, and arguably the costliest war (in terms of dollars and GDP) in our nation's history, the Cold War. (The current Global War on Terror may exceed the length and costs of the Cold War. Certainly has already in terms of U.S. service members killed and wounded.) But for now, let me express that among the many blessings I am thankful to God are the arrival of your erudite and perspicacious editorials and selected news. Without a doubt, your publication is the best concise summary of the best in conservative principles along with most precise and explicit warnings of liberal madness. Thank you. May God bless you, your staff, and all your dear ones. May God bless the USA." --Col. U.S. Army

FOR THE RECORD

"Candidate Obama maligned the Bush tax cuts for benefiting the rich. But President-elect Obama now intends to retain all the tax cuts, keeping the lower rates on the 'rich' until they expire in 2011 -- a far cry from his campaign promises. What about Bush's 'stupid' Iraq war? Obama now wants Bush's secretary of defense, Robert Gates, to stay. Huh? Gates supported the successful surge and the change in counterinsurgent strategy. Obama opposed the surge, attempted to stop it, and predicted failure. Candidate Obama promised to have combat troops out within a year or 16 months of his administration, but President Bush and the Iraqi government now tentatively agree to have all troops out by 2011, a timetable unfathomable but for Bush's courageous and ultimately successful decision to surge. What about the Guantanamo Bay detainees, the 'evil' interrogation techniques and 'unlawful' wiretaps? Obama -- actually faced with governing -- seems now to understand the complex legal questions Bush grappled with. Gitmo contains some really, really bad people, and Obama's security advisers now appreciate the complex legal and logistical problems. ... So where does this leave us? Bush wasn't so evil after all. And running for and governing as president are two different things. But don't expect the Obama-loving media to notice or care." --radio talk show host and author Larry Elder

THE LAST WORD

"If Obama wants his detention of Islamic terrorists to be dramatically different from Bush's Guantanamo, my suggestion is that he cut off -- so to speak -- the expensive prosthetic limb procedures now being granted the detained terrorists. Far from being sodomized and tortured by U.S. forces -- as Obama's base has wailed for the past seven years -- the innocent scholars and philanthropists being held at Guantanamo have been given expensive, high-tech medical procedures at taxpayer expense. If we're not careful, multitudes of Muslims will be going to fight Americans in Afghanistan just so they can go to Guantanamo and get proper treatment for attention deficit disorder and erectile dysfunction. After being captured fighting with Taliban forces against Americans in 2001, Abdullah Massoud was sent to Guantanamo, where the one-legged terrorist was fitted with a special prosthetic leg, at a cost of $50,000-$75,000 to the U.S. taxpayer. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, Massoud would now be able to park his car bomb in a handicapped parking space! No, you didn't read that wrong, because the VA won't pay for your new glasses. I said $75,000. I would have gone with hanging at sunrise, but what do I know? Upon his release in March 2004, Massoud hippity-hopped back to Afghanistan and quickly resumed his war against the U.S. Aided by his new artificial leg, just months later, in October 2004, Massoud masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in Pakistan working on the Gomal Zam Dam project. This proved, to me at least, that people with disabilities can do anything they put their minds to. Way to go, you plucky extremist! Massoud said he had nothing against the Chinese but wanted to embarrass Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for cooperating with the Americans. You know, the Americans who had just footed -- you should pardon the expression -- a $75,000 bill for his prosthetic leg." --columnist Ann Coulter

THE FOUNDATION

"Go on, then, in your generous enterprise with gratitude to Heaven for past success, and confidence of it in the future. For my own part, I ask no greater blessing than to share with you the common danger and common glory ... that these American States may never cease to be free and independent." --Samuel Adams

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

Pilgrims Regress

By Mark Alexander

In the aftermath of a momentous election, an election sure to change the course of our nation, it is tempting to despair. On this Thanksgiving, though, let us resist that powerful temptation and instead take stock of the blessings of liberty.

President Ronald Reagan often cited the Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving as our forebears who charted the path of American freedom. He made frequent reference to John Winthrop's "shining city upon a hill."

As Reagan explained, "The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free."

Who were these "freedom men," and how did they eventually blaze the path of true liberty? They were Calvinist Protestants who rejected the institutional Church of England, believing that worshipping God must originate freely in the individual soul, without coercion. Suffering persecution and imprisonment in England for their beliefs, a group of these separatists fled to Holland in 1608. There, they found spiritual liberty in the midst of a disjointed economy that failed to provide adequate compensation for their labors, and a dissolute, degraded, corrupt culture that tempted their children to stray from faith.

Determined to protect their families from such spiritual and cultural dangers, the Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on 6 September 1620, sailing for a new world that offered the promise of both civil and religious liberty. After an arduous journey, they dropped anchor off the coast of what is now Massachusetts.

On 11 December 1620, prior to disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they signed the Mayflower Compact, America's original document of civil government. It was the first to introduce self-government, and the foundation on which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were built. Governor William Bradford described the Compact as "a combination ... that when they came a shore they would use their owne libertie; for none had power to command them."

Upon landing, the Pilgrims conducted a prayer service and quickly turned to building shelters. Under harrowing conditions, the colonists persisted through prayer and hard work, reaping a bountiful summer harvest. But their material prosperity soon evaporated, for the Pilgrims had erred in acquiescing to their European investors' demands for a financial arrangement holding all crops and property in common, in order to return an agreed-to half to their overseas backers.

By 1623, however, Plymouth Colony was near failure as a result of famine, blight and drought, as well as excessive taxation and what amounted to forced collectivization.

In desperation, the Pilgrims set a day for prayers of repentance; God answered, delivering a gentle rainfall by evening. Bradford's diary recounts how the colonists repented in action: "At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go in the general way as before. And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number."

Property ownership and families freely laboring on their own behalf replaced the "common store," but only after their ill-advised experiment with communism nearly wiped out the entire settlement.

In their simple representative government, born out of dedication to religious freedom, the Pilgrims replaced the rule of men -- with its arbitrary justice administered capriciously at the whim of rulers who favor some at the expense of others -- with the rule of law, treating individuals equally. Yet even these "freedom men" strayed under straits. So could we, if we revert to materialistic government reliance instead of grateful obedience to God. Sadly, we're a long way down that path already.

Closing his farewell address in 1989, Ronald Reagan asked, "And how stands the city on this winter night?" Contemplating our blessings of liberty this Thanksgiving, nearly 20 years after President Reagan left office and 20 generations past the Pilgrims' experience, how stands the city on our watch?

Publisher's Note of Gratitude

Tuesday, I arrived port in San Diego aboard CVN-76 -- the USS Ronald Reagan. She is the largest, fastest and most powerful warship on the high seas. I joined the Carrier Group in Pearl Harbor a week ago for the last leg of its six-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The day before boarding the Reagan, I visited the Arizona Memorial to honor and give thanks for the lives of all those brave souls who perished on 7 December 1941, and those who survived to become part of the Greatest Generation. Our stars and stripes were flying proudly in the wind above that hallowed harbor memorial -- and over the towering bridge of the Reagan a few hundred feet across the water.

This past week was special for many reasons, most notably because of my having been back in the fold with uniformed Patriots -- this time the outstanding CVN-76 Ship's Company and its Air Wing.

I was deeply moved by the opportunity to worship with these young men and women (average age on board is 20) in several services conducted by Lee Axtell, Command Chaplain of Carrier Strike Group 7. He and his chaplains are in charge of ministry to more than 7,000 Navy personnel aboard the Group's six ships. The largest of these services was held in the ship's forecastle, and the proximity to the ship's anchors was fitting.

It means a lot to me, personally, to be in the midst of Naval Aviation at its finest. My grandfather, father and uncle were all Naval Aviators. My dad, a Corsair pilot in WWII, took leave in 1943 to visit his sister at her college. One of his wingmen had a sister at the same college and my dad met her on that visit. Two years later, he married the sister of his wingman -- my mother. I owe my very existence, in large part, to Naval Aviation.

It was an honor to join Lee, CVN-76 CO K.J. Norton and Carrier Air Group 14 CO Thomas Lalor, steaming from Pearl to North Island in San Diego. Under their leadership, the CVN-76 is returning home with the same young men and women who were on board when she departed six months ago -- all of them. Thanks be to God.

I wish the entire crew and air wing a well-deserved and blessed Thanksgiving, and the same to all of you, our Patriot readers.

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher

Permission granted to reprint, post or forward this edition of The Patriot.

P.S. Like many mission-based organizations, we typically raise most of our budget in the last two months of each year. We still must raise $267,452 before year's end. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot today by making a secure online donation -- however large or small. If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.

(Publisher's Note: Regarding our Thanksgiving edition, as with our Easter and Christmas editions, we take leave from the rigors of research and analysis of contemporaneous news, policy and opinion in order to focus on an eternal message, indeed a Christian message. To our Patriot readers of faiths other than Christianity, we hope that this edition serves to deepen your understanding of our faith.)

THE FOUNDATION

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." --Thomas Jefferson

INSIGHT

"Every time that we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, and shift that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people." --John F. Kennedy

OPINION IN BRIEF

"One of the main reasons there's all of this 'money on the sidelines' out there among private investors is that Wall Street doesn't know what the government will do next. Will it bail out the auto industry? The insurance companies? Which taxes will go up? How far will interest rates go down? How long will the federal government own stakes in the banks? Will more stimulus checks go out? If so, how big will the deficit get? Interventionists, bailout czars and 'bold experimenters' in all parties claim to be like firefighters; they can't stop what they're doing until the fire is out. But this analogy only works if you understand the nature of the fire. If it's a credit crisis, that's one thing. If it's uncertainty, it's quite another. And if the problem right now is uncertainty, then these aren't firefighters, they're arsonists. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress he'd spend his kitty of tax dollars on bad mortgage-backed securities. Instead, in the spirit of bold experimentation, he's spent much of it to date buying banks. Obama insisted he had a specific plan for the economy -- but his plan seems to be to 'project confidence.' The problem with this 'In Obama We Trust' approach is that it makes private-sector decision-making very difficult. If your boss says he will lay off half his employees next month, but he doesn't know who yet, will you buy a new house this month? In a time of stability and growth, government can afford bold, persistent experimentation. But in a time of uncertainty, the last thing it needs is more uncertainty." --National Review Editor Jonah Goldberg

LIBERTY

"I was always taught when growing up that when you reward bad behavior all you get is more bad behavior. From the mortgage meltdown to the automaker debacle to cities and states going under, it's all bad behavior. It should not be rewarded. The problem here is that our culture of debt -- both personal and corporate -- has created a culture of dependency. Everyone is calling out to our central government to give them money. And horrors of horrors, many are willing to let the federal government take ownership stakes in these entities and have a hand in their management. That is the road to socialism. The first step to ending the culture of dependency is to tell these corporations, cities and states they need to start taking responsibility for their actions by dealing with the consequences they have created for themselves. If not, then we could accumulate a national debt that even our grandchildren will never pay off." --columnist and former Mayor of Cincinnati Ken Blackwell

GOVERNMENT

"Evil acts can be given an aura of moral legitimacy by noble-sounding socialistic expressions such as spreading the wealth, income redistribution or caring for the less fortunate. Let's think about socialism. Imagine there's an elderly widow down the street from you. She has neither the strength to mow her lawn nor enough money to hire someone to do it. Here's my question to you that I'm almost afraid for the answer: Would you support a government mandate that forces one of your neighbors to mow the lady's lawn each week? If he failed to follow the government orders, would you approve of some kind of punishment ranging from house arrest and fines to imprisonment? I'm hoping that the average American would condemn such a government mandate because it would be a form of slavery, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another. Would there be the same condemnation if instead of the government forcing your neighbor to physically mow the widow's lawn, the government forced him to give the lady $40 of his weekly earnings? That way the widow could hire someone to mow her lawn. I'd say that there is little difference between the mandates. While the mandate's mechanism differs, it is nonetheless the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another. Probably most Americans would have a clearer conscience if all the neighbors were forced to put money in a government pot and a government agency would send the widow a weekly sum of $40 to hire someone to mow her lawn. This mechanism makes the particular victim invisible but it still boils down to one person being forcibly used to serve the purposes of another. Putting the money into a government pot makes palatable acts that would otherwise be deemed morally offensive. This is why socialism is evil. It employs evil means, coercion or taking the property of one person, to accomplish good ends, helping one's fellow man." --George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams

CALLING ALL PATRIOTS

"Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude and perseverance. Let us remember that 'if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.' It is a very serious consideration ... that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event." --Samuel Adams

The Patriot's mission is to advocate for individual liberty and its corollary of responsibility as set forth in the timeless and enduring truths ordained by God and established in the government framed by our nation's Founders. We are not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization. We accept no online or e-mail advertising. Our mission and operations are funded by -- and depend entirely upon -- the voluntary financial support of our readers -- American Patriots like YOU!

At latest accounting, we still must raise $275,600 before year's end.

The Patriot Post is distributed without a subscription fee so that countless thousands of our military, mission field and collegiate readers can receive The Patriot at no charge.

"I just wanted to say thank you for The Patriot Post. I first learned of The Patriot when a friend showed it to me while we were serving in Iraq. I am impressed by your consistent philosophical clarity and historical accuracy. Your Web site also offers great resources." --Major, USAR

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot online today by making a contribution -- however large or small. (If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.)

Every dollar you contribute provides a free subscription for someone serving our nation, or a young person who will fill a family, community and national leadership role in the next generation.

I thank you for the honor and privilege of serving you as editor and publisher of The Patriot. On behalf of your Patriot Staff and National Advisory Committee, thank you and God bless you and your family!

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher

CULTURE

"When the GOP took a beating on Nov. 4, no mass protests ensued; no nationwide boycotts erupted. Conservatives took their lumps and began the peaceful post-defeat process of self-flagellation, self-analysis and self-autopsy. In fact, in the wake of campaign 2008 there's only one angry mob gripped by 'insane rage': left-wing same-sex marriage activists incensed at their defeat in California. Voters there approved Proposition 8, a traditional marriage initiative, by 52 percent to 48 percent. Instead of introspection and self-criticism, however, the sore losers who opposed Prop. 8 responded with threats, fists and blacklists. That's right. Activists have published on the Internet an 'Anti-Gay Blacklist' of Prop. 8 donors. If the tables were turned and Prop. 8 proponents created such an enemies list, everyone in Hollywood would be screaming 'McCarthyism' faster than you could count to eight. ... Corporate honchos, church leaders and small donors alike are in the same-sex marriage mob's crosshairs, all unfairly demonized as hate-filled bigots by bona fide hate-filled bigots who have abandoned decency in pursuit of 'equal rights'." --columnist Michelle Malkin

FAITH AND FAMILY

"I want you to meet a priest from Greenville, South Carolina named Rev. Jay Scott Newman. He is the pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in downtown Greenville. And he has become my personal hero. In a nutshell, Fr. Newman told his parishioners that if they voted for Barack Obama, they embraced 'intrinsic evil' since Obama's opponent was a 'plausible pro-life alternative.' And as a result, those Obama voters need to seek forgiveness from God before they receive Holy Communion again. Does this guy have guts, or what? Finally, a religious leader comes along and deals with the 800-pound elephant in the room: how do supposedly religious people reject the sanctity of life and support someone who voted against a 'Born Alive Infant Protection' law which would protect babies accidentally born alive after a botched abortion? Frankly, if that's not evil, I'm not sure what is. And it takes a priest in Greenville, South Carolina to rise up against all the moral relativism we face in the world and speak the truth. ... When discussing this gutsy priest on my radio show this week, a few liberals called in and complained about him 'mixing politics with religion.' It seems to me that life and death issues aren't very political in nature. At least they shouldn't be. And the fact that the left has managed to turn the issue of abortion into 'politics' is simply a deceitful way to try and make the taking of an unborn baby's life something as mundane and ordinary as taxes or fixing potholes." --columnist and radio talk show host Mike Gallagher

POLITICAL FUTURES

"Considering all [the] unique factors in 2008, it's premature to say this election represents the emergence of a sustained national power shift in favor of the Democrats -- though admittedly, current demographic trends are problematic for the GOP. But if social issues were so advantageous for Obama, why did he hide and distort his record on abortion? Why did he not brag about the liberal activist judges he is sure to appoint? Why did he attempt -- other than when he thought his microphone was off in San Francisco -- to paint himself as a mainstream Christian who wants to reduce abortions? Why did mainstream media debate moderators deliberately avoid these issues? ... The [Republican] party needs to quit betraying the base, on both social and economic issues. I do believe some of my fellow Christian conservatives are too single issue-oriented and am appalled that so many stayed home, given the gravity of the stakes in this election. But the fact remains that it was McCain's underemphasis rather than overemphasis of the social issues that cost him Republican votes. But ... far more important ... is that the Republican Party can no more do without pro-lifers than human beings can survive without hearts. It's who they are. There's already a party stressing economic conservatism nearly to the exclusion of social issues, and the last time I checked, our beloved Libertarians weren't garnering a great percentage of the vote." --David Limbaugh

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"The Patriot is a big part of my daily reading routine and one of my favorite sources for political and policy insights. Keep up the good work and please provide more college students with useful info to combat the relentless liberal drivel. I can't thank you enough for all that you have provided this young Federalist." --Durham, North Carolina

"I am a college professor at [a major university] and am teaching an Honors course on our national heritage. In response to a question from a student recently, I pulled out my 'pocket copy' of the Constitution provided by The Patriot. I have now provided copies to all my students. The Patriot is a very useful resource for alternative perspective to the liberal tripe that passes as 'intellectual discourse' in academia. Thank you!" --Left Coast, California

"Patriots, I just learned that you are not a 501c-3 so that the IRS can't dictate constraints on your content. That is fine with me and I will continue to support The Patriot because I deeply believe in your mission. Freedom of the press is much more important than a minor tax deduction. I applaud you!" --Cincinnati, Ohio

THE GIPPER

"My fellow Americans: Over 350 years ago, a small band of Pilgrims, after gathering in their first harvest at Plymouth Colony, invited their friends and neighbors, who were Indians, to join them in a feast of thanksgiving. Together they sat around their bountiful table and bowed their heads in gratitude to the Lord for all that He had bestowed upon them. This week, so many years later, we, too, will gather with family and friends and, after saying grace, carve up a turkey, pass around the cranberries and dressing, and later share slices of pumpkin pie. We Americans have so much for which to be thankful. ... We will give thanks for these and one thing more: our freedom. Yes, in America, freedom seems like the air around us: It's there; it's sweet, though we rarely give it a thought. Yet as the air fills our lungs, freedom fills our souls. It gives breath to our laughter and joy. It gives voice to our songs. It gives us strength as we race for our dreams. ... Yes, as we gather together this Thanksgiving to ask the Lord's blessings, as we of whatever faith we are give praises to His name, let us thank Him for our peace, prosperity, and freedom. Happy Thanksgiving!" --Ronald Reagan

THE LAST WORD

"It's not just Americans and Iraqis and Afghans who owe a debt of thanks to the U.S. soldier but all the Europeans grown plump and prosperous in a globalized economy guaranteed by the most benign hegemon in history. That said, Thanksgiving isn't about the big geopolitical picture, but about the blessings closer to home. Last week, the state of Oklahoma celebrated its centennial, accompanied by rousing performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's eponymous anthem: 'We know we belong to the land/And the land we belong to is grand!' Which isn't a bad theme song for the first Thanksgiving, either. Three hundred and eighty-six years ago, the Pilgrims thanked God because there was a place for them in this land, and it was indeed grand. The land is grander today, and that, too, is remarkable: France has lurched from Second Empires to Fifth Republics struggling to devise a lasting constitutional settlement for the same smallish chunk of real estate, but the principles that united a baker's dozen of East Coast colonies were resilient enough to expand across a continent and halfway around the globe to Hawaii. Americans should, as always, be thankful this Thanksgiving, but they should also understand just how rare in human history their blessings are." --columnist Mark Steyn

THE FOUNDATION

"In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." --George Washington

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

Thoughtful Warriors

(Editor's Note: Mr. Alexander is on the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) this week, somewhere between Pearl Harbor and San Diego. In his absence, we offer this essay from conservative writer Mona Charen.)

Unlike some who shall, in the interests of comity, remain nameless -- conservatives do not cry foul when they lose elections. They do not whine that the election was stolen, or secured through dirty campaign tricks, or otherwise illegitimately won. Instead, they ask themselves where they went wrong.

The National Review Institute, a think tank founded by the late William F. Buckley and now headed by the dynamic and perspicacious Kate O'Beirne, hosted a daylong conference in Washington, D.C., to examine where conservatives need to go from here. It was a very clarifying day.

Yes, the Democrats got a big win on Nov. 4 and there is no gainsaying that Republicans and conservatives were rejected. Then again, it would have defied 200 years of American history if the party holding the White House for two terms and presiding over a huge financial panic should have been successful. Add to that the essentially content-free McCain campaign and you have yourself a drubbing.

But did liberal ideas win? Identification with the Republican Party is down. But the number of voters who identify themselves as liberal (22 percent) is nearly identical to the results four years ago (21 percent). Thirty-four percent, the same as in 2004, still identify as conservatives. And while slightly more voters expressed a desire for more government activism in 2008 than in 2004, the panting eagerness in the press for a reprise of the New Deal (note the cover of Time magazine) is not widely shared by the electorate.

Lacking political strength for the battles to come, conservatives will have to rely on the strength of their ideas. The most important battle, Yuval Levin of the Ethics and Public Policy Center argued, will be health care. If health care is successfully nationalized in America, the case for a smaller and less bureaucratic state becomes immeasurably more difficult. Throughout the developed world, in countries that have adopted socialized medicine, every call to limit the size and scope of government is instantly caricatured as an attempt to take medicine away from the weak and sick. People become awfully attached to "free" medical care even though it is emphatically not free (it is supported through higher taxes), even though it requires waiting periods for care (even in cases of cancer and other serious illnesses), and even though it deprives people of the latest technology (the city of Pittsburgh has more MRI scanners than the entire nation of Canada).

National Review's Jim Manzi stressed a theme that has been circulating in the works of Ross Douthat, Ramesh Ponnuru (both of whom spoke later in the day), David Frum, and others, namely that the Republican Party erred by failing to address concerns of the broad middle class. Republicans tended to talk only of income taxes, neglecting the FICA or payroll tax that all wage earners pay. Douthat, author (with Reihan Salam) of "Grand New Party," expanded on that theme. He outlined three traps facing the American right: 1) Demography. The groups that tend to vote Democrat -- single women, Hispanics and other minorities -- are expanding. The groups that vote for Republicans -- married women, white Christians -- are contracting. 2) Socio-economic. Middle-class wage stagnation over the past couple of decades has made the welfare state look better to more people (also, see single mothers above -- the collapse of the two-parent family is probably a greater threat to future Republican success than any other single factor). 3) Ideological. Douthat argues that conservatives have confused policy with principle and have become wedded to particular solutions (like school vouchers) instead of flexibly seeking conservative approaches to new challenges.

We will need that flexibility as well as a renewed commitment to conservative principles now more than ever as we face a charismatic new president and a Democratic Congress. Republicans have been (myopically) tax-focused, which is a diminishing asset now that fewer and fewer Americans pay income taxes.

Not all of the cultural indicators are negative. Abortion is down, as is the divorce rate (though more people are cohabiting, which is terrible for kids). Crime declined when no one predicted that it would. Conservatives have won tough domestic battles (welfare reform) before -- even with Democratic presidents. The next big battle is health care. After that, we shore up the traditional family. It won't be easy, but this is the land of opportunity -- and despair is a sin.

Copyright 2008 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

News from the Swamp: Filling the cabinet with old stuff

As the Obama administration begins to take shape, "change" has become little more than a bag of recyclables from the Clinton years. On a near-daily basis, it seems, Barack Obama has stocked his shelves with Clinton retreads or other longtime Swamp-dwellers. The next attorney general, for one, will be Eric Holder, Bill Clinton's deputy attorney general from 1997-2001. Holder was instrumental in returning young Elian Gonzales to Communist Cuba at gunpoint, and in processing that rogue's gallery of Clinton pardons in January 2001. Nothing like the smell of change...

The post that everyone is talking about, however, is that of secretary of state. Swamp gossip points to Hillary Clinton as the prime candidate, but despite some wishful thinking, it is not a done deal. History has proven that the best secretary of state is the one who acts as the mouthpiece of the president. Think Henry Kissinger or James Baker III. Those who do not promote the president's ideological stance tend to be failures, pushing America's foreign policy off the rails. Think Colin Powell. With that in mind, it's hard to picture Hillary Clinton as the person charged with acting as the international mouthpiece of President Obama.

On the campaign trail, these two held strongly opposing views on American foreign policy. It could be said that Obama wants Clinton on board precisely because she can make up for his own inadequacies in foreign policy. If that is the case, then what does one do about the elephant in the room -- i.e., Bill? As we all know, he has made a cottage industry of the ex-presidency, raking in millions of dollars from overseas speeches, consulting and philanthropy. As a private citizen, he's of course allowed to keep many of his dealings secret, but how many of those secret deals will run into direct conflict with the interests of the United States if his wife is secretary of state? Clintonistas say this is not an issue, which means it's a huge issue.

Furthermore, Hillary still has a future to consider. She has made a name for herself in the Senate, and another run for the White House isn't out of the question. However, if she is tied to Obama's administration and it falters, then she is likely to absorb a share of the blame. Perhaps the best advice came from former UN ambassador John Bolton: "Obama should remember the rule that you should never hire somebody you can't fire."

Meanwhile, what happened to John Kerry, who was openly vying the secretary of state post? He was recently named chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- ironically, the very committee to which he testified in 1971 that U.S. soldiers in Vietnam were committing war crimes. According to Kerry, our military personnel in Vietnam "personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, [blew] up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to ... the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country." Kerry then added, "There are all kinds of atrocities and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed." So now we have a confessed war criminal in charge of the Foreign Relations Committee. That's a change, all right.

A new endangered species: Republican electoral leads

When the pundits signed off on Election Night knowing that Barack Obama had won the White House, there were still four Senate races up in the air. Oregon's Gordon Smith later lost to Democrat challenger Jeff Merkley and Georgia's Saxby Chambliss faces a 2 December runoff against Democrat challenger Jim Martin. On election night in Minnesota, incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman led purported comedian Al Franken by only a few hundred votes. In Alaska, convicted felon Ted Stevens still held a lead of about 3,000 votes over Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Oddly enough, Republican leads tended to vanish during post-election counting. When Alaska counted 60,000 of the 95,000 early voting, absentee and disputed ballots left after Election Day, Stevens' advantage disappeared, and Begich won by nearly 4,000 votes. The 85-year-old Stevens' 40-year Senate career is now over, though it would have been better for Republicans to run him out of town on a rail. He would then have been replaced by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

More mysterious, though, is the situation in Minnesota, where a recount is under way. Franken has steadily cut into Coleman's lead through oddities such as finding absentee ballots in the trunk of a car and "miscommunication" from election officials in two liberal strongholds which added more than 350 votes to Franken's count. Interestingly, the additional vote total for Franken from these sorts of "errors" is larger than the sum total of mistakes in all the other congressional and state legislative races combined, and the two Senate race miscommunications were the only ones from the local electoral boards in question -- all the other races were unchanged. Indeed, it's most curious that nearly every mistake has favored Franken.

Franken's recount strategists are also calling on the state to do a complete recount and to re-evaluate ballots initially thrown out, including the assumption that any disputed vote for Obama would naturally indicate a Franken vote, despite the fact that Al trailed Barack statewide by double-digits. The question becomes whether Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (a Democrat and ACORN supporter) can prove his counting is honest.

If Coleman loses, the only obstacle remaining for a filibuster-proof 60-seat Democrat majority in the Senate is Saxby Chambliss. Democrats meanwhile ensured that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) stayed on the reservation by striking a bargain leaving him as chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as well as head of the Armed Services subcommittee in exchange for sworn loyalty.

Updates on the liberal agenda

Plans for a second multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus package will have to wait until the new president takes office in January. Congressional Democrats admit that current White House opposition leaves the proposed package dead in the water. Of course, since the last economic stimulus package had no real impact on the economy, there is no reason to believe that this new package will have any effect either. But rather than accepting the futility of a "bail 'em all out" government, spendthrift liberals will simply wait for Barack's coronation before throwing billions more taxpayer dollars down the rabbit hole.

The plan to redistribute wealth will not stop at the gates of the "rich," a term that is being redefined downward with each passing week. Private retirement accounts are now in the crosshairs of liberal social engineers such as Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School for Social Research in New York City, who proposed that the government confiscate 401(k)s, IRAs and other personal retirement accounts and convert them to so-called Guaranteed Retirement Accounts, which would supposedly earn a fixed three-percent annual rate of return. Ghilarducci admitted, though, that participants would not "earn a real three-percent return in perpetuity."

Furthermore, only half of the total value of the account could be passed on to a person's heirs. Presumably, the government would keep the other half. The outright taking of an individual's retirement money is inherently unfair (not to mention unconstitutional), but what's more important to Ghilarducci is eliminating the 401(k) tax breaks because, she says, they encourage wealthier people to save while providing no such assistance to the poor. What seems to escape Ghilarducci's notice is that people who are too poor to pay taxes don't need tax breaks. Now that Barack Obama is the president-elect, however, we can expect to see a lot more of this socialist kookery proposed and adopted.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) returned to work in grand fashion by announcing plans to submit a bill for universal health care early next year. No formal details on the plan were reported, but if the so-called Liberal Lion is true to form, rest assured that this bill will be heavy on taxation, heavy on bureaucracy, and light on quality.

Cheney and Gonzales indicted

We hate to admit it, but we really couldn't have said it better than The New York Times: "The longtime district attorney in Willacy County, Tex., is not retiring from public office quietly after a defeat at the polls this year. Instead he has issued a flurry of indictments against his local political enemies, and then for good measure filed charges against Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales." That pretty much sums up the political gotcha in Texas, where Willacy County district attorney Juan Angel Guerra must have hit the Tequila hard before filing the charges.

First Gonzales: He is charged with using influence to try to stop an investigation into corruption during the construction of a federal jail, committing the "crime of neglect" because illegal aliens were allegedly mistreated there.

The charge against Vice President Cheney is even more bizarre. "Mr. Cheney was charged with 'engaging in an organized criminal activity' in connection with the 2001 beating death of an inmate by two fellow inmates at one of the privately run federal detention centers in the county, which is near the Mexican border," The Times explains. "The indictment ... asserts that Mr. Cheney has some culpability in what happened because he had invested in the GEO Corporation, a company in Florida that owns and operates the federal detention center in Raymondville where the death occurred." Talk about grasping at straws.

One might note that Guerra himself was under indictment for theft and tampering with records until a judge finally dismissed the charges. After his arrest in March 2007, he camped outside the county jail with a horse, three goats and a rooster, daring the sheriff to arrest him. Sounds like he should run for Congress.

Why support The Patriot's collegiate outreach?

"History, by apprising [citizens] of the past will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men; it will enable them to know ambition under every disguise it may assume; and knowing it, to defeat its views." --Thomas Jefferson

One of our primary missions is outreach to collegiate readers -- the young people from whose ranks will come our next generation of Patriots and policymakers. The Patriot provides alternative perspective to the prevailing liberal indoctrination on college and university campuses. The Patriot is also a great source of support and encouragement to conservative students and professors, who often stand alone for what is good and right.

"The Patriot is a big part of my daily reading routine and one of my favorite sources for political and policy insights. Keep up the good work and please provide more college students with useful info to combat the relentless liberal drivel. I can't thank you enough for all that you have provided this young Federalist." --Durham, North Carolina

The Patriot is not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization, nor do we accept any online or e-mail advertising. Our mission and operations budgets are funded by -- and depend entirely upon -- the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like YOU!

We still must raise $282,475 for the 2008 Annual Fund budget before year's end.

The Patriot Post is distributed without a subscription fee so that our military, mission field and collegiate readers can receive The Patriot at no charge.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot's 2008 Annual Fund today by making a contribution -- however large or small. (If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form.)

Every dollar you contribute provides a free subscription for someone serving our nation, or a young person who will fill a family, community and national leadership role in the next generation!

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher

NATIONAL SECURITY

Warfront with Jihadistan: Withdrawal agreement reached

Last Sunday, after more than five years of war, Iraq's cabinet overwhelmingly approved a proposed security agreement calling for a full withdrawal of American troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. The proposal must be approved by Iraq's full Parliament, with the vote scheduled for 24 November. Iraq's leaders expressed confidence that with most of the Shiites and Kurds on board, there was more than enough support to ensure its passage. However, there is widespread Sunni opposition to the pact, which could hamper its prospects even if passed, as it would call into question whether there was true national unity on the issue. Some Shiites are also opposed, as demonstrated Wednesday when lawmakers who were aligned with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr disrupted the parliamentary debate on the proposal. Most opposition stems from a desire to see the Americans leave Iraq much earlier than the end of 2011.

Sadly, those Iraqi opposition voices may find a friend in Barak Obama, who opposed the troop surge that made this security agreement, and victory, possible, and who consistently called for cutting and running before being forced to temper his defeatism in the general election. Oddly enough, if his advice had been followed two years earlier, it would have led to a U.S. defeat, slaughter in Iraq, and a victorious jihadi enemy looking for its next U.S. target. It may lead to that now, as well.

While Obama spokeswoman Brooke Anderson confirmed that Obama remains committed to withdrawing U.S. forces by mid-2010, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that any withdrawal should be driven solely by conditions on the ground. "I certainly understand there are other options, and it's something that we look at all the time," said Admiral Mullen. "But ... from the military's perspective, I think [a withdrawal is] best to be conditions-based." Of course, being the good soldier he is, the Admiral was also quick to say that he would carry out whatever orders the new president issued. Still, it's clear that Obama faces a Pentagon that strongly disagrees with one of his core military policies. The first few months of the Obama regime are shaping up to be, uh, interesting to say the least.

Profiles of valor: U.S. Army Sgt. James Brasher

United States Army Sgt. 1st Class James Brasher was serving as platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in December 2007. His company was part of Operation Mar Kararadad, a mission to clear the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qal'eh, Afghanistan. On the night of 7 December, the company flew by helicopter to a point just outside the city and occupied a hill overlooking it. At dawn, the company began taking enemy fire from a town at the bottom of the hill, so they moved to clear the town. At one point, Sgt. Brasher killed an attacking jihadi before he could injure or kill any U.S. soldiers, and Brasher also took out an enemy position with a fragmentation grenade.

Brasher then led his men against other enemy positions as they systematically cleared the town. Repeatedly exposing himself to enemy fire, Brasher continued to lead the Americans in pursuit of retreating insurgents, killing several more. The Taliban consolidated behind a defensible compound, but Brasher kept fighting even after he was hit in the right forearm and bicep by an enemy round. In fact, the medics had to force him to take medical care. On 9 October 2008, Brasher was presented the Silver Star for "daring acts of intrepidity and gallantry in the face of a numerically superior and determined force," according to the citation. "SFC Brasher's fearless actions and dedication to mission accomplishment enabled Second Platoon to destroy over 20 well trained Taliban fighters. His quick decisions and aggressive stance against the enemy saved the lives of his men."

The war next door

The same day that America was shell-shocked at the polls, Mexico was dealing with its own wakeup call, namely, the war on its doorstep. Why worry? Because our doorstep is next. Mexico's second-highest minister, Interior Secretary Juan Mourino, died in a helicopter fireball that killed 14. Causes behind the mishap are still under investigation, but many speculate that the crash was the work of drug cartels, as a way of announcing their intent to operate unfettered by Mexico's rule-of-law constraints. If true, this marks a substantial raising of the ante in Mexico's war against its drug lords.

This year alone, more than 4,400 Mexicans have been killed in the drug war -- more than the cumulative total of U.S. casualties since the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003. As another indicator of the looming threat, Mexico is also the kidnapping capital of the world. Evidence of this fact spilled over onto U.S. soil a few weeks ago with the kidnapping of an eight-year-old boy from Las Vegas who was held for ransom by drug lords for debts owed by a relative.

The U.S. is currently spending $400 million to train drug fighters in Mexico. This is not to say that throwing money at the problem is the answer. Neither, however, is the liberal "solution" of ignoring the problem in hopes that it will go away. The sooner the U.S. addresses the imminent threat posed by Mexico's drug war, the less costly the ultimate price paid by all.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Income Redistribution: Lining up for a bailout

After years of railing against various "evil" corporate interests (e.g., Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Credit, et al.), Democrats have uncovered a corporate interest they do like: Big Auto, as in General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The House held hearings this week with the CEOs of each company, who rode their private jets to DC to beg for $25 billion in taxpayer money. Many Democrats are sympathetic. Notably, the Big Three's unionized workers constitute a major Democrat constituency.

The continuing saga of the government's misbegotten financial bailout program proves, if nothing else, that the more the government subsidizes a failed company, the more inclined those and other companies will be to race to the bottom to stake a claim to the cash handouts. Astoundingly, under the bailout program, many of the firms' bad assets remain in portfolios of the companies purportedly being bailed out, which prompted a parade of industries seeking no-strings-attached government giveaways. President Ronald Reagan once observed, "Government is like a baby -- an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." As if to prove that maxim, congressional Democrats are now seeking to give $25 billion to the auto industry without requiring the industry to fix what is wrong with it first. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) went to so far as to propose giving the Big Three $100 billion or more.

Nothing in the proposed auto bailout will reform the endemic problems of an American auto industry whose current business model was created during the FDR presidency, and which has reached the end of its model's life expectancy. But Democrats aren't worried about the health of the Big Three; they are concerned with the health of the United Auto Workers. Over three decades, the UAW managed (with a little help from corporate cowardice) to tie the Big Three to the most expensive and expansive union contracts in America, which were bound to lead to corporate bankruptcy. If the Democrats rescue the automakers, they do so not to get business back on its feet; they do it to get unions back on theirs. The Democrats are "buying" one industry at a time in their march to the workers' paradise.

Merely throwing money at GM without reforming the company for 21st century realities only wastes taxpayer funds while delaying GM's inevitable day of reckoning. There is only one solution that will allow GM to upgrade its business model to meet the 21st century: Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is the quickest and surest path for GM to shed its dead weight and regain the ability to sustain itself. Indeed, bankruptcy is the means by which bad companies are allowed to fix themselves. Bailout, on the other hand, is the means by which bad companies are allowed to remain so at taxpayer expense.

Other economic signs are mixed

In other economic news, oil prices dropped below $50 a barrel this week for the first time since January 2007. In July, prices peaked at about $145 a barrel, but analysts predict $30 to $40 a barrel before long, which would be the lowest since December 2003. That's great news as Americans fill up their gas tanks for holiday travel, but naturally, the Leftmedia is reporting only that it is a sign of how badly the economy is doing. They just can't be pleased.

Not that the economy is doing well. Obviously, the bailout is causing as much turmoil as it is purported to help. One sign of the turmoil is jobless claims, which last week rose to 542,000, the highest since July 1992. The October unemployment rate was 6.5 percent, up from 4.6 last year. Some economists predict seven or eight percent by the end of 2009.

Around the nation: States tighten belts

The federal government isn't the only one feeling the pinch of the economic crisis. The loss of revenue, coupled with a greater number of unemployment claims, has state officials scrambling for solutions to keep their economies afloat. In California, RINO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing for a sales tax increase of 1.5 percent, while in New York, Democrat Gov. David Paterson is preparing billions in Medicaid and education cuts. Ohio, with its seven-percent unemployment rate, may, for the first time in 26 years, seek a loan from the federal government. How better do you describe "government out of control"?

Not surprisingly, the states faring the worst are those with the most subprime mortgages, such as Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. Meanwhile, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Hawaii are also suffering from the loss of tourism and gambling revenues. In addition, the crisis in the financial markets, with its resulting loss of jobs, has cost the states much-needed revenue in the form of capital gains taxes and bonuses. The loss of jobs is putting further strain on affected states' unemployment funds.

Many states are considering using federal loans to finance construction projects and other infrastructure improvements. But this brings with it another problem: the credit crunch. Some experts are predicting that state and local governments with less than stellar credit may soon be cut off, resulting in more costly bond debt.

The only states that have weathered the storm so far are those rich with mineral and oil resources, though experts are now saying that the falling oil prices may, ironically, drag them into the crisis as well.

Colombia to sign free trade agreement with Europe

Thanks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's foot dragging, U.S. ally Colombia will sign a free trade agreement with Europe ahead of the United States. Free trade with Europe will be good for Colombia, as it would have been with the U.S., but Pelosi and her fellow Democrats have been blocking the agreement for several months, citing violence against union workers in the Latin American country. Such violence has declined 87 percent since 2002, as has violence in general.

Ten years ago, Colombia was a land of drug trafficking and murder. Today, it is a safe country with appealing markets, thanks largely to U.S. investment. Since 1996, the U.S. has given $5.8 billion in military, police, economic and social aid to Colombia, laying the groundwork for good market conditions there. By comparison, Europe has given Colombia $91 million. While Europe will enjoy more than $3 billion a year in free trade with Colombia, the United States' $9 billion in annual exports there will be saddled with 35 percent tariffs. It's about time Congress opened its eyes to opportunity and passed the free trade agreement.

CULTURE & POLICY

From the 'Non Compos Mentis' File

Barack Obama's early association with two former members of the Weather Underground is no secret. Or is it? Apparently to many Obama voters it is, and it's not the only thing they don't know about their president-elect. According to a new Zogby survey, only two percent of Obama voters earned a perfect or near-perfect grade on a 12-question test that "gauged their knowledge of statements and scandals associated with the presidential tickets during the campaign."

For example, 88 percent didn't know Barack Obama said his energy policies would probably bankrupt the coal industry; 83 percent were clueless that he had ousted all his opponents from the ballot in order to win his first election; 72 percent couldn't cite Joe Biden's 1988 plagiarism disgrace; and 47 percent couldn't identify Biden as the predictor that Obama would be "tested by an international crisis during his first six months as president."

Meanwhile, 94 percent pointed to Sarah Palin as the candidate with the pregnant teen daughter; 86 percent knew about her $150,000 wardrobe; 87 percent associated her with being able to "see Russia" from her house (although this was actually part of Tina Fey's "Saturday Night Live" parody); and 81 percent identified McCain as unable to count the homes he owns. Said poll commissioner John Ziegler: "[T]his poll really proves beyond any doubt the stunning level of malpractice on the part of the media in not educating the Obama portion of the voting populace."

Naturally, the poll has generated outrage -- not against the media or uninformed voters, but against Zogby for asking the questions. It's typical of anti-gun liberals to want to shoot the messenger.

From the "Court Jesters" File: No suit for you

"Whether Jarek Molski is a crusader for the disabled or an extortionist who abused the law for personal gain, the vexatious litigant has filed his last lawsuit," reports the Los Angeles Times. Since becoming disabled in a motorcycle accident two decades ago, Molski has filed more than 400 suits against "restaurants, bowling alleys, wineries and other retail outlets for insufficient handicapped parking, misplaced handrails and other violations of the [Americans With Disabilities Act]," writes the Times. Molski made hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than two years, mostly from settlements out of court. However, a federal judge has now barred Molski from filing any further lawsuits, and not a moment too soon. In 2004, U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie called Molski a "hit-and-run plaintiff," accusing him of systematic extortion of businesses across California. You don't say!

Climate change this week: I'm sorry, you have the wrong number

The UK Telegraph reports, "A surreal scientific blunder last week raised a huge question mark about the temperature records that underpin the worldwide alarm over global warming." NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) recently announced that October was the warmest on record, despite colder temperatures and unusual snowstorms around the world. It turns out that GISS, headed by global warming alarmist James Hansen, used September's numbers to declare that October was warm. This would be funny were it not so sad. A spokesman tried to claim that the figures were obtained from another body and that GISS doesn't have the resources for quality control over supplied data. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) relies on data from GISS to promote the case for global warming. It's just one more straw on the camel's back.

Then again, National Geographic News reports, "Emissions of greenhouse gases -- such as the carbon dioxide, or CO2, that comes from power plants and cars -- are heating the atmosphere to such an extent that the next ice age, predicted to be the deepest in millions of years, may be postponed indefinitely." So between 10,000 and 100,000 years from now, we might not experience another ice age. What a relief.

And last...

In case readers missed the celebration, Wednesday was World Toilet Day. According to Agence France-Presse, "The World Toilet Organisation, founded in 2001, aims to make sanitation a key global issue." The organization's Web site states, "Each year lack of toilets causes 200 million tons of human waste to go uncollected and untreated around the world, fouling the environment and exposing millions of people to diseases." On the other hand, one of the things to be aware of on Toilet Day is that so much drinking water is wasted because of toilets. Some are even calling for so-called flushless toilets. "This 'flush and forget' attitude creates a new problem which we have to revisit," said WTO founder Jack Sims. Making matters worse, we now have a smooth-talking liberal as president-elect and solid Demo majorities in both the House and Senate, which means there will be plenty of BS piling up in Washington, DC, in the days ahead. Flush and forget. Would that it could be that simple.

THE FOUNDATION

"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men." --John Adams

INSIGHT

"If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs." --Theodore Roosevelt

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too." --W. Somerset Maugham

"He is a man of sense who does not grieve for what he has not, but rejoices in what he has." --Epictetus

UPRIGHT

"Now that distrust of markets is high, Americans are supposed to believe that the institution they trust least -- Congress -- will pony up $1 trillion and then passively recede, never putting its 10 thumbs, like a manic Jack Horner, into the pie? Surely Congress will direct the executive branch to show compassion for this, that and the other industry. And it will mandate 'socially responsible' spending -- an infinitely elastic term -- by the favored companies." --columnist George Will

"What we are watching is Carter-esque interference with the economy. President Bush's handling of this economic debacle will go down as the biggest black mark on his legacy. While supposedly touting the importance of capitalism, Bush has embraced the same Keynesian solutions that trashed the economy during the 1930s and 1970s. And both Republicans and Democrats go right along with him, psychotically citing the Great Depression while ignoring the basic fact that Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's tinkering made a depression into the Great Depression. The bailout is a disaster." --columnist Ben Shapiro

"Yes, letting GM go into bankruptcy would be scary. But a GM bailout merely kicks GM's problems down the road while spreading the fear about where Uncle Sam's big feet will land next. Besides, bankruptcy isn't the end of the world. It's the means by which bad companies restructure to fix themselves. Bailouts are the means by which governments subsidize bad companies." --National Review editor Jonah Goldberg

"As usual, government's stumbling, bureaucratic 'solutions' exacerbate problems that free people, allowed to pursue their own self-interest, would address on their own. We'd still suffer some tough times -- it's painful when bubbles pop -- but recovery comes sooner when businesses must quickly fix their own mistakes -- or die." --John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20"

"Part of the problem is that we have enjoyed such unparalleled freedoms and prosperity that we have been lulled into the false notion that they will continue in perpetuity, even as we betray, to ever-greater extremes, our founding principles. But traditionalists understand that there is a tipping point beyond which this incessant socialist piggybacking on our capitalistic economic system and these ever-deepening encroachments on our scheme of government (for example, through judicial activism) will finally bring us to our knees." --columnist David Limbaugh

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

"Detroit is in nose dive, no doubt about that. So is a $50 billion government bailout the answer? President-elect Barack Obama thinks so, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi points in the same direction with her call for extending 'emergency and limited financial assistance' under the $700 billion bailout plan enacted last month. Democrats clearly want something big and something soon for the Big Three. We agree that the automakers can't go on much longer burning cash and piling up an Everest of debt. They're close to the breaking point. But there's a system in place for dealing with crises such as this, even at the scale of massive corporations. It's called bankruptcy, and it should not be written off as unthinkable. Filing for Chapter 11 protection under bankruptcy law is the normal way a company stays in business when facing an unmanageable financial situation. It keeps creditors at bay while the company reorganizes under court supervision and settles its debts. In recent years it has served as a refuge for major airlines (Delta and United) which, you may notice, continued to fly while in Chapter 11 and, post-bankruptcy, fly today. Bankruptcy protection also frees companies from union contracts. Could this be why it seems to have been taken off the table as an option, at least among Democrats? We can only surmise, but it's clear that a bankruptcy process would be rough going for the United Auto Workers." --Investor's Business Daily

WE DEPEND ON YOU

"Statesmen ... may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand... The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. ... Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all government and in all the combinations of human society." --John Adams

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Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis!
Mark Alexander
Publisher

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"Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions." --George Washington

DEZINFORMATSIA

Can't wait another minute: "[W]e should move the president's inauguration up to the first Tuesday in December, one month after the election. The new Congress should have its schedule moved from early January to early December. That would allow a few weeks before the holidays to get urgent business done. When the Constitution was framed, things moved more slowly. That may explain the March date. The January date was an improvement. But the time lag still is too long in these modern times when crises need the earliest possible attention. People who elect a new president are eager for the change to take place. The sooner the better." --USA Today founder Al Neuharth

Wipe the drool off your chin: "Is there -- is -- do you have this little bit of a sense, can there be -- can a guy who's cool be president of the United States?" --CBS's Harry Smith discussing Obama with GQ deputy editor Michael Hainey

Confessions: "I'll bet that most Post journalists voted for Obama. I did. There are centrists at The Post as well. But the conservatives I know here feel so outnumbered that they don't even want to be quoted by name in a memo." --Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell

Obama sycophant attacks Clinton: "I don't understand it. Why would [Barack Obama] pick [Hillary Clinton for secretary of state]? I thought we were done with the Clintons. She'll just use it to build her power base. It's Machiavellian. And then we'll have Bill Clinton, too. I thought Obama didn't want drama. He's already got [chief of staff Rahm] Emanuel and [transition team leader John] Podesta. He'll have even more drama with her. She's just a soap opera. If he doesn't pick her, everyone will say she's been dissed again, we'll have to live through that again." --MSNBC's Chris Matthews

Fearmongering about so-called global warming: "The warnings are stark. A vortex of trash twice the size of Texas, toxins bleeding into the ocean, rivers that can not reach the sea, species lost forever. Clouds, rain, storm's fury borne of the ocean, slowly drown distant nations. Islands disappearing and in their wake, a new kind of refugee, so far away and so close to home. Throughout our planet and within our bodies, water flows. We cannot survive without it. Yet, 1 billion people don't have enough. Our new thirst may fuel wars. Is water the oil of tomorrow?" --NBC's Meredith Vieira kicking off NBC's annual "Green Week"

Newspulper Headlines:

It's Always in the Last Place You Look: "Ancient Pyramid Found in Egypt" --Press Association (England)

An Amazing Display of Self-Control: "Edwards Avoids Affair in First Speech Since Scandal" --FoxNews.com

Human Rights Groups Are Still Executing People?: "Taliban Calls on Human Rights Groups to Stop Executions" --Daily Telegraph (London)

We Hope It Still Pays Off Next Season When We Get Around to It: "This Season, Procrastination May Pay Off" --The New York Times

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Climate Change Threatening Lemmings" --Christian Science Monitor Web site ++ "Hillary Clinton Eyed for Secretary of State" --Associated Press

News You Can Use: "Texting While Driving Is Bad, Doctors Agree" --Reuters

Bottom Stories of the Day: "Additional Votes Have No Effect on Harris Co. Election Results" --Houston Chronicle

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Same old refrain: "The consensus is this, that we have to do whatever it takes to get this economy moving again, that ... we're going to have to spend money now to stimulate the economy." --Barack Obama **How come our household economies don't improve when we spend money we don't have?

And one more time: "Most of these are going to be deficit spending, which economists will tell you, in times of recession, you have to do." --Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on how he would pay for new programs in his state

"[W]e already have too much union-busting and too much [inaudible] for the [inaudible] worker in this country for us to now say by the way, if you're a company and you haven't been able to totally get rid of the unions, then go bankrupt and rewrite, write down the contracts." --Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) on why GM can't go bankrupt

Saving the day: "The adoption of a robust recovery package should be the top priority of the upcoming lame duck session. That is why I intend to seek consent on a bill to create jobs, prevent large tax increases and cuts in state services, strengthen our nation's manufacturing sector, and assist those struggling to find a job." --Senate Demo Leader Harry Reid D-NV) regurgitating the political lie that a Senate bill can "create jobs"

Ain't gonna happen: "The challenges before us are formidable. Some can be solved immediately; others will take more time. To solve all of them, we must govern from the middle -- reaching across the aisle to work in a bipartisan way and build consensus. We will work together with greatest civility." --House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

VILLAGE IDIOTS

Postcards from the fringe: "Again, I don't defend the route we went and I really urge people to participate in resistance, non-violent direct action to these wars. I don't urge violence at all. But, let's admit that we live, often, in a sewer of violence and opposing that violence is key." --unrepentant terrorist and Obama ally Bill Ayers coming out of the sewer post-election

Hope and change: "I think the world is about to change for the better. Bush ruined it and now people have no choice but to try to put it back together. He's like Humpty Dumpty." --"comedienne" Roseanne Barr

Someone with other issues: "[President] Bush has openly mocked law and proclaimed a certain pleasure in sadism and exulted in holding prisoners and mistreating and torturing them, really. Of course this affects one emotionally: my emotional life has been very strongly affected by the fact that Bush was president and my writing life is affected by my emotional life." --actor and playwright Wallace Shawn

"I just think that Sarah [Palin] and a lot of other people are misguided in terms of some very serious issues. I don't think she is in any manner, shape, or form suited to be the vice president of the United States. And particularly not suited to be the vice president of a president who is in his 70s." --Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner (age 82) with some post-election analysis

SHORT CUTS

"The original $700 billion bailout is TARP, for Troubled Asset Recovery Program. We should call the handout frenzy the Capital Assets Recovery Program. CRAP, for short." --Wesley Pruden, editor emeritus of The Washington Times

"The United Auto Workers said Saturday they won't make any concessions on wages or benefits to help the Big Three. First things first. Investors are just starting to realize that General Motors is a health care provider that makes cars on the side." --comedian Argus Hamilton

"If you're a good enough organizer, panderer, and BS artist, you can get elected against a truth teller. No one wants to believe reality when they can look forward to 'hope' and 'change' especially 'change' that will energize 'hope' and 'hope' that'll bring about 'change.' Wow! I feel like dancing amongst the daffodils, don't you?" --comedian Dave Weinbaum

"We've managed to pick 42 Presidents before (43 if you count Grover Cleveland twice) without declaring any holidays before they even took office. Let's calm down." --columnist Michael Graham

"Barack Obama said that since he won the election he has slept in his own bed every night. After hearing this, Bill Clinton said, 'Man, this guy has a lot to learn'." --comedian Conan O'Brien

Jay Leno:

According to CNN, Barack Obama's popularity going into office is higher than Clinton's, Reagan's, or either of the President Bushes when they entered office. On Fox News, he's somewhere between Attila the Hun and lead poisoning.

The latest rumor is that Barack Obama has offered the job of secretary of state to Hillary Clinton. That's kind of sad considering how close Hillary came to being the first female president. Imagine after that -- her next job offer? Secretary.

Hillary Clinton might make a very good secretary of state -- she can cackle in seven different languages.

Actually this works out great for the Clintons. While Hillary is concentrating on foreign affairs, Bill can get back to concentrating on domestic affairs.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has called for emergency assistance for the auto industry. She said it was an absolute emergency. But since it was Nancy Pelosi, no one could tell from her facial expression that it was an emergency.

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.)

THE FOUNDATION

"I think all the world would gain by setting commerce at perfect liberty." --Thomas Jefferson

GOVERNMENT

"Democrats are suggesting, however, an even more ambitious reason to nationalize [the auto industry]. Once the government owns Detroit, it can remake it. The euphemism here is 'retool' Detroit to make cars for the coming green economy. Liberals have always wanted the auto companies to produce the kind of cars they insist everyone should drive: small, light, green and cute. Now they will have the power to do it. In World War II, government had the auto companies turning out tanks. Now they would be made to turn out hybrids. The difference is that, in the middle of a world war, tanks have a buyer. Will hybrids? One of the reasons Detroit is in such difficulty is that consumers have been resisting the smaller, less powerful, less safe cars forced on the industry by fuel-efficiency mandates. Now Detroit would be forced to make even more of them. If you think we have economic troubles today, consider the effects of nationalizing an industry of this size, but now run by bureaucrats issuing production quotas to fit five-year plans to meet politically mandated fuel-efficiency standards -- to lift us to the sunny uplands of the coming green utopia." --columnist Charles Krauthammer

POLITICAL FUTURES

"History will favor Republicans in 2010. Since World War II, the out-party has gained an average of 23 seats in the U.S. House and two in the U.S. Senate in a new president's first midterm election. Other than FDR and George W. Bush, no president has gained seats in his first midterm election in both chambers. Since 1966, the incumbent party has lost an average of 63 state senate and 262 state house seats, and six governorships, in a president's first midterm election. That 2010 is likely to see Republicans begin rebounding just before redistricting is one silver lining in an otherwise dismal year for the GOP." --Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush

FOR THE RECORD

"Consider that in 1980, when Ronald Reagan won his first presidential election, the public was self-identified as 46 percent moderate, 28 percent conservative and 17 percent liberal. But by the 1984 Reagan re-election, the public had shifted to 42 percent moderate, 33 percent conservative and 16 percent liberal -- a statistically significant shift to the right. In those four years, Reagan had persuaded 5 percent of the electorate to move largely from moderate to conservative. And that 5 percent has stayed conservative for 24 years, right through the 2008 election. It is that 5 percent that has made America a center-right country rather than a centrist country -- allowing a fairly conservative Republican Party to win congressional and presidential elections most of the time. That is why it is so vital for both the Republican Party and a newly aroused conservative movement to work feverishly to make the case to the broadest possible public for our right-of-center views during the next four years." --columnist Tony Blankley

RE: THE LEFT

"As one liberal academic administrator said in justifying his Draconian action in suppressing a Christian viewpoint, 'We cannot tolerate the intolerable.' This self-blinding, superior mindset explains how liberals can accuse conservatives of racism for their legitimate political differences with Barack Obama while demeaning, with racist epithets, Condoleezza Rice or Clarence Thomas. It's how they can mock conservatives for being close-minded while unilaterally declaring the end to the debate on global warming because of a mythical consensus they have decreed. It's how they can demand every vote count and exclude military ballots. It's how they can glamorize Jimmy Carter for gallivanting to foreign countries to supervise 'fair elections' and pooh-pooh ACORN's serial voter fraud in their own country. It's how they can threaten the tax-exempt status of evangelical churches for preaching on values, even when the churches don't endorse candidates, but fully support a liberal church's direct electioneering for specific candidates. ... It's how they can oppose the death penalty for the guilty but protect the death penalty for the innocent unborn. ... If you believe the left is tolerant, open-minded and democratic, you're in for a rude awakening." --columnist David Limbaugh

LIBERTY

"Conservative Americans in particular need to understand that in this new era, the rules have changed. And to understand this change, conservatives need to begin by reading 'Rules For Radicals,' a book published in 1971 by noted 'community organizer' (and a man who is said to have influenced Mr. Obama) Saul Alinsky. Column space is limited here, so you'll have to get a copy of the book for yourself. But consider this notion from Alinksy's rule #5: 'Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It's hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.' And consider this language from rule #11, wherein Alinsky suggests that the main job of a 'community organizer' is to bait his opponent into reacting in a certain way: 'The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength.' Welcome to the new era." --columnist Austin Hill

FAITH AND FAMILY

"Barack and Michelle Obama are poised to commit a classic act of limousine-liberal hypocrisy -- in this case, turning their backs on tens of thousands of inner-city kids in Washington, D.C. Public schools, it seems, are good enough for poor and middle-class families, but not for rich families like the Obamas. In July, when he addressed the NAACP's annual convention, Sen. Barack Obama expressed his devotion to American public schools, vowing he would not 'walk away from them' by supporting school-choice programs like Sen. John McCain did. ... There were 59,616 students enrolled in the D.C. public schools in 2006, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. If McCain's plan to increase by 2,000 the number of vouchers available in the District were enacted, taxpayers would still be spending $15,798 per student per year to send more than 55,000 kids through a school system where about nine out of 10 students do not learn to read or do math at grade-level proficiency by the time they 'graduate' from elementary school. What is Obama's plan to deal with this? Spend $18 billion more in federal tax dollars on public education (as he promised in his campaign) -- and send his own kids to extremely expensive private schools. Currently, Obama's two daughters (ages 7 and 10) attend the University of Chicago Lab School, where tuition is $18,492 for grades 1-4 and $20,286 for grades 5-8. When Michelle Obama visited Washington this week, she toured only two prospective schools for her daughters: Sidwell Friends, where lower-school tuition is $28,442; and Georgetown Day, where tuition is $27,445 for grades 1-5." --columnist Terence Jeffrey

CULTURE

"The fact that the nation elected a black president hopefully might turn our attention away from the false notion that discrimination explains the problems of a large segment of the black community to the real problems that have absolutely nothing to do with discrimination. The illegitimacy rate among blacks stands at about 70 percent. Less than 40 percent of black children are raised in two-parent households. Those are major problems but they have nothing to do with racial discrimination. During the early 1900s, illegitimacy was a tiny fraction of today's rate and black families were just as stable as white families. Fraudulent education is another problem, where the average black high school senior can read, write and compute no better than a white seventh-grader. It can hardly be blamed on discrimination. Black schools receive the same funding as white schools and most of the teachers and staffs are black and the schools are often in cities where the mayor and the city council are mostly black. Crime is a major problem. Blacks commit about 50 percent of all homicides an