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 — columnists, archives, historic documents, reader comments, etc. — will be available by the end of November, 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

"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.

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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

We still must raise $290,985 for the 2008 Annual Fund budget before year's end.

The Patriot Post has always been on the frontlines of the battle to restore the constitutional limits on the central government -- and thousands of Patriots have joined our ranks in the last decade. We don't just "preach to the choir" -- because our donors support the distribution of The Patriot without charge, we reach large numbers of those who are politically indifferent, and fire them up.

"I am a missionary serving in Africa, and want you to know that The Patriot keeps me current with important debates and issues back home. I appreciate your writing on both Muslim fundamentalism and Christian liberalism. Americans do not really grasp the nature of Islam around the world -- the hatred and oppression it inspires. Thank you for being a voice of liberty in a desert of despair!" --Niger

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to support The Patriot's 2008 Annual Fund today with a secure online donation -- however large or small. 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.

If you prefer to support The Patriot by mail, please use our printable donor form.

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 Patriotis 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!)

"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 and 95 percent of their victims are blacks. Tragically, many black politicians and a civil rights industry have a vested interest in portraying the poor socioeconomic outcomes for many blacks as problems rooted in racial discrimination. One of the reasons they are able to get away with such deception is because there are so many guilt-ridden white people." --columnist Walter Williams

THE GIPPER

"There are a great many God-fearing, dedicated, noble men and women in public life, present company included. And yes, we need your help to keep us ever-mindful of the ideas and the principles that brought us into the public arena in the first place. The basis of those ideals and principles is a commitment to freedom and personal liberty that, itself is grounded in the much deeper realization that freedom prospers only where the blessings of God are avidly sought and humbly accepted. The American experiment in democracy rests on this insight. Its discovery was the great triumph of our Founding Fathers, voiced by William Penn when he said: 'If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants'." --Ronald Reagan

LEGACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. ... A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives." --John Adams

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

At latest accounting, we still must raise $293,107 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 am an Army LTC. I have been enjoying the knowledge and benefits of your excellent distributions for more than 8 years now, I believe. I wish to thank you for all the hard work and professional publication, which you put forth. I could only hope that as I close my military career and my sons start theirs they will gain much insight and understanding of our nation's Constitution and how the Founding Fathers desired this great nation to be governed." --Fort USA

Please, if you have the ability, 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 Donor Support 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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

"As one of your university student readers, thanks so much for keeping The Patriot Post free and easily accessible. However, even on my limited budget, I felt compelled to make my first donation because I firmly support The Patriot's mission. Two-thirds of my age group voted for Obama, a mind-numbing factoid. It is up to me and likeminded collegiate conservatives to spread the true conservative message and The Patriot is a great method for doing just that. Thanks again for every Monday, Wednesday and Friday edition." --Auburn, Alabama

"To all the staff at The Patriot, you have helped me survive living in Broward County Florida. I can't wait to get the Founder's quote each day. It gave me hope to get past this giddiness of the Obamamaniacs. Please keep up the good work. I refer people all the time to you -- and I will continue to do so. Thanks to the entire staff for all your hard work and dedication to FREEDOM!" --Fort Lauderdale, Florida

THE LAST WORD

"I think I tend to give liberals the benefit of the doubt. I happen to believe they are so besotted by their emotions that they can't help painting themselves into indefensible corners. To blame a liberal for lying and blatant hypocrisy would be as heartless as blaming an alcoholic for drinking. In fact, I suspect that, like alcoholics, liberals suffer from a chemical imbalance. Otherwise, how would you explain the enormous gulf between what they say and what they do? For instance, how often have we read newspaper editorials arguing for Affirmative Action in schools and in the work place? In most cases, those pieces are not being written or edited by members of a racial minority group. So, if they were sincere, shouldn't these journalists clear out their desks and surrender their jobs to somewhat less qualified, but far more deserving, blacks and Hispanics? Or consider, if you will, how consistently liberals object to tax cuts. They prattle on incessantly about how much the wealthy benefit, ignoring the logic that if there's a 10% reduction across the board, it figures that the person who pays more will save more. But, when liberals blather about the inequities of tax cuts, you realize they actually believe that if a millionaire saves fifty thousand on his tax bill, the guy who only earns, say, thirty grand-a-year should get the same return! ... So, while I acknowledge that liberals can be as loyal and steadfast as cocker spaniels, I have found it is nearly impossible to paper-train them." --Burt Prelutsky

*****

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

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism." --George Washington

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

Our sacred honor ... to support and defend

By Mark Alexander

In 1776, an extraordinary group of men signed a document that affirmed their God-given right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." By attaching their signatures to our great Declaration of Independence, they, in effect, were signing their potential death warrants.

Indeed, the last line of our Declaration reads, "For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Many of these men, and many of their countrymen, the first generation of American Patriots, would die fighting for American liberty.

A decade later, their liberty having been won at great cost, our Founders further codified their independence and interdependence by instituting yet another historic document, our Constitution.

The Constitution specifies in Article VI, clause 3:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution..."

Bound by Oath to support...

The Constitution also prescribes the following oath to be taken by the president-elect: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Preserve, protect and defend...

Commissioned and enlisted military personnel are also required by statute to "solemnly swear, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same...", though the officer's oath doesn't include any provision that they obey orders.

Against all enemies, foreign and domestic...

Notably, all these oaths mandate the preservation, protection, support and defense of our Constitution as ratified, not the so-called "living constitution" as amended by judicial activists populating what Thomas Jefferson predicted would become "the despotic branch."

While uniformed Americans serving our nation defend our Constitution with their lives, most elected officials debase it with all manner of extra-constitutional empowerment of the central government, not the least of which is the forced redistribution of income to benefit their constituency groups which, in turn, dutifully re-elect them.

Military service personnel who violate the Constitution are remanded for courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, while politicians who violate the Constitution are remanded for -- re-election.

On that note, the latest crop of Leftists on their way to Washington under the supervision of President-elect Barack Obama are destined to make a greater mockery of our Constitution than any administration in history. Clearly, Obama and his ilk have no history of honoring, or intention to honor, their oaths and, in fact, have no context for such honor.

A small cadre of liberals who believe themselves to be "patriots" have asked, "Can't I be a bona fide Patriot and support Barack Obama?"

In a word ... NO, unless in a state of solemn repentance.

In the spirit of charity, perhaps Obama supporters, who self-identify as patriots, are just grossly misinformed about our Constitution, our history and their own civic duty. Of course, they would likewise be grossly deluded about their identity, but perhaps the delusion is temporary.

I would suggest that Obama "patriots" are nothing more than "sunshine patriots," as Thomas Paine wrote, who "will in crisis, shrink from the service of his country."

At its core, the word "patriot" has direct lineage to those who fought for American independence and established our constitutional republic. That lineage has descended most directly through our history with those who have been entrusted "to support and defend" our Constitution -- more specifically, those who have been faithful to, and have abided by, that oath. As previously noted, by "our Constitution," I am referring to the United States Constitution, not the adulterated vestigial remains that liberals call "the living constitution."

I have taken oaths five times in the service of our country. But I did not have to take any oath to understand my obligations as a citizen "to support and defend" our Constitution.

So, does the title of "Patriot" apply to an individual who votes for a man who has not honored his public oaths of office previously, and has given no indication he intends to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same" as president -- a man who subscribes to the errant notion of a "living constitution" which, in his own words, "breaks free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution"?

No authentic Patriot would support those who violate their sacred oaths.

Unfortunately, in this most recent election, we saw even a handful of flag-rank military officers who have no more reverence for their oaths than Obama. However, they are the exception, not the rule.

Obama's mantra, "change," is a euphemism for constitutional abrogation -- an incremental encroachment on liberty until, at last, liberty is lost.

Our nation's second president, John Adams, warned, "A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."

As for Obama's deception about his own patriotic pedigree, I commend the words of our nation's first president, George Washington: "Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. ...[W]here is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths...?"

Regarding the Presidential Oath of Office, Justice Joseph Story wrote: "[T]he duty imposed upon him to take care, that the laws be faithfully executed, follows out the strong injunctions of his oath of office, that he will 'preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.' The great object of the executive department is to accomplish this purpose." He wrote further that if the president does not honor his oath, his office "will be utterly worthless for ... the protection of rights; for the happiness, or good order, or safety of the people."

Of course, Barack Obama proposes to further constrain the rights of the people by advancing centralized government control of the economy by way of regulation and forced income redistribution, all in the name of "happiness, good order, and safety of the people," but in direct violation of his oath.

Quote of the week

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." --Ronald Reagan

Legacy of the American Revolution

"It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn." --George Washington

Fellow Patriots, our 2008 Annual Fund campaign is under way. We raise almost 60 percent of our budget in the last two months of each year.

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

Thanks to you, our financial partners, The Patriot is now the most widely subscribed and distributed Internet-based conservative political journal. Indeed, your generosity and commitment have made it possible to offer The Patriot without a subscription fee to our military and mission-field readers, as well as collegiate readers -- the young people from whose ranks will come our next generation of leaders. We are also able to authorize the free redistribution and reprinting of our publication through various academic, media and political outlets and forums, thus reaching a very large audience.

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As with other mission-based, donor-supported organizations, we raise most of our budget in the last two months of each year. As of this morning, we still must raise $299,325 before year's end.

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

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

News from the Swamp: Committee assignments take shape on Capitol Hill

House and Senate Democrats are currently picking the committee leaders for the 111th Congress -- leaders who will wreak havoc on capitalism, liberty and common sense. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) will remain as head of the Senate Banking Committee to maintain continuity during the financial crisis. After all, it only makes sense to keep Dodd there since he was such a large beneficiary of Fannie Mae's political contributions.

Russ Feingold (D-WI), the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act and an original opponent of the liberation of Iraq, is in line to become the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the current chairman, Joe Biden, is heading to the White House. If Feingold does get the position, he could force Barack Obama's hand on withdrawing American troops from Iraq. He is also likely to spill a number of secret programs out into the open via attention-grabbing investigations into our nation's rendition and surveillance efforts.

In the House, it appears there will be a coup attempt by California Democrat Henry Waxman, who seeks to wrest control of the Energy and Commerce Committee from John Dingell (D-MI). Dingell, who was first elected to Congress in 1955, will become in February the longest-serving member in that body's history. He is a moderate on climate change, however, and some of his fellow liberals have accused him of being too cozy with Detroit when he should be putting the squeeze on the industry for the sake of the tree huggers. But Dingell's supporters believe they have the votes to hold off Waxman, an environmental extremist. Many see Speaker Nancy Pelosi's fingerprints on the effort to oust Dingell. She is close to Waxman, and she is a vocal proponent of all so-called "green" legislation.

It looks as though Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will remain chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee for the time being. He created enemies among his former fellow Democrats with his public support of John McCain. He met privately with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) this week, and both men would say only that they would talk further and weigh options before making final decisions. The Democrats must win all three remaining contested Senate seats to reach a supermajority of 60 votes. Regardless of the outcome, however, they will need Lieberman, whose apostasy can apparently be overlooked if it helps the Democrats tighten their grip on power.

Republicans stand to lose some committee seats as well, thanks to the gains Democrats made last week. Reid is likely to follow the model for committee apportionment used during the 103rd Congress when the Democrats similarly held 57 seats in the Senate. The GOP is likely to incur its biggest losses in Appropriations, Budget, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Meanwhile, any hopes Hillary Clinton had to lead the renewed effort for health care reform were effectively dashed by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Kennedy considers himself a champion of health care, and he has no intention of ceding the issue to Clinton. She currently ranks eighth in seniority on the committee, and others on the committee are not keen on the idea of her leapfrogging senior colleagues to lead some special subcommittee or task force. Beyond all that, Obama is likely to run any health care reform drive from the White House, meaning that Clinton may be involved in the crafting of legislation, but she will not have the chance to lead, and likely fumble, a plan as she did in 1993. Hillary might take comfort, though, in the current Beltway buzz that Obama is considering her for the secretary of state post.

However Congress shapes up in the coming weeks, the denizens of the Swamp will have a long way to go before earning the respect of the American public. In a Rasmussen Reports survey taken after Election Day, 55 percent of those polled rated the job performance of Congress as poor. Only 11 percent said Congress was doing a good or excellent job. Republicans were more unsatisfied than Democrats -- 74 percent to 37 percent. A separate survey indicated an unfavorable rating of 42 for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and another 27 percent didn't even know who he is. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) earned a 53 percent unfavorable rating.

Speaking of polls, Reaganism is not dead

The Patriot doesn't often report on polls as news items because of how they are used to sway rather than reflect public opinion. Regular readers will recall our term for this destructive influence: "pollaganda." However, an article by pollster Scott Rasmussen caught our attention because it announced that, despite the election results, Reaganism is not dead. "Barack Obama won the White House by campaigning against an unpopular incumbent in a time of economic anxiety and lingering foreign policy concerns. He offered voters an upbeat message, praised the nation as a land of opportunity, promised tax cuts to just about everyone, and overcame doubts about his experience with a strong performance in the presidential debates," Rasmussen wrote. "Does this sound familiar? It should."

Rasmussen further points out that Obama stole the tax issue from John McCain. Heading into the election, 31 percent of voters thought Obama would cut their taxes compared to only 11 percent for McCain. According to Rasmussen, "the candidate who most credibly promises the lowest level of taxes has won every presidential election in at least the last 40 years." Additionally, nearly 60 percent of those polled agreed with Ronald Reagan's maxim: "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Obama may have used some aspects of Reaganism to win the White House, but we have little hope that Reagan's philosophy will find a place in the Obama administration.

The smell of change: For Obama, 2008 equals 1984

While President-elect Barack Obama hasn't yet established his Ministry of Truth, there are signs that he's going to rewrite history to suit his needs. Witness the scrubbing of his change.gov Web site, which last week had 25 different agenda items sought by the coming Obama administration. After controversy first erupted over the oxymoronic concept of mandatory volunteerism, the site originally changed its tune but then dropped the agenda items entirely, instead substituting a vanilla mission statement.

Obama plans to be aggressive in his use of executive orders, beginning by rescinding several signed by President George W. Bush which promote a socially conservative agenda, such as those dealing with embryonic stem cell research and abortion funding. Another Obama target is the Second Amendment. The Obama/Biden team vows to not only close so-called loopholes at gun shows and create other regulations such as trigger locks, but also to take guns "off the streets" by reinstating the grossly misnamed "assault weapons" ban. When was the last time readers saw anyone waltzing down the street with a semi-automatic black rifle looking to make trouble? And did Obama notice the Supreme Court decision in June that involved the Second Amendment? Indeed, he did. If fact, he supported the Court's Heller decision in favor of the right to bear arms, if only out of gross political expediency.

Obama's change.gov site originally had a full anti-gun agenda, but that was wiped away along with his other promises. What was posted previously was a claim to "favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners," but by making the gun of one's choice more difficult to acquire and use, the incoming Democrats are eroding the intent of the Founding Fathers, as well as the letter of the Constitution.

This week's 'Alpha Jackass' award

"Have you ever had any association with any person, group or business venture that could be used -- even unfairly -- to impugn or attack your character and qualifications for government service?" --page 7, question 61 of the questionnaire required of prospective Obama administration cabinet members

One among 63 intrusive questions that will serve only to drive qualified people away, this question stood out for two reasons: Obama himself has many troubling associations (though that didn't seem to matter to 66 million voters), and prospective cabinet members would have to answer, "Yes, I'm associated with Barack Obama."

Political analyst Rich Galen also observed, "If this were an incoming Republican Administration, I guarantee you the name 'McCarthy' would be on every front page in the nation in describing [this questionnaire]."

And speaking of guns, question 59 reads, "Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage."

Memo to Obama: Other than in the twisted world of Washington, DC, guns are not registered, nor should they be.

Party Chairmanships up for grabs

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has announced that he is stepping down after one term and leaving no clues as to what his next move will be. Dean earned the respect of the permanent Demo political class in Washington the hard way -- by proving that his much-derided 50-state strategy was the key to success in two straight national elections. Dean had the support of the MoveOn.org and Daily Kos crowd gained from his own presidential run in 2004 and he used the so-called "netroots" to help him implement a plan to put volunteers on the ground in every state. It was an expensive proposition which helped to swing Congress into the Democrat fold in 2006 and the White House this year. The list of potential replacements is long -- former Gore campaign head Donna Brazile, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA) are just three names that have been mentioned so far.

Dean may be stepping down to avoid future public conflicts with incoming Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who's made no secret of his dislike for the soon-to-be former DNC Chairman. Or maybe he just wants to go out while he's on top. Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, however, does not have that luxury. In fact, while Duncan has not announced his plans as RNC boss, much of the rest of the Committee and the Party wants him out in short order. Duncan presided over two consecutive embarrassing elections for the GOP, and now the biggest political parlor game in town is guessing just who might become the next leader. Newt Gingrich is a popular choice, but he is not personally campaigning for the job. He believes he can be more effective running American Solutions and the Center for Health Transformation. A campaign has also formed around former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, and Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis is actively campaigning for the position. Whoever ultimately gets the job will have the tremendous task of refocusing a leaderless party and working against stout Democrat majorities. Republicans take heart, though: You can't fall off the floor.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Warfront with Jihadistan: Testing the new guy

"I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war [in Iraq] from the beginning... [A]s president I will end it... I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems... I will not weaponize space... I will slow our development of future combat systems... I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons... I will not develop new nuclear weapons..." Unfortunately, those words are not a rehash of some 1980 Jimmy Carter campaign pledge, but straight from the mouth of the current president-elect, the man entrusted to defend our nation. Terrifying to reflect upon, they represent the views of a man totally detached from the political and military realities of the world and unable to see the shots already being fired across his bow by our enemies.

After months of falling violence, this week saw a sudden increase in bombings in Iraq, with dozens being killed and wounded. The violence comes as U.S. and Iraqi officials try to reach a final security agreement that would keep U.S. troops in Iraq until 2011, but that has drawn sharp criticism from the majority Shiite community.

Interestingly, Iran is also majority Shiite, and Obama, who has pushed for diplomatic talks with Iran, is blind if he doesn't think this increase in Iraq violence is a direct Iranian challenge to his incoming regime. As if to dare Obama to pull American troops out of Iraq, Iran, during war games near the Iraqi border this week, test-fired two new missiles capable of striking Israel.

Combined with Russia's announcement that it will deploy missiles near Kaliningrad to counter the U.S. missile defense system in Poland, and North Korea's declaration Wednesday that it won't allow inspectors to examine its nuclear complex, it is obvious that the world's thugs are testing Obama early -- just as his running mate Joe Biden predicted. They already think him a weakling, and given Obama's statements, they appear to be right. The Obama regime could be a direct threat to our country. Change we can believe in? How about change we can't survive?

Department of Military Readiness: Navy wins sonar battle

The United States Navy scored a victory this week in the U.S. Supreme Court in a battle against environmentalists and their accomplices in the Ninth Circuit Court. The question was whether the Navy could test sonar systems off the California coast in spite of alleged harm to whales and dolphins. The sonar is essential in detecting new "quiet" submarines deployed by China and North Korea. A district court in California had ruled that the Navy must cease such exercises in order to save the whales, and the Ninth Circuit Court agreed. The Bush administration had countered by exempting the Navy from the federal laws cited in the case, saying that national security trumped the whales. This week, the Supreme Court agreed. "We do not discount the importance of plaintiffs' ecological, scientific and recreational interests in marine mammals. Those interests, however, are plainly outweighed by the Navy's need to conduct realistic training exercises," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "We see no basis for jeopardizing national security."

Unfortunately, the decision could be rendered moot by the incoming Obama administration, which would likely stop the exercises.

The Gray Lady undermines national security ... again

There they go again. The New York Times, continuing its policy of aiding and abetting this nation's enemies, on Monday published the latest classified anti-terrorist program to come to its attention. This revelation covers a secret order that authorized covert military action inside Syria, Pakistan and "elsewhere" (a quick look at the map to see what lies between Pakistan and Syria will discover "elsewhere"). Citing military and civilian sources, The Times reports that nearly a dozen such raids have been carried out since 2004. We can only imagine the gratitude felt by those brave special-ops soldiers carrying out these missions that their activities are public knowledge.

Freedom of the press is one of the most important rights enshrined in the Constitution. Its position as part of the First Amendment is no accident, indicating the importance the Founders gave to a press able to report freely and without fear on the activities of government. Even in wartime, the government should not censor the media unless truly extraordinary circumstances dictate otherwise. But there is also a reason for the government's classification of information, including this definition of Top Secret: "information of a highly sensitive nature, whose disclosure could result in grave danger to the national security of the United States." At what point does The Times consider that protecting our national security is more important than scoring political points against the Bush administration?

Profiles of valor: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson Huff

In October, the Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government honored a fallen American soldier with a statue at the opening of a police college in Erbil. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson Huff of the 385th MP Battalion, based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, was honored for her work toward establishing the new academy, which will accommodate up to 650 people. Huff had worked on behalf of Coalition Forces with the Interior Ministry to build the police academy, but she was killed by a suicide car bomber in Mosul in 2006. Interior Minister Sinjari said, "First Lieutenant Ashley Henderson Huff was a woman of courage and determination. We are honored to have worked with her. Her family and colleagues should be proud of what she did for her country and for the people of Iraq in the liberation of our country. Her statue will act not only as a remembrance of her but will also inspire our police cadets to live up to her standards of commitment and professionalism."

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

The slippery slope of bailouts

When governments attempt to "fix" economies by meddling with the free markets that power them, these would-be market-driven economies become political footballs. Economic decisions that would have been fairly and justly arbitrated by unbiased, natural laws of economics become decided on purely political grounds. Markets lose stability in direct proportion to the extent of such meddling. This is certainly the case with the government "fix" known as TARP, or Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bailout package was originally crafted to relieve banks so that they would remain solvent, preventing further meltdown of the U.S. economy. But with $700 billion up for grabs, TARP's original purpose was thrown under the bus in the gold rush that ensued. Now everyone wants in on the government's largess, and markets have reacted accordingly. And why not? Why shouldn't we all line up to "get ours" if the government is giving away "free" money? Sadly, this seems to be the new American corporate mindset.

Insurance giant AIG, for instance, is now slated to receive more than $150 billion in the largest single bailout allotment from TARP thus far. The government effectively nationalized AIG in the process, establishing a $40 billion stake in the world's largest insurer. Eager to get in on the TARP lottery, American Express -- that's right, the credit card company -- is apparently also now a "bank," having been so blessed by the Federal Reserve. Evidently unaware of AMEX's subtle approach, one draping the hat-in-hand recipient in "bank-like" trappings, U.S. automakers are pursuing more blunt-instrument strategies. Their game plan? Simply demand funds from Washington on the basis that, well, they need the cash, and everyone else seems to be getting an awful lot of it lately. Perfect.

The government has committed $290 billion so far without any oversight because Congress has yet to fill the positions it created. Somewhere in all of this thrash for cash is a lesson about the proper role of government in a free market economy. We just hope that this lesson hits home before The Great Depression, Part II does.

The trouble at General Motors

General Motors is making noise about needing between $11 and $14 billion from the federal bailout of $700 billion in order to continue business, though it doesn't appear that Congress has the votes to approve extending the bailout to automakers. GM threatened to cease production by next summer unless help is forthcoming. Deutsche Bank Group, one of the world's leading financial service providers, this week downgraded GM's stock value to $0. Not that long ago, GM was the largest corporation in the world.

Most of the blame lies with the United Auto Workers Union for extorting outlandish benefits from GM (Ford and Chrysler suffer similar problems), though, granted, GM management bears blame for accepting those deals. Among the privileges given to union workers is what is known as a job bank, which requires GM to pay workers displaced by restructuring or technological progress nearly their entire salary, as well as benefits and pension. Health care is another ballooning expense. Workers can smoke while on the assembly line, yet some pay $0 deductibles at the doctor's office. In total, GM spends more on health care per vehicle than on steel. "The United Auto Workers have bled General Motors dry, leaving the company in a tattered state, and the union members extremely vulnerable," said Richard Berman, Executive Director for the Center for Union Facts. "It will be truly unfortunate if union demands over many years result in another bankruptcy or bailout."

CULTURE & POLICY

Around the nation: Proposition 8 under attack

California voters can't catch a break. They have voted, not once, but twice, to ban same-sex marriage in the Golden State. In 2000, voters approved Proposition 22 with nearly two-thirds of the vote only to have it overturned by the state Supreme Court in May, which stated that banning same-sex marriage violated the equal protection clause of the state constitution because it allowed a majority to take away rights intended for everyone. Last Tuesday, Californians approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, but the issue is before the Court again after opponents sued. Opponents of Prop 8 are hoping the Court's original argument will still hold, but they are also hoping the court will decide that this matter should have gone not to the voters, but to the legislators.

Although Propositions 8 and 22 share the same wording, the critical difference is that Prop 22 was a statute, while Prop 8 is an actual part of the state constitution. While this sounds as if it may provide a measure of protection from the court's reach, it instead may be its undoing.

The case turns on whether Proposition 8 is determined to be a constitutional amendment or a constitutional revision. If it is an amendment, it needs a popular vote; if it is a revision, it would require two-thirds approval by the state legislature before it could be turned over to voters.

RINO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger weighed in on the issue and is now for same-sex marriage, after he was against it. "It's unfortunate, obviously, but it's not the end," Schwarzenegger said of Prop 8's passage, advocating that the California Supreme Court overturn the will of the people once again. "I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area," Schwarzenegger said. This from the same guy who vetoed two separate bills in 2005 and 2007 that would have legalized same-sex marriage, saying at the time, "It would be wrong for the people to vote for something and for me to then overturn it."

From the 'Non Compos Mentis' File

The 2008 election, it can be argued, was an election like no other. The biggest evidence of this may not be in Washington, DC, but in a small Oregon town. On 4 November, residents of Silverton, Oregon, elected the first openly transgender mayor in the country.

According to his constituents, Stu Rasmussen, who won by an impressive 13 points, has integrity, a handle on the issues, and a love of his town. Rasmussen is well known in Silverton -- in fact, he served as the town's mayor for two terms during the 1990s. But back then he didn't do it in heels.

Rasmussen now sports long red hair and breast implants, identifies as heterosexual and has a girlfriend. He says he has always been "transgender," but he went public only within the past few years, with an interesting explanation for doing so. "Some guys' mid-life crisis is motorcycles or sports cars or climbing mountains or trophy wives or whatever," he said. "I always wanted cleavage, so I went out and acquired some."

Faith and Family: Study links TV and teen pregnancy

For the first time, researchers have discovered a link between watching sexually charged television shows and teenage pregnancy rates. According to a new three-year national study conducted by the RAND Corporation, a non-profit research organization, adolescents who watch TV programming with sexual content are twice as likely to become pregnant or get someone pregnant over the next three years as those who watch few or no sex-filled programs.

"Watching this kind of sexual content on television is a powerful factor in increasing the likelihood of a teen pregnancy," said Anita Chandra, the study's lead researcher and a behavioral scientist at RAND. "We found a strong association." Few specific shows were named -- other than "Sex and the City," "Friends," and "That '70s Show" -- but Chandra indicated that others ran the gamut from dramas and comedies to reality shows and even cartoons.

While Chandra noted television is just one component of a total picture, stating, "We should also look at the roles that magazines, the Internet, and music play in teens' reproductive health," RAND recommended that parents "monitor their teens' TV viewing and provide education about the consequences of sex." Hmm... parents actually parenting. What a novel concept.

And last...

The Associated Press released a poll this week purporting to show that Americans are "willing to wait on tax cuts." If we didn't know better, we might think this was an effort to cover Barack Obama's rear as he prepares to break his campaign promise of a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans. But speaking of keeping the change, the Home Shopping Network has a dandy deal for the post-election festivities. Those Americans who actually bought Obama's campaign promises can now buy the "momentous" Barack Obama Change Collection. "Featuring a Washington Presidential Dollar, Kennedy Half Dollar, Illinois State Quarter and Hawaii State Quarter, each coin in this set holds a special connection to our 44th President and is exquisitely colorized with a unique and inspiring image of Barack Obama. It's the perfect way to commemorate a historic American event and the promise of change that comes with it!" Yes, they said "colorized." And as any savvy investor might ask, how much will that dollar, half dollar and two quarters set me back? A mere $24.95 (plus $8.95 shipping and handling). It's a fitting return on the investment for those who voted for Obama -- 1,700 percent in the hole.

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

"Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth." --George Washington

UPRIGHT

"[M]any of the indices for the GOP are dreadful, especially that they lost the vote of two-thirds of those aged 18 to 29. They lost a generation! If that continues in coming years, it will be a rolling wave of doom." --Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan

"Still, the Republican Party retains a remarkably strong pulse, considering that McCain's often chaotic campaign earned 46 percent of the popular vote while tacking into terrible winds." --Washington Post columnist George Will

"Obama will try to convert those temporary moderate and conservative votes of his into permanent liberal and moderate voters -- just as Reagan did in reverse between 1980 and 1984. If we conservatives can make our case, the election of 2008 will be a blip, just a kick-the-bums-out election. If Obama makes his case, he may have moved the center of political gravity to the left for a generation. Every conservative man and woman, to battle stations." --columnist Tony Blankley

"The substantially enhanced Democratic majorities in Congress stand poised to pass a raft of legislation that ranges from the destructive to the abominable and the tyrannical. It will serve as an early challenge to the judgment of President Obama, and to the efficacy of the loyal opposition." --Claremont Institute Fellow Scott Johnson

"If you believe the left is tolerant, open-minded and democratic, you're in for a rude awakening." --columnist David Limbaugh

"Without a doubt, the most dangerous idea to liberty would be a reincarnation of the Fairness Doctrine in one form or another. Oh, it won't be called 'The Fairness Doctrine' ... It will be called 'The Freedom in Broadcasting Act' or some such Orwellian formulation in order to give the perpetrators a veneer of deniability. This is a favorite game of the left who never tire of redefining basic terms and changing language to suit their political needs of the moment." --columnist Rick Moran

INSIGHT

"History does not entrust the care of freedom to the weak or timid." --Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Government price-fixing, once started, has alike no justice and no end. It is an economic folly from which this country has every right to be spared." --Calvin Coolidge

"Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views." --William F. Buckley Jr.

WE DEPEND ON YOU

"Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves." --Joseph Warren (1775)

Fellow Patriots, our 2008 Annual Fund campaign is underway. As you know, The Patriotis not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization. Nor do we accept any online or e-mail advertising. Our operations and mission are funded by -- and depend entirely upon -- the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like YOU!

Not only has your support helped The Patriot to become the most widely subscribed and distributed Internet-based conservative political journal, but your donation also sustains terrific research and advocacy resources at PatriotPost.US, including CollegiatePatriot.US, PatriotPetitions.US, Reagan2020.US (the most comprehensive tribute to Ronald Reagan on the Internet), and our Armed Forces outreach service Operation Shield of Strength.

Like many mission-based organizations, we typically raise most of our budget in the last two months of each year. We still must raise $307,762 by 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.

"I'm a Marine Corps Captain and I receive The Patriot Brief, Chronicle and Digest. I have very limited time to keep up with all the news, and The Patriot really keeps me informed and provides the 'right' insight on policy issues." --Miramar, California

Please, if you have the ability, 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 Donor Support 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 Post. 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

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

"As Congress gears up to pass another spending 'stimulus' bill, there's one political silver lining: Democrats are being forced to abandon the pretense of fiscal conservatism known as 'pay as you go' budgeting. Late last week the leader of the House Blue Dog Coalition, Tennessee Democrat Jim Cooper, announced that with Barack Obama about to enter the White House, 'I'm not sure the old rules are relevant anymore.' Why not? Because, Mr. Cooper said, 'It would be unfair to the new President to put him in a budget straitjacket.' Democrats ran on 'paygo' in 2006, promising to offset any new spending increases or tax cuts with comparable tax increases or spending cuts. Once in charge on Capitol Hill they quickly made exceptions, waiving paygo no fewer than 12 times to accommodate some $398 billion in new deficit spending -- not that the press corps bothered to notice. That didn't stop Majority Leader Steny Hoyer from announcing in May that 'We're absolutely committed to paygo. Speaker [Nancy Pelosi] is committed to paygo. I'm very committed to paygo. Our caucus is committed to paygo.' Yet now Mr. Cooper is delivering official last rites, as the Washington spending machinery powers up in earnest. Paygo was always a big con designed not to reduce spending but to stop tax cuts. It was invented to stop the GOP Congress and then a Republican President, but it is inconvenient when Democrats run the show. With the recession available as an excuse for just about anything, get ready for the first $1 trillion federal budget deficit. And don't expect any howling from the Blue Dogs." --The Wall Street Journal

DEZINFORMATSIA

You don't say: "There is a slightly creepy cult of personality about all of this." --Newsweek's Evan Thomas on Obama

For example: "Let me show you a map [of the election]... This may be the best map ever seen! ... That whole sea of blue across the country..." --MSNBC's Chris Matthews ++ "Will the Obamas return to Camelot in the White House?" --CBS's Harry Smith

Give us a break: "[M]edia scholars, including a former top aide to McCain, disagree [that mainstream news organizations routinely gave Obama preferential treatment]. They said campaign coverage often did lean in Obama's favor, though not -- as many conservatives have suggested -- because of a hidden liberal agenda on the part of the media. Instead, academic experts said, Obama benefited largely from the dynamics of the campaign itself and the media's tendency to focus on the 'horse race'..." --Reuters' Steve Gorman

Biased and proud of it: "I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work. ... Yeah, it is my job. My job is to help this country ...[to] make this work successfully, because this country needs a successful presidency more than anything right now." --MSNBC's Chris Matthews

Angry Right?: "We all saw the pictures on election night, people all over the world dancing in the streets but some Americans, particularly conservatives, very different feelings about President-elect Obama. Many of them feeling really, really angry right now ... what can only be called right-wing rage." --CNN's Campbell Brown

Race bait: "But now we have the delicious irony that a white president from a patrician family, whose administration was so negligent about America's poor and black citizens, was so incompetent that he helped elect the first black president." --New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd

Newspulper Headlines:

If They Do Say So Themselves: "Media Bias Largely Unseen in US Presidential Race" --Reuters

'No, We Can't': "Obama Aides Tamp Down Expectations" --The New York Times

Maybe They Should Stop Burning Cash: "Carmakers Report Losses as They Burn Cash" --New York Times Web site

And So Close to Thanksgiving: "Duchess of York Accused of Smearing Turkey's Image" --Reuters

You Only Live Twice: "Skydiver Dies in Second Fatal Jump at Virginia Airport in 2 Months" --FoxNews.com

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: "Monks Brawl at Christian Holy Site in Jerusalem" --Associated Press

Bottom Stories of the Day: "Marijuana Aroma Detected at Obama's Hollywood Celebration Rally" --Breitbart.tv ++ "Obama Picks an Ally as Chief of Staff" --Austin American-Statesman

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

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Rewriting history: "I have spoken to all of [the former presidents], that are living, obviously, President Clinton -- I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any séances." --Barack Obama on getting ready to be president **Nancy Reagan consulted with an astrologer about Ronald Reagan's schedule after he was shot. It was actually Hillary Clinton who was reported to have engaged in séance-like sessions in which she communed with the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt." --Fox News' Jim Angle

Yeah, right: "There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you [unless you are a conservative], especially when we disagree." --Barack Obama, with a little Patriot clarification

Marxism 101: "For the last seven years we have had the highest corporate profit ever in American history. ... But it hasn't been shared, and that's the problem, because we have been guided by a Republican administration who believes in the simplistic notion that people who have wealth are entitled to keep it. They have an antipathy toward the means of redistributing wealth. And they may be able to sustain that for a while, but it doesn't work in the long run." --Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)

Not defending America: "We don't need all these fancy new weapons." --Rep. Barney Frank (S-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, aligning himself with Obama's plan to cut the military budget by 25 percent

Kick the metaphor: "We have postponed dealing with an energy crisis since 1974. We had a crisis; we kicked it down the can. ... We had a health care crisis. ... These are, just taking those two examples, these are crises you can no longer afford to kick down the can. The crisis we have here, the American people know we have one. ... You cannot afford now to kick those down the can any longer." --Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's pick for chief of staff, making no sense whatsoever

VILLAGE IDIOTS

Commencing tyranny?: "[G]iven the daunting challenges that we face, it's important that President-elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule [on] day one." --Valerie Jarrett, co-chair of Obama's transition team

Here we go again: "The inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he -- and we -- must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis." --Al Gore, populist potentate of eco-theology

Non Compos Mentis: "Many of the voters that voted for Senator McCain were older Americans, and most reside below the Mason-Dixon line where racial attitudes and traditions die hard. We can change laws, but it's difficult to change attitudes. ... I'm sure that many of our people have unfortunately lost their lives because of the absolute hatred that is manifested now that one of our own has risen to such a high office." --Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan at Mosque Maryam on Chicago's South Side on Sunday

A fool opens his mouth...: "For nine months, I kept quiet because I saw that the good words that I spoke about this beautiful young man at our Saviors' Day convention and the way they were misused. I decided it would be better for me to just be quiet rather than be drawn into the controversy..." --Louis Farrakhan, who probably should have stuck with that policy

From the Glitterati: "The election is over and I'm unleashed. I'm telling you, if this were not the outcome, I would be doing this show from Northwestern Hospital with a drip today." --Oprah Winfrey

The Big Lie: "November 5th ... what a day ... a new day ... finally Dr. King's words ring true that one day we will live in a nation where people 'will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character'." --singer Barbra Streisand

SHORT CUTS

"Pollster Frank Luntz, CNN's Soledad O'Brien or some other enabler would gush over how fascinating it was to talk to 'real people.' Indeed, so exotic are these creatures, most of the journalists actually observed them from the other side of a two-way mirror, like visitors to the 'Earthling Exhibit' on some alien planet in that old episode of 'The Twilight Zone'." --National Review editor Jonah Goldberg

"[I]t wasn't that limited-gove