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THE FOUNDATION: THE PRESIDENCY

“No man can well doubt the propriety of placing a president of the United States under the most solemn obligations to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.”  — Joseph Story

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

In honor of the 58th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s 39th birthday, as he would put it, today’s Patriot Chronicle will be in part dedicated to this giant of conservatism and mentor to our key staff. A man of simple origins, Reagan always and unwaveringly did what was right for America. He brought trust, dignity, and humility to the presidency. He was, as William Bennett once observed, “A man in possession of his own soul,” and he restored the nation’s values, its character, its soul. He was a gentleman and a Patriot.

We encourage you to visit our tribute to the greatest president of the 20th Century at Reagan2020.US — the Internet’s most comprehensive resource on President Reagan’s life and achievements and a touchstone for all Patriot conservatives going forward.

RONALD REAGAN’S INSIGHT

“We, the members of the New Republican Party, believe that the preservation and enhancement of the values that strengthen and protect individual freedom, family life, communities and neighborhoods and the liberty of our beloved nation should be at the heart of any legislative or political program presented to the American people.”

“We believe that liberty can be measured by how much freedom Americans have to make their own decisions, even their own mistakes.”

“Families must continue to be the foundation of our nation. Families — not government programs — are the best way to make sure our children are properly nurtured, our elderly are cared for, our cultural and spiritual heritages are perpetuated, our laws are observed and our values are preserved... We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them.”

“Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business... frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite.”

“We must be ever willing to negotiate differences, but equally mindful that there are American ideals that cannot be compromised. Given that there are other nations with potentially hostile design, we recognize that we can reach our goals only while maintaining a superior national defense, second to none.”

“Our party must be based on the kind of leadership that grows and takes its strength from the people... And our cause must be to rediscover, reassert and reapply America’s spiritual heritage to our national affairs. Then with God’s help we shall indeed be as a city upon a hill with the eyes of all people upon us.”
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EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“So much for the best laid plans of Terry McAuliffe. The former Democratic Party chairman helped to design the first national Presidential primary in the expectation that its sheer expanse would sink any challenger to Hillary Clinton. Instead, the most important result from Super Tuesday is that Barack Obama showed how broad his appeal to Democratic voters really is... Thanks to the Democratic Party’s proportional system for allocating delegates, both candidates will now have to fight on for weeks, and maybe longer. Some Democrats will fret about a long and nasty fight that leaves the party divided... As for Republicans, John McCain had the best night, winning across the Northern tier of winner-take-all GOP primary states but also in Missouri and Oklahoma. He continued his appeal to moderate Republicans and voters who care most about national security. More dangerously if he is the nominee, the Arizona Senator didn’t run as strongly as many previous GOP front-runners have at this stage of the race. He’ll need to overcome the buyer’s remorse evident among conservative voters in particular. Mr. McCain’s problems showed most notably in the South, where Mike Huckabee swept through Georgia and other states where evangelical Christians dominate GOP precincts. The former Arkansas Governor was able to displace Mitt Romney as the main alternative to Mr. McCain in those states. But his weakness continues to be that he has done poorly outside of the South, especially in swing states that a Republican must win in November. Mr. Romney could also point to some caucus and primary wins, but Mr. Huckabee’s Southern resurgence means the former Massachusetts Governor has failed to emerge as the conservative favorite...[Finally], a win [in California leaves] Mr. McCain... in very good position for the GOP nod.”  — The Wall Street Journal

UPRIGHT

“If you look back exactly one year — to February of 2007 — the Conventional Wisdom was that Super Tuesday 2008 would mark the end of the Democratic campaign and the coronation of Hillary Clinton, while the Republican race would continue on for weeks, if not months as the GOP struggled to decide on a candidate. Conventional wisdom was, as usual, wrong.”  — Rich Galen

“The conventional wisdom is Mr. Romney can’t win it while Mike Huckabee’s in it. If Mr. Huckabee dropped out, Mr. Romney might pick up his conservatives. But Mr. Huckabee seems very happy running, and perhaps happy thinking of his future as the Mitt slayer in the party of John.”  — Peggy Noonan

“It’s true that McCain is unpopular with Reagan conservatives because he decidedly is not, on far too many issues, a Reagan conservative. But it’s more than that. He is the anti-conservative. He instinctively sides against conservatives and relishes poking them in the eye.”  — David Limbaugh

“[The Clintons] will use whatever they want, in order to get whatever they want — and the effect on the country does not bother them. That was the hallmark of the first Clinton administration. There is no reason to doubt that this will be the hallmark of the next Clinton administration, if there is one.”  — Thomas Sowell

“[Bill] Clinton left office insisting that he’d restored liberalism in America, but in reality he bequeathed a confused mishmash of ill-formed ideas, slogans and hatreds. President Bush is winding down his presidency much the same way, talking about limited government, personal liberty and spending restraint, but he’s left his party’s troops scattered across the battlefield, with no overarching strategy and an awful lot of friendly fire.”  — Jonah Goldberg

“Today, the political platforms of at least one party in the United States and pretty much every party in the rest of the Western world are nearly exclusively about... government health care, government day care, government this, government that. And if you have government health care, you not only annex a huge chunk of the economy, you also destroy a huge chunk of individual liberty.”  — Mark Steyn
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DEZINFORMATSIA

A look at the future?: “And I still haven’t heard, if people can afford it and they don’t buy the insurance, will their wages be garnished under your plan? Will they have to pay fines?”  — ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to Hillary Clinton **For the record, the former First Lady didn’t rule out the possibility.

From the Sycophant Files: “It is going to be a transformational primary here on the Democratic side of things. Do you get a sense that people are recognizing this idea of the grandeur of history involved here?”  — CNN’s John Roberts Break Belly Laugh of the Week: “The choice for Democrats just got a whole lot harder. [Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton] are of such high quality that the party and the country can’t lose.”  — Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift

‘Bout time you noticed: “As a new year begins, overall violence [in Iraq] is falling and hope seems to be rising.”  — CBS’s Harry Smith Break “The downturn in violence [in Iraq] is being reflected in an upturn in the country’s economy. Since the U.S. troop surge took hold, everything from Iraq’s street markets to its stock market has been enjoying better days.”  — ABC’s David Muir

Not-so-intelligent analysis: “The eavesdropping provisions of FISA have obviously had no impact on counterterrorism, and there is no current or perceived terrorist threat, the thwarting of which could hinge on an e-mail or a phone call that’s going through room 641A at AT&T in San Francisco next week or next month.”  — MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann

Yada, yada, yada: “Bush is going out with a whimper, and leaving a stash of unfinished business. ... As he heads into the sunset, it can be said the president has been consistent, never wavering in his self-righteous defense of his unprovoked attack on Iraq; tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country...”  — Helen Thomas

Newspulper Headlines: We Blame Global Warming: “Bush Budget Would Nearly Freeze Domestic Spending”  — Reuters

The Audacity of Dope: “Obama: Decriminalize Pot”  — The Washington Times

Isn’t That Torture?: “Dems Needle Mukasey on Waterboarding”  — Associated Press

Be Careful What You Wish For: “Neighbors of Sewage Plant Sue to Block It”  — Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch

News You Can Use: “Manure Drastically Reduces Development of Lung Cancer”  — Daily Telegraph (Australia)

Bottom Stories of the Day: “Police: Crack Found in Man’s Buttocks”  — WTTG-TV Web site (Washington) (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

From the “Village Matriarch” Files: “I think you can automatically enroll people, and you will then say you’ve got to be part of this... But if you don’t start with universal healthcare, if you don’t say everybody’s going to be in the system, we’ll never get there...[G]oing after people’s wages, automatic enrollment... whatever the mechanism is, is not as important as... the fundamental commitment to universal healthcare.”  — Hillary Clinton

Getting it right while not living up to it: “Poll-tested positions, calculated answers might be how Washington confronts challenges, but it’s not how you overcome those challenges; it’s not how you inspire our nation to come together behind a common purpose, and it’s not what America needs right now. You need a candidate who will tell you the truth.”  — Barack Obama
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Government knows best: “[T]he American people want a problem solver. They want somebody who, when the cameras are turned off and the speeches are over, is going to get up every day, bring the country together, run the government, manage the economy, and really help them get the tools they need to fulfill their own potential.”  — Hillary Clinton **Yes, we’re all just awaiting our marching orders each day.

A wave of the magic wand should do the trick: “I have a plan — a moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days [and] freezing interest rates for five years, which I think we should do immediately.”  — Hillary Clinton Break “We believe the Senate package has been an improvement on a very fine House package. The Senate isn’t just going to be a rubber stamp and just ratify whatever the House sends our way.”  — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) contending that cramming the “economic stimulus bill” full of lard is part of the Senate’s role

Ending national defense: “I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mind set that got us into war in the first place.”  — Barack Obama

VILLAGE IDIOTS

From the Glitterati: “Aren’t we fortunate? We have wonderful, accomplished candidates vying for the democratic nomination. But, for the first time in our country’s history, we not only have a woman, but a woman who is the most experienced candidate... With our nation in turmoil and so much at stake in this election, we need a leader who has been in the trenches for over 35 years advocating for the young, the old, the poor and the disenfranchised. As a woman and as a lawyer, Hillary played a pioneering role in raising awareness of issues like sexual harassment and equal pay.”  — Barbra Streisand **And all this time we thought it was Bill Clinton who raised awareness of sexual harassment.

Getting it right: “There’s absolutely no reason why a woman shouldn’t be in that office, but I am not sure about this woman. It’s insulting to assume that because you’re a woman or a person of color, you would automatically back any woman or person of color. It’s a little more complicated.”  — actress Susan Sarandon

Just desserts?: “Barack Obama isn’t experienced enough to be president. The kind of inexperience I can get used to. That’s the kind of inexperience our country deserves.”  — actor Robert DeNiro

What is truth?: “You know, after Iowa, there were some women who had the nerve to say to me, ‘How could you? How could you? You’re a traitor to your gender.’... I say, I am not a traitor. No, I’m not a traitor. I’m just following my own truth, and that truth has led me to Barack Obama.”  — Oprah Winfrey on Obama

From the “other” America: “It’s time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path...America’s hour of transformation is upon us... With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White House in November.”  — presidential dropout John Edwards

CPAC 2008

Attention Patriot readers! The Patriot will be hosting a booth at the 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference, 7-9 February, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Please stop by to say hello and pick up some free Patriot Shop merchandise. Students, please sign up to become an official Patriot rep on your college or university campus.
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SHORT CUTS

“Americans finally have narrowed the presidential race to two front-runners: John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Too bad they’re both busy chatting up Guinevere and Galahad, respectively, in the ultimate Camelot, where the climate really is perfect all the year. Eternally.”  — Kathleen Parker

“I’d rather deal with President Hillary than with President McCain... At least under President Hillary, Republicans in Congress would know that they’re supposed to fight back.”  — Ann Coulter Break “John McCain may become the de facto leader of the Republican Party if he’s the nominee and the leader of the country if he’s the President, but no matter how many times he calls himself a ‘conservative leader,’ the Right will accept him as the leader of the conservative movement about 5 minutes after hell freezes over and reopens as a ski lodge.”  — John Hawkins Break “Barack Obama hinted Friday that illegal immigrant opponents are racists, saying no one’s concerned about immigrants from Ireland. That’s not true. Hillary Clinton is very concerned about immigrants from Ireland ever since the Kennedys endorsed Obama.”  — Argus Hamilton

“I’m now going to sleep in hopes that, when I wake up, it will all be a bad dream and Calvin Coolidge will be ahead in the primaries.”  — Mark Steyn

Jay Leno: How about those commercials during the Super Bowl? There was one called ‘My Talking Stain’ Sounds like Bill Clinton’s worst nightmare. ... Action stars are endorsing candidates. Mike Huckabee has Chuck Norris; Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone came out for John McCain; and today, Clinton picked up Janet Reno. ... You know what’s amazing about Los Angeles? This city never fails to amaze me. Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger was in town. All the Republican candidates were here. All the Democratic candidates were here. All with secret service protection. And all put together, they still had less of a motorcade than Britney Spears going to the hospital. ... John Edwards said that even though he is out of the presidential race, he still cares for the little people, and to prove it, he had lunch with Dennis Kucinich. ... If [John McCain] wins, he would be the oldest president ever to take office. But the good news, at 71, he would be eligible for pre-boarding on Air Force One.

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.)