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THE FOUNDATION: POLITICS AND PARTIES

“Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party generally.”  - George Washington

CAMPAIGN WATCH

“[Barack] Obama represents the merger of two of the worst aspects of Democratic politics - ’60s radicalism and corrupt Chicago machine politics. With the addition of Slow Joe Biden to the ticket, Obama has added to his unsteady candidacy an epic amount of Beltway cluelessness and arrogance unsupported by anything except frequent flier miles and Delaware’s love for a chuckle-headed fellow with a big smile... I was worried that the Dems had pointed out to Obama that his serial gaffing had brought the campaign close to a break point and that he needed Hillary. I was worried he’d actually go find Anthony Zinni or Sam Nunn or someone of accomplishment and purposefulness in foreign affairs. [Jim] Webb would have been hell on the stump. [Tim] Kaine or [Evan] Bayh would have put different states into play. [Kathleen] Sebelius was a wild card. But Biden?... Put Biden’s obvious flaws aside and ask yourself how in the world Obama decided to go with Biden, and you’ll quickly realize that the Democratic nominee must have been impressed with Biden on the long campaign trail of 2007 and 2008 - even though voters weren’t and even though Biden has no accomplishments of note after 36 years in the Senate. Biden talked a great game and dropped some very interesting place names - and this impressed Obama. Talking the talk has been the key to Obama’s success, and in Slow Joe he found an older, far better traveled but equally prolix gas bag... For Obama, it is all about politics and words, elections and poses. Slow Joe is the perfect running mate on a perfect ticket for a party betting on wind to solve the energy crisis.”  - Hugh Hewitt

POLITICAL FUTURES

“There are two other issues with which Mr. Obama must grapple, and far from helping with any of these, Mr. Biden actually makes Mr. Obama’s path more difficult. The first is that Mr. Obama’s other big challenge is convincing moderate Americans he shares their values. He is already seen by many as a liberal, big-city politician who says people cling to guns and religion out of bitterness, associates with radicals, and attended a church with a radical theology. Mr. Biden is a fierce foe of gun rights, ardently opposes restrictions on abortion that have widespread support and promotes gay rights. He supports higher taxes, bigger government and socialized healthcare. That doesn’t exactly help Mr. Obama with blue-collar voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The second is Mr. Biden’s lack of executive experience. Not only has he never been a governor or a cabinet secretary, he has never been a mayor, an agency head, or served in any other executive role, not even prosecutor or military officer. Given that Mr. Obama also lacks that experience, having two career legislators heading the executive branch of our government might create doubts. ... More broadly, it cuts against Mr. Obama’s central campaign theme of change. His message is Washington is broken, and the old establishment needs to be swept away in favor of new blood and a new vision. How does picking someone who has been in Washington a decade longer than Mr. McCain jive with Mr. Obama’s contention that Mr. McCain has been in Washington too long to change it?”  - Ken Blackwell

FAMILY

“Alas, the abandonment of babies to suffer and die on the modern equivalent of a Spartan cliff did not require confronting evil when Obama saw it. Indeed, Obama turned a blind eye, leading the battle to defeat Illinois’ version of the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which would have treated babies living, albeit briefly, outside the womb as, well, babies. He opposed the bill in 2003 (as he had a similar one in 2001), saying it would undermine Roe v. Wade. But even after Roe-neutral language was included - wording good enough that it won support for the federal version of the bill from abortion-rights stalwart Sen. Barbara Boxer - Obama remained unmoved. Until this week, Obama denied that he ever took such a position. His campaign now admits that he was, in effect, lying when he said pro-lifers were lying about his record. But simultaneously, Obama defends a position that comes dismayingly close to the layman’s understanding of infanticide while claiming any other position would require him to play God.”  - Jonah Goldberg
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CULTURE

“Instead of pointing to the success of the thousands of black Americans who have worked to achieve their own ‘American Dreams’ and using his campaign victory as the presumptive Democratic candidate for president as a sign of what Americans of any race can do, he continues to play to the victim thinking mentality. It’s that same thinking that has kept far too many black Americans enslaved to affirmative action and its premise that they can’t succeed without it... The black, Harvard sociologist, Orlando Patterson, is quoted in Larry Elder’s The Ten Things You Can’t Say in America: ‘The sociological truths are that America, while still flawed in its race relations... is now the least racist white-majority society in the world; has a better record of legal protection of minorities than any other society, white or black; offers more opportunities to a greater number of black persons than any other society, including all those of Africa...’Voting for or against someone because of the color of his skin is a form of racism that should be un-American. The first black President of the United States should earn it the old-fashioned way - by combining experience, leadership acumen with compelling policy priorities that excite the electorate. Barack Obama’s lack of proven leadership experience, his inconsistent policy stands and non-existent legislative track record leaves much to be desired as a president.”  - Terry Paulson

RE: THE LEFT

“Even if Democrats succeed in tarnishing Mr. McCain, it won’t solve their fundamental problem, because this election is mostly about Barack Obama. Who is he? What does he really believe? Does he know enough, is he strong enough to lead? ‘McCain’s message is pretty clear and essentially twofold,’ wrote liberal blogger Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo. ‘Obama is, in so many words, a frivolous phony, someone who really doesn’t have any business running for president. McCain is a strong leader who can defend the country. ‘From Obama, honestly, I don’t sense a really clear message,’ Mr. Marshall said. ‘There are attacks on McCain, some of which are quite good. There are positive, uplifting commercials... But it’s hard for me to come up with a clear-cut Obama message in the way that it’s pretty simple for me to do with McCain.’If Mr. Obama wants to stop his slide in the polls, he must recognize he has been chiefly responsible for it. If people think Mr. Obama has a big head and a thin skin, he must act in a way that belies that. He must be more forthcoming about his past. And when he makes a mistake or changes a position, he should acknowledge it. Mr. Obama has to be clear about where he plans to lead the country and explain why he is qualified to do so. Hopenchange won’t cut it anymore. His acceptance speech in Denver will be the most important of his life. What will he say?”  - Jack Kelly

OPINION IN BRIEF

“I still think a one-term pledge could win it for [John McCain], because it would allow America to punt. It would make the 2008 choice seem less fateful. People don’t mind the chance to defer a choice when they’re not at all sure about the product... More, it would allow Mr. McCain to say he means to face the tough problems ahead with a uniquely bipartisan attitude and without having to care a fig for re-election. That itself would give him a new power, one that would make up for the lost juice of lame duckdom. It would also serve to separate him from the hyperpolitical operating styles of the Clinton-Bush years, from the constant campaign. And Mr. McCain would still have what he always wanted, the presidency, perhaps a serious and respectable one that accrued special respect because it involved some sacrifice on his part. A move that would help him win doubtful voters, win disaffected Democrats, allow some Republicans to not have to get drunk to vote for him, and that could possibly yield real results for his country. This seems to me such a potentially electrifying idea that he’d likely walk out of his convention as the future president. Mr. McCain told Politico on Wednesday that he’s not considering a one-term pledge. Why would he not? Such modesty of intent is at odds with the political personality. The thing that makes them want to rule America is the thing that stops them from thinking of prudent limits. This mindset crosses all political categories.”  - Peggy Noonan

THE GIPPER

“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.”  - Ronald Reagan

GOVERNMENT

“The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn’t... attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word ‘baseball.’ Barring a burst of legislative activity after Labor Day, this group of 535 men and women will have accomplished a rare feat. In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session - 294 so far - than this one. That’s not to say they’ve been idle. On the flip side, no Congress in the same 20 years has been so prolific when it comes to proposing resolutions - more than 1,900, according to a tally by the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense. With the mostly symbolic measures, Congress has saluted such milestones as the Idaho Potato Commission’s 70th anniversary and recognized soil as an ‘essential natural resource.’ As legislation on gasoline prices, tax fixes and predatory lending languish, Congress has designated May 5-9 as National Substitute Teacher Recognition Week, and set July 28 as the Day of the American Cowboy. The resolutions, which generally don’t carry the force of law, can originate in either the House or Senate. However, some types of resolutions establish the federal budget, authorize the president to go to war, or condemn actions such as the genocide in Darfur. Even among the 294 laws passed thus far, many were symbolic in nature. Many of the post offices named by this Congress honor servicemen and -women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the 435-member House, fully one-quarter of the workweek is typically devoted to debating and passing symbolic measures.”  - Elizabeth Williamson
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SELECT READER COMMENTS

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“Thank you for Mark Alexander’s ’inside’ report on the Olympics and the revelation that not all is not as beautiful as it appeared to us via NBC. We should thank God every day for the privilege of living in a country that still offers us a degree of freedom that is unknown to many, who live under repressive regimes. And may we all strive to retain that freedom that many have sacrificed for on our behalf.”  - Arlington, Texas

“The best that came out of the Beijing Olympics for me was a blog that connected me to the specific names of Chinese imprisoned Christians. I am praying for a pastor who has been imprisoned for 15 years for so-called border violations. I pray for those persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ.”  - Farmington, New Mexico

“I did not watch the Olympics coverage for many of the reasons you mentioned. Except for the closing ceremony when I fell asleep. Thank you for exposing what you saw and did not see. Very timely.”  - Bungendore, NSW, Australia

“If I was John McCain, I’d be issuing a press release to announce a new addition to my collection of real estate: a home in Kenya to house Barack’s neglected brother.”  - Altamonte Springs, Florida

THE LAST WORD

“With the selection of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee this weekend, the 2008 presidential campaign, which actually began way back on November 3, 2004, is coming down the stretch. The Democrats will hold their national pep rally this week. Republican presidential nominee John McCain will announce his running mate in a couple days. And then the Republicans will hold their national pep rally the following week. From there, it’ll be a two-month sprint to the finish line on November 4. The day after which the 2012 presidential campaign will immediately begin. Lord help us. But back to Biden and the timing of his announcement. As columnist and media strategist Cheri Jacobus noted... ‘In politics, when you want to bury bad news, you make sure it hits late Friday and Saturday. So why did Barack Obama hold off on his announcement of Joe Biden as his veep pick until the slowest possible news cycle?’ Jacobus explains that ‘By waiting until the weekend, Barack Obama was able to skirt any and all scrutiny, public vetting or criticism by Rush Limbaugh and the rest of conservative talk radio and cable television. In other words, he wanted no ‘bad news’ and was confident he would get ample positive coverage from the mainstream media.’ Indeed Jacobus notes, ‘The media is putty in the hands of Barack Obama.’ Fortunately, the world no longer has to wait for the likes of Katie Couric to get the lowdown and skinny on fast-breaking news. Bloggers were all over the Biden announcement like white on rice. Minutes after the decision was reported, conservatives had anti-Biden talking points streaking across the Internet. Bless Al Gore for inventing it.”  - Chuck Muth

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.)