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THE FOUNDATION: OPINION

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

INSIGHT

“Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others to persecute those who do reason.”  - Voltaire

“A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”  - Alexander Pope

“We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity.”  - Theodore Roosevelt

“It is equally dangerous giving a madman a knife and a villain power.”  - Socrates

UPRIGHT

“This is my sixth Republican National Convention, and I’ve never seen anything remotely like the excitement Palin has unleashed. Some compare it to the enthusiasm for Ronald Reagan in 1976 or 1980. Even among the cynics and nervous strategists, there’s a kind of giddiness over John McCain’s tactical daring in selecting the little-known Alaskan.”  - Jonah Goldberg

“There are, recall, no Constitutional qualifications to occupy the presidency other than being 35 years of age and a native-born American.”  - John Podhoretz

“If a 44-year-old Alaskan governor lacks experience to be vice president, what does that deficiency say about the credentials of the a 47-year-old sometime community organizer in Chicago and one-term U.S. senator to actually lead the nation and, by inference, much of the world? Nothing very hopeful, is what it says.”  - William Murchison

“Barack Obama[’s]... economic program is based on the assumption that the economy is to the president what a marionette is to a puppeteer, requiring his direction and responding to his every wish.”  - Steve Chapman

“Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family. No, they’re just going to tax ‘businesses.’ So unless you buy something from a ‘business,’ like groceries or clothes or gasoline... or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small ‘business,’ don’t worry... it’s not going to affect you. They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the ‘other’ side of the bucket! That’s their idea of tax reform.”  - Fred Thompson

“The more Congress does, the less Americans prosper. Freedom, not legislation and regulation, is what powers the U.S. economy. The old political wisdom is a sound investment guideline, too: That government is best that governs least.”  - Jeff Jacoby

EDITORIAL EXEGESIS

“Election 2008: John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is brilliant. Her individualism matches McCain’s. But it’s the new strengths she brings to the ticket that make the team formidable. To say it was a bold pick is putting it mildly. Palin, after all, isn’t well-known outside Alaska. But McCain is maverick-bold, and this masterstroke looks like a game-changer for Republicans. A first look at Palin, 44, shows striking political similarities with the man who heads the ticket. Like McCain, she thinks independently and has shown political courage. Elected governor in 2006, she became popular for tax-cutting and budget-balancing, both hallmarks of McCain’s own career. Also like McCain, Palin has confronted political corruption, even at a cost to herself... Palin is also a straight-talker. As governor of a small-population state, she’s accessible, with a history of working with and listening to people, taking in all sides. She uses plain language and doesn’t fear gaffes. She couldn’t be further from the canned, focus-group-driven politicians who dominate politics. This builds trust. McCain’s and Palin’s similarities present an emerging political coherence and unity of message that should appeal to voters.”  - Investor’s Business Daily
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DEZINFORMATSIA

On experience: “[Sarah Palin is] the youngest governor ever in Alaska’s history, and she’s the first woman. She’s only been in office for a couple of years now, which really raises the experience issue here. Now, of course, Republicans have been raising the experience issue about Senator Obama... Now, she is a manager. She is the governor of a state. She does have limited experience, though. She’s also been the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. And for a time she was the ethics chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. But that does not add up to broad experience.”  - CNN’s John Roberts **Yeah, boy. Nothing like “community organizer” and state senator. Break “Sarah Palin makes Barack Obama look like John Adams. I mean, it’s just, it’s no contest.”  - Newsweek’s Howard Fineman on Palin’s experience versus Obama’s

Divisive exchange: “It’s important to point out, as we have not so far, Barack Obama was not given this nomination, he won it. He was not offered a nice title like Secretary of State, like Condoleezza Rice got from the Republicans. He was not offered the title of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs as Colin Powell was... He won the nomination of a Democratic Party voting together... He is not some popular appointment or a showcase appointment.”  - MSBNC’s Chris Matthews

Then again, some like Palin: “We may be seeing the first woman president. As a Democrat, I am reeling... That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.”  - Camille Paglia on Palin’s speech in Dayton on Friday

From the Chief Sycophant: “You know, I’ve been criticized for saying [Barack Obama] inspires me and to hell with my critics!”  - MSNBC’s Chris Matthews

Newspulper Headlines:

World Ends, Hardest-Hit Hardest Hit: “Gustav Threatens Those Hardest Hit by Katrina”  - Associated Press

We Blame Global Warming: “The High Cost of Low Temperatures”  - The New York Times

Then Again, She May Not: “Little-Known Palin May Be Benefit or Bust for McCain’s Campaign”  - Bloomberg

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control: “Woman Goes Down Baggage Chute at Swedish Airport”  - Agence France-Presse Break “Gas Prices Ground Diddy’s Private Jet”  - Access Hollywood Break “North Pole to Remain Frozen”  - Rocky Mountain News (Denver)

News You Can Use: “How to Get Thrown Into a Chinese Prison”  - CNET News

Bottom Stories of the Day: “Hagel Takes Pass on GOP Convention”  - Hill Web site (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

THE DEMO-GOGUES

Grasping at straws: “Well, you know, my understanding is that, uh, Governor Palin’s town of Wasilly [sic] has, uh, 50 employees, uh, uh, we’ve got 2,500, uh, in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. Uh, uh, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. Uh, so I think that, uh, our ability to manage large systems, uh, and to, uh, execute, uh, I think has been made clear over the last couple of years. Uh, and certainly, in terms of, uh, the legislation that I’ve passed just dealing with this issue post-Katrina, uh, of how we handle emergency management. The fact that, uh, many of my recommendations were adopted and are being put in place, uh, as we speak indicates the extent to which we can provide the kinds of support and good service that the American people expect.”  - Barack Obama

Look who’s talking: “John McCain wanted to choose Tom Ridge. He wanted to choose Joe Lieberman. He wanted to choose another candidate, but you know what? Rush Limbaugh and the right wing vetoed it. And John McCain was forced to come back and pick a sort of Cheney-esque social conservative who’s going to satisfy the base. What John McCain has proven with this choice is that John McCain is a prisoner of the right wing, not a maverick.”  - former presidential candidate John Kerry, who by the way chose cheatin’ John Edwards

Beltway speak: “I’ll put my guy, Joe Biden, up against anybody when it comes to fighting on behalf of those families, because he’s been there. He comes out of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He’s been fightin’ for those folks ever since he got into the Senate [a really, really, long time ago]. And he hasn’t stopped [despite being a Beltway insider for decades]. And he hasn’t forgotten where he’s come from.”  - Barack Obama **Ok, so we took a little editorial license there.

Thanks for clearing that up: “I’ve got to defend my bowling honor here. It is true that my bowling score left something to be desired. The reason I bowled though, wasn’t to try to get votes. If I had been tryin’ to get votes, I promise you I would have been avoiding a bowling alley. The reason I was there was to campaign.”  - Barack Obama on “60 Minutes” Sunday

Whatever you do to the least of these: “That’s the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper.”  - Barack Obama, who’s half-brother George lived in a hut in Kenya on $1 per month
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VILLAGE IDIOTS

Schadenfreude: “I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven. To have it planned at the same time - that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities - at the top of the Mississippi River.”  - crockumentarian Michael Moore, laughing it up over a hurricane Break “The hurricane’s going to hit New Orleans about the time [Republicans] start [their convention]. [Chuckle] The timing is - at least it appears now that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God’s on our side. [Laughter]... Everything’s cool.”  - former DNC chief Don Fowler, who later “apologized” adding this: “One doesn’t anticipate that one’s private conversation will be surreptitiously recorded by some right-wing nutcase.”

The unfortunate ex-president: “I think that John McCain is milking every possible drop of advantage from that unfortunate experience in his early military life.”  - Jimmy Carter on McCain’s five-year-long torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese

There he goes again: “This ordinary boy [Obama] just might be the first president in the history of the United States to have a black woman sleeping at 1600 Pennsylvania legally.”  - Jeremiah Wright referring to Michelle Obama

From the “Madeleine Halfwit” Files: “I would have gone straight to Moscow, unlike the current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I would have told the Russians in no uncertain terms that this behavior is unacceptable.”  - former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright **Just like with North Korea, huh?

SHORT CUTS

“Not only is [Sarah Palin] young, they’re saying she’s the prettiest candidate for vice president since John Edwards.”  - Jimmy Kimmel

“The famous Greek amphitheatre didn’t look all Alexander the Great if you were [at the Democrat convention]. It looked instead like the big front display window at Macy’s during Presidents Day Sales Weekend. You expected to see ‘Sofas 40% off!’ in a running line on the bottom of the screen.”  - Peggy Noonan

“The U.S. economy - yes, that economy - grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate last quarter. This no doubt caused consternation at the highest levels of the Democratic Party, perhaps forcing some to consider a new convention film at the last minute: ‘Dude, Where’s My Recession?’... The bad news for the throngs in Denver is that Americans aren’t as miserable as the Democrats need them to be.”  - Jonah Goldberg

“The Obama campaign was not built for substance, only speed. There was no attempt [in Denver]... to deal with national security, worldwide terrorism or how to do the actual hard work of putting race behind us. It was all hot dogs, cotton candy, bellywash, booing Bush and shouting ‘hurrah for the American Idol.’ Two more months of that and we’ll all want change.”  - Wesley Pruden

“If Obama is Hope, God save us from Despair.”  - Mac Johnson

Jay Leno: Did you see that Mount Olympus-style backdrop they had for Barack’s speech [at the Democrat convention], with the big columns on it? Little over the top, do you think, huh? Like, when they introduced him as ‘Barack, son of Zeus,’ that seemed over the top. ... Bill Clinton promised to do everything he could to help Barack Obama win the election. And then Hillary said, “That’s nice. But you know Bill. Keeping promises is not his strong suit.” ... I thought Hillary Clinton gave a great speech [at the Democrat convention]. That tangerine-colored pantsuit she was wearing - maybe I’m wrong, but didn’t Elton John wear that at the Grammys last year? ... Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is John McCain’s choice. Here’s what we know about her: her name is Sarah Palin. ... Actually, it was kind of a smart choice. McCain went with a woman because he didn’t want to have to be in a position to have to get CPR from Mitt Romney. ... Palin and McCain are a good pair. She’s pro-life and he’s clinging to life.

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.)