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“This process of election affords a moral certainty that the office of President will seldom fall to the lot of any many who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”  - Alexander Hamilton

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE
Hope and Change in the Land of Oz

By Mark Alexander

“You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just recreate yourself. You can’t just reinvent yourself. The American people aren’t stupid.”

Who said it?

Ah, yes, more words of wisdom from that holy man of hypocrisy, the high priest of Hopenchange, Barack Hussein Obama.

This particular barb was aimed at Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Obama knows that “Mayor Palin” is far more qualified for the presidency than he is. However, anyone with any insight into humanity has already discerned that Gov. Palin puts forward no facade, charades or pretense. With Mrs. Palin, what you see is what you get.

Obama, on the other hand, has spent the last four years under the tutelage of his mentors John Kerry and Teddy Kennedy, and more recently among a few thousand political hacks and handlers, endeavoring to make stuff up and recreate and reinvent himself on the bet that a majority of American voters are stupid.

Pray it ain’t so.

To differentiate between Obama and his facade, the logical place to start is his record of legislative accomplishments. But Barack Obama has no such record. So, we resort to that old English proverb, “You can judge a man by the company he keeps.”

On the short list of ignoble Leftist radicals and hoodlums with whom Obama has maintained more than a passing acquaintance (aside from Kennedy and Kerry) would be Frank Marshall Davis, William Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Tony Rezko, the ACORN crowd, Richard Daley, Jeremiah Wright, Michael Pfleger, Khalid al-Mansour, Kwame Kilpatrick, Jimmy Carter, Rashid Khalidi and, who am I leaving out... oh, yeah, that radical in the red dress, Michelle Obama.

There are many others, of course, but a few of his colleagues from this list should give all Americans pause. Obama’s close association with Marxist mentors and convicted terrorists like Frank Marshall Davis, William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn is reason enough to disqualify him from ever receiving any security clearance, much less holding public office. And his 20-year spiritual mentorship under the racist reverend Jeremiah “G-D America” Wright defines Obama to his core.

Barack and Michelle Obama often quote the radical Saul Alinsky, who is considered to be the patron saint of “community organizers.” Alinsky’s book, Rules for Radicals, proclaims, “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins - or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom - Lucifer.”

(For more details on Obama, link to “No ObamaNation”.)

Considering the company Obama keeps, one must ponder the question, “Has the Democrat Party ever fielded, in its entire history, a candidate more ill-suited for the office of president?”

Fortunately, although Obama has succeeded in fooling some of the people all of the time, there appears to have been an avalanche of defectors from the moderate ranks of his supporters. For example, in the last two weeks, his eight-point lead over McCain among white female voters (those who elected Bill Clinton - twice) is now a 12-point lead for McCain/Palin, which explains why most of Obama’s attacks have been aimed at Gov. Palin.

Indeed, conventional wisdom suggests that Obama’s latest reversal of fortune is the result of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin joining the McCain presidential ticket. But there is more going on here than just the Palin bounce.

It seems that McCain’s character-rich speech at the convention enlightened a lot of folks who were, hitherto, unenlightened. That enlightenment has finally prompted moderates and independents to take a critical look at Obama’s character. And many, as evidenced by increasing support for McCain, are repulsed by what they see.

As those who self-identify as “Democrats” learn more about their party’s anointed candidate for the most powerful office in the world, perhaps they will consider a line from the Wizard of Oz - a quote which has metaphorical applications far beyond the movie.

“I am the great and powerful Oz!” thunders the Wizard to Dorothy and her friends. “Do you presume to criticize the great and powerful Oz? You ungrateful creatures!”

Alas, even as Dorothy’s tiny dog Toto tugs on the curtain to reveal a petty little man behind the thundering voice, the Wizard attempts to continue the ruse, orchestrating a booming declaration, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

Between now and 4 November, those who choose to ignore the petty little man behind the curtain orchestrating all that rolling rhetoric about “hope and change” do so at great peril to our nation, and to generations to come.

Quote of the week

“The more Obama has to explain why being a community organizer - or a state legislator, or a one-term senator with few accomplishments under his belt - is better preparation for the presidency than being a mayor or governor, the more he volunteers his own shortcomings when compared with McCain. Besides, on paper, Obama doesn’t stand up very well against Palin. All of the mythic themes of Obama’s political narrative - the ethics reformer, the bipartisan, the new kind of politician - all look like press-release material next to Palin’s accomplishments. Obama voted the Democratic Party line more often (97%) than McCain voted in accord with President Bush (90%). In Washington, Obama’s supposedly ‘sweeping’ ethics reform - which forces congressmen to eat lobbyist-provided meals standing up instead of sitting down - and his feckless reforms in Illinois make him look the Bambi to Palin’s Godzilla.”  - Jonah Goldberg
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GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Campaign watch: Money and flags

When Barack Obama decided in June to eschew public financing for the general election, liberal political observers hailed his breaking a previous promise to accept public money as a shrewd move that freed him up from restrictions placed on how he could spend all that cash. But less than three months later, reports are circulating about “extremely anemic” fundraising, which is forcing Obama to schedule fundraisers in lieu of campaign stops. A number of Obama surrogates also will be collecting money instead of trying to get out the vote.

On the other hand, John McCain went into Obama’s back yard in Chicago and raised $5 million this week. And because McCain stood by his promise to receive federal matching funds, he has largely freed himself from the constraints of fundraising and can focus on getting out his vote.

Perhaps Barack Obama’s campaign would do better if they properly used the resources they purchased. Instead, 12,000 miniature American flags which were discarded after Obama’s Invesco Field speech found their way to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul after Denver radio host Dan Caplis brought the issue to national attention and vowed to find the orphaned flags good homes - a move that Obama spokesman called a “cheap political stunt.” It seems Democrats will never understand how much the American flag means to real patriots.

Palin interviews with ABC’s Gibson

Thursday, Alaska Gov. and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin granted her first interview since joining the McCain ticket two weeks ago. She provided articulate answers to Charlie Gibson’s questions, with one notable exception: She was not able to answer a question regarding the “Bush Doctrine” because she did not know the policy by that name. Gibson clarified that the Bush doctrine was “anticipatory self-defense,” and Palin was unequivocal: “f there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.”

However, her inability to respond to the Bush Doctrine by name plays right into the hands of Obama’s efforts to portray her as “inexperienced.”

In response, what we do know about Palin is that she is on a fast-track learning curve, as is the case with any candidate who has not been drinking water from the Potomac for decades. Gov. Palin is a very bright understudy for an elder statesman like John McCain. More importantly, we know that Palin, like McCain, will listen to our commanders in the field. On the other hand, Obama and Biden have demonstrated that their approach would be to micromanage warfronts as if they are the field officers.

Smearing Sarah

The Left is so anxious to discredit Sarah Palin that the day after her selection by John McCain, an army of reporters and other mischief makers in Alaska tried to overturn every rock and pebble looking for something - anything - that would bring her down. The best they have come up with so far is a “scandal” over the firing of Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan. The story line is that Monegan was fired because he refused to fire State Trooper Michael Wooten, who had been through an ugly divorce with Palin’s sister. As was the case with the eight U.S. attorneys fired by President George W. Bush in 2006, Monegan served at the governor’s pleasure and could be fired for any reason, and, as it turns out, he disagreed with Palin over budget issues as well as strategies for using state troopers. Not only that, but Monegan had been fired from his last job running the police force in Anchorage by the Democrat mayor, Mark Begich, who is now challenging Republican Ted Stevens for his Senate seat.

Aside from the fact that there is no proof that the firing was illegitimate, in the words of The Wall Street Journal’s Brendan Miniter, “Trooper Wooten’s record would hardly seem to make him ideal state trooper material.” Miniter continued, “He’s a four-time divorcee whom Mrs. Palin says threatened to kill her father. He admitted to using a Taser on his 11-year-old stepson and to killing a moose out of season. He’s also had to fight allegations of drunk driving [in his patrol car] and other infractions.” So Democrats are in the position of arguing that Wooten should remain a trooper simply because he divorced Palin’s sister and Monegan should keep his job despite possible insubordination. That’s hardly a winning case.

This week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ award

At a campaign rally this week, Barack Obama took a shot at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, saying, “You can put, uh, lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.” Palin, memorably, had said in her GOP convention speech, “You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.” Obama’s comment - a worn-out political line if ever there was one - was clearly a rebuttal. And he wasn’t finished, attacking McCain, again in his usual eloquent manner, “You know, you can, uh, you know, you can, uh, you - you - you can wrap an old fish in a - in a piece of paper and call it change, it’s still gonna stink.” Is this guy ready for Comedy Central or what?

The next step was for the Obama camp to decry the “phony outrage” from Republicans. The funny thing is, the “outrage” appears to be mostly in his imagination. Few on the Right were actually outraged, but rather amused to see the Democrat nominee stick his foot in his mouth while being reduced to attacking his opponent’s running mate. We suppose that happens when one’s poll numbers are tanking.
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From the Left: Oprah joins the anti-Palin backlash

Oprah Winfrey, the queen of daytime television, has announced that she would love to have Sarah Palin on her show... after the election. Winfrey, whose declared support for Barack Obama may have netted him a million primary votes (but lost her more than a million viewers), claims that she does not want to use her show as a platform for presidential candidates. She also claims that Obama’s numerous appearances on her show were prior to his candidacy, but then again we all know that since Obama’s short tenure in the Senate began he has been little more than a candidate for president.

It’s fascinating that Winfrey, who symbolizes to some the cultural epitome of female empowerment, has chosen to snub both of the female White House candidates this year in favor of a man. It will be interesting to see just how many more members of her audience Winfrey alienates with this latest move.

Also of note, Us Weekly magazine received between 3,000 and 10,000 subscription cancellations after its despicable “Babies, Lies, and Scandal” cover story of Sarah Palin last week. Although this estimate represents a wide range, Us naturally won’t comment on it. We do know that, thanks to the lag between newsstand and subscription distribution, a portion of those cancellations came before subscribers even received the issue.

This week’s ‘Braying Jenny’ award

“Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let’s get that straight. She’s easily qualified to be vice president... and quite frankly, might have been a better pick than me. But she’s first rate. I mean that sincerely. She is first rate. So let’s get that straight.”  - Joe Biden, unwittingly jumpstarting the “Dump-Biden-for-Hillary” movement

What does this say about the first big decision that Barack Obama has made? It says he’s ill prepared to occupy the Oval Office. Indeed, one wonders how many vice presidential prospects declined to be on his ticket prior to Joe Biden’s acceptance.

Democrats looking to oust Lieberman

Republicans may have applauded Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) at last week’s GOP convention, but the Democrat caucus in the Senate was seething at his comments about Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama. (Lieberman lost his Democrat primary in 2006, but he won election as an independent and still caucuses with the Democrats.) Plans are already circulating to bounce Lieberman from his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee if the November elections give the Democrats another five or six Senate seats. Lieberman’s own legislative director promptly resigned and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is said to be quietly plotting Joltin’ Joe’s demise come November. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) openly signaled that he would have no problem with the liberal Lieberman making the switch to the GOP should the Democrats try to hang him out to dry. What is more, if McCain wins in November, there may be no Lieberman to kick around in the Senate at all since he could end up serving in the new administration. Chalk up another one for the mavericks.

Rangel admits $75,000 in unreported income

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was forced to admit this week that he had not reported at least $75,000 in rental income from a posh Dominican Republic villa he has owned for 20 years. The villa at the Punta Cana Yacht Club rents for $500 a night during the off-season and $1,100 a night during the peak season (December through April). Rangel has only sporadically claimed income on the property, and he claimed that he received no income at all in 2006 and 2007. Managers at the Yacht Club, however, maintain that Rangel’s villa is the hottest property on the beach and is booked solid during every peak season. Rangel’s lawyer acknowledged his client’s shady tax reporting after the New York Post broke the story early this week. Rangel, however, blamed it on “cultural and language barriers” which prevented him from understanding the situation. The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee - the committee that writes the federal tax code - could face civil penalties and up to five years in prison, but just how stiff his punishment will be remains to be seen. After all, Democrats are so rarely held accountable...

New & notable legislation

Congress is back in session after its August recess, and debating energy is top priority. House Democrats will propose an energy bill that will include an expansion of offshore drilling, the item that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-OPEC) once regarded as a nonstarter to energy legislation. The bill will also include a “use it or lose it” provision to encourage oil companies to use the drilling leases they already have or return them to the public. Other provisions call for government oil-lease royalties to be invested in alternative energy technology and for tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. However, lest readers think Democrats are caving, the bill would retain the ban on offshore drilling within 50 miles of the coast if a state enacts such legislation or 100 miles if not, effectively keeping 18 billion barrels of oil and natural gas off limits. The bill would also rescind tax breaks for “Big Oil” and require oil companies to pay additional royalties for the privilege of drilling. That money would then be redistributed for renewable energy development.

A bill has been introduced in the House to repeal the District of Columbia’s ability to write its own gun laws, in deference to the recent Supreme Court ruling that found the District’s gun laws unconstitutional. According to The Washington Post, the bill would “repeal the D.C. ban on semiautomatic pistols and rifles; eliminate the city’s gun registration requirements; allow D.C. residents to purchase firearms in Virginia and Maryland; and abolish the regulation that guns at home be unloaded and safeguarded.” The Democrat leadership hoped to avoid handing the Republicans such a resounding legislative victory this close to the election, but at least 48 Demos support the new law because they represent districts that favor Second Amendment rights.
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The Democrats have decided to abandon another vote on expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program before the congressional recess. President Bush twice vetoed the bill because it would have added families to the tax-funded program who were quite capable of funding their own children’s health insurance. Democrats realized that they still do not have enough votes to override a veto, and there is not enough time to muster a fight this close to the recess. They plan to expand the program next year with what they expect to be an enlarged majority.

NATIONAL SECURITY
Warfront with Jihadistan: Cover blown

The New York Times published more classified information on its front page this week, announcing, “President Bush secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allows American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government.” Well, the operation was secret. And necessary. Pakistani villages along the Afghan border have long been staging points for terrorist attacks, as well as strongholds for al-Qa’ida. It is believed that Osama bin Laden is living in a cave in the area. Pakistani officials will be notified, but not asked, when ground operations are conducted by U.S. Special Forces. In order to win in Afghanistan, such operations are critical.

The Times initially reported a debate about such actions in June, when it noted that State Department officials opposed Pentagon officials who wanted to conduct operations in Pakistan. It was probably an Obama supporter in the State Department who leaked the information to The Times. Finally, the information was released on, of all days, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It might be that during a future terrorist attack, the safest place in New York will be the New York Times building.

From Russia, with... bombers?

On Wednesday a pair of Russian Air Force Tu-160 Blackjack bombers flew from Russia to Venezuela, the longest flight by Russian planes since 1990. (Military buffs may notice an oddity if they can find photos of the Blackjack - Russia has retained the old Soviet Red Star marking on its Air Force aircraft for old times’ sake.) The planes’ flight comes just days after Venezuelan thug-leader Hugo Chavez announced that he had invited the Russians to participate in a joint naval exercise scheduled for November, and just a week after Russia expressed displeasure over the presence of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Black Sea.

While not exactly significant militarily, this week’s events are the latest in a series of political tussles involving Russia. First it was the dust-up over U.S. missile defenses going into Poland. Then it was Russia invading Georgia on the pretense of protecting Russian citizens, and now a military show in the Caribbean basin with a like-minded minor country that shares Russia’s antipathy toward the United States. While it is premature to fret that the Cold War has returned, Chavez is certainly following the path blazed nearly 60 years ago by Fidel Castro in seeking out a major sponsor and arms supplier in Moscow. However, it is also worth noting the business angle involved here: Russia has recently sold Venezuela advanced SU-30 MK2 fighter jets and reportedly has offered to sell the St. Petersburg class of submarines, the newest and most sophisticated diesel submarine in the world. The November naval exercise may be Russia’s opportunity to close the deal on the subs. No word yet on whether Russia intends to move nuclear-tipped missiles into Venezuela.

Marine acquitted; law second-guessed

On 29 August, former Marine Jose Luis Nazario Jr. was acquitted of war crimes allegedly committed in Iraq after the civilian jury failed to find any convincing evidence against him. Nazario was the first military veteran to be prosecuted by U.S. attorneys under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2000, which allows prosecution of civilian contractors who commit crimes while working for the U.S. government overseas, as well as military personnel who have already completed their term of military service.

Nazario was accused of shooting four unarmed Iraqi detainees in Fallujah during the intense fighting there in 2004, but the government prosecutors presented no bodies, identities, crime scene items, or forensic evidence to the jury. According to one juror, there weren’t any “real witnesses” either. Members of the civilian jury said they did not feel qualified to judge the actions of a soldier in a dangerous combat environment, and some of them hugged Nazario and shook his hand after the verdict was announced.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), one of the authors of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, said that the bill may be in need of review. “I don’t think any of us who passed that legislation thought we were now going to have people discharged from the military being charged in federal court.” David Glazier, an associate professor at Loyola Law School, added, “The average American is reluctant to second-guess the conduct of a service person in a combat zone,” proving that sometimes sanity prevails.
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Profiles of valor: USA Sgt. Clemens

On 15 November 2006, United States Army First Sergeant Michael Clemens was participating in day four of Operation Turki Bowl, a mission to clear a volatile area in Iraq of jihadis and weapons. Clemens spotted a group of insurgents in a village ahead, along with a large truck filled with weapons. He called in air support, which destroyed the target. By radio, Clemens then received word that the commanding officer of his unit and several others had been wounded when an IED struck their vehicle. Clemens assumed leadership of the unit and moved to secure the area of the attack. He coordinated with superiors, and called in air support and rescue helicopters, allowing the mission to continue, as well as care for the wounded. Two counterattacks were repelled and 12 enemy fighters killed. All but one American soldier survived. For his command under fire and operational success, Clemens was awarded the Bronze Star with combat “V” for valor.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Regulatory Commissars: Fannie and Freddie

On Sunday, the federal government effectively nationalized mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, both government-sponsored, but privately owned, enterprises that provide financial backing for the secondary mortgage market. The secondary mortgage market has been hit hard by the troubled subprime mortgage market, the decline in housing prices, and increased foreclosures. Amid growing concern over whether the companies were adequately capitalized, Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 in July. This act created the Federal Housing Finance Agency, increased regulatory oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and gave Treasury authority to advance funds to stabilize the companies. Almost immediately, Treasury Secretary Paulson assembled a team of bankers and lawyers to study Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It was apparent that the companies were significantly undercapitalized, they would have severe difficulty absorbing the expected losses, and investors had lost confidence in the ability of their management teams to solve problems posed by the impending liquidity crunch.

What followed was one of the largest-ever government interventions in financial markets. Using the authority granted in July, FHFA became the conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Boards and the CEOs of both companies were replaced. The federal government assumed ownership of preferred stock and halted payment of dividends on privately held stock. Some analysts estimate the cost of this takeover to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, an amount that dwarfs the bailout of Bear Stearns earlier this year. While this drastic action soothed the jittery housing financial markets somewhat, there is no guarantee that the ultimate cost to taxpayers will not be substantially higher.

Sad to say, this takeover was the least terrible of many bad choices. Had the federal government not acted, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would not have been able to raise new capital. The losses that most analysts expected the companies to incur would have pushed both companies into insolvency. If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapsed, the damage to the housing and the financial markets would have been severe in the extreme. Decisive, and massive, intervention was necessary to prevent a financial catastrophe.

Even more sadly, the American taxpayer is once again stuck with a huge bill for bailing out companies whose poor management decisions - helped along by Carter and Clinton administrations that demanded eased credit standards - led an entire industry to the brink of collapse.

Oil continues price drop

The cost of crude oil reached a five-month low this week with prices dipping to $102 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and $100 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe, while Brent North Sea crude hit $96.99. While this is good news for consumers, apparently OPEC was less than pleased, and, in response, the oil cartel surprised experts yesterday by slashing oil production in a maneuver that could strip the market of up to 520,000 barrels a day.

Some analysts say prices may still fall to about $80 a barrel despite the cut - and despite OPEC’s obvious lack of enthusiasm for lower prices. Still, as long as the cartel holds the puppet strings, American consumers’ interests will be handcuffed to OPEC’s games. With a vote on offshore drilling possibly imminent, Congress should take note that the U.S. can either continue to play the puppet or can cut the strings by utilizing our plentiful domestic sources of oil.

In gas news, the Southeast can look forward to higher prices as Hurricane Ike heads for Houston. Reports of a $1-per-gallon increase overnight are rampant as refineries along the Gulf Coast have been shut down. As with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this is part supply and demand, part price chasing.

Auto industry seeks $50 billion

Domestic automotive industry lobbyists are busy soliciting Congress, the President, and the presidential candidates for a $50-billion loan to help them retool their plants for more fuel-efficient vehicles. Lawmakers authorized $25 billion in last year’s energy bill to help American automakers convert their production lines to make hybrid and electric vehicles, although the money has yet to reach its intended targets. Now automakers want another $25 billion, and they hope to get the full $50 billion over three years in the form of a low-interest loan. Ford, GM and Chrysler currently have such poor credit ratings that they could not borrow the money they seek in the private sector at less than 15-20% interest. Naturally, Congress appears eager to help.

On the other hand, Holman W. Jenkins Jr. pointed out in The Wall Street Journal that the reason the Big Three automakers need this $50 billion is that Congress has cost them $100 billion due to “corporate average fuel economy” (CAFE) standards. Nearly as bad, automakers have been saddled with using UAW labor to produce smaller, more fuel-efficient cars that lose money. Jenkins has a better idea for helping automakers: “Just repeal the fuel economy rules.”
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Unemployment sparks call for bigger gov’t

Name that year: Average hourly earnings were up 4.3 percent over the summer months; almost 49 percent of U.S. industries reported adding jobs; the economy grew by 3.3 percent in the second quarter, and productivity swelled by 4.3 percent.

If you said 2008, you are not only correct but also unwelcome in the mainstream media - and in Democrat politics (but we repeat ourselves). Amid continued rants over the “recession that wasn’t” (and still isn’t, to date) the Left is intent on pounding the 6.1 percent unemployment rate, which, while accurate and higher than last year’s five-percent rate, actually equals the nation’s average unemployment rate for the past 38 years.

Still, Democrats in Congress are already pushing for a second $50-billion stimulus package. Did we point out that the unemployment rate really started going up after the first stimulus package?

Income Redistribution: Obama’s new flip on taxes

Implicitly acknowledging the obvious, Barack Obama flip-flopped on his tax plan yet again by telling ABC Sunday he will not seek the largest confiscatory tax increase in history if the economy is in a recession because, he admitted, his tax plan would damage the economy. Obama’s metamorphosis began during 2007’s roaring economy, when the Chosen One wanted to use the government to heavily tax anyone he considered wealthy while simultaneously giving the “middle class” some tax credits. This involved repealing the tax cuts that created the favorable economic conditions, raising the top marginal tax rate to 39.8 percent and increasing the capital gains and dividends tax to 25 percent from 15 percent. Later, he lowered his desired capital gains tax rate to 20 percent, and then this week flopped to a delayed tax increase if there is a recession.

While we applaud never raising taxes at all and instead prefer cutting wasteful spending, eventually Obama will learn that liberal flip-flopping makes poor footwear for traversing the slippery slopes of campaign taxation rhetoric. As this week again revealed, the Obama campaign’s “change you can believe in” slogan actually refers to his ever shifting positions on taxes.

CULTURE
Candidates’ views on education

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama disagree on nearly everything, and education is no exception. Both senators champion the ambitious goals of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), including holding educators accountable for student performance; however, they clearly disagree on the implementation. Lest there be any confusion, conservatives have lost no love for NCLB, an unconstitutional boondoggle.

While McCain feels that enough money is being spent on the program, he would shift some of the ways in which that money is used; this includes channeling funds directly to school principals and tutors, not through local government. He would also expand tutoring services and school choices in schools performing below standard. McCain places trust in standardized test scores, but he would change the way kids in special education or English as a Second Language programs are tested.

Obama would not abolish standardized tests, but favors using “other means” to measure success. Senator Obama’s answer to the program’s deficiencies would be to spend $8 billion more, most of which would be used to entice better teachers to underperforming schools. Obama would also add additional programs geared toward poor and minority students, including dropout prevention and college preparation. In addition, he would pump $10 billion into Early Head Start and Head Start programs, as well as into block grants for childcare for low-income families.

The candidates also disagree on school choice. While Senator McCain favors charter schools and vouchers for private schools, Obama opposes vouchers. The candidates do have similar views on teachers’ pay: They both favor merit-based pay for teachers, including bonuses for higher test scores and for teaching in underprivileged schools. Either way, it seems, it’s full steam ahead.
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Faith and Family: ADF to challenge the IRS

The conservative Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a nonprofit legal group founded in 1994 by James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, is currently recruiting pastors to challenge the Internal Revenue Service as part of its “Pulpit Initiative.” The plan is for the pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit, wait for the inevitable IRS investigation, and then challenge that investigation in federal court with the ultimate goal of ending the 54-year-old ban on political endorsements in tax-exempt churches. “For so long, there has been this cloud of intimidation over the church,” ADF attorney Erik Stanley said. “It is the job of the pastors of America to debate the proper role of church in society. It’s not for the government to mandate the role of church in society.” Liberal pastors preach politics all the time while, simultaneously, they are screaming about separation of church and state. Of course, the ADF could be risking its own tax-exempt status with the initiative.

Lost in the hubbub over this issue are two things: Separation of church and state is a principle not found in the Constitution, meaning ADF does have a case for the unconstitutionality of restricting speech from the pulpit. Still, church and state separation serves a good purpose, which is to protect the church from the state, not the other way around. Having said that, and speaking for ourselves, when we go to church on Sunday morning, we want to hear the Word of God preached, not a political lecture.

Climate change this week: Global cooling

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the first half of 2008 has been the coolest in five years. The WMO further concludes that the so-called “global warming” that may have occurred over the past 30 years is no longer the trend. Geologist Don Easterbrook, a professor emeritus at Western Washington University, predicts that temperatures will cool between 2065 and 2100 by less than one degree. Easterbrook is using the temperatures of the years since 2002 to establish a climate pattern. “The argument that this is too short a time period to be meaningful would be valid were it not for the fact that this cooling exactly fits the pattern of timing of warm/cool cycles over the past 400 years,” Easterbrook wrote. Another geologist, Robert Giegengack of the University of Pennsylvania, notes, “For most of Earth’s history, the globe has been warmer than it has been for the last 200 years. It has rarely been cooler.”

Meanwhile, the Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts that the coming winter will be “catastrophic” due to cold weather. In fact, two-thirds of the country should look for colder-than-average temperatures this winter. Not to mention higher energy bills.

And last...

We are shocked - SHOCKED - to report that Leftmedia minions are grasping at straws endeavoring to undermine Sarah Palin’s popular appeal. A CNN reporter even latched on to an Internet hoax, a composite image ostensibly depicting Sarah Palin in a bikini with an EBR (evil black rifle). She claimed, “Yes, she looks good in a bikini clutching an AK-47, but is she equipped to run the country?” Not only did CNN fall for this amateur photo re-creation, but anyone who knows anything about Sarah Palin knows that she would never pose with a Crossman BB gun - the actual EBR in the photo. To see a few real photos of Mrs. Palin with her preferred weapons of choice, see here.

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.)