ChristiansUnite Forums

THE FOUNDATION

"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." --James Madison

Publisher's Note: Beginning Thursday, 30 April, Alexander's essay will be published as a "stand alone" piece, and will be published as such every Thursday morning going forward. The rest of the Digest content will be published, as usual, on Friday mornings. The new schedule is in response to reader comments and suggestions.

Bonnie Blue - symbol of states' rights
LIBERTY

"In response to an unprecedented expansion of federal power, citizens have held hundreds of 'tea party' rallies around the country, and various states are considering 'sovereignty resolutions' invoking the Constitution's Ninth and Tenth Amendments. For example, Michigan's proposal urges 'the federal government to halt its practice of imposing mandates upon the states for purposes not enumerated by the Constitution of the United States.' While well-intentioned, such symbolic resolutions are not likely to have the slightest impact on the federal courts, which long ago adopted a virtually unlimited construction of Congressional power. But state legislatures have a real power under the Constitution by which to resist the growth of federal power: They can petition Congress for a convention to propose amendments to the Constitution. An amendments convention is feared because its scope cannot be limited in advance. The convention convened by Congress to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation produced instead the entirely different Constitution under which we now live. Yet it is precisely the fear of a runaway convention that states can exploit to bring Congress to heel. ...A Federalism Amendment would provide tea-party enthusiasts and other concerned Americans with a concrete and practical proposal by which we can restore our lost Constitution." --Georgetown University professor of constitutional law Randy Barnett

INSIGHT

"It really is difficult to imagine how people who have entirely given up managing their own affairs could make a wise choice of those who are to do that for them. One should never expect a liberal, energetic, and wise government to originate in the votes of a people of servants." --French political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)

GOVERNMENT

"One of the most important events of our lifetimes may have just transpired. A federal agency has decided that it has the power to regulate everything, including the air you breathe. Nominally, the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement ... only applies to new-car emissions. But pretty much everyone agrees that the ruling opens the door to regulating, well, everything. According to the EPA, greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide -- the gas you exhale -- as well as methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. It is literally impossible to imagine a significant economic or human activity that does not involve the production of one of these gases. Don't think just of the gas and electricity bills. Cow flatulence is a serious concern of the EPA's already. What next? ... Whether or not global warming is a crisis that warrants immediate, drastic action (I don't think it does), and whether or not such wholesale measures would be an economic calamity (they would be), the EPA's decision should be disturbing to people who believe in democratic, constitutional government. ...The EPA has launched its power grab over all that burns, breathes, burps, flies, drives and passes gas." --National Review editor Jonah Goldberg

FAITH AND FAMILY

"If torturing terrorists works -- as the Obama administration had to admit grudgingly [last] week -- is it okay? No, of course not, the chattering class proudly concluded. One wonders why. What do they care? Having already accepted abortion and euthanasia -- which are nothing more than the expedient killing of the unborn and the elderly -- why should the expedient torture of terrorists, a lesser evil, trouble them? Oh, that's right: the terrorists are guilty and the guilty under the ministrations of modern liberalism never suffer. Pain in modern life is for the innocent. Terrorists, we're told by pro-abortion liberals, suffer excruciating pain while the ejected unborn and euthanized elderly feel nothing. And even if the latter do suffer pain, say these liberals, that pain is worth it. After all, abortion and euthanasia sustain a pleasant and peaceful lifestyle for the strong. Let the dead bury the dead. ... Obama's liberalism is not an opponent of human rights abuses but an embodiment of them. The CIA restricts itself to methods far less ruthless than those permitted by the platform of the Democratic Party. When will Obama bring his own platform into line with the Geneva Accords? It is a little late in the day for Obama to worry about America's moral reputation. Resisting evil even 'when it is hard' hasn't interested liberalism for at least four decades. It rests on an ideology of expedient evil and crass utilitarianism." --Catholic World Report editor George Neumayr

CULTURE

"The debate over the just-released Justice Department memorandums on interrogation techniques ended as soon as they were dubbed the 'torture memos.' ... Rightly considered, the memos should be a source of pride. They represent a nation of laws struggling to defend itself against a savage, lawless enemy while adhering to its legal commitments and norms. Most societies throughout human history wouldn't have bothered. ... If we had a more mature political culture, this and other questions could be examined thoroughly by a special congressional committee. (As it happens, the CIA produced a memo on the benefits of the interrogation program that has never been released.) But such an inquiry inevitably would descend into a hyperpoliticized takedown of the CIA and the Bush Justice Department for 'war crimes.' The frenzied reception of the 'torture memos' is just a preview." --National Review editor Rich Lowry

THE GIPPER

"We maintain our strength in order to deter and defend against aggression -- to preserve freedom and peace. Since the dawn of the atomic age, we've sought to reduce the risk of war by maintaining a strong deterrent and by seeking genuine arms control. 'Deterrence' means simply this: making sure any adversary who thinks about attacking the United States, or our allies, or our vital interests, concludes that the risks to him outweigh any potential gains. Once he understands that, he won't attack. We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression." --Ronald Reagan

OPINION IN BRIEF

"Insurance is not medical care. Indeed, health care is not the same as medical care. Countries with universal health care do not have more or better medical care. The bottom line is medical care. But the rhetoric and the talking points are about insurance. Many people who could afford health insurance do not choose to have it because they know that medical care will be available at the nearest emergency room, whether they have insurance or not. This is especially true for young people, who do not anticipate long-term medical problems and who can always get a broken leg or an allergy attack taken care of at an emergency room -- and spend their money on a more upscale lifestyle. This may not be a wise decision but it is their decision, and there is no reason why other people should lose the right to make decisions for themselves because some people make questionable decisions. If you don't think government bureaucrats can make questionable decisions, then you haven't dealt with many government bureaucrats. ... People who believe in 'universal health care' show remarkably little interest -- usually none -- in finding out what that phrase turns out to mean in practice, in those countries where it already exists, such as Britain, Sweden or Canada. For one thing, 'universal health care' in these countries means months of waiting for surgery that American get in a matter of weeks or even days. ... No one who compares medical care in this country with medical care in other countries is likely to want to switch. But those who cannot be bothered with the facts may help destroy the best medical care in the world by falling for political rhetoric." --Hoover Institution economist Thomas Sowell

POLITICAL FUTURES

"Sen. John McCain's daughter and his presidential campaign manager think they've figured out why Mr. McCain lost the 2008 election and what Republicans must do to win in the future. They need to be more like Democrats. ... Republicans are in electoral trouble for many reasons, but one of them surely is not that they are insufficiently liberal on social issues. What's the point of having a two-party system if one party mimics the other? Many erstwhile Republican voters turned on their party not because it was insufficiently liberal but because it was insufficiently conservative. ... Dissing the past is a quality found mostly in arrogant youth who think they know more than anyone else and believe only they are enlightened enough to tell the rest of us how and what to think. But the past and those who have gone before are great teachers for moderns who would learn. The writer of Ecclesiastes noted that there is 'nothing new under the sun.' Republicans can take old ideas that once brought them victory and repackage them for a new generation. Embracing what has worked -- economically, politically and morally -- has sustained America through many challenges. While a moral reformation cannot come through government, moral deterioration will advance with greater speed if political leadership does not remind the country of unchanging principles. What shall it profit a party if it gains electoral victory but loses its political soul?" --columnist Cal Thomas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(To submit reader comments visit our Letters to the Editor page.)

"Regarding Brent Bozell's article in last Monday's Brief, I certainly agree that Newsweek should tend to their own sinking ship rather than gloating over the on-going demise of Christianity in America. But let's not kid ourselves. A 10-point drop in self-identified Christians since 1990 is substantial. Factor in also the increasingly staggering amount of self-identified Christians that support abortion, gay marriage, and host of other social ills and it's obvious much of what passes as Christianity in America today isn't a 32nd cousin of that which was established in 33 AD. The awful truth is Christianity in America, and resultantly the United States of America, is in very serious trouble. If we, as self-identified Christians who actually have some respect for the Christ's teachings, can't acknowledge that then the death of America is probably inevitable. Indeed, only 21 years after Reagan it may well be time for mourning in America." --Sherman, Texas

"I want to thank The Patriot for helping me to gain back my equilibrium. As a former educator I received my indoctrination from the liberals in academia. After reading your essays, I have a new appreciation of the threat that we currently face from this administration of 'hope and change.'" --Vista, California

THE LAST WORD

"The president went before the cameras to say he has ordered his Cabinet secretaries to cut $100 million from their budgets as a sign of solidarity with a nation that has had to take 'extraordinary steps in order to shore up our financial system.' Critics immediately jumped on Obama's $100 million cost-cutting plan as being too puny. ... The good part is one of the examples the president gave of the innovative, new-wave, cutting-edge, sharp-as-a-tack, out-of-the-box thinking that one member of his Cabinet has already come up with. 'Janet Napolitano at the Department of Homeland Security estimates that they can save up to $52 million over five years just by purchasing office supplies in bulk,' the president said proudly. To which I say: You mean the U.S. government DOES NOT CURRENTLY BUY ITS OFFICE SUPPLIES IN BULK? What does the government do? Send a guy down to the store every time it needs a ream of copier paper? Until Monday, did nobody in the Obama administration know that you could negotiate a little discount by buying, say, 10 million or 12 million reams at a time? Where is Rahm? Rahm Emanuel could negotiate the spots off a leopard! Why is he not being used to his fullest capacity? Let Rahm be Rahm! OK, so he has been busy. But has nobody in the federal government ever shopped at Costco or Sam's Club? Do they not have a pantry like I do filled with one dozen 3-pound jars of extra-crunchy peanut butter and two dozen jars of dill pickles because you can get them cheaper that way? Hasn't buying in bulk been going on for a long time in this country? I think George Washington bought blankets in bulk for the troops at Valley Forge. Where did we lose this skill? No matter. In the future, because of Janet Napolitano ... our executive branch will buy its office supplies in bulk. Maybe Staples will even throw in a dozen free Sharpies." --columnist Roger Simon

*****

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.)