THE GIPPER“In the annals of American history, only a few events are so well-known and so deeply rooted in national remembrance that the mere mention of their date suffices to describe them. Of these occurrences, none could have had more significance for our Nation than December 7, 1941. On that Sunday morning... the Imperial Japanese Navy launched an unprovoked, surprise attack upon units of the Armed Forces of the United States stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack claimed the lives of 2,403 Americans, wounded 1,178 more, and damaged our naval capabilities in the Pacific. Such destruction seared the memory of a generation and galvanized the will of the American people in a fight to maintain our right to freedom without fear. Every honor is appropriate for the courageous Americans who made the supreme sacrifice for our Nation at Pearl Harbor and in the many battles that followed in World War II. Their sacrifice was for a cause, not for conquest; for a world that would be safe for future generations. Their devotion must never be forgotten.” —Ronald Reagan
OPINION IN BRIEF“Suppose there was a law that forced you to pay a government agency for apples you were supposed to feed your children. The government didn’t care if you grew your own apples, or if your neighbor grew apples you liked better than the government’s brand, the law compelled you to pay for the state’s product whether you wanted it for your children or not. Now, suppose many people who actually fed their children public apples discovered something wrong with them. Some apples were bitter, others mushy, and others rotten to the core... The public apple in this parable, of course, is public education — which is indeed rotten in many places... From just 1990 to 2003, average per pupil spending increased 25%, from $7,692 (in constant 2003-2004 dollars) to $9,644. This big run-up in spending did not cause a big run-up in student performance... Increasing per pupil spending by another 111% — whether it is done by compassionate conservatives in Washington, D.C., or plain old liberals in your home state — will not fix public schools. It’s time to give all American parents vouchers equal to the per-pupil spending in local government schools. Then parents can decide whether the government schools deserve their children — or whether they will try the apples elsewhere, thank you.” —Terence Jeffrey
GOVERNMENT“[T]he founders of our nation were suspicious, if not contemptuous, of government... Today’s Americans hold a different vision of government. It’s one that says Congress has the right to do just about anything upon which it can secure a majority vote. Most of what Congress does fits the description of forcing one American to serve the purposes of another American. That description differs only in degree, but not in kind, from slavery. At least two-thirds of the federal budget represents forcing one American to serve the purposes of another. Younger workers are forced to pay for the prescriptions of older Americans; people who are not farmers are forced to serve those who are; non-poor people are forced to serve poor people; and the general public is forced to serve corporations, college students and other special interests who have the ear of Congress... You say, ‘Williams, don’t you believe in helping your fellow man?’ Yes, I do. I believe that reaching into one’s own pockets to help his fellow man is both laudable and praiseworthy. Reaching into another’s pockets to help his fellow man is despicable and worthy of condemnation. The bottom line: We love government because it enables us to accomplish things that if done privately would lead to arrest and imprisonment.” —Walter Williams
RE: THE LEFT“Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran. He should not be allowed to do so — not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization. First, it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism — my culture trumps America’s culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book. Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison’s favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath.” —Dennis Prager
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