Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

[nChrist]

The Patriot Post

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

THE FOUNDATION

“I think all the world would gain by setting commerce at perfect liberty.”  — Thomas Jefferson
http://PatriotPost.US/fqd/

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

Labor Day State of the Unions

In 1983, the first year for which the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics filed comparable union data, 20.1 percent of employed wage and salary workers were union members. In 1950, that number was estimated at 35 percent. According to the most recent data from the BLS, fewer than 12 percent of employed wage and salary workers are union members, down from 12.5 percent in 2005.

Government-worker (oxymoron?) unions are, of course, the fastest growing, because there is little fiscal accountability in government. Per capita, government unionization is five times that of the private sector, because the government is not subject to free-market accountability. Worse yet, the highest rate of government unionization is among those in education, training and library occupations. These are the folks entrusted to educate the next generation of voters.

Today, some 15.4 million Americans belong to labor unions — and many would rather not. I fall into that latter category. Yes, I confess. I, Mark Alexander, was once a union member.

A decade ago, in another life, I was hired to provide consultation for a big-screen production about Russian organized crime and nuclear terrorism — a subject I know a bit about (not because of any association with jihadis or Russian crime syndicates).

In order to work on this project, which included some script writing, I had to join a screenwriters’ union; I had no choice in the matter. Of course, I objected strenuously, but they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

My experience with the writers’ union provided some real insights into why union demands have destroyed so many private-sector companies. For example, on short notice, I was sent to Moscow to meet with screenplay writers. My first-class seat cost almost $8,000 (that’s eight large!). A seat in coach cost about $1,300. Union rules required the production company to fly me first class. Of course, since I had to “endure this benefit” one way or the other, I asked if I could fly coach and benefit by pocketing the difference. Of course not.

Once in Moscow, union rules also required five-star hotels — at $800 per day. (Ironically, a big chunk of our lodging and meal per diem probably went straight to the same Russian crime syndicates we were investigating.)

Here I’m reminded of a speech a former Screen Actors Guild president gave back in 1957: “Some of us came toe to toe with this enemy, this evil force in our own community in Hollywood... Back in the thirties, a man, who was apparently just a technician, came to Hollywood to take a job in our industry, an industry whose commerce is in tinsel and colored lights and make-believe. He went to work in the studios, and [it was later discovered] that he came to our town on direct orders from the Kremlin. When he quietly left our town a few years later, the cells had been formed and planted in virtually all of our organizations, our guilds and unions. The framework for the Communist front organizations had been established.”

That was, of course, Ronald Reagan  http://Reagan2020.US/ .

So, some sixty years later, a labor guild, seeded by a Soviet Union pawn of the Communist proletariat, is mandating that I travel first class — to Moscow. Go figure. Only in tinsel town, where extreme profligacy is now routine, could such extravagance survive free-enterprise accountability.

I am pleased to report that today the only union card I carry is from the American Conservative Union
 http://www.conservative.org/  ! But many friends, who are teachers, defense workers, freight drivers and the like, are stuck with organized-labor-union cards.
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Monday is Labor Day, and it is certainly fitting that we honor American laborers each year by relaxing with brew and burnt offerings on grills (or completing honey-do lists around our house). However, the word “labor” no longer refers solely to those who produce goods and provide services. These days, it also refers to organized crime, er, uh, “labor.”

Now, I do not oppose “the right of the people peaceably to assemble,” as outlined in the First Amendment to our Constitution  http://PatriotPost.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=487 , but what about the commensurate rights of those who want not to assemble?

Currently, only 21 states are “right to work” states, those states which do not allow unions to force employees, in companies where unions have established a foothold, to join those unions. As for the other 29 states, congressional conservatives have revived the National Right to Work Act (H. 697, S. 1301), which stands no chance of passage under current leadership.

Not only do Democrats oppose any legislation that might interfere with campaign donations from unions, they are trying to cut the budget of the Office of Labor Management Standards, which monitors disclosure forms
 http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/rrlo/lmrda.htm  from unions, and provide members access to information about how their dues are spent.

According to a recent OLMS report evaluated by The Wall Street Journal, “In 2005, the National Education Association gave $65 million to Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and dozens of other liberal advocacy groups that have nothing to do with the interests of teachers. In 2006, 49 individuals employed at the national AFL-CIO headquarters were paid more than $130,000.”

OLMS also played a key role in obtaining convictions against 775 corrupt union leaders and court-ordered restitution to union members of $70 million in illegal dues payments over the last six years. No wonder union-beholden Democrats want to slash the OLMS budget.

One union watchdog organization, Union Facts online  http://www.unionfacts.com/ , reports, “Of the AFL-CIO’s $82 million in discretionary disbursements from July 2004 to June 2005, only 36 percent went to representing members in labor negotiations — which is what unions were created to do. A whopping $49 million, or 60 percent of its budget, instead went to political activities and lobbying, while another $2.4 million went to contributions, gifts and grants.”

Union Facts reports further: “The National Institute for Labor Relations Research estimated that total union political expenditures reached $925 million in the 2004 cycle. Over time, this has added up: According to The Center for Responsive Politics, eight of the top ten all-time political contributors are labor unions... CNN exit polls showed that 38 percent of union members voted for President Bush in the 2004 election, but more than 95 percent of union funds went to support Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.”

Ah, yes, Jean-Francois Kerry  http://PatriotPetitions.US/kerry/ , that 400-million dollar, seven-mansion, 500-buck hair-styled man of the people.

Unions also spend a lot of their members’ dues on Leftist state and local political initiatives their members do not support. For example, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, “California unions spent $88,000 opposing Proposition 22, a state ballot initiative that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.” Yet a Los Angeles Times exit poll found that 58 percent of union households had voted “yes” on the measure.

So what of the future of labor organizations? The good news is that because free-market accountability is putting downward pressure on private-sector unionization, those unions may bargain their membership right out of existence. The bad news is, because government unions are not subject to any free-market accountability, the sky’s the limit.
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Let’s see — government unions seize and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on Democrat campaigns. Democrats then seize and spend hundreds of billions of dollars enlarging government, thus, enlarging unions. Where does that lead?

Ronald Reagan  http://Reagan2020.US/  punned, “Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.” The same can be said of government unions.

Happy Labor Day!

For further information on Unions, visit Union Facts online  http://www.unionfacts.com/ , the National Right to Work Committee  http://www.nrtwc.org/  and the National Legal and Policy Center’s union corruption update index
 http://www.nlpc.org/artindx.asp .

Quote of the week

“I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy... What kind of person could you get to run a small business if you told them that when they came in they couldn’t get rid of people that they thought weren’t any good? Not really great ones because if you’re really smart you go, ‘I can’t win’.”  — Apple CEO Steve Jobs on how technology in the classroom will do little to improve education without the reining-in of the power of the teachers’ unions

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

News from the Swamp: Larry Craig is not gay

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is the big news this week, having pleaded guilty earlier this month after being arrested in June for lewd, disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport men’s room. A plainclothes officer sitting in an adjacent stall arrested Craig for soliciting him for sex; Craig denied the accusation at the time, then pleaded guilty, then denied the allegations again. Which leads us to wonder: Why in the world did he plead guilty? If Craig was hoping to plea out and keep this ignominy under wraps, his plans have certainly blown up in his face. Now liberals have jumped on him as a hypocrite, claiming his actions contradict his opposition to same-sex marriage. Of course, former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey’s homosexual behavior didn’t seem to contradict his opposition to same-sex marriage. Oh, right — McGreevey’s a Democrat. Craig, on the other hand, is a Republican, and there is no compassion for his behavior among liberals — or, for that matter, among Republicans.

GOP leaders have forced Craig to step down temporarily from several committee positions, while others are still calling for his head. Mitt Romney’s campaign threw their “Senate liaison” under the bus, as well. Idaho Republicans are prepping Lt. Gov. Jim Risch to take Craig’s seat — if not by resignation, then by primary ouster. Of course, if he were a Democrat, he would have a lifetime re-election pass (see the late Gerry Studds, Edward Kennedy, Barney Frank, et al.). With his career essentially over, Sen. Craig will now have a lot of time to contemplate his actions during and after his game of men’s-room footsies.

Closing time for Gonzales

What do liberals and goldfish have in common? Evidently, they at least share the same three-second memory span, for starters. This observation follows Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ resignation Monday, in which leftists reveled in the ouster of an individual they characterize as history’s second-worst U.S. Attorney General (a distant second to John Ashcroft, of course). However, a short, not-so-pleasant trip down memory lane reveals that for all Gonzales’ faults, his misjudgments pale next to the intentional wrongdoings of his predecessor, Janet Reno. As conservative firebrand Ann Coulter  http://PatriotPost.US/opinion/entrylist.asp?source_id=45  points out, during Ms. Reno’s tenure, more civilians were killed by the government than at any previous point in U.S. history, during the now infamous Reno-ordered paramilitary assault on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas (82 deaths, total).
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Among Ms. Reno’s other “contributions” to American justice have been the wrongful conviction for child molestation of South Miami’s most decorated police officer, Grant Snowden, on the basis of testimony Ms. Reno knew was likely contrived (a federal court overturned Snowden’s conviction 11 years later); the baseless implication of the late Richard Jewell in the Olympic Games bombing in Atlanta, a ploy using the media in a pre-orchestrated, try-’em-’n-fry-’em plot to produce a conviction at all costs (Ms. Reno was later forced to apologize for implicating Mr. Jewell); the wrongful deportation of six-year-old Elian Gonzalez to totalitarian Cuba (recall the Pulitzer photo of the MP5 pointed at Elian); and, unforgettably, the baseless firing of not just eight U.S. attorneys, but 93!

Don’t misunderstand: Mr. Gonzales isn’t on our “Favorite Attorneys General” list. His inability to manage the Justice Department adequately is not least among the reasons supporting our sentiments. Even so, Democrites’ attempts to malign Mr. Gonzales would be somewhat more successful had one of their own not raised the “vilification bar” to such suborbital heights.

Hillary’s dirty money

The campaign of Hillary Clinton, the presidential candidate just endorsed by Communist dictator Fidel Castro, turned over $23,000 in campaign donations to charity this week after learning that the donor of the money, Norman Hsu, has a warrant out for his arrest that dates back to the 1990s. Hsu was arrested in 1991 for collecting $1 million from investors for a contract that didn’t exist. (Hsu’s lawyer says his client doesn’t recall pleading no contest to grand theft, or being obliged to serve three years’ prison time. How convenient.) While he’s been on the lam, Hsu has been one of Clinton’s biggest fundraisers and contributors. The FEC reports Hsu has given $119,000 since 2004, but there is sure to be much more money with his fingerprints on it.

The Wall Street Journal found that Hsu might have been circumventing legal limits by donating cash under other names. A family living in a “working-class” neighborhood outside of San Francisco has donated $45,000 to Clinton in the last two years. The level of their donations clearly does not match the 64-year-old father’s $49,000 annual income as a letter carrier. (It reminds one of Al Gore’s “no controlling legal authority” trip to a Buddhist temple in 1996, at which he raked in plenty of cash laundered by one John Huang.) Documents are likely to prove that Hsu, who once listed that modest house as an address, donated the money under the family name.

Clinton, a shrewd campaigner in every respect, promptly threw some of Hsu’s money out the window after the Journal broke the story, but there is likely plenty more to be found. Expect the Clinton machine to go into overdrive working to sweep another scandal under the rug.

From the Left: Edwards says no ‘Brownies,’ SUVs

At the “Hope and Recovery Summit” this week, a conference at the University of New Orleans marking the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, former Sen. and really, really long-shot presidential candidate John Edwards said that he would propose a law requiring that only qualified people lead key federal agencies. “It’s an absolute travesty to have people who are essentially political hacks in a very responsible position,” he pontificated. Edwards calls his idea “Brownie’s Law” after Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and a huge swath of the Mississippi Gulf Coast on 29 August 2005. Brown bore the brunt of criticism for a clumsy recovery effort in New Orleans after a number of bumbling Louisiana Democrats, including Mayor Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco, failed in their duties
 http://PatriotPost.US/news/depot.asp . Brown resigned shortly after President Bush told him publicly, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job,” hence Edwards’ cute name for the proposed law. We note that should such a law pass, everyone in Washington would soon be out of a job, and Edwards himself could fold up the tents and go home.

Edwards also declared that Americans should give up their SUVs to help save the environment. He said this before stepping into his Cadillac SRX crossover SUV and heading back to the clear-cut confines of his 28,000-square-foot mansion in North Carolina.

Campaign trail: Will he... finally?

Fred Thompson  http://PatriotPost.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=524  has been “testing the waters” of a presidential bid since March. Now the time may finally have come for him to take the plunge. Thompson’s campaign announced Thursday that he will announce next Thursday, 6 September, via a video on his campaign website  http://www.imwithfred.com/  after an informal announcement on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno on Wednesday. We shall see...
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Gathering of Eagles II

On 11 September, General David Petraeus will testify before Congress regarding the progress of the Iraq War with a deadline of the 15th for the President to submit his benchmark reports. The commie-pinko group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) is planning a “massive” protest on 15 September to “End the War Now!” They plan another “die-in,” using the names of fallen soldiers for their own political gain.

In response, the Gathering of Eagles, which countered March protests of the same Left-lemmings, will once again be in Washington to voice their patriotism. As Michelle Malkin 
 http://PatriotPost.US/opinion/entrylist.asp?source_id=60  notes, “For every anti-Bush activist agitating for immediate withdrawal and throwing rocks at ROTC offices, an Eagle will be there in Washington to oppose the planting of the white flag. The organizations leading the way include the Gathering of Eagles, Eagles Landing, Move America Forward, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Free Republic, Vets for Freedom and the Victory Caucus. (Visit gatheringofeagles.org and moveamericaforward.org for details.)”

NATIONAL SECURITY

Warfront with Jihadistan: Iraqi detainees

American troops have scooped up more than 8,000 terror suspects since February of this year, putting the total number of detainees in U.S. military custody in Iraq at 24,500. These new prisoners are courtesy of the troop surge that has allowed American forces to travel into areas that haven’t been patrolled for months and maintain a 24-hour presence there.

The makeup of the detainee population is interesting; 85 percent are Sunni, the minority Islamic group in Iraq that once ruled under Saddam Hussein. Among that group, 1,800 are sworn al-Qa’ida, and 6,000 more believe that the Shi’ite majority are heretics. What’s more, many of them, despite their religious or anti-American views, are more motivated to commit terrorism for money. “They’re angry men because they don’t have jobs,” said Navy Capt. John Fleming, a detainee-operations spokesman. “The detainee population is overwhelmingly illiterate and unemployed.”

The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto surmised that many of these detainees were likely convicts let out of prison by Saddam after his “election victory” in October 2002 as part of his plan to sow chaos in the streets after an American invasion that he knew was coming. There were few political prisoners in the bunch, but there many who praised the former dictator for their release.

Every thug taken off the street in Iraq brings the country one step closer to stability. The biggest obstacle standing in the way of the surge’s success at this point may well be the U.S. Congress.

John Warner joins the Demos on Iraq

Sen. John Warner (R-VA), long an opponent of imposing timetables on American troops in Iraq, has apparently changed his mind. Moved by the inability of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s government to sow peace, Warner thinks a small drawdown of forces later this year will send a signal to Iraq that our presence is not indefinite. Once the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Warner’s opinion is respected, and he has a point. However, Al-Maliki is under enough pressure in Iraq without U.S. senators using him as a political tool here at home. Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton have recently called for his removal along with troop withdrawals far larger than Warner is suggesting. It is unlikely that Warner will be able to go along with anything the Democrats have planned, since he still wants to defer to the President, and the Demos want him to set a deadline sooner rather than later.

Department of Military Readiness: Abu Ghraib

Lt. Col. Steven Jordan was acquitted this week of any wrongdoing in the prisoner abuse that took place at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2003. Nine colonels and a brigadier general found that Lt. Col. Jordan was not responsible for training or supervising soldiers, who had already been convicted of abusing detainees by forcing them to pose nude for pictures and using dogs to intimidate them, among other things. The Washington Post complained, “The verdict means that no officer will serve prison time in connection with the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib, leaving the harshest punishment for low-ranking soldiers.” In other words, the soldiers were held responsible for their own actions. What a novel concept.
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Taliban frees Korean hostages

On Tuesday, the Taliban agreed to release 19 South Korean hostages 
 http://archive.PatriotPost.US/pub/07-31_Digest/page-3.php  after holding the Koreans for six weeks and executing two of the men. In return, South Korea promised to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year (which they were already planning anyway) and to discontinue allowing Korean Christian missionaries to work in Afghanistan. Originally, the Taliban wanted a prisoner exchange but eventually gave up on the demand. The Taliban made good on their promise by releasing all 19 hostages this week at intervals. All are said to be in good health.

Saber rattling in Iran

Flashback: In August 2003, that brash young cowboy George Bush was being lectured by wiser and more experienced hands, both at home and abroad, that diplomacy and soft power were the way — the only way — to deal with the problem posed by Iran’s nuclear program. President Bush accepted this wisdom, and allowed the Europeans to take the lead in negotiating with Iran.

What has European diplomacy produced during the last four years? Iran has proven that it can enrich uranium in its Natanz facility and continues enrichment to the present day. It has thumbed its nose at three UN resolutions. As if to emphasize the growing confidence that Iran feels after four years of playing the Europeans like a fiddle, Iran’s lunatic in chief, Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad, reiterated this week that Iran has no intention of stopping or even slowing its progress toward being a nuclear power. “From our viewpoint, Iran’s nuclear issue has ended... Iran is a nuclear state.” Apparently Iran is not swayed by European diplomacy, nor is it afraid of the congenitally incompetent UN.

Fortunately, at least one European leader appears to recognize the nature and the seriousness of the problem — and it’s the Frenchman, of all people! Newly elected President Nicolas Sarkozy, during his first major speech since taking office, made clear the issue that confronts the Western world. Calling for the UN to get tougher on Iran through sanctions, Sarkozy stated, “This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran.” He went on to describe Iran’s nuclear program as “the most serious problem facing the world today.” We have long derided France for its reflexive appeasement and anti-Americanism, but we give credit where it’s due, and we wish there were more Europeans like President Sarkozy. We will certainly need them in the coming months and years.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Income Redistribution File: Dingell calls bluff

Restricting and taxing carbon emissions are all the rage among Democrats and other liberal “intellectuals.” According to erstwhile Clintonista Labor Secretary and leftist gadfly Robert Reich, “What’s needed is a carbon tax — a tax on all fossil-based fuels that reflects their true social, political and environmental costs.” Unhappy with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “cap and trade” scheme for limiting carbon emissions, the venerable Rep. John Dingell (D-Detroit), sought to call the bluff of the San Francisco environmentalists in his party by introducing a new carbon-based universal energy tax. Dingell’s proposal would impose an outrageous $.50-per-gallon tax on gasoline and a $100-per-ton tax on carbon emissions. It would also eliminate the mortgage-interest deduction on homes larger than 3,000 square feet. These are just the sorts of measures that the eco-theologists have been clamoring for, and their effect would be staggering. According to some estimates, an average family could pay more than $2,300 every year in additional taxes. The price of electricity could increase by more than 60 percent. The cost of everything that produces carbon would increase — precisely the point of the tax.

Said Dingell, “I sincerely doubt that the American people are willing to pay what this is really going to cost them.” On that, he is exactly right. Economy-wrecking taxes are always a bad idea. This is especially true when they are based on the highly dubious assumption that pummeling the economy and the American people with dramatic new taxes will have an appreciable effect on global climate. Even the populist potentate of eco-theology, Al Gore
  http://PatriotPost.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=547 , admitted, “I fully understand that [taxing the carbon content of fuels] is considered politically impossible.” For someone who has been so consistently wrong on so many things, it’s nice to see that Gore finally got one right.
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Poverty declines, Left sticks with old template

For the first time since 2000, the nation’s poverty rate has declined. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 12.6 percent rate of 2005 fell to 12.3 percent in 2006. Additionally, last year a decrease in unemployment from 5.1 percent to 4.6 percent. President Bush stated that the report “confirms that more of our citizens are doing better in this economy, with continued rising incomes and more Americans pulling themselves out of poverty.”

Despite the good news, the Leftmedia homed in on the report’s finding that the number of those without health insurance rose to 47 million in 2006 from 44.8 million the previous year (never mind the fact that this number is grossly distorted — 16 million of these are either illegals or on Medicaid). Furthermore, in classic form, Demos seized on this point to defend their push for additional spending on government health insurance for children. According to John “Two Americas” Edwards, “Tens of millions of our fellow citizens are completely left out of the economic progress enjoyed by the individuals and corporations on the very top.”

Interestingly, despite healthcare stats, single mothers — not traditionally classified among “individuals and corporations on the very top”  — benefited from dropping unemployment rates. Yet, of what use are facts when the Left is involved?

The President’s immigration policy

Having been soundly spanked by America’s outrage at his support for the Democrat-controlled Senate’s immigration bill — a bill that would have granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants — President Bush now claims he wants what the American people want, namely, sound immigration policies. Forgive our skepticism, but this “new” policy derives from statements relayed through his cabinet, such as that made by Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, immediately after unveiling a “new” 26-item list of immigration reforms: “There will be some unhappy consequences for the economy out of doing this.” Explicit in Chertoff’s statement is the message that these measures will injure America’s economy. Note, however, that these “reforms” are little more than a restatement of laws already on the books, yet not being enforced. If enforcing the law is a good thing, why all the focus on “negatives” of that enforcement — unproven negatives, at that? Our guess is that the President is hoping that once Americans appreciate the potential damage done to the U.S. economy through implementing these “reforms,” America will suddenly come to its senses and abandon its anti-amnesty position, thus ushering in passage of “popular” amnesty legislation.

Unfortunately for the President, this idea is not only out of touch with the American public, but it also lacks any grounding in U.S. history. Founding Patriot John Adams noted, “We are a nation of laws, not of men.” The perception that Americans might favor granting amnesty for flagrant violations of our laws is ridiculous, independent of any supposed economic impact such a grant might convey.

From a historical perspective, as National Review Online’s Mark Krikorian notes, “The produce department of your local supermarket won’t be shutting down any time soon.” The reason: basic economics. In one analogous example, Krikorian highlighted the termination of California’s guest-worker program in the 1960s. Rather than shortages, the move prompted incentives to mechanize, resulting in a fivefold production increase, an 89-percent drop in labor demand and declines in real prices. History is replete with such examples, all of which simply illustrate free-market economics in action. The President is likely hoping his “tough-on-immigration” stance will win back the support the public’s adverse reaction to his immigration-policy lost him. For our money, we’re betting he will discover quite a different reaction.

CULTURE

CNN’s Bridge to Islam

Grab your burqa and hold on tight. CNN’s propaganda-mobile is off and spinning... again. The latest — and among the worst — in its string of offenses is the much-heralded (by CNN) special report, “God’s Warriors.” The three-part series, which aired last week and will sully the airwaves again this weekend, is quintessential journalistic deception. Purporting to take viewers on a journey of exploration into religious fundamentalism of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, “God’s Warriors” instead leads the audience down a path littered with skewed evidence and sends an anti-Judeo-Christian message that is an Islamic terrorist’s greatest dream.

At the helm of this crockumentary hogwash is CNN’s gallivanting globetrotter, Christiane Amanpour, an Iranian immigrant whose father is a Muslim. Amanpour shamelessly presents what the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) has called “one of the most grossly distorted programs to appear on mainstream American television in many years.” According to CAMERA, “God’s Warriors,” with its dependence on “pejorative labeling, generalities, testimonials and a stacked lineup of guests” represents “a perfect illustration of classical propaganda techniques.” Amanpour compares Liberty University’s gender-segregated dorms to a madrassa (an Islamic religious school), likens Christian youth director Ron Luce of Teen Mania to the Taliban for advocating modest dress among girls, and bemoans a pro-Israel lobby that holds American leaders hostage.

Expect no remorse from either Amanpour or CNN for spreading blatant falsehoods in pursuit of an agenda. Their real goal is neither truth nor journalistic integrity, but rather, as Amanpour admits, to “provid[e] a bridge to Islam.” Just the kind of “bridge” radical Islamic terrorists are armed and waiting to cross.
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

From the Village Academic Curriculum File

The April mass shooting at Virginia Tech  http://PatriotPost.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=529  was a terrible tragedy, in part because laws prohibiting law-abiding citizens from carrying guns to protect themselves compounded its severity. Undaunted by the reality that legal firearms could have defended students that day, Hollywood liberals are lining up, ostensibly to help students at Virginia Tech recover, claiming that we need more gun control.

On 6 September, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Phil Vassar and the hip-hop artist known as “Nas” (AKA Nasir Jones) will put on a free concert for Tech students. Nas’ appearance is intriguing. He has been described as “hip hop’s foremost lyricist and thinker,” and, some would argue, hip hop’s “conscience.” Here is a sample of his lyrics in a “song” called “Shoot ‘Em Up” (warning: graphic content):

One 44, two 45’s
Three loaded clips, 4 niggas roll, one nigga drives
500 Benz, 6 reasons why
This kid should die
We shootin’ every motherf***** outside
Pulled on his block, jumped out the car, guns in our hand
At the same time everybody ran
There that nigga go, hiding in the crowd
Let the trigger blow, seven shots now he lying on the ground

That ought to help students cope!

Nine guns for ten Americans? Should be more

Speaking of guns, this week a study was released which estimates that there are nine guns for every ten Americans. Predictably, the conclusion from those on the Left is that guns need to be confiscated and we need an increase in gun-control laws. However, the facts do not support the conclusion that higher rates of gun ownership lead to higher rates of violence, as we see in Latin American countries where a lower rate of gun ownership results in a higher rate of gun violence. Not to mention our own “banana republic,” Washington, DC.

On Tuesday, 28 August, opponents of gun rights backed by Je$$e Jack$on’s Rainbow/Push Coalition and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence rallied in cities across the nation to revoke the right of Americans to own guns and to put more pressure on gun dealers. What reasonable person could conclude that those already willing to kill innocent people (which is illegal), would give up their guns? The only people who would obey the law are honorable citizens.

Boy Scouts of America under assault

The Leftmedia has skewered the Boy Scouts of America  http://PatriotShop.US/index.php?cPath=62  for years over its rejection of homosexual  http://PatriotPost.US/papers/03-32.asp  scout-leadership applicants. This BSA policy has resulted in local-council-funding cuts by United Way chapters and other funding organizations in some “blue” states.

Now, the Leftmedia is skewering the BSA over charges of a homosexual assault of two brothers by an assistant Scout Master 30 years ago. As part of a suit against the assailant and the BSA, the media reports that the brothers’ attorney, Tim Kosnoff, “got an unprecedented look inside thousands of secret files” regarding the BSA’s efforts to protect its youth from homosexual predators.

Indeed, over the past decade, the “secret files” indicate that the BSA has expelled about 150 scout leaders per year from the ranks of tens-of-thousands — leaders who were either suspected or accused of homosexual assault. “I was blown away,” exclaimed Kosnoff. “It was staggering.”

Well, should we assume that Kosnoff prefers that the BSA cover up the charges, or just transfer the scout leaders to another troop?

For many years, criminal background checks have been required for Scout leaders, and the BSA has very specific policies and training regarding leadership and child protection. The entire first chapter of the Boy Scout handbook, required reading for scouts and their parents, is dedicated to child-abuse prevention and recognition, though some homosexual predators are able to conceal their pathological aberration. If ever there was a case for the BSA’s policy against homosexual leaders, this is it!
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[nChrist]

Patriot Vol. 07 No. 35 Digest | 31 August 2007

Faith and Family: Marriage mugging

A case is pending in California regarding the nature of marriage in that state. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown submitted separate but agreeing briefs on questions posed by the court. The Governor and the Attorney General concluded that, under California law, 1) there are no differences between the rights and duties accorded to married couples and registered domestic partners; 2) married couples do not possess any right that could not be eliminated by the legislature supported by a rational basis; and 3) the term “marriage” is not constitutionally protected.

Regarding elimination of marriage rights, Gov. Schwarzenegger said there is no opinion of either the Supreme Court of California or of the United States that defines the essential minimum attributes of the fundamental right of marriage. “To the extent that, in the past, civil marriage was necessary to legitimize the conjugal and family relationships then regarded as the exclusive prerogative of married couples — such as cohabitation, sexual intimacy, mutual and lifelong care and support, procreation or child-rearing — such state authorization is no longer required.” In other words, in today’s society, a state-sanctioned marriage is not a necessity.

In Iowa, Polk County Judge Robert Hanson ruled Thursday that Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as between one man and one woman denies due process and equal protection. He further ordered that marriage licenses be issued to six same-sex couples.

The assault on marriage brings to mind the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which most conservatives support. Others prefer marriage be left to the states, though not to judicial diktat. Whatever logic one accepts, however, it’s clear that marriage is headed for the rocks if nothing intervenes.

And last...

The late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley died earlier this month. She was dubbed the “Queen of Mean” after her 1988 conviction for tax evasion and was quoted as saying at the time, “Only the little people pay taxes.” Helmsley is living up to her nickname from the grave via her will. While leaving out two grandchildren “for reasons that are known to them,” she did not forget her beloved white Maltese, “Trouble.” The animal now has a $12-million trust fund, which will presumably be run by Helmsley’s brother, Alvin Rosenthal, the diminutive dog’s new caretaker. Not satisfied with supplying Trouble’s earthly accommodations, Hemlsley added, “I direct that when my dog, Trouble, dies, her remains shall be buried next to my remains in the Helmsley mausoleum.” Before laying Leona to rest, however, we in our humble editorial shop couldn’t help but notice her uncanny resemblance to another infamous villain
 http://archive.PatriotPost.US/uploadedfiles/imagegallery46d70f695383f.jpg .

Publisher’s Note:

It’s been a summer of babies here at The Patriot, as we do our part to change the demographics of America. Please join us in welcoming aboard our newest little Patriot, Ellie Maria, daughter of The Patriot’s General Manager, Christy Chesterton, and husband Roman. Momma and baby (5.15 lbs and 18.5 inches) are doing great.

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.)

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From The Federalist Patriot

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