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The Patriot Post Brief 9-20
From The Federalist Patriot
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____________________________ FOR THE RECORD"When Barack Obama speaks at an American university, he does not provide a different perspective. He preaches to the liberal choir. And I am afraid that most of today's Catholic universities are no exception. ... Contrary to providing diversity of opinion, by inviting Barack Obama, [Notre Dame University president] Father Jenkins really just played to his audience. True leadership would have been to invite a speaker who would inspire this young audience to take seriously the values of their Catholic tradition. ... Where can a parent send their son or daughter to get educated and not be indoctrinated with liberal boilerplate? Catholic universities were supposed to serve this purpose. But it's clear that they, too, have been swept into the liberal tsunami that has engulfed America. Ironically, Father Jenkins states in his letter that Notre Dame's invitation to Obama is 'not a political statement or an endorsement of policy.' He then expresses admiration for the president's views on 'expanding health care, alleviating poverty, and building peace through diplomacy.' Does Father Jenkins not even understand what a 'political statement' is? Unfortunately, Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama has only contributed to the moral ambiguity tearing at our nation's fabric." --columnist Star Parker
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR(To submit reader comments visit our Letters to the Editor page.)
"Mark Alexander wrote last week that 'The intended consequence of this artificial barrier between church and state is to remove knowledge of our Creator from all public forums and, thus, over time, to disabuse belief in a sovereign God and the natural rights He has endowed.' There should be no doubt in the minds of any conservative that it is the absolute intent of the Left to not only remove God from the public forum, but the private forum as well. Thus, how long before the Left will, as did the Communists in states such as the Soviet Union and China, make the worship of God an offense, punishable even by death?" --Clinton, North Carolina"It would be heartening for the GOP to take seriously the words of Horton, the Elephant from Dr. Seuss, 'I mean what I say and I say what I mean, an elephant is reliable one hundred percent.' That is the kind of GOP I am seeking." --Boise, Idaho
"What your article 'Is College for Everyone?' in Friday's Digest didn't mention is that prior to the 1960s and 1970s, applications for jobs often were accompanied with required aptitude tests. Formal education wasn't as important as how the applicant did on the test. Then came the civil rights movement and the rise of 'racial discrimination' culture. Aptitude tests were accused of being slanted toward whites and therefore another means of racial discrimination. To overcome this, the employers ceased use of the tests and increased the importance of formal education. Businesses upped the ante, to the delight of college presidents everywhere, with requiring college degrees of increasing levels to get the better jobs AND to advance. Having taught at the university level, I know from experience that there are a lot of students that don't belong there." --Ballwin, Missouri
"Re: Friday's Digest: You do 'drunken sailors' a disservice by comparing them with Congress. Unlike Congress, a drunken sailor spends his/her OWN money until it's gone and is unlikely to go the printing press to print more." --Killeen, Texas
Editor's Reply: Our apologies to drunken sailors everywhere.
THE LAST WORD"And then there is the stark reality that we live in an era of what I call 'historical and Constitutional illiteracy.' Most Americans, I am convinced, know very little about world history or American history, and the lessons entailed therein. Likewise, I'm pretty certain that most Americans have no clue about the Constitutional limits on the powers of the government, and the idea that there should be any limits at all on the Executive Branch is unthinkable. In many ways, it's a sad state of affairs. Americans are scared and want their President to be an omniscient, omnipotent savior, and the man we elected knows with certainty that he is that savior. Yet it's comforting to know that, in many ways, some of the founders of our nation understood human nature so remarkably well that they could have predicted a day when future generations would want not a President, but a messiah, and a day when a President fancied himself as such. Such wisdom is yours for the reading in 'The Federalist Papers,' that old compilation of some 85 newspaper editorials that argued for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, published in 1787 and 1788. While make the case for limiting the power of government, and establishing 'checks and balances' between government's various 'departments,' James Madison eloquently wrote in 'The Federalist Number 51:' 'It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government....' It would seem that Madison the philosopher (who went on to become our Fourth President of the United States) was quite certain that those who govern will never be 'angels' (he would probably also concur that a President will never amount to a messiah).
Madison also seems to indicate that those who govern will naturally begin to think a bit too highly of themselves, and will have difficulty with 'self-restraint.' The good news, even in this brief passage of Madison's writings, is that 'the people' - - those of us who are 'the governed' - - can still function as the force that prohibits government from spiraling out of control. Certainly, we are still 'free enough' today to speak out, to allow our voices to be heard, and to freely exchange ideas about our country and its government -- even if those ideas are contrary to the edicts of a dead-certain Command-In-Chief. The question is not 'can we,' but 'will we' function as that balancing force against a government that is spiraling out of control? Madison and the other founders set the course. Will we follow their lead?" --columnist Austin Hill*****
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.)
