The Patriot Post Digest 9-29

[nChrist]

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The Patriot Post Digest 9-29
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THE FOUNDATION

"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." --Thomas Jefferson

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
President Says 'Stars Are Aligned' for Health Care 'Reform'

Health care is still hogging the center stage as President Barack Obama took his trusted teleprompters on prime-time TV Wednesday to tell the American people, "This isn't about me." We have a hunch that Obama's fourth prime-time press conference was due to his plummeting poll numbers, so, yes, it is about him.

Of his plan, Obama empathized, "Now, I understand that people are feeling uncertain about this, they feel anxious, partly because we've just become so cynical about what government can accomplish." (After all, didn't the Founding Fathers have great faith in what "government can accomplish"? Where oh where did we lose that vision?) "So folks are skeptical," Obama added, "and that is entirely legitimate because they haven't seen a lot of laws coming out of Washington lately that help them." That's an understatement.

Obama again voiced his support for redistribution of wealth to pay for health care, saying that a surtax on families earning $1 million a year "meets my principle" that the cost of a government takeover is "not being shouldered by families who are already having a tough time." Translation: The cost will not be shouldered by those who benefit from the program, not to mention that Obama gets to decide who is "having a tough time."

We're definitely not in Kansas anymore

Speaking of tough times, the debate isn't going as well for the president as he had hoped. Republicans are fairly unified against the plan, many Democrats are openly skeptical and the Senate is delaying a vote until after the August recess. It remains to be seen if that's just a ploy to show that Congress isn't rubber-stamping the Obama plan.

The president absurdly claimed that nationalizing health care "will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it." Even the Associated Press couldn't swallow that whopper: "In [the] House legislation, a commission appointed by the government would determine what is and isn't covered by insurance plans offered in a new purchasing pool, including a plan sponsored by the government. The bill also holds out the possibility that, over time, those standards could be imposed on all private insurance plans, not just the ones in the pool."

Furthermore, according to The Wall Street Journal, "When Mr. Obama says that 'If you like your health-care plan, you'll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what,' he's wrong. Period. What he's not telling the American people is that the government will so dramatically change the rules of the insurance market that employers will find it impossible to maintain their current coverage, and many will drop it altogether." But pay no attention to the man behind the curtain -- Obama "will keep government out of health care decisions."

Perhaps columnist Ann Coulter put it best when she quipped, "All the problems with the American health care system come from government intervention, so naturally the Democrats' idea for fixing it is more government intervention. This is like trying to sober up by having another drink."

The BIG Lie

"Health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it. ... I am very worried about federal spending." --Barack Obama

Oh, well, in that case...

On Cross-Examination

"The last time the president made grand promises and demanded passage of a bill before it could be reviewed, we ended up with the colossal stimulus failure and unemployment near 10 percent. Now the president wants Americans to trust him again, but he can't back up the utopian promises he's making about a government takeover of health care. He insists his health care plan won't add to our nation's deficit despite the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office saying exactly the opposite." --Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

This Week's 'Alpha Jackass' Award

"I'm rushed because I get letters every day from people that are being clobbered by health care costs, and they ask, 'Can you help?' ... If you don't set deadlines in this town, things don't happen. The default position is inertia. ...The stars are aligned and we need to take advantage of that." --Barack ObamaRx on the rush to pass his health care monstrosity by August

Gaffe of the Week

"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings and inefficiencies to our health care system." --Barack Obama

News From the Swamp: Deceitful Deficit

In the midst of the push for spending $1.5 trillion to nationalize health care, the Obama administration has delayed releasing its summer budget update. Usually released in mid July, the update was pushed back into August. Ah, transparency. There are numerous problems with the budget, not the least of which the rosy outlook on future years' GDP. "Obama's current forecast anticipates 3.2 percent growth next year, then 4 percent or higher growth from 2011 to 2013," reports the Associated Press. "Private forecasts are less optimistic, especially for next year." Needless to say, downward revisions in growth and revenue projections would mean much higher budget deficits than previously stated. Obama has promised to "cut" the deficit in half over his first term. But dropping from $1.8 trillion to $900 billion is hardly something to celebrate. And why admit the bad news before he has the votes for health care?

New & Notable Legislation

On Wednesday, the House passed H.R. 2920, the so-called "Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act," which was approved on a 265-166 tally. The bill ostensibly will "reestablish a statutory procedure to enforce a rule of budget neutrality on new revenue and direct spending legislation." But this is about even more faked-up posturing for spendthrift Democrats, who can use this bill as camouflage to excuse raising taxes on already hard-pressed middle class families in order to pay for yet more wasteful Washington spending. The bill contains several loopholes, should the Democrats wish to evade its restraints, and it wouldn't apply to the "stimulus," the pork-larded omnibus, or the proposed government takeover of medical treatment.

[nChrist]

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Walter Cronkite and the Death of Objective Journalism

The passing of legendary anchorman Walter Cronkite last weekend at the age of 92 has brought a wealth of commentary about his six-decade career in journalism and a lot of reflection about the man once referred to as the "most trusted man in America." He reported on some of the most important events of the post-war era -- the assassinations of iconic leaders, the highlights of America's space program and the Vietnam War.

Indeed, it was his comments on the Tet Offensive in 1968 that most glaringly deviated from the calm objective manner that made him a mainstay of American news programming. Having returned from Vietnam, revolted by the carnage after reporting on the battle of Hue, Cronkite boldly told the American public that Vietnam was a "stalemate" that was no longer winnable. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Despite Cronkite's lofty oratory, Tet was an unequivocal failure for North Vietnam. The Americans and the South Vietnamese beat back the multi-pronged invasion on every front and inflicted losses that amounted to almost the entire North Vietnamese invasion force. Yet, the public believed Cronkite. He certainly believed himself. He would say years later that his assessment helped speed the end of the war, even though America's military involvement would continue for five more years, ending only when Congress refused to fund the defense of South Vietnam, eventually allowing it to fall to the Communists in 1975.

Cronkite essentially used his power with the public to inject his own views on the situation, and in turn he altered the course of public opinion, which was not as sour on America's involvement in Vietnam as the rioting college students would have us believe. In his later years at CBS and into his retirement, Cronkite would let slip his true liberal views about America. "We have to find some marvelous middle ground between capitalism and communism," he said in 1996. And like fellow traveler Sen. Harry Reid, Cronkite refused to believe that victory in Iraq was possible, even while it was happening. In 2007, he said, "Victory no longer seems to be a remote possibility."

The real legacy Cronkite leaves behind in American journalism is not likely to be discussed or even admitted to by his acolytes. It is the legacy of a journalist who abandoned his obligation to report the facts and instead injected himself and his opinions into every story. He editorialized the news, and created a sad standard that is now emulated by network news anchors, cable news reporters, and newspapers across the country. The truth is now subjective. As Walter would say, "And that's the way it is." But that's not the way it should be.

Justice: Investigations of Thee, but Not of Me

The Justice Department has summarily dumped charges of voter intimidation against the New Black Panther Party and three of its members related to their acts of voter intimidation on Election Day 2008 in Philadelphia. The Bush Justice Department filed a civil complaint against the three men, one of whom was brandishing a nightstick, while they stood in front of a polling station spouting racist remarks and threatening people who were trying to go inside. Witnesses, including civil rights lawyer Bartle Bull, called it blatant voter intimidation. But Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have allowed the case to disappear. All that came of it was a measure that bars the nightstick wielding Malik Zulu Shabazz, a virulent racist Nation of Islam lieutenant, from being within 100 feet of a polling place for three years -- meaning he can be back, nightstick in hand, for Obama's re-election bid in 2012.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, has called for an inquiry into the actions of Justice. He sent three letters to AG Holder inquiring as to why the Justice Department dropped the charges, but he has received no reply. Undeterred, Wolf turned his attention to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), requesting that the Judiciary Committee look into the matter.

Conyers was more than eager to investigate the Justice Department during the Bush administration, holding dozens of hearings to get the bottom of the firings of several U.S. attorneys for example. With no political points to be scored this time around, though, Conyers doesn't seem so interested. Similarly, Holder's grandstanding about holding the Justice Department to account apparently applies only when a Republican is in charge.

While Conyers and Holder ignore the matter and hope it goes away, Wolf is looking to get Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine to look into the matter. We doubt anything will come of it.

40 Years That Reshaped America

We occasionally place a tagline in stories referring to Sen. Edward Kennedy reminding the reader, "Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment." Well, 40 years ago last Saturday, on July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy drove his Oldsmobile, with Mary Jo in the passenger seat, off a bridge at Chappaquiddick Island and neglected trying to help her or even calling for help until the following morning. The accident and subsequent cover-up would have finished the political career of most men, but Kennedy survived both personally and politically.

Perhaps his tragic family legacy saved the youngest Kennedy brother from electoral defeat and enabled him to continue a long Senate career. Nor did it hurt that less than 48 hours later the story of one of mankind's greatest successes to date wiped most mention of one man's personal failing off the newspaper headlines -- the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969.

Perhaps one good thing did arise from the death of 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne. Eleven years later, we had a presidential election -- one in which Teddy Kennedy figured prominently. A question worth pondering is, had Chappaquiddick not happened, would Jimmy Carter have whipped Ted Kennedy in 1980? With Carter's mishandling of the economy gone as a campaign issue and the Kennedy mystique brought up afresh by the media, could Ronald Reagan have just been another failed presidential aspirant? Instead, we got eight years of Reagan's conservatism. And Kennedy is cashing in on his career in the Senate, selling leather-bound, electronically signed copies of his upcoming autobiography for $1,000 a pop. How it's worth the $8 million advance Kennedy reportedly netted we'll never know.

[nChrist]

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NATIONAL SECURITY
Extra F-22s Nixed by Senate

"The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to stop production of the F-22 fighter plane, handing President Barack Obama a victory as he tries to rein in defense spending," reports Reuters. The Senate actually voted 58-40 in favor of funding the additional Raptors, but alas, the dreaded filibuster threat meant 60 votes were needed for the amendment, which would have funded seven additional fighters. The House still must vote on the measure.

Memo to Reuters: "Barack Obama" and "rein in spending" don't belong in the same sentence. The paltry sum saved by cutting the F-22 -- $1.75 billion in a $600-plus billion bill -- is further evidence that national defense is a laughing matter to the president. Granted, every little bit of saving helps when the nation is facing a $1.8 trillion deficit, but how about scuttling the health care boondoggle instead? Unlike health care, national defense is actually enumerated in the Constitution as a federal responsibility.

The Senate did pass one worthy national security objective: Legislation on so-called "hate crimes." Reuters notes, "Last week, the Senate approved a measure that would expand hate-crime protection to gays and lesbians, and on Monday also extended that protection to military members."

Warfront With Jihadistan: Gitmo Detained

President Obama again backtracked in the never-ending Guantanamo saga this week. On Monday, he extended by six months the work of a task force that is looking at how Gitmo detainees should be handled, which jeopardizes his campaign promise of closing Gitmo by January. Earlier this month, he said deciding how to handle the Gitmo detainees, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was "one of the biggest challenges of my administration." If handling terrorists is such a major challenge for him (seems like a no-brainer here), how does he expect to handle Iran and North Korea, or the nation's health and energy industries, for that matter? Just asking.

Also on Monday, the Obama administration said it preferred that Gitmo detainees be tried in criminal courts, but that some lower level terrorists, or those with weaker evidence against them, could be tried before military tribunals. While that process seems backwards to us, it will no doubt upset leftist civil liberties groups who want all detainees to be tried in criminal courts or, even better, traffic court. It would be entertaining to watch Obama's naïveté continue to clash with reality if the stakes for the nation's security were not so high.

Islamic Supremacist Group Meets in U.S.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, the international movement to re-establish an international Islamic state or Caliphate, kicked off a new campaign to win American recruits Sunday in a Chicago suburb after operating quietly in the United States for several years. The group's alumni include 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the late Iraqi terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi and would-be Hamas suicide bombers. Nevertheless, the State Department does not recognize it as a terrorist group, although some terrorism experts say Hizb ut-Tahrir may be more dangerous than recognized groups.

Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that Hizb ut-Tahrir, rather than training members to carry out terrorist acts like al-Qa'ida, focuses instead on indoctrinating youths between ages of 9 and 18 to absorb the ideology that calls for the formation of an empire -- or "khilafah" -- that will rule according to Islamic law and condones any means to achieve it, including militant jihad. Phares said Hizb ut-Tahrir has strongholds in Western countries, including Britain, France and Spain, and clearly is looking to strengthen its base in the U.S.

According to Hizb ut-Tahrir, the world's social and economic problems will not be fixed until the world is governed by Shariah law and the government controls all major industries. To that end, an imam who spoke at the conference said that, in a Muslim America, the Constitution should give way to Shariah. Undermining the Constitution does seem to be the national pastime these days.

Obama Flounders on Honduras and Israel

In recent weeks the Obama administration's stance on two international disputes is leaving little doubt as to where the president's sympathies lie. First came Obama's support of deposed Honduran president Mel Zelaya. As we reported last month, Zelaya, who is known to pal around with Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers, was ousted from office after he ordered a poll of public opinion regarding the institution of a National Constituent Assembly -- a move condemned by the Honduran Supreme Court, Congress, Attorney General and supreme electoral tribunal. The members of these legal and legislative bodies, including those of Zelaya's own party, claim his ultimate goal in calling for the June 28 referendum was a revision of the constitution allowing for his re-election indefinitely, getting rid of the constitution's term limits.

Last week Honduras' National Direction of Criminal Investigation confiscated from the Presidential House 45 computers fully loaded with votes overwhelmingly in favor of Zelaya's referendum, even though it never took place. It also appears that Zelaya managed to withdraw $2.2 million from the central bank just before he was removed from office. Yet Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opposed Zelaya's ouster, calling for the Honduran interim government to "follow the rule of law." The question remains, exactly whose rule of law is Obama referring to?

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently had to remind the American president that Jerusalem is not, in fact, a "settlement" in dispute and therefore not on the potential chopping block in Middle East negotiations. Obama had issued a warning to Netanyahu not to allow the construction of an apartment building on privately owned land in the Israeli capital. Mahmoud Abbas, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, was pleased with Obama's stance on the issue but called for "more pressure on the ground" to force Israel to comply. The Palestinian Authority clearly views this concession as a first step in claiming part of Jerusalem for its future capital city. Joe Biden's warning weeks before last year's election that "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama" certainly has proved prescient -- as has our warning that he would fail those tests.

[nChrist]

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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Income Redistribution: TARP Liabilities Soar

The federal government spent $700 billion to bailout the financial sector last year in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. But is that all the spending? No, says TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky. The Washington Times reports, "The inspector general in charge of overseeing the Treasury Department's bank-bailout program says the massive endeavor could end up costing taxpayers almost $24 trillion in a worst-case scenario. That's more than six times President Obama's proposed $3.55 trillion budget for 2010."

Barofsky said, "TARP does not function in a vacuum, but is rather part of the broader government efforts to stabilize the financial system." Costs include $7.4 trillion for TARP and other Treasury aid, $2.3 trillion for programs backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), as well as $7.2 trillion for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, credit unions and other programs. Needless to say, the price tag is astounding. As Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) put it, "If you spent a million dollars a day going back to the birth of Christ, that wouldn't even come close to just $1 trillion; $23.7 trillion is a staggering figure."

The Treasury Department disputes Barofsky's estimate, saying that, so far, less than $2 trillion has been dispersed for all the programs named in the report, including $441 billion from TARP, although $643 billion has been committed. Barofsky says that not only is spending out of control, but "almost certainly we are going to be seeing a number of [criminal] indictments" coming from 35 investigations authorized by the inspector general's office. According to the Times, "These investigations include suspected accounting fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, mortgage-service misconduct, mortgage fraud, public corruption, false statements and tax investigations." That's what happens when a tax evader runs the Treasury, but one might also say that, in this case, the phrase "we blame George Bush" actually holds some water.

California Reaches Budget Deal

California state lawmakers reached an agreement Monday that closes the $26.4 billion budget shortfall, but the deal does little to solve the structural defects that plunged the state into economic chaos in the first place. In addition to slashing state spending on multiple programs, cutting county and local government funding, accelerating tax collections, instituting non-paid worker furloughs, and playing musical money among government accounts and fiscal years, the agreement also expands offshore drilling, leading some to accuse Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of leveraging the financial mess to finagle support for a plan state regulators previously nixed.

Still, these measures, combined with sales and income tax hikes implemented earlier this year, are a band-aid solution to an injury needing a trauma surgeon. According to The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore, "The state has a permanent $20 billion to $30 billion hole in its budget caused mostly by tax and regulatory policies that have chased rich people out of the state." Furthermore, while chasing out the rich, California has welcomed illegal aliens -- to the tune of up to $6 billion in state-funded benefits each year. Unless the Terminator-turned-Governor and the Sacramento legislature address the roots of the Golden State's fiscal woes, this one thing is sure: They'll be back.

Wal-Mart Takes Heat for Health Care Position

Wal-Mart has decided to endorse ObamaCare by backing a mandate that employers provide health insurance for their employees. The corporation's motives for its attempt at regulatory profiteering are self-evident. Wal-Mart is seeking to curry favor with the liberal protest groups plaguing it for the last several years by buying political protection from the Obama administration. In the process, it also can gain a short-term competitive advantage over its rivals who spend less on health insurance than Wal-Mart, and who are less able to utilize economies of scale when "reform" would force the purchase of one-size fits all government-approved employee coverage that would remove the competitors' current advantage.

Cognizant of Wal-Mart's destructive motives, the National Retail Federation trade group, which represents retailers other than Wal-Mart, launched a counter attack against Wal-Mart's endorsement. As with most attempts to use the club of government power against business rivals, Wal-Mart will eventually learn that Winston Churchill was correct about socialism: It results in the equal sharing of misery. Indeed, Sam Walton must be rolling in his grave.

Only U.S. Automaker Not Run by Obama Posts Profit

"Ford Motor Co. returned to profitability in its second-quarter and slowed its cash burn amid speculation that it may issue more equity to reduce its debt," reports The Wall Street Journal. "The auto maker reported a net income of $2.3 billion, or 69 cents a share, compared with a loss of $8.67 billion, or $3.89 a share, for the same period a year earlier." Ford is the only one of the Big Three U.S. automakers that has not succumbed to government-run bankruptcy, though it is now at a distinct disadvantage to its competitors because of that virtue. For example, while GM was able to dump about $40 billion in debt, Ford still has more than $26 billion in debt. Granted, Ford is no corporate saint, but it's good to see it succeed without government help. Though really, just imagine how happy stockholders could have been if Ford had been government run.

CULTURE & POLICY
From the Left: Acute Victimitis

"A white police sergeant accused of racism after he arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home insisted Wednesday he won't apologize for his treatment of the Harvard professor," Fox News reports. Gates was arrested after a neighbor phoned police about a possible burglary at Gates' house. As it turns out, Gates was the "burglar" -- he claims he had to force the door open because it was jammed. Police say that Gates became belligerent and accused them of racism ("This is what happens to black men in America!" he shouted), prompting the officers to arrest him.

[nChrist]

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Barack Obama jumped into the fray Wednesday night during his prime-time news conference (about health care), saying, "The Cambridge police acted stupidly" in arresting Gates. He added, "There is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact." Perhaps that's because blacks and Latinos commit crimes at a disproportionate rate to their percentage of the population.

Obama, who has a difficult time hiding his own racism and resentment, then declared that federal officials should work with local law enforcement "to improve policing techniques so that we're eliminating potential bias." Ah, yes. Maybe the ATF Waco planners could help out. Or maybe we could all stand in long lines so the TSA could search grandmothers in order to not offend jihadis.

In the end, Obama later "clarified" through his mouthpiece Robert Gibbs. "He was not calling the officer stupid, okay?" Gibbs scolded. Not that the president regretted the remarks, Gibbs added. Too little, too late. In light of the fact that Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, is the police academy expert on racial profiling and was hand-picked by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, the Fraternal Order of Police issued a rebuke of the president Thursday. See, now Obama has just made a union mad.

Second Amendment: ATF vs. the States

Montana and The Patriot's home state of Tennessee each passed laws this year declaring that firearms made, sold and kept in their respective states are exempt from federal regulations. The Tennessee law reads, "Federal laws and regulations do not apply to personal firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition that is manufactured in Tennessee and remains in Tennessee. The limitation on federal law and regulation stated in this bill applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured using basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported into this state."

The feds won't give up their power easily, however, and we aren't surprised by the open letter to all Tennessee and Montana federal firearms licensees (FFLs) sent by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The letter asserts that the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act "purports to exempt personal firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition manufactured in the state, and which remain in the state, from most federal firearms laws and regulations. However, because the Act conflicts with Federal firearms laws and regulations, Federal law supersedes the Act, and all provisions of the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations, continue to apply."

Constitutional historian Kevin R.C. Gutzman summed it up: "Federal officials don't care about a good historical argument concerning the meaning of the Constitution. Their view is that the states exist for the administrative convenience of the federal government, and so of course any conflict between state and federal policy must be resolved in favor of the latter. This is another way of saying that the 10th Amendment is not binding on the federal government." Americans who value liberty will have to do more than hope for change.

Faith and Family: ABC Normalizes Perversity

ABC's "Primetime Family Secrets" aired Tuesday night, featuring a family in which the father went through a sex change. Though Ted Prince became "Chloe" last year, his wife stayed with him. The couple's two sons, age seven and six, are learning to deal with the change. ABC's Juju Chang addressed the affects on the boys, saying, "Now, developmental psychologists will tell you that if you have honest, open, frank and age-appropriate conversations, the boys will be just fine." How "fine" are the boys? One boy explained, "She had a girl inside her and so she went on a surgery to get, get it out." Pointing to a family photo, he added, "And this is our other mom that used to be a dad." Sure, the boys "will be just fine." How sad that because of their father's narcissistic gender-disorientation pathology, these boys will grow up without a father. And shame on ABC for glorifying and attempting to normalize it.

And Last...

USA Today recently posted an interactive graph comparing approval ratings for each of the last 12 presidents. At this point of his presidency, Barack Obama ranks 10th. Harry Truman sported the lowest approval rating -- 22 percent in February 1952, while George W. Bush boasts the highest at 90 percent just after 9/11, followed closely by his father, George H.W. Bush, at 89 percent following the Gulf War. Oddly enough, though Bill Clinton hit a low point of 37 percent in 1993, his high point of 77 percent came after he was impeached in 1998. So, while Obama's approval is consistently getting worse, as The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto jokes, "All the president has to do is either go to war against Iraq or get impeached. If he can go to war against Iraq and get impeached, he could end up with approval in excess of 100%."

*****

Veritas vos Liberabit -- Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot's editors and staff.

(Please pray for our 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.)