The Patriot Post Chronicle 5-5-2010

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The Patriot Post Chronicle 5-5-2010
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"Perfection falls not to the share of mortals." --George Washington

Editorial Exegesis
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig before the explosion

"The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to do as much damage to U.S. energy policy as it has to the environment. Obama's weeks-old executive order allowing for limited coastal exploration -- which we never considered a sure thing -- has been stayed and will probably be rescinded. ... Oil remains the most cost-effective source of transportation fuel we have; as long as our economy is thriving, we will need to produce or import a lot of it. Global-warming alarmists and zealous proponents of alternative energy have already made the BP spill the new Exhibit A in their case against fossil fuels. In evaluating their claims, we should be mindful of the economic and environmental costs of the spill relative to those associated with their preferred alternatives. Consider the cost of cap-and-trade legislation, for instance. It's hard to know what the economic damages of this spill will be, but even if they exceed the estimated $7 billion that it cost to clean up the Exxon Valdez spill, that would still be a far cry from the estimated $161 billion annual hit to GDP that would result from enactment of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. ... As for the administration's now-it's-lifted, now-it's-not drilling ban, most of the exploration and drilling that would take place if Obama actually followed through would be located in shallower coastal waters. The safety record of shallow-water drilling remains very impressive, and this deep-water calamity neither tarnishes that record nor indicates that it couldn't be duplicated if Obama opened more of the coastline to exploration. In any case, the president's moratorium on new drilling is a self-defeating proposition: New rigs will take years to construct and to begin production; their safeguards will incorporate whatever lessons we learn from the investigation of this catastrophe. ... 'Drill, baby, drill,' has lost whatever usefulness it may have had as a slogan, but offshore drilling remains a crucial source of energy -- and clearing obstacles to future exploration is still part of the right policy mix." --National Review

National Day of Prayer, May 6, 2010

On May 6, 1982, Ronald Reagan offered these words: "Today, prayer is still a powerful force in America, and our faith in God is a mighty source of strength. Our Pledge of Allegiance states that we are 'one nation under God,' and our currency bears the motto, 'In God We Trust.' The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design, and we abandon them at our peril. Yet in recent years, well-meaning Americans in the name of freedom have taken freedom away. For the sake of religious tolerance, they've forbidden religious practice in the classrooms. The law of this land has effectively removed prayer from our classrooms. How can we hope to retain our freedom through the generations if we fail to teach our young that our liberty springs from an abiding faith in our Creator?"

History of the National Day of Prayer

1775 The First Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer.
1863 Abraham Lincoln called for such a day.
1952 Congress established NDP as an annual event by a joint resolution, signed into law by President Truman.
1988 The law was amended and signed by President Reagan, to be the first Thursday in May.
2010 U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb ruled that the National Day of Prayer is "unconstitutional."

Despite that recent court ruling, The Patriot Post's National Advisory Board and staff invite you to join us, and millions of Americans in prayer for our nation this Thursday at 12:00 p.m. local time. Visit the National Day of Prayer Web site for more information.

Upright

"Very few Americans ... are inherently opposed to immigration. For the most part, the controversy we face isn't about immigration at all. It's about the systematic failure of federal government to enforce the law or offer rational policy. There's a difference." --columnist Daniel Harsanyi

"Imagine you are tasked with finding the perpetrator [in the Times Square bombing attempt]. Where do you start your investigation? Do you start with: (A) a right-winger opposed to the health bill; (B) a Swedish grandmother upset at losing the ticket lottery for 'Next to Normal'; or (C) a radical Muslim trying to kill Americans?" --columnist Ben Shapiro

"We have a commander-in-chief who presumes to know when you have earned 'enough,' who believes that only those who provide what he deems 'good' products and services should 'keep on making it,' and who has determined that the role of American entrepreneurs is not to pursue their own self-interest, but to fulfill their 'core' responsibility as dutiful growers of the collective economy. That famous mock-up poster of Obama as the creepy socialist Joker never seemed more apt." --columnist Michelle Malkin

"The Dodd bill -- and the Democrats' narrative -- completely omits the role of government in the financial debacle. Neither Fannie Mae nor Freddie Mac is mentioned in the legislation. But the incentives created by government, specifically the sustained push through law and regulation to provide mortgages to more and more uncreditworthy borrowers, created the conditions for the housing bubble and for its eventual crash. The wizards of Wall Street may have concocted exotic ways to make money by betting on the fortunes of the real estate market, but it was the politicians who first destabilized that market." --columnist Mona Charen

"The recently purchased Gore second mansion at Montecito, in Oprah country, is of some national interest. Why would Gore purchase a second energy-guzzling estate, replete with several fireplaces, fountains and bathrooms, when he was stung so badly about his hypocritically profligate energy use in his Tennessee compound, his houseboat, and his private-jet junketeering? Does he understand that his newest mansion is a sort of volcanic ash-cloud that has now overwhelmed Earth in the Balance, Inc? ... We can call this malady Gorism -- living not merely at odds with your zealotry, but living entirely against your zealotry." --historian Victor Davis Hanson

Dezinformatsia

World's Smallest Violin: "Hundreds of thousands of [illegal immigrants] now live in Arizona but ... many no longer feel welcome." --CBS anchor Katie Couric

Some Leftmedia reporters, you mean: "Some people would contend that this law in Arizona is racist in nature. Some have equated it even with Jews having to carry identification during Nazi Germany." --CBS "Early Show" co-host Harry Smith

Pointing fingers: "What I think is really important to notice here is the hypocrisy, the intellectual hypocrisy because we have ... a lot of the same people who are very exercised right now ... about big government and pointing out the American tradition of liberty, of individual rights, are also the people who are on the side of allowing the government to intrude much more into individuals' lives on immigration." --Reuters' Chrystia Freeland