The Patriot Post Chronicle 1-11-2012

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The Patriot Post Chronicle 1-11-2012
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"It is on great occasions only, and after time has been given for cool and deliberate reflection, that the real voice of the people can be known." --George Washington

Editorial Exegesis

"Mitt Romney's victory in New Hampshire Tuesday takes him one step closer to the GOP Presidential nomination, especially given the fragmented showing by the rest of the field. The former Massachusetts Governor met expectations in the state where he owns a home, and he will now head to South Carolina with no clear single rival who might unite conservatives. Ron Paul's strong second-place finish was also notable, showing the continuing appeal of his message of 'sound money and personal liberty.' He did especially well, according to the exit polls, among voters anxious about the economy. ... Jon Huntsman's third-place finish might have been encouraging, except it's hard to see where he goes from here. He placed most of his campaign effort on the Granite State, doing 165 events or so and betting that Mr. Romney's appeal would fade. Yet most of Mr. Huntsman's voters said in exit polls that they were either moderate or liberal. That doesn't bode well for him with the more conservative GOP electorate in the South. As we went to press, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were competing for a weak fourth place, with about 10% of the vote, while Rick Perry was struggling to reach 1%. All of them will bid to become the conservative champion in the Palmetto State, but they will also still divide the non-Romney vote. ... Mr. Romney's main strength continues to be the GOP perception of his electability and leadership, more than his ideas. The lack of ideas has been one of his weaknesses in trying to unite the GOP, as most voters still break for the bolder colors of Mr. Paul and the rest. If he wants to unite the party and motivate it for the battle against Mr. Obama, Mr. Romney will need some bolder colors himself." --The Wall Street Journal1

Upright

"For the past year, the question has been whether Mitt Romney would be acceptable to the Republican party. ... Some pundits continue to dream of a great conservative hope who will enter the race and save us from Romney -- perhaps even at a brokered convention. But the voters have now had two opportunities to speak. Two thirds of voters in New Hampshire said they were satisfied with the field. Romney has won a solid victory there. He succeeded with Tea Party supporters and self-described conservatives. And now Newt Gingrich has offered Romney a gift. By attacking him from the left as a heartless tycoon, he has given Romney the chance to campaign as the defender of capitalism and free markets. ... While it's too early to say the race is sewn up, it is looking very good for Mitt Romney." --columnist Mona Charen

"Whatever chance at a comeback Speaker Gingrich and Governor Perry had went up on the pyre they lit with their attacks [against Romney], on Bain specifically and free-market venture capital generally. The recognition that one cannot defend capitalism while attacking capital is spreading. Blaming Bain for layoffs is like blaming the lifeboats for being late to the Titanic. No matter how you judge their performances, we are a whole lot better for having venture capitalists at hand, even when they don't bat anywhere near 1.000." --radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt

"The old saw is that Democrats fall in love with their candidates while Republicans fall in line behind theirs. It's a dubious rule of thumb -- were Democrats in love with John Kerry in 2004? With Michael Dukakis in 1988? -- but this much is true: Conservative insurgents rarely win the GOP presidential nomination. The nod almost always goes to the party establishment's candidate. This year that candidate is Mitt Romney." --columnist Jeff Jacoby

"We've been dealing with liberal media bias for years, but George Stephanopoulos' performance in the Republican presidential debate Saturday night in New Hampshire was particularly egregious. ... The narrative in these debates ought to be how each of the candidates is better-equipped than the others to reverse Obama's agenda. In addition to misdirecting the debates substantively, the liberal moderators have also, too often, injected themselves into the debates as if they were either driven by their irrepressible egos to make themselves players rather than facilitators or so ideologically revolted by the GOP's policies that they were compelled to argue Obama's side in his absence. The moderators shouldn't be allowed to have it both ways. If they are going to direct the debate solely toward differences among the GOP candidates, they shouldn't present Obama's side for him, giving him and the liberal position a free ride." --columnist David Limbaugh

Insight

"They who most loudly clamour for liberty do not most liberally grant it." --English author Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

"We are students of words; we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation rooms, for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing." --American author Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

The Demo-gogues

Core of the nation on the line, indeed: "The very core of what this country stands for is on the line -- the basic promise that no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, this is a place where you could make it if you try. The notion that we're all in this together, that we look out for one another -- that's at stake in this election. Don't take my word for it. Watch some of these debates that have been going on up in New Hampshire." --Barack Obama

Bragging about "fairness": "After losing more than 8 million jobs in the recession, we've added more than 3 million private sector jobs over the past 22 months. ... We're heading in the right direction. And we're not going to let up. ... We've got to keep rebuilding our economy so that everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share -- and everyone plays by the same rules." --Barack Obama

Give us a break: "It takes you, ordinary citizens committed to fighting and pushing, inching this country forward bit by bit so we get closer to our highest ideals. That's how this country was built. That's how we freed ourselves from an empire." --Barack Obama comparing his donors to modern-day minutemen

Straw man bonanza: "Republicans in Congress and these candidates, they think that the best way for America to compete for new jobs and businesses is to follow other countries in a race to the bottom. They figure, well, China pays low wages, we should pay low wages. Let's roll back the minimum wage. Let's prevent folks from organizing for collective bargaining in this country. Since other countries allow corporations to pollute as much as they want, why not get rid of the protections that ensure our air is clean and our water is clean." --Barack Obama
He sang a different tune a few years ago: "Now raising the debt limit is a very routine thing that every sensible person understands we have to do. It's only in this context of this extreme right-wing takeover of the Republican party that that becomes controversial." --Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) 

Blaming George W. Bush: "I simply will not have us engage in a this and that, last August, 10 years ago. This is about the here and now and the highly unusual circumstances we are in because the Republican failed policies, economic policies of President George Bush took us to a financial meltdown, took us into near depression, took us into deep deficits that we still have to deal with." --House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi following a House of Representatives pro forma session