The Patriot Post Brief 8-27-2012

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The Patriot Post Brief 8-27-2012
From The Federalist Patriot
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'One Small Step'

August 27, 2012

The Foundation

"There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism." --Alexander Hamilton

Culture

"On June 13, 2008, my wife and I were driving home from a Washington party. The University of Edinburgh, my Alma Mater, had recognized the singular achievement of Neil Armstrong, and our Principal, Sir Timothy O'Shea, had conferred an honorary degree on him. Linda and I witnessed the event and then joined a small group hosted by the British Ambassador for a dinner in Armstrong's honor. Linda sat next to the honoree and had a lively conversation with him. On that ride home, I asked her: 'Why are you so excited about tonight's event? We've been to a lot of Washington dinners over the years.' Her immediate reply was: 'To be with Neil Armstrong, and to dine with the first person to walk on the moon, is to be with a real hero. It is to know someone who has gone where no one has ever gone before, and done what no one has ever done before.' That says it all. Neil Armstrong, you are The American Spirit! May you rest in peace." --Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner1

Opinion in Brief

"The Left went apoplectic over Romney's recent joke about birth certificates2 -- perhaps a tit-for-tat shot across Obama's bow for the prior week's presidential evocation of the old story of Romney's dog on top of Romney's car. But if pundits wish to be so angry at the birther joking, then they should go after the original birthers, who may have started the myth -- the literary agency Dystel & Goderich, which for over 16 years in their promo bio listed Obama as Kenyan-born -- 1991-2007 -- without any apparent complaint or questioning by those who read it. That fabrication was an odd thing to do for two reasons: One, authors are customarily asked to submit biographical information to their agents and publishers, and often periodically update and edit that information in catalogues, promo material, and booklets; and, two: The Kenyan-born reference disappeared abruptly in 2007, without any explanation, right about the time that Senator Obama began his campaign for the presidency. Many have interpreted those strange events not as a simple 'slip,' but as the lame fudging of either the agents, or the author, or both, to construct a suitably exotic birthplace for Obama that might emphasize the cross-cultural themes of his autobiography -- a hypothesis strengthened by revelations that a great number of the key stories of Dreams from My Father were fictionalized, bearing little semblance to what actually happened." --historian Victor Davis Hanson3

Essential Liberty

"No one doubts that the coming election will be the most important referendum on the size and nature of government in a generation. But another issue is nearly as important and has gotten far less attention: our crumbling commitment to the rule of law. ... Though one might excuse departures from the rule of law at the height of a crisis, one would expect to see a prompt reversion to rule-of-law principles immediately thereafter. ... By far the most disturbing element of recent trends is that precisely the opposite seems to be taking place. The commitment of government officials to the rule of law has continued to crumble -- even after the crisis has subsided. ... Rule-of-law matters cannot be separated entirely from questions about the size and role of government. The more government grows, the harder it is to preserve rule-of-law virtues like transparency and clear rules of the game. But the rule of law is nevertheless a distinct and extraordinarily important concern, and it deserves separate consideration as the presidential campaign begins in earnest. Each candidate should be asked: Do you believe that the rule of law was abused during the recent crisis, and what would you do to protect it in the future?" --David Skeel4, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Government

"As the Hoover Institution's Peter Schweitzer documented recently, members of Obama's campaign finance committee, his campaign bundlers and major Democratic donors received $16.4 billion of the $20.5 billion in loans and grants doled out under 'green stimulus' programs run by Obama's Energy Department. This is crony corruption, pure and simple. As we've said before in many different contexts, it's impossible to imagine a Republican administration or Congress having so many conflicts of interest, payoffs and out-and-out examples of crony capitalism without a steady drumbeat of indignant stories in the media followed by a massive government investigation. You have to have priorities, we guess. At least the FBI is looking into a real scandal: the rumor that Republican politicians went skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee on a trip to Israel last year. We hope they get to the bottom of that, so to speak, soon." --Investor's Business Daily5

Insight

"Good government is not intrusive, the people are hardly aware of it; the next best is felt yet loved; then comes that which is known and feared; the worst government is hated." --ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu (570-490 BC)

The Gipper

"We must put an end to the arrogance of a federal establishment which accepts no blame for our condition, cannot be relied upon to give us a fair estimate of our situation and utterly refuses to live within its means. ... We must force the entire federal bureaucracy to live in the real world of reduced spending, streamlined function and accountability to the people it serves." --Ronald Reagan6

Re: The Left

"What the Washington Post and their brothers and sisters in the dinosaur media really want when they make calls for 'bipartisanship' and 'a softer tone' is not for Democrats to move from the left to the center, but for Republicans, and Republicans only, to move toward the left. ... Politics is indeed the art of the possible, and quid-pro-quo concessions are part of what makes a democracy work. But to demand it of the right side of the aisle while giving the left a pass in not 'concessions,' but rather a demand for a full-scale abandonment of principle. ... Personally, I'd be more than happy to see the two parties working together. And in fact, when both parties honored the basic principles on which this nation was founded, America benefited. ... Where there are Democrats prepared to be 'moderate' and work for fiscal sanity, the sanctity of private property, freedom of choice in other areas besides killing babies, the full use of America's energy resources, the downsizing of government and a strong national defense ... I welcome them and their ideas as part of the solution. In the absence of that, they're merely part of the problem, and I couldn't care less about 'bipartisanship' that involves them." --columnist Rob Miller7

Political Futures

"Lately in Washington the scurrilous tone of Obama's campaign has even made the mainstream media uneasy. They again launch into their false theater about how 'both sides do it and oh woe is us.' They cite the Obama campaign's claims about the dead woman and Romney's taxes. They mention Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, who charged Romney with a 'felony' for the way he exited his business connection with Bain Capital. Then they bring in their examples of the Republicans' excesses. Inevitably, they go back to 2004 and the charges that Senator John Kerry ... had his war record mangled by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and other Republican apparatchiks. Though wait! The Swift Boat Veterans spoke the truth. ... The mainstream media also trot out an allegation about Romney claiming that the Obama Administration is 'gutting' welfare. Two Republicans, they say, were among the governors who asked for some sort of waiver on welfare. ... Obama is reaching out to his very own special constituency. It is composed of those who believe that the Republicans would put up as their candidate for the presidency a person who in his business life would engage in fraud, tax evasion, even murder. Obama is casting his net for the moron vote." --columnist R. Emmett Tyrrell8