-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! * Veritas Vos Liberabit * THE FEDERALIST(r) DIGEST The Conservative e-Journal of Record Date: 10 November 2000 Federalist #00-45.dgst To retrieve today's Digest as HTML printer-friendly text or PDF, link to: http://www.Federalist.com/current00-10.asp To support or sponsor The Federalist, link to: http://www.Federalist.com/support.asp CONTENTS: The Founders Federalist Perspective Insight Upright Editorial Exegesis Second Opinion Body Politic Dezinformatsia Village Idiots Short Cuts ______--------********O********--------______ THE FOUNDERS "Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state." --Thomas Jefferson ______--------********O********--------______ FEDERALIST PERSPECTIVE In the news this week, we encourage our readers to set aside time for remembrance of something more important than election gridlock -- American veterans. In the absence of their sacrifice, the freedom to engage in the current debate about our nation's future would not exist. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. On November 11th, 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of WWI veterans and in conjunction with the timing of cessation of hostilities at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as "Armistice Day." In 1954, Congress, wanting to recognize the sacrifice of veterans since WWI, proposed to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day in their honor. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander in W.W.II, signed the legislation. To honor those veterans who sacrificed all, an Army honor guard from the 3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil at Arlington. At 11 a.m. tomorrow, a combined color guard representing all military service branches executes "Present Arms" at the tomb for the laying of a wreath by the president. This is followed by "Taps." In conjunction with that ceremony is the long-awaited groundbreaking for the World War II memorial on the Washington Mall. Of note, it took three times longer for Congress to finally approve the new Memorial than it did to win WWII. In other news.... A strange thing happened on the way to the White House.... While Messrs. Bush and Cheney were coasting into the presidency on favorable political polls (you will note we never published a word about any of those insidious, manipulative polls) Michigan and Pennsylvania skipped town on them, and Florida gave pursuit. Last Friday, amid all those favorable polls, we questioned whether the "compassionate conservatism" Mr. Bush has peddled for six months could overcome the 12 year void of strong conservative leadership in America, eight years of Clinton-Gore's masterful "divide-and-conquer" policies in concert with the media opinion shapers' relentless advocacy of the Sociocrats' cause, and Gore's populist campaign. It appears, the odds notwithstanding, that Bush/Cheney is the wining ticket. Additionally, Republicans have been able to hold on to a thin margin in the House, and perhaps the Senate, pending one seat still contested. (If there is a tie in the Senate, Republicans will maintain some measure of control because if Bush is elected, Mr. Cheney will become president of the Senate -- casting tie-breaking votes -- and if Gore is elected, his veep Lieberman would have to resign his Senate seat and Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, a Republican, will name a Republican to that seat.) Of note, 29 states are still under the leadership of Republican governors, though, as in Congress, the line distinguishing Republicans and Democrats grows increasingly vague -- Republicrats, let's call them. Concerning the presidential election standoff, watching the media talkingheads scramble to explain why they put Florida in Gore's column, then put it back in play, then put it in Bush's column declaring him the next president, then retract their statement and put Florida back in play -- this was indeed the talkingheads' finest hour! After declaring Florida for Gore an hour before polls closed in the state's conservative panhandle, thousands of Bush voters left long polling lines for home -- media mission accomplished. The talkingheads claim they forgot that the state's panhandle is in the central, rather than eastern time zone. Though a certified Florida victory for Bush is now in the works, we don't believe the Democrats will give up the state's 25 electoral votes without a fight. For his part, Al Gore, after taking back his concession to Mr. Bush Tuesday night, said Wednesday: "Despite the fact that Joe Lieberman and I won the popular vote, under our Constitution, it is the winner of the Electoral College who will be our next president. Our Constitution is the whole foundation of our freedom and it must be followed faithfully.... We are now, as we have been from the moment of our founding, a nation based on the rule of law." (Now, we know some of our readers will question if such words could have actually come from the Vice Prevaricator's lips, but we transcribed them verbatim!) And speaking of "rule of law," would it not be the greatest of political ironies if Al Gore, whose has treated our Constitution with disregard if not utter contempt, loses his bid for the White House because of a "federalist relic" in that venerable old document pertaining to the Electoral College. Despite Gore's assurances Wednesday that he would respect the Florida recount, by Thursday, he said he would not accept it -- greasing the skids for what could be an endless loop of litigation. His campaign head, Bill Daley, said, "If the will of the people is to prevail, Al Gore should be awarded a victory in Florida and should be the next president of the United States." Can you say "coup d'etat"? Memo to Al: You have already conceded once. Take a page from John Ashcroft, who readily conceded his U.S. Senate seat to the widow of his deceased opponent, Mel Carnahan, and assured her he will undertake no legal challenge, despite the fact there is a significant legal question about whether a corpse can in fact "be an inhabitant of" Missouri on election day, as the Constitution's Article I, Section 3, requires. Memo to the Bill Daley: When Clinton was elected with 43% of the popular vote in 1992, and 49% in 1996, Demos were not complaining about democracy being cheated. And, if you don't like the process, we suggest you put forth an amendment stipulating that the election will be settled on the basis of land area won by respective candidates. (Gore got about 15% of that!) Gore employed Clinton's former Secretary of State Warren Christopher to oversee the recount -- as if Janet "Blockade" Reno's home state was some kind of third-world dictatorship. Jesse Jackson will provide the assist. Back when Christopher worked for Jimmy Carter, it took him Warren 444 days -- and the election of Ronald Reagan -- to free 52 American hostages in Iran. No telling how long it will take him to free 275 million American held hostage by the Florida standoff. Christopher arrived in Florida Wednesday morning accompanied by half the membership roster of the American Trial Lawyers Association. If they can't get the job done, perhaps Gore can call for an internationally-supervised runoff election hosted by the U.N.'s Kofi Annan. Behind Christopher, Gore sent in Reno and her troops. "We're not here to generate controversy. We're here to do what's right... to make sure that the voice of the American people...has been heard fairly," said Ms. Reno, noting it's important to "adhere to the principles of federalism." (Really, folks, she said "federalism!) When a Sociocrat starts talking about federalism and states' rights, pay attention. The reason for Reno's conversion to federalism is that the Demos are banking on the state courts in Florida to overturn the Palm Beach vote. The major focus of Gore's complaint -- assuming he does not achieve the majority of the popular vote on a certified recount to include the absentee ballots -- will become the Palm Beach "butterfly" election card, which Demos say was too confusing. Too confusing? Aren't these the same people who questioned Mr. Bush's intelligence? The ballot in question was designed -- and approved -- by Florida Democrats. It is similar to the ballot now used in Bill Daley's hometown, Chicago -- you know, the place where Daley's mob-boss father, Mayor Richard, stuffed ballot boxes for Kennedy in 1960. In yet another bit of election irony, the Algoristas claim that because of the ballot confusion in Palm Beach, Pat Buchanan -- not Ralph Nader -- stole votes from Gore, because some Dumbocrats may have punched the wrong hole on the ballot. Perhaps they are on to something here.... Shouldn't all ballots be sufficiently confusing to weed out idiots? But then, no Demos would ever get elected under that scenario. Hey, that's why they call it "dumbocracy"! Speaking of Nader, whose leftist Green Party did not muster the necessary 5% of votes needed to obtain federal funding in 2004, he gets the award for best post-campaign retort. As for Gore's lament that Nader cost him votes, he responded, "Gore had all the advantages of an incumbent administration, but he never generated enthusiasm, and many voters cast votes for him out of the least-worst attitude, not out of conviction. ... Gore cost me the election!" The ballot problems in Palm Beach are not unique to Palm Beach. If Gore insists on opening that ballot box, he will be opening Pandora's Box. Should the Florida state courts not take an interest in the Palm Beach ballot, the Algoristas will launch a national campaign to undo the Electoral College, while suggesting that Bush should concede his infinitesimal Florida margin to Gore's infinitesimal national margin as a matter of "honor." (Of course, Clinton and Gore are the arbiters of honor....) This is a last ditch effort to soften the beaches for any of Mr. Bush's state electors who might want to cast their vote for Gore -- "on principle." As for Gore's lead in the popular vote, of the almost 100 million votes cast, Gore's margin of about 175,000 votes continues to dwindle nationally as states count absentee ballots. Spinning that lead, Bill Daley said, "Only Ronald Reagan got more votes than Al Gore in the history of presidential elections." Of course, the Demos and their media are now far more skilled at dividing up hyphenated-Americans, and rallying them to the polls. For example, 90% of black Americans voted as a block for Albert Gore, making race the most polarized voter profile in the election. Regarding all these political shenanigans, our preference for resolution is, of course, constitutional rule of law. If not, we will accept gridlock -- or revolution -- whichever is better suited to retaining the God-given liberties expressed in our Declaration of Independence and its subordinate guidance, the U.S. Constitution. Did we mention secession? Perhaps New England could revert back to the Crown! All said and done, we do expect that within the week Mr. Bush will be declared the next president, and the nation will be granted a temporary reprieve from the abject lawlessness of the Clinton/Gore regime. Of course, if Mr. Bush makes it over the Electoral College hump, our work as conservative patriots has only just begun. Though the Republican platform still reads much as it did under Ronald Reagan, the moderate Mr. Bush has yet to issue any rally call for liberty and freedom -- which is precisely why his weak victory is short on mandate. (To understand where he failed in his campaign, review our critiques of Mr. Bush's performance in the presidential debates.) Memo to W.: If you make it to the White House, gag those pinheads calling for a "coalition government." Lose the campaign politicos, visit Reagan2000.com, get a vision for what that word "conservative" really means -- and lead! And a final campaign note: As for that other "historic" event, HILLARY!'s election comes with a silver lining. She displaces Teddy Kennedy as the new lighting rod for the left. The media love her -- America hates her. Even in New York, her Demo-voter support fell far short of Gore's. (And wasn't it a nice touch for her to steal the media coverage from Rick Lazio's concession speech by giving her victory speech at the same time!) As anticipated, hubby Bill was beside himself. "Some people thought I was a lame duck in '95. I'll just keep quacking. I've got another 10 weeks to quack. There is a feeling in the country, that I pick up, that people want to keep the prosperity going. They want to keep moving in a good direction...." That silwy cwazy duck alweddy quaked his way out of 'Nam and Monica! Quote of the week... "Why did the Founders create a state-by-state method of electing the president as opposed to a direct national election? In fact, a direct popular election was the first choice of James Madison and James Wilson, among others. Upon further deliberation, however, the framers of the Constitution rejected direct national elections. They had several reasons for doing so. First was the sheer size of the country. A direct election in a nation of 4 million people, spread over a 3,000-mile coastline, would have been a logistical nightmare. Second, there were legitimate concerns about granting a unitary executive the type of mandate that would come from a such an election. The last thing the Founders wanted to do was produce an American Caesar. Finally, the Founders were jealous to guard the federal character of the regime, a system of shared responsibilities between the national and state governments. Of course, the old problems of distance and communication are solved. Why, then, does the Electoral College survive? The answer is that the United States remains a federal republic. ...The Electoral College is a vital element of our federal system of government. It magnifies close popular vote elections and turns them into Electoral College landslides. It forces candidates to run on national themes, avoiding divisive sectional issues that could tear the country apart. The Electoral College should not be feared. It should not even be merely tolerated. Instead, it should be celebrated as one of the crowning achievements of our Founding Fathers." --Brian Janiskee On cross-examination... "The great masses of the people...will more easily fall victim to a great lie than to a small one." --Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf The BIG lie... "Al Gore shares the values of America's families." --DNC chairman Joe Andrew News from the Swamp... >From the "Seems Harmless Enough" Files, Congress, for the first time in history, changed our domestic tax laws relating to Foreign Sales Corporations (FSCs), solely because the World Trade Organization appellate panel deemed that our FSC tax rules constituted a "subsidy." In other words, the WTO has now, successfully, dictated domestic policy. Regarding your IRS overpayment... Now that HILLARY! is the victor, perhaps she will reimburse American taxpayers the millions she owes them for use of government planes and personnel on the campaign trail. If only anyone could figure the cost of the entire White House political machine.... The Commissars... Government agencies are working around the clock -- and Congress -- to enact hundreds of new federal regulations before Clinton's rule ends next January. For example, the Department of Energy proposed two new regulations -- one for clothes washers and the other for residential air conditioners and heat pumps -- which will add $240 to the price of a clothes washer, $274 to the price of a residential central air conditioner, and $486 to the price of a residential heat pump, bringing them in line with the unratified Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming. >From the states... Judge Roy Moore, who made headlines a few years back after he refused a federal court's order that he remove a copy of the Ten Commandments from his courtroom walls, was elected by a wide margin to become the next chief justice of Alabama's state Supreme Court. "I hope, by leadership and example, to restore the moral foundation of our law and establish a correct understanding of the Constitution of the United States," Judge Moore said. (He plans to take his Ten Commandments plaque with him to Montgomery.) Around the world... "The dead duck 'peace process' is moving again to Washington where a lame duck president will meet with Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak -- separately, but unequally -- in another meaningless and certainly fruitless exercise in futility," says Cal Thomas. Clinton legacy-building aside, Mr. Reuven Gilmore, an American whose son was murdered in Israel last week by Arafat's terrorists, is demanding that Clinton have Arafat arrested when he arrives at the White House for negotiations this weekend. In other news, a Russian lawmaker is obtaining archived Soviet government documents which he says will prove Communist Party funds were used to help elect Al Gore to the U.S. Senate. Aleksey Mitrofanov, a lawmaker in Russia's Liberal Democratic Party, says that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union funneled support to Gore in the 1980s. Perhaps Clinton can arrest Gore when he next arrives at the White House. Culture comment... >From the "Politically Challenged" Files, idiocy is not unique to the American left. A booklet titled "Towards a Non-Violent Society," published by British PM Tony Blair's education minister, condemns the game "musical chairs" for encouraging aggression among children and allowing the biggest and strongest children to win. According to the booklet, "Musical statues is better because everybody wins." Sound familiar? Faith Matters... In news from the "Village Church" bulletin comes this enlightenment from Albert Gore before a black congregation in Memphis last Sunday: "I am taught that deep within us we have the capacity for good and for evil. I am taught that good overcomes evil if we choose that outcome. .. I feel it coming. I feel a message here that on Tuesday we will prevail in Tennessee and Memphis will lead the way." Indeed, good did overcome evil in Tennessee -- which is now Gore-free! Of note, if Gore had won his "home-state," those 11 electoral votes would render the whole Florida mess null and void! And last, the talkinghead media were not the only leftist propaganda machine with egg on its face this week. This memo was issued by the Democratic National Committee on Monday: "We hereby apologize to every resident of West Virginia awakened in the wee hours -- midnight to 3 a.m. -- of Sunday by the voice of Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd, who is running for re-election." Apparently the DNC's telephone vendor did not know the difference between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. when launching Mr. Byrd's automated phone message. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? 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