Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now September 13, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary In Today's Society: You Can't Go "Wrong" By Thomas L. Jipping Two big stories in the news before the terrorism perpetrated against America on Tuesday overshadowed all else ought to make anyone with a brain scratch the head containing it and wonder just where this society is headed. Terrorism is one significant threat that America faces, but it is not the only one. The liberal, progressive crowd has for decades been pushing an agenda that breaks up marriages or argues that institution is not needed at all; promotes sex by eliminating its consequences; treats children like adults and adults, especially parents, like children; and eliminates the traditional factors that helped stabilize and civilize society. Hard work is out, excuses for failure are in. Entertainment is now saturated with filth, sex, profanity, and disrespect. Onward and upward to the brave new world. And now two of the top stories in the news reveal the consequences of this exciting and liberating agenda. Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in June, is on trial for capital murder. According to the Houston Chronicle, Yates herself said that her seven-year-old son Noah walked into the bathroom to see her killing his six-month-old sister Mary. He tried to escape, and Yates grabbed him, dragged him back into the bathroom, and then drowned him too. She claims postpartum depression made her insane. Talk about blaming the victim. Medical records quote Yates saying she has a supportive husband and family. They show her husband, Russell Yates, was very involved in her medical care. This is a big fat slap in the face to those women out there who don't have supportive families, don't have involved husbands, don't have a comfortable middle class lifestyle, and who even might have more children than Andrea Yates, but who don't deal with life's problems by killing their children. This is indeed becoming a culture of death. Pregnant women see the presence of their preborn children as causing them one problem or another and so they kill them to eliminate the problem. Andrea Yates saw her children as causing her a problem and so she killed them. Seems we're on a slippery slope after all. The other story is that the sexual exploitation, especially commercial exploitation through prostitution and pornography, of children is exploding. A new study reveals the hundreds of thousands of children sexually exploited. Many of the johns soliciting kids for sex are married men with kids of their own. It also showed, however, that children also are in the sex trade right out of their homes, trading sex for consumer goods, more expensive clothes, that sort of thing. Hey, they're just doing what the rappers and so-called entertainers tell them to do. As we have abandoned the distinction between right and wrong, personal responsibility, and any sort of obligation to others, we are creating a society where it's all about me. What I want to do, how I want to do it, when I want to do it, why I want to do it, with whom I want to do it. I'll either claim a right to do it or claim I'm not responsible for it. But I just want to do what I want to do. And children are the victims - on the streets, in the abortion clinic, and under the water in the bathtub. Thomas L. Jipping is vice president for legal policy at the Free Congress Foundation. The Free Congress Guest Commentary It's Times Like This We Must Remember History and Learn From It By Daniel J. Jennings As we watch the horror unfolding in New York and Washington D.C. on our TV screens it's a good time to take a look at history and learn from it. I say this because history has some very important lessons to teach us about situations like this. The first lesson is don't overreact by taking military actions that might have horrendous consequences in the near future. This may be the most important lesson of all as the Austro-Hungarian Empire learned all too well during World War I. In 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which ruled much of Central Europe, was outraged at a terrorist attack. A Serbian nationalist fanatic shot and killed the beloved heir to the Austrian Throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, in the streets of Sarajevo. Evidence linking the attack to the secret service of the small neighboring kingdom of Serbia soon surfaced. Austria retaliated to this outrage by invading Serbia. This invasion triggered World War I, because Serbia's ally Russia, rushed to that nation's defense. Austria called in its ally, Germany, and Russia her ally, France. To get at France, Germany invaded Belgium and drew the British Empire into the conflict. One of the worst blood baths in human history had begun and as a consequence of that war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed completely. Had Austria shown some restraint and not sought vengeance for the murder of the Archduke, World War I and all of its horrible consequences could have been avoided and millions of men would not have needed to die in horrific combat. This is a lesson well worth remembering. Any military action we take in retaliation for these horrible attacks in New York and Washington is going to have consequences in the future. It could very well shape our world: a world that we, our children and our grandchildren will have to live in and we should think about that. During World War I, many Americans, including President Woodrow Wilson and some congressional leaders were outraged by the behavior of Imperial Germany and its Kaiser Wilhelm II. German submarines sank unarmed civilian ships, such as the liner Lusitania, including some with Americans onboard and some American-flagged vessels. German saboteurs set off bombs in the United States destroying munitions plants and other targets, killing innocent Americans in the process. German soldiers committed some atrocities in the occupied nation of Belgium. Some German superpatriots talked of attacking the United States in alliance with Mexico. In response to these provocations, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war. America sent a large army to France, which was instrumental in the defeat of Imperial Germany. A defeat that led to the collapse of the Imperial government and the abdication of Wilhelm II. A defeat followed by various efforts to punish Germany for war crimes real and imagined. American propagandists trumpeted America's victory as making "the World Safe For Democracy" and peace was restored. Unfortunately, the peace existed only in the minds of the propagandists. A defeated Germany proved a perfect breeding ground for extremist political movements. Within 15 years of America's "victory" the most dangerous and fanatical of German political leaders, Adolph Hitler, was absolute dictator of Germany. Within twenty years of America's "victory," World War II had broken out in Europe, having been launched by Hitler. By defeating the Kaiser and destroying his German Empire, Woodrow Wilson and the patriots of 1917 only succeeded in clearing the way for Adolph Hitler and making another war inevitable. As a number of observers, including Winston Churchill, pointed out, had America not overreacted to German actions and declared war in 1917, the exhausted British and French would have been forced to end the war and sign a peace treaty with Germany. This wouldn't have resulted in a perfect situation in Europe, but it would have been better than what happened after 1918. Imperial Germany was, contrary to the lies of Woodrow Wilson's propaganda machine, probably as "democratic" as America's 1917 allies Britain and France. Imperial Germany had an elected national legislature and well-organized political parties. And far from being a blood thirsty tyrant, Wilhelm II, was a weak constitutional monarch, and in person, a harmless eccentric, who actually wanted peace and opposed the war. An equitable settlement between the warring powers in 1917 was highly probable. More importantly, a strong German Empire wouldn't have fallen prey to Hitler and his Nazis, there might have been no World War II and no Holocaust. The deaths of millions could have been avoided. At the same time the German Empire would have been strong enough to keep the militaristic Communist dictatorship in Soviet Russia in check without American help. The consequences of America's blind quest for vengeance in 1917, were another World War, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans in two needless conflicts and the necessity of posting American troops in Europe. Because of Wilson's blind actions in 1917, American troops are still stationed in Europe to this day. We should keep historical events like these mind as we view the carnage on TV screens and hear the hysterical name calling and finger pointing from the politicians, anchormen and self proclaimed experts sitting in the TV studios. And remember that any action we take now because of these events could have horrible unforeseen consequences in the future. For the last thing we want to do is compound the needless deaths of thousands in this horrible terrorist attack with even more needless deaths in the future. Daniel J. Jennings is a former newspaper editor now working as a free-lance writer in Denver, Colorado. For media inquiries, contact Steve Lilienthal [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit Our Website at <http://www.FreeCongress.org> This publication is a service of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation, Inc. (FCF) and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Free Congress Foundation nor is it an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill. Free Congress Foundation * 717 Second Street, NE * Washington, DC 20002 * 202.546.3000 * Fax: 202.544.2819 Project Manager: Angela Wheeler * Copyright * 2001 Free Congress Foundation - All Rights Reserved.
