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PHILIPPINES CHICKENS OUT, SELLS OUT �The government of the Philippines is being accused of giving in to terrorists. That, after officials in Manila agreed to withdraw the country's troops from Iraq ahead of schedule, a demand that was made by the insurgents holding a Filipino hostage in Iraq. . . . But people in the Philippines are praising the decision aimed at saving the life of truck driver Angelo de la Cruz.� - KXAN-TV, 7/14/04 PULLING A SPAIN �Add the flag of the Philippines to the International Hall of Appeasers. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm deeply, mortifyingly ashamed of my parents' native land. The island nation has gone and pulled a Spain. Philippine president Gloria Macagapal-Arroyo has crumbled like a fried lumpia wrapper under pressure from radical Muslim terrorists. And ultimately, we -- not just Filipinos, but all Americans and our allies battling Islamofascism -- will pay a grisly price for this disgraceful capitulation.� - Columnist Michelle Malkin HEY, SOMETIMES ACTIONS DO STILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES �Comedian Whoopi Goldberg will no longer appear in ads for diet aid maker Slim-Fast following her lewd riff on President Bush's name at a fund-raiser last week, the company said on Wednesday. Florida-based Slim-Fast said it was �disappointed� in Goldberg's remarks at last Thursday's $7.5 million star-studded fund-raiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York. �Ads featuring Ms. Goldberg will no longer be on the air,� Slim-Fast General Manager Terry Olson said in a statement, adding that the company regrets that Goldberg's remarks offended some customers.� - Reuters, 7/14/04 DEMS GET REAGAN...BUT NOT CLINTON? �This is juicy. Remember when Hillary Clinton was running around saying that she was not interested in running for president this year, was not interested in being John Kerry's running mate and was going to do everything she could to get him elected? Anybody with half a brain knew she was full of it...after all, a Kerry victory is bad news for her presidential aspirations. She wants to be president, and Kerry stands in the way. �So now comes the word that the Hildabeast will not speak at the Democratic National Convention in Boston at the end of this month. That's right...the most popular national Democrat is not going to be speaking at her party's convention this year.� - Talk show host Neal Boortz BETWEEN AN EXPENSIVE ROCK AND AN EXPENSIVE HARD PLACE �For fiscal conservatives, the choice this election could hardly be more depressing. �In the Republicans' corner is George W. Bush, who presides over the most bloated federal budget in US history.� Bush's profligacy has left in tatters the traditional GOP claim to fiscal rectitude.� He has uncomplainingly signed into law every pork-stuffed appropriations bill sent to him by Congress.� He has flooded the government's books with red ink.� And he has embraced new schemes for draining the Treasury, including the largest expansion of the welfare state in decades -- the prescription-drug entitlement, which will cost, over the next decade, more than half a trillion dollars. �When, from the Democrats' corner, John F.�Kerry excoriates Bush for �three years of reckless spending and skyrocketing deficits� and declares that what America needs is �a return to the fiscal discipline that brought record surpluses and the largest economic expansion since World War II,� he speaks nothing but the unadorned truth.� But Candidate Kerry doesn't preach fiscal discipline very often, and there is no reason to believe that a President Kerry would practice it� �The 2004 presidential race pits a big-spending Republican Tweedledee against a big-spending Democratic Tweedledum.� What's a fiscally responsible voter to do?� - Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby UNION OFFICIAL DOESN�T MEET CRITERIA �(E)ven a casual reading of the (various postal reform) bills makes clear that the new Postal Regulatory Commission would be given the responsibility to determine the regulations, including rates and service, under which the postal service will operate. Consistent with that responsibility, both bills state that 'commissioners shall be chosen solely on the basis of their technical qualifications, professional standing and demonstrated expertise in economics, accounting, law or public administration.' However, the Senate (committee) recently approved an individual (Dawn Tisdale) who, though quite honorable, does not appear to meet these criteria.� - Cary H. Baer, a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce TAXPAYERS ON THE HOOK...AGAIN �Former U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow was on duty when he caused a fatal accident last summer, so taxpayers should pay any civil damages in a wrongful death lawsuit, according to a court ruling Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Arthur Boylan sided with U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger's conclusion that Janklow, 64, was on official business Aug. 16 when he sped through a stop sign near Trent and collided with motorcyclist Randy Scott, 55, of Hardwick, Minn. Boylan concluded that the federal government, not Janklow, should be listed as the defendant in the lawsuit filed by Scott's mother, sister, son and daughter.� - Associated Press, 7/14/04 LI�L NATE STEPS IN IT...AGAIN �Nathan Tabor - who said he would not campaign negatively - said that (opponent Vernon) Robinson was paying himself a $3,500 monthly salary out of his campaign funds. Tabor said that was not negative campaigning because it was a fact. �Robinson's campaign-finance records, however, show no monthly salary payments of $3,500. �I have no idea where he makes that up from,� Robinson said. Tabor retracted the statement and said he had been given incorrect information. �I make mistakes,� he said.� - Winston Salem Journal, 7/14/04 (Note: The biggest mistake would be if GOP voters in NC-5 actually chose wet-behind-the-ears, mistake-prone empty-suit Tabor to be their congressional nominee on Tuesday. Fortunately, he doesn�t appear to have a prayer.) IS THIS JUDICIAL ACTIVISM? �A judge has thrown out the 14-year sentence imposed on former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson, who spent 25 years as a fugitive, saying a new hearing is needed to decide how much prison time she should serve. Olson...pleaded guilty in 2001 to taking part in two attempts to bomb Los Angeles Police Department cars in 1975.� - American Scene, Washington Times, 7/14/04 IS THIS JUDICIAL ACTIVISM? �A Minnesota judge says the state's two-year-old concealed carry law is unconstitutional because it was attached to an unrelated bill, even though the Minnesota Constitution prohibits a piece of legislation from dealing with more than one subject matter. Second Amendment groups called Tuesday's ruling an outrage, while gun control groups applauded it. �Ramsey County District Court Judge John Finley's ruling was a �slap in the face to more than 30,000 Minnesota residents who have legally obtained concealed pistol licenses,� said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).� - CNSNews.com, 7/14/04 NONE OF GOVERNMENT�S BUSINESS �I believe government should get out of the marriage business and stop issuing marriage licenses. If you want to get married, get married. Why go beg for City Hall's permission?� - Conservative columnist Deroy Murdock PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF �If the Republicans were REALLY concerned about the sanctity of marriage, they would: 1) Stay faithful to their OWN spouses 2) Work to abolish all no-fault divorce laws 3) Revive (or enact) anti-adultery laws AND ENFORCE THEM �On the list of �dangers� to the sanctity of marriage, I wouldn't even place homosexual unions in the top 10. Let's fix HETEROSEXUAL marriage FIRST.� - Reader Mark Petereit of St. Joseph, Missouri FMA BLOWS UP IN GOP�S FACE The fear was that Republicans wouldn�t even get a majority of votes for Sen. Allard�s version of the Federal Marriage Amendment, let alone the required 2/3...so the GOP leadership opted for a �procedural� vote on the issue instead, expecting that more Republicans would vote with leadership on a �cloture� vote than would vote in favor of the national ban on gay marriage. In addition, only 60 votes would be needed for the cloture vote instead of 67. And STILL they only managed to squeeze out 48 votes. Not even a majority in the majority party. AND with the President of the United States hawking it to the hilt! Republican leaders seriously miscalculated in bringing this issue up when and how they did...and got a major league spanking for their trouble. This strategic blunder by the GOP leadership team is almost as embarrassing as their fumbling-bumbling efforts to break the unconstitutional Democrat filibusters against a half dozen conservative judicial nominees. Almost makes you nostalgic for the Trent Lott days. Who would have ever thought that an issue pushed by GOP leaders would allow hard-core liberals such as Sens. Ted Kennedy and Dick Durbin to sound CONSERVATIVE? It was liberal Democrats who ended up championing the Constitution, the Founding Fathers and state sovereignty in this debate...while it was conservative Republicans who were pushing a one-size-fits-all federal remedy for a local issue. Did we somehow get beamed into a parallel universe when nobody was looking? Folks, I know a lot of you don�t want to hear this...but this issue is now dead as a doornail. Sure some religious groups will continue pushing it and raising money off of it. And many politicians will continue to demagogue it and hope the issue will �strike gold� in the voting booth, but here�s the reality: While most people say they don�t approve of gay marriage, even more oppose a constitutional amendment...and this issue, for MOST people, is WAY down at the bottom of their list of priorities and concerns. If ever there was a chance to actually move this measure forward...yesterday was the day. And it backfired. Only if the make-up of the Senate changes DRAMATICALLY will the federal marriage amendment have a chance of passing in the near future...but that seems very unlikely. The issue appears to only have a slim chance of factoring into tight races in Alaska and South Dakota...and *might* factor into Pennsylvania (more on this another day). That�s FAR from changing the Senate sufficiently to overcome the Custer-like loss FMA received yesterday. Of course, there�s still a political wild card out there. The public and elected representatives *might* get really bent out of shape if the Supreme Court strikes down DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act. But with the way our legal system works, that possibility is YEARS away. House Republican leaders still says the want to weigh in on this issue...although, looking at the Senate vote yesterday, it would be wise for them to just bury the issue and focus on more traditionally conservative matters, such as cutting government and cutting taxes and keeping terrorists from cutting our throats. Or, at the very least, abandoning the effort to impose a national ban on gay marriage and focus on Rep. Ron Paul�s �We the People� act to strip the federal judiciary of powers to rule on many First Amendment cases in the first place, marriage being one such issue. I wouldn�t be betting the farm on it though. SURVEY SAYS! Is it time for Congress to drop further efforts to pass the federal marriage amendment? * Absolutely * Never * I�m a Kerry supporter...yes AND no Cast your vote by clicking the �Survey Says!� tab at www.citizenoutreach.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chuck Muth�s News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. 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