-Caveat Lector- Remember:More people have died in Ted Kennedy's car than have died in United States Commercial Nuclear Power plant operations
visit my web site at http://www.info-quest.org My ICQ# is 79071904 See the Pledge of alleginace to the flag that the 9th circuit court of appeals doesn't want you to say. for a precise list of the powers of the Federal Government linkto: http://www.info-quest.org/Enumerated.html ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 12:42:45 -0400 From: The Federalist Patriot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: 04-36 Digest [fedpatlogo-html.gif] 10 September 2004 Federalist Patriot No. 04-36 Friday Digest JOIN US in the animating contest for freedom: Support The Federalist -- http://FederalistPatriot.US/support.asp *Subscriber Services: To change your e-mail address, select editions and formats, view recent archives, send comments or to unsubscribe, Link to -- http://FederalistPatriot.US/services.asp To defeat Kerry-Edwards in '04, Link to -- http://Kerry-04.org/ Visit the Patriot Shop: Link to -- http://PatriotShop.us/ _____----********O********----______ THE FOUNDATION "Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions." --George Washington _____----********O********----______ THE PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE Top of the fold -- Jihadistan: A clear and present danger... Thousands of events will recognize the third anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation by Islamist Jihadis. Most of these events are reflective -- appropriate vigils in schools and churches to remember 2,864 innocent non-combatant men, women and children -- our countrymen -- who were slaughtered on that Tuesday morning by 19 al-Qa'ida terrorists. Amid the solemn vigils, the Leftmedia will highlight planned protests that deposing Saddam Hussein was wrong and that the liberation of Iraq will motivate more terrorism than it blocked. Those protests are wrong -- dead wrong. Eleven years ago, our homeland became the front line in our war with Jihadistan, that borderless nation of Islamofascists with global reach, inhabited by al-Qa'ida and other Islamist Jihadis targeting the U.S. Their first assault on U.S. soil -- Sheik Ramzi Yousef's bombing of the WTC's north tower, 26 February 1993, was the opening salvo in our asymmetric war with this insidious enemy. But that campaign wouldn't get under way in earnest until their second attack some eight years later, a far more sophisticated and deadly attack that used commercial airliners as missiles to destroy both WTC towers, in addition to scoring a direct hit on the Pentagon. On that day, a brave group of passengers on UAL Flight 93 became the first Americans to confront al-Qa'ida Jihadis directly. "Let's roll," said a resolute Todd Beamer as he rallied his fellow Patriots to storm the cockpit and thwart a fourth attack -- likely on the Capitol -- at the cost of their own lives. The events of 9/11 necessitated a national-security policy shift from containment to preemption -- the most significant policy change since WWII. On 11 September 2001, President Bush told the nation -- and the world, "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." Two weeks later, he said, "This war on terrorism will be fought on a number of fronts, in different ways. The front lines will look different from the wars of the past." President Bush made clear that our campaign against terror defies any diplomatic resolution, and that Jihadistan can only be defeated in offensive, preemptive strikes. Three weeks after the 9/11 attack, American Armed Forces, under the able leadership of their Commander in Chief, took the fight to the enemy, effectively moving the warfront with Jihadistan from U.S. soil to the heart of the Middle East -- Afghanistan and Iraq. It should be noted that American forces and our allies are not, first and foremost, fighting for Iraq's freedom. They are fighting for critical U.S. national-security interests and those of the free world, which was at great peril as long as Saddam remained in power. Most important, they are endeavoring to keep the battle on Jihadi turf, not ours. In the last three years, other nations, from Indonesia to Kenya to Spain, have suffered severe blows at the blood-soaked hands of Jihadi terrorists. And this past weekend, we were reminded of the unfettered depravity of Islamist terrorism as nearly 400 Russians -- MOST OF THEM CHILDREN! -- were murdered in a Beslan school, bringing the toll to more than 500 Russian innocents killed by terrorists in the last two weeks. Inevitably, these most recent acts of barbarism bitterly evoked our own sense of loss after 9/11 -- the anguish on the faces of parents as they carried the still bodies of their children, and the blank stares of those learning that their loved ones were killed in simultaneous bombings of passenger jets. Russian President Vladimir Putin, responding to the slaughter in Beslan, says his nation will now -- belatedly -- proceed with a policy of preemption. On this, the third anniversary of 9/11, we note that the number of American Patriots in uniform who have died in the Iraqi theater passed the 1,000 mark -- predictably prompting political opportunists to launch frontal assaults on our policy in the region. Of course, such protests serve only to endanger our Armed Forces on that warfront by inviting additional strikes against them. Such protests belittle the ultimate sacrifice of those who stood in harm's way, and they imply that a policy of appeasement would end the murder of innocents. Unfortunately, reality dictates that Jihadis are a relentless enemy who will not rest until that beacon of liberty, the United States, is laid waste. These are very dangerous times, when the state sponsors of Islamofascist groups like al-Qa'ida are close to obtaining (or have already obtained) enough highly enriched uranium to kill millions of Americans in U.S. urban centers. Thus, the Bush administration's policy of preemption, as enforced by our Patriots in uniform, is an essential element in keeping nuclear terror from our homeland. We hope and pray that this critical policy and its enforcers are not compromised, as they most assuredly would be, by a change of administrations in November. According to The Patriot's well-placed military and intelligence sources, our ultimate objective in securing a free Iraq is to establish a forward-deployed presence in the Middle East -- a presence of personnel and equipment. We expect that the invitation to establish bases in Iraq will occur soon after a permanent democratically elected Iraqi government is established -- assuming George Bush is still in the White House. This base objective is critical, given that it will provide us standing right in the heart of Jihadistan, and an ability to project force to protect our national interests in the region without having to ramp up via sea and airlift. Our sources indicate that our military presence in this region will consist primarily of assets transferred from Germany. In the meantime, we hope our countrymen are not deceived into believing that Islamist terrorism is anything but a clear and present global danger -- one likely to remain so despite our best efforts in the foreseeable future. In retrospect, American Patriots will observe a moment of silence at 0846 on 9/11, a solemn moment to contemplate the attack against our countrymen three years ago. Additionally, we will honor, as we do every day, the sacrifice of our Patriot Armed Forces, who have given the last full measure in defense of our liberty, and those who remain in harm's way. In the words of Founding Patriot Samuel Adams, "Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, 'What should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands, which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!" Quote of the week... "[Beslan, Russia] is yet another grim reminder of the lengths to which terrorists will go to threaten the civilized world. We mourn the innocent lives that have been lost. We stand with the people of Russia. Our prayers are with those families. [This] is...the nature of the terrorists we face. That is why this country must be strong and diligent, never yielding." --George Bush On cross-examination... "There really are no free passes in this struggle, this war. No free passes for countries, no free passes for individuals." --Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ________________________________________________________________________________ To SUPPORT the voice of FREEDOM: Support The Patriot Fund -- http://FederalistPatriot.com/support.asp ________________________________________________________________________________ The BIG lie... "I call this course a catastrophic course that has cost us $200 billion because we went it alone, and we've paid an even more unbearable price in young American lives and the risks our soldiers take. [That's] $200 billion that we're not investing in education and health care, job creation here at home; $200 billion for going it alone in Iraq. ... The 'W' stands for wrong. Wrong choices, wrong judgment, wrong priorities, wrong direction for our country." --John F. Kerry, of whom we needn't remind anyone that the 'F' stands for flip-flop -- especially when it comes to voting for, then against, then for, then against the war with Iraq. >From the Bush campaign journal... George Bush's political handlers are readying themselves for salvos from the Kerry hacks specializing in the "politics of personal destruction." First up, Kerry's minions and their Leftmedia mouthpieces warmed up old charges about President Bush's service as a fighter pilot with the Texas ANG, and complained about missing records. "Bush did not serve honorably," protested Democrat Chairman Terry McAuliffe, who, as you may recall, launched the whole "Bush was AWOL" assault last March. McAuliffe, for his part, must not recall the serious charges about John Kerry's embellished military record that subsequently came from some 250 of his closest swift-boat colleagues. Said retired Major General Paul Weaver, a former head of the Air National Guard, "One of the downfalls back then was that not everyone wanted to be chief of staff of the Air Force. They just wanted to fly or maintain airplanes. So the record keeping could have been better." Gen. Weaver added that the "missing" documents may have never been filled out in the first place. We remind you, President Bush did not make his service as a fighter pilot in the National Guard the centerpiece of his campaign. But, for the record, George Bush joined the Texas ANG in 1968. He spent the next 80 weeks in flight training. After qualifying in the F-102, he racked up hundreds of hours in this fighter-interceptor in the years that followed. It is worth noting that sending the kin-folk of Americans elected to national office (like Rep. George H. W. Bush) to Vietnam, where they might become POWs, was frowned upon. In May of 1972, Mr. Bush asked for permission to work on a Senate campaign. Such requests were often granted notes Col. William Campenni, who flew with Bush in 1970 and 1971. "In 1972, there was an enormous glut of pilots. The Vietnam War was winding down, and the Air Force was putting pilots in desk jobs. In '72 or '73, if you were a pilot, active or Guard, and you had an obligation and wanted to get out, no problem. In fact, you were helping them solve their problem." Among the records McAuliffe is not parading in front of the media are Mr. Bush's annual evaluations. In 1970, the evaluation noted he "clearly stands out as a top notch fighter interceptor pilot" and is a "a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership." In 1971 he was "an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot" who "continually flies intercept missions with the unit to increase his proficiency even further." In 1972, the year McAuliffe claims Mr. Bush was AWOL, he is evaluated as "an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer." McAuliffe did manage to find, and make available to CBS's "60 Minutes," records that contradict the evaluations above. Unfortunately for McAuliffe, and Dan Rather, those "newfound" records contain one peculiarity that none of the forensic experts we talked with can explain: superscripts -- characters that are native only to current computer word processing programs, not 1970 vintage typewriters. Neither McAuliffe nor Rather have returned our calls with an explanation for the superscripts. Despite the fact that President Bush received an Honorable Discharge in 1973, McAuliffe, who has never served his country in any uniform, insists the AWOL accusation is "going to be on the table from now until November 2nd," insuring that the Swiftees will open up an even wider lead for President Bush in the next seven weeks. Of course, we will remind Mr. McAuliffe for the rest of his natural life that George Bush's greatest military achievement is his tenure as Commander in Chief! Those records are intact! Memo to TMac: Now that you've recalled fellow Clintonistas Joe Lockhart, Paul Begala and James Carville in an effort to salvage the Kerry campaign, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate your own "leadership" at the DNC. (Wait, what on earth are we saying? We love you Terry!) Oh, as for Clinton's help with your campaign, he will be unavailable for a few extra days as he postponed his surgery until Monday so his adoring media could focus on his recovery rather than the Republican Convention and hurricanes. And, of equal merit, gossip columnist and professional smear-artist Kitty Kelly has been enlisted by the Demo-lition crew to go after President Bush. Ms. Kelly charges in a new book that George and Laura Bush were heavy drug users. The book was ignored by most of the Leftmedia, including rags like Time and Newsweek, which had serious reservations about Kelly's "sources." But NBC's Today Show, which never misses an opportunity to savage the President, will disgrace itself by hosting the sleaze-peddling Kelly for not one, but three days next week. (Here it should be noted that the Today Show's Leftist trucklings, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric, have yet to interview a single Swiftee.) >From the JFK DEMO-lition derby... In 1992, from the floor of the Senate, John Kerry said, "If service or non-service in the [Vietnam] war is to become a test of qualification for high office...our nation would never recover from the divisions created by that war." Unfortunately, Kerry chose to make his abbreviated tour in Vietnam the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, and he is still on the defensive regarding his erroneously awarded medals for embellished heroics. The Navy is now investigating Kerry's Silver Star with that mysterious "combat V," which never accompanies that award. As you may recall, in 1996, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda committed suicide amid allegations that he wasn't entitled to the two small "combat V" clips among his medals. After his death, it was discovered that the 1965 Navy manual governing such decorations did, in fact, authorize the display of these clips. At the time of Boorda's death, John Kerry found an open mike and protested, "Is it wrong? Yes, it is very wrong. Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes.... The military is a rigorous culture that places a high premium on battlefield accomplishment. In a sense, there's nothing that says more about your career than when you fought, where you fought and how you fought. If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be, there is a major confrontation with value and self-esteem and your sense of how others view you. When you are the chief of them all, it has to weigh even more heavily." "Sufficient to question his leadership position? The answer is yes.... If you wind up being less than what you're pretending to be...." Fellow Patriots, read these lines very carefully, for they represent much more than merely bald-faced hypocrisy. If Senator John F. Kerry is to be taken at his word, then he is, indeed, as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have asserted, unfit for command. He is certainly less than what he is pretending to be. On the subject of pretenders with phony war decorations, Rear Admiral William Schachte, USN (Ret.), says he has had about all he can take of Kerry's faux Purple Hearts. In a statement, Adm. Schachte clears up the question of Kerry's first unearned Purple Heart: "Lt. (jg) Kerry requested that he be put in for a Purple Heart as a result of a small piece of shrapnel removed from his arm that he attributed to the just-completed mission. I advised Lt. Cmdr. Hibbard that I could not support the request because there was no hostile fire. The shrapnel must have been a fragment from the M-79 that struck Lt. (jg) Kerry, because he had fired the M-79 too close to our boat. Lt. Cmdr. Hibbard denied Lt. (jg) Kerry's request. Lt. (jg) Kerry detached our division a few days later to be reassigned to another division. I departed Vietnam approximately three weeks later, and Lt. Cmdr. Hibbard followed shortly thereafter. It was not until years later that I was surprised to learn that Lt. (jg) Kerry had been awarded a Purple Heart for this night." (To read RADM Schachte's full statement, link to -- http://kerry-04.org/war/schachte.php ) The news this week was not all bad for Kerry's embellished war record, however. Former Viet Cong regulars weighed in on his behalf from Ho Chi Minh City. Duong Hoang Sinh insists, "Kerry served in Vietnam and he was awarded the medal for his bravery." Nguyen Van Khoai complained of the flap over Kerry's anti-war actions, "I think it's American politics." On the other hand, Dexter Lehtinen is among an ever-growing contingent of POWs who were being tortured by Viet Cong while Kerry was busy accusing American military personnel of "war-crimes." Said Mr. Lehtinen this week, "In 1971, I awakened after three days of unconsciousness aboard a hospital ship off the coast of Vietnam. I could not see, my jaws were wired shut, and my left cheekbone was missing, a gaping hole in its place. Later, while still in that condition at St. Albans Naval Hospital, one of my earliest recollections was hearing of John Kerry's testimony. ... Eighteen months later I was discharged from the hospital, the wounds inflicted by the enemy fully healed. But more than 30 years later, the wounds inflicted by John Kerry continue to bring pain to scores of Vietnam veterans. Those wounds, the bearing of false witness against me and a generation of courageous young Americans who fought and died in Vietnam are much more serious than any wound warranting a Purple Heart." Memo to John: You might want to check out the just-released documentary, Stolen Honor [Link to -- http://www.stolenhonor.com/documentary/samples.asp] The film documents the sentiments of American POWs in Vietnam who were being subjected to all manner of indignity while you were busy calling then "war criminals" and hobnobbing you're your cadre of communists. One excerpt: "[Kerry] committed an act of treason. He lied, he besmirched our name and he did it for self-interest. And now he wants us to forget." --Former POW George (Bud) Day. Now John, Even Hanoi Jane Fonda apologized -- how about you? Publisher's Note: On 30 September, our petition calling for John Kerry's prosecution and disqualification from public office for "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" in time of war, will be delivered to Senate President Richard Cheney, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Attorney General John Ashcroft. Regardless of the outcome of Kerry's campaign for president, as John Kerry made his war record the centerpiece of his campaign, we intend to make it the centerpiece of this call for his prosecution and disqualification for any public office. Please join 150,000 fellow Patriots who have already signed the petition calling for Kerry's prosecution. Link to -- http://www.PatriotPetitions.US/Kerry (If you don't have Web access, please send a blank e-mail to: Each e-mail sent to this address will be counted as one signature for the petition -- no duplicates are counted.) In other news from the Political Front... Feinstein-Schumer's so-called "assault weapons" ban, one more of the Left's incremental encroachments on the Second Amendment, is set to expire Monday, and that is cause for celebration! The Second Amendment is "the palladium of the liberties of the Republic," as noted by Justice Joseph Story (who was appointed to the High Court by our Constitution's principal author, James Madison). "I think the will of the American people is consistent with letting it expire, so it will expire," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay dismissed the ban as "a feel-good piece of legislation," adding flatly, "It will expire Monday, and that's that." Indeed, the National Institute of Justice commissioned an independent study that concluded, "We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence." Let it die! On the heels of Mark Alexander's Op-Ed, "On Feinstein-Schumer gun-control -- just say 'Nay'!" [http://FederalistPatriot.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=270] many of our readers have inquired about John Kerry's voting record on Second Amendment issues. Kerry, who likes to pose in yuppie hunting attire with shotgun and poodle, has a long record of opposition to the Second Amendment. He is, by any measure, the most anti-gun-ownership presidential nominee in U.S. history. Since being elected to the Senate in 1984, Kerry has cast 59 votes on Second Amendment issues. Except for four cast with qualification, all of Kerry's votes oppose Second Amendment's assurance of the right to keep and bear arms. In this respect, he shadows his hero, Ted Kennedy. Kerry co-sponsors S. 1431 banning all semi-automatic shotgun and all detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifles. He has voted on nine gun bans, including Feinstein-Schumer. He voted to ban most center-fire rifle ammunition, including those rounds most commonly used by target shooters and hunters. He voted twice to eliminate the Civilian Marksmanship Program. He voted to close 1,181,000 acres of California's Mojave Desert to hunting. More significantly, he voted against the FOPA, a bill designed specifically to protect constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners, and he voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act protecting gun manufacturers from the legal-lotto lawsuits launched to bankrupt the industry. Needless to say, he is not among the 300-member Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus. ________________________________________________________________________________ There are only SEVEN weeks left before the election, but there is still time to get your high-quality "Flush the Johns!" and "I'm not FONDA Kerry" stickers at cost with free shipping. You can buy enough to post them all over, or give them away to friends and associates. There are other great items at our Patriot Shop as well. Link to -- http://patriotshop.us/catalog/index.php ________________________________________________________________________________ This week's "Alpha Jackass" award: "I say again: Where are the deeds? Where is the substance in our faith? Four years ago, George Bush came to office calling himself a 'compassionate conservative.' Well, in the story of the Good Samaritan we are told of two men who pass by or cross to the other side of the street when they come upon a robbed and beaten man. They felt compassion, but there were no deeds. Then the Good Samaritan gave both his heart and his help. It is clear: For four years, George W. Bush may have talked about compassion, but he's walked right by. He's seen people in need, but he's crossed over to the other side of the street." --John Kerry on George Bush's walk in faith. (To see which side of the street Kerry lives on, link to -- http://kerry-04.org/about/homes.php ) Publisher's Note: John Kerry said, "I am determined to reach out across party lines," and we thought it sounded like a good idea. Consequently, we in our humble shop developed our own website dedicated to John Kerry -- http://kerry-04.org/ -- a website so utterly replete with truth-telling that we feel it's the Internet's most comprehensive resource on THE REAL JFK. Kerry-04.org is updated constantly, and it features hundreds of great photos of "The Johns." This week's "Braying Jackass" award: "It's a particular kind of religiosity. It's the American version of the same fundamentalist impulse that we see in Saudi Arabia, in Kashmir.... You don't hear very much from them about the Sermon on the Mount, you don't hear very much about the teachings of Jesus on giving to the poor, or the beatitudes. It's the vengeance, the brimstone." --Divinity school dropout Albert Arnold Gore, on George Bush's faith. (While Clinton is hospitalized, Gore is the acting former president.) >From the "Non Compos Mentis" Files... A collection of charming declarations by Maria Teresa Thiersten Simoes-Ferreira Heinz Kerry: "Only an idiot wouldn't like this [healthcare proposal of John Kerry]. Of course, there are idiots. ... The common man doesn't look at me as some rich witch. I talk about what I see. It has always been so. You judge people not by their pocketbook but by their actions. Walk the walk." Ah, the embodiment of humility, dignity and grace. News from the Swamp... There are two sure signs that indicate the end of summer. One is the empty beaches and campgrounds. The other is the stampede back to the Swamp, where our elected representatives rush back into the final weeks of the Congressional session to reconcile why they put off until tomorrow what they should have done yesterday. Awaiting their return, the 108th Congress will find a slew of politically and legislatively important bills begging for attention. The Republican Study Committee has come out with a list of 210 bills passed by the House of Representatives but languishing in the Senate's "inbox." The list contains such serious pieces of legislation as the Human Cloning Prohibition Act (H.R. 534), the Continuity in Representation Act (H.R. 2844), the Military Housing Improvement Act (H.R. 4879), the North Korean Human Rights Act (H.R. 4011), the Military Construction Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (H.R. 4837), the Marriage Protection Act (H.R. 3313), and the Commercial Aviation MANPADS Defense Act (H.R. 4056). Other items on the to-do list that needing to be addressed before the proposed 01 October adjournment (which has already been pushed back once) include passing the remaining 12 appropriations bills to keep the government flush into the new fiscal year, beginning 01 October. The $300-billion-plus multi-year transportation bill has been held up longer than most legislators would care to admit, with the threat of a presidential veto if it comes in too high. Extensions for middle-class tax cuts also have to be voted on. Republicans want to deliver these as a victory to President Bush before the election and may very well do so, since opponents run the risk of being framed as anti-middle-class tax relief -- and rightly so. But tax relief isn't the only issue where Republicans plan on holding Demo feet to the fire. In the House and Senate, plans are under way to push for votes on the constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman, as well as an amendment against flag desecration, and laws shoring up the Pledge of Allegiance against judicial attack. This tactic, meant to smoke out the Left during election season, is sure to make things interesting over the coming weeks. How these votes unfold could affect who returns to the Swamp after the elections. Whether or not any of the bills now languishing in D.C. will ever see the light of day, however, is another story. On the Homeland Security front... Also topping the To-Do lists of senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman is a proposal essentially to rubber-stamp the 41 recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. With little chance that all the changes will survive Congressional scrutiny, the establishment of a counter-terrorism center and the appointment of a National Intelligence Director are nevertheless the least of what is expected before 02 November. Voters unhappy with the low output of this Congress are demanding action in light of the unflattering findings of the July report. Meanwhile, opinions on America's need to tune up our intelligence machine vary widely, from complete overhaul to thorough institutional reform, depending on whom you talk to and on which day. In any case, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's words to the Senate Armed Services Committee seem prescient: "In pursuit of strengthening our nation's intelligence capabilities, I would offer one cautionary note. It's important that we move with all deliberate speed. We need to remember that we are considering these important matters, however, while we are waging a war. If we move unwisely and get it wrong, the penalty would be great. ... I doubt that we should think of intelligence reform being completed at a single stroke." For The Patriot's own concise analysis of the 9/11 Commission Report, link to -- http://federalistpatriot.us/papers/04-36_paper.asp >From the "Department of Military Readiness"... Ever since the hordes of Demo-funded lawyers swept into the state of Florida to contest the bogus issue of military absentee-ballot postmarking, politicos on both sides have learned these veterans might indeed be essential swing votes once again. (Perhaps military votes will actually be counted in the upcoming election.) The top priority of every military family right now must be the continued well-being of their military loved ones. That said, improved body armor, Humvee armor, IED detection equipment, increased training opportunities and the like will do more to improve family morale than any two dozen quality-of-life initiatives could hope to. Without doubt the Bush administration and Congress have greatly improved military pay and benefits. One issue that needs to be tackled, however, is the unfortunate twist in tax law that actually hurts some of the junior personnel assigned to combat zones. By moving them into lower income tax brackets through well-intentioned combat provisions, as many as 10,000 troops actually lost money because they were no longer eligible for other federal programs and tax breaks such as the earned-income tax credit and certain child credits. Also, the Bush administration begrudgingly enacted a veterans' provision that finally, but only partially, eliminated the disability offset for retired pay. Here, it's our opinion that the administration must complete the circle and bring all disabled veterans into equity and end the offset entirely. Wouldn't it be nice if we had a military that didn't have to live on welfare? >From the "Department of Military Correctness"... The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is at it again -- this time regarding veterans' preference in hiring. Title 5 U.S.C. has long contained guidelines to ensure fair and equitable treatment of veterans in federal employment. In 1998, Congress enacted the Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) to simplify the procedure for veterans seeking assistance in that regard. However, in the rush to secure the nation's transportation networks following 9/11, Congress also enacted the Aviation Transportation Security Act (ATSA), PL 107-71. According to a recent Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) decision involving scores of veterans, the public law apparently requires the TSA to fulfill certain veteran-protection provisions of Title 5, but it does not make the TSA subject to Board jurisdiction! Apparently, many veterans are currently being denied what should be routine, well-established veterans' preference in TSA hiring decisions. Sadder still is that barring an expensive appeal, these veterans may have no legal recourse. This is beginning to take on a distinctly unconstitutional aroma, or as the Supreme Court has said in similar cases, there can be no "right without a remedy." Legal mumbo jumbo aside, one might think the TSA would actively seek out military veterans -- men and women of proven loyalty and character, many of whom possess current skill sets, security clearances, and training essential to the TSA mission. Secretary Ridge and Congress need to rethink this one; it ought to be a no-brainer. A final note on this inanity: When veterans contact the Department of Labor for assistance with a TSA veteran's discrimination case, they are routinely and futilely directed to the MSPB as their only avenue for appeal. Here is an instance where Senator McCain could use his powerful position and widespread media appeal to make a real difference for our veterans. Judicial Benchmarks... >From the Leftjudiciary, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf, of Lincoln, Nebraska, makes it a troika. All three of the judges ruling on the Partial Birth Abortion Ban have now declared it unconstitutional (earlier rulings were from San Francisco and New York), with (dumm)Kopf having found the law "unreasonable and not supported by substantial evidence." This judge relied heavily on the argument that bans on the child-killing procedure should contain exceptions for the mother's "health." Kopf specifically rejected the findings of Congress that demonstrated the barbaric procedure is never medically necessary. Can you say, "usurpation"? The Justice Department will likely appeal all three rulings. >From the "Village Academic Curriculum" File... In the Tar Heel State, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Alliance Defense Fund have teamed up to sue the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for violating the rights of Alpha Iota Omega, a Christian fraternity denied recognition by UNC because the fraternity wanted to remain a Christian group. UNC denied AIO official recognition, claiming that UNC's "diversity" policies trump AIO's requirement that members be Christians. Ah, that convoluted thinking of the leftist academy, wherein UNC claims that its rules supersede the Constitution. FIRE and ADF are quite correctly arguing that UNC is violating the group's rights to freedom of association, freedom of speech, and the free exercise of religion. >From the "Regulatory Commissars" File... The federal Graham-Leach-Bliley ("GLB" not to be confused with Gay, Lesbian and Bi-sexual) Act of 1999 requires financial institutions to notify customers of how they collect, use, and share customer information at the beginning of the customer relationship. Annual notices of the same information are also required. Yet virtually no one reads the notices, which themselves are notoriously unclear. Under the federal GLB, financial institutions must provide customers with the opportunity to opt out of information-sharing with nonaffiliated third parties not within one of GLB's exceptions. Making a complex jumble of a relatively unnecessary portion of GLB pertaining to privacy, several states passed their own GLBs (which are sometimes restricted to banking and investment institutions, while others were expanded to include the insurance industry), with a few states opting for a competing "opt in" method. Whenever industries are forced to engage in complex legal analysis to decide which laws and regulatory demands must be followed merely to conduct what was once a natural business function, customers pay higher fees and costs. And so, thanks to Congress and the bureaucracies that issued complicated and confused privacy regulations, we replaced a functional system that only needed a few additional protections with one which is costly and ineffectual. Congress could have provided meaningful privacy protection but instead created an attorney-full-employment-protection act. In business/economic news... The last, greatest hope for permanent Democrat control of the United States is to get the backbone of America addicted to the government handout as if it were cocaine. Here, John Kerry has been cynically exploiting the economy to hook the biggest fish of all for the welfare-dependency aquarium: the middle class. Kerry, desperate to win the election, is trying to lure voters with "free" government services like health care, child care and college tuition to tens of millions of working-class Americans. Exploiting class envy, Kerry will punish the "wealthy" with confiscatory taxation to pay for the programs. But these taxes will deeply gouge the wealth of the working-class American, too. Thus, to be seduced by Kerry's candy is to give up our economic freedom. Democracy and free-market capitalism go hand in hand. The democratic free market allows the individual to make his own choices and reap the benefits according to his abilities and ambitions. To combat Kerry's socialist vision for America, Bush has spoken of "an ownership society," promoted by polices that expand home ownership, property ownership, stock ownership and the creation of new business. Bush's goal is to reach all strata of American society, especially those currently trapped in the vicious cycle of welfare dependency, to become the owners of wealth. The result: Americans become less dependent on government. No right-thinking person questions our responsibility to help those in real need. For the rest of us, taking responsibility for ourselves is our privilege and duty. It's risky, but Americans are up to the task. For those who aren't, we offer this imperative: "Don't be economic girlie-men!" Around the world... Thursday, Secretary of State Colin Powell officially classified the mass murders in Sudan as genocide. "We concluded that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility and genocide may still be occurring," Powell said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Unfortunately, the most that may come out of this is a bit more sternness from the UN in the form of sanctions. And sanctions have always worked in the past, right? And last... The Patriots made themselves heard in New England last night, and we're not just talking about the defending Super Bowl champions. With minutes to go in last night's hard-fought NFL season-opener from Foxboro, Massachusetts, the Patriots fumbled a punt, putting their opponents, the Indianapolis Colts, in great position to score. But then the Colts fumbled the ball right back to the Patriots, prompting ABC broadcaster John Madden to remark, "That's what's called a flip-flop" to which his broadcast partner Al Michaels replied, "Well, we're in the right state for that." Lex et Libertas -- Semper Vigilo, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for the editors and staff. 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