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03 November 2003
Federalist No.
03-45
Monday Brief
CONTENTS:
The
Foundation
Insight
ICTUS Imprimis
Family
Culture
Liberty
The Gipper
Opinion in Brief
Government
Re: The Left
Political
Futures
For the Record
Reader Comments
The Last Word
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THE FOUNDATION
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a
free
government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public
liberty." --John Adams
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INSIGHT
"If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable,
common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger,
pride
and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice and thought,
perhaps we must stand fast a little, even at the risk of being heroes." --Sir
Thomas More, as quoted in the movie "A Man For All Seasons"
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ICTUS IMPRIMIS
"I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the
great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy
Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth." --Martin
Luther
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FAMILY
"Marriage promotes the common good by building families
and raising children. Those of you who have children know that every day that
goes by is about selfless acts in nurturing children. But society is failing to
affirm the vital institution of marriage on any level--legal, societal, any
level -- and for this reason, marriage is under assault, with high rates of
divorce and out-of-wedlock births pummeling the traditional family. Given the
high stakes for society, it is important for public leaders to understand why
marriage is important and to communicate that to the American public. But many
politicians still do not understand what makes marriage worth defending.
...Looking at the benefits for children, there is a wealth of evidence that
children living in two-parent homes are better off than those in single-parent
families. They are 44 percent less likely to be physically abused, 47 percent
less likely to suffer physical neglect, 43 percent less likely to suffer
emotional neglect, and 55 percent less likely to suffer some form of child
abuse. Those living with their two married parents through age 16 have higher
grades, higher college aspirations, and better attendance records than children
in one-parent families or who experience family disruption. They also are half
as likely to drop out of high school. Furthermore, children in two-parent
homes
are less than half as likely as children in single-parent families to have
emotional or behavioral problems. And children who live with biological or
adoptive parents are about a third as likely as those living with single
parents
to use illegal drugs, tobacco, or alcohol. In addition, boys raised with two
parents are about half as likely to commit a crime leading to incarceration by
their early 30s. Clearly, the research shows that marriage helps children do
better on every level, and that is exactly why the government should encourage
healthy marriages. ...The evidence is overwhelming: We need to promote and
protect marriage to secure a healthier society. Therefore, the public policy
implications are clear: The government must promote marriage as a fundamental
societal benefit. President George W. Bush understands the necessity of
marriage
and has said he will support an amendment to the Constitution that defends
marriage against the threats from the cultural breakdown. Marriage must remain
the standard for family life in the society. Both for its intrinsic good and
for its benefits for society, we need marriage. And just as important, we need
public leaders to communicate to the American public why it is necessary."
--Sen. Rick Santorum
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CULTURE
"Thoughtful people have argued: Once you start
footnoting innocent human life, you are in trouble. Innocent life must not be
taken, unless (here come the footnotes) the subject is too small, sick or
depressed to complain. One footnote, people have argued, and the jig is up; in
the long run the accumulating footnotes will strangle humane society like algae
choking a pond." --David Gelernter
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LIBERTY
"I believe in the federalist system, which means when
you have difficult problems to sort out, they should do that at the local
level.
The one thing that is hard for a lot of conservatives to accept is that if you
legalize freedom, you also legalize the right of people to do dumb things
and to
offend people. And as long as those dumb things only hurt oneself, the
constitutionalist doesn't object." --Rep. Ron Paul
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THE GIPPER
"In the end, it all comes down to leadership. That is
what this country is looking for now. It was leadership here at home that gave
us strong American influence abroad and the collapse of imperial communism.
Great nations have responsibilities to lead and we should always be cautious of
those who would lower our profile because they might just wind up lowering our
flag. ...During our years together here, as you know, things were always on the
move. As soon as we accomplished one objective, we were quickly on to the next.
There was rarely time to celebrate victory or recall all the people who made it
possible. Well, one of the benefits of retirement is you get a chance to
reflect back over the years. Since Nancy and I have returned to California,
we've spent many occasions looking back at what we did here and remembering the
extraordinary people who worked so hard to make those great days possible. And
we've wondered if we would ever get the chance to thank them. You are those
people -- those great individuals who gave so much of yourselves -- who
sacrificed and supported us and helped us achieve everything we did.
...Until we
meet again, God bless you, my friends." --Ronald Reagan
(1994)
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OPINION IN BRIEF
"The message here is plain enough: The enlightened
elites must stamp out the Christian faith, lest it anger the hijackers of
Islam.
The Boykin incident has all the makings of a modern Dreyfus case, the
cashiering
of a decorated military officer to appease bigots who are offended by his
religious faith. The message will be loud and clear to the men in the ranks,
many of whom share Gen. Boykin's faith and who bear a burden the
chickenhawks in
Washington, who dodged America's earlier wars, cannot begin to understand.
Those
who wish the commander in chief well must pray that he understands, and
does his
duty." --Wesley Pruden
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GOVERNMENT
"Human Events
carried a special report on the 10 most outrageous government programs. . . .
The Legal Services Corp. headed the list, followed closely by the
McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act and the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931.
Rounding out the list were: Americorps, Endangered Species Act, No Child Left
Behind Act, Amtrak, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards, Title X
Family Planning Act, and the provision of welfare payments to non-citizens and
illegal aliens." --Walter Williams
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RE: THE LEFT
"Most of today's experts on the Constitution think the
document written in Philadelphia in 1787 was simply an early attempt at the
construction of what is called a liberal political order. All that the person
interpreting or applying that document has to do is to read up on the latest
academic understanding of liberal political theory and interpolate these
constitutional understandings into the constitutional text." --Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia, explaining the disordered politico-legal analysis
applied to constitutional "reasoning."
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POLITICAL FUTURES
"Even though he won [the] ... California gubernatorial
election handily I still think Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been smarter to
wait for next year and run for the United States Senate seat now occupied by
Barbara Boxer. Arnie's three years of governor are going to be pure hell. He
is faced with a legislature that is controled overwhelmingly liberal
Democratics. He's dreaming if he thinks they will want to work with him
when in
fact what they will try to do is obstruct him at every turn in order to make it
impossible for him to be re-elected. The odds are he will not be willing or
able to cut and trim the size of the bloated state government he has inherited
enough to prevent a major tax increase. And that will not endear him to those
California conservatives who deserted their principles in the hopes -- now
recognized -- of having a winner. In the long run this three-year term may
well
turn out to be the end of Schwarzegger's political career, not the beginning."
--Lyn Nofziger
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FOR THE RECORD
"Now it seems probable that it's not a question of
whether but of how what used to be the Anglican communion will break up. 'God
has once again brought an Easter out of Good Friday,' declared an exultant
Vicky
Gene Robinson after his election as Bishop of New Hampshire was approved by his
episcopal colleagues. It's not the Second Coming, but another Easter is nothing
to sniff at. Robinson, who left his wife and children in order to satisfy his
sexual needs, addressed the bishops in solemn assembly thusly: 'I believe that
God gave us the gift of sexuality so that we might express with our bodies the
love that's in our hearts. I just need to tell you that I experience that with
my partner. In the time that we have, I can't go into all the theology around
it, but what I can tell you is that in my relationship with my partner...I
experience just a little bit of the kind of never-ending, never-failing love
that God has for me. So it's sacramental for me.' I just need to tell you that
it's probably just as well that he didn't go into 'all the theology around
it'."
--Father Richard John Neuhaus
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SELECT READER COMMENTS
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)"If
Saddam had WMD, why, instead of sneaking them over to Syria, did he not use
them
against the invading infidels?"
Editor's Reply: First, because that would
have confirmed the stated rationale for the invasion -- Saddam is a tyrant, not
an idiot. Second, because the order to use such weapons has to pass between
several strata of his military hierarchy -- and Saddam's control of his
military, once the invasion began, fell apart very quickly. Thirdly, because
technically, he can't make good use of bio-weapons in that environment. And
forth, perhaps most importantly, for same reason Osama did not use 767s against
targets in the Iraqi desert. The "infidels" are on the continental U.S. -- and
that is precisely the reason we are attempting to keep the warfront on their
turf. As for all the armchair experts with opinions to the contrary, perhaps
they will be so fortunate as to be sitting somewhere other than the next urban
center targeted by al-Qa'ida.
"Vermont's population as of the 2000
census
was about 609,000, similar to Milwaukee and several other cities. Vermont's
non-white population was 1.6% and its black population was 1/2 of 1%.
Vermont is
a virtual melting pot of white liberals and cows. It is preposterous and
laughable for Dean to suggest he has the experience needed to take on the
Presidency of the United States of America, the world's defender of
freedom."
"Regarding Kennedy and company, and their efforts to regulate
'plastic guns,' that's another Leftist load of horse pucky!
The Federalist is right. There is no such
thing as a plastic gun. Some guns have plastic parts, but the barrel, chamber
and bolt are of metal. The reasons for metal are pressure, temperature and
erosion. When a cartridge is fired, pressures of 30,000 psi and greater are
produced. The burning powder also produces high temperatures. And the bullet
being slightly larger (a few thousands of an inch) than the inside diameter of
the barrel causes erosion when it travels down the barrel. There is no plastic
produced today that can stand up to the combination of pressure,
temperature and
erosion. In fact even the metal parts wear out over time. You will see cars
with
engine blocks, pistons and connecting rods of plastic before you see all
plastic
guns."
"The House of Representatives was shut down because a toy plastic
gun was detected by the x-ray scanner. So I guess if they can detect a toy
plastic gun there is no difficulty in detecting a real gun that has a metal
barrel, metal chamber and metal bolt along with some plastic parts. Could
it be
that Lautenberg and Kennedy are just looking for fodder to ingratiate their
gun-ban constituency? Can you say 'demo-gouge'?"
"I can find nowhere in
the Constitution where it says only political speech is protected. You
appear to
be arguing that the government has the right to regulate all speech that is not
political, just because you or somebody else doesn't like it."
Editor's
Reply: No, that is not our claim. We DO make the case that interstate commerce
can be regulated under the Constitution, and interstate e-commerce falls under
that regulation. Additionally, The Federalist owns our phone lines, our
computer
equipment and our fax machines. Unsolicited intrusion violates all three of
these modes of communication, costing us money. You have the right on your
property to sell whatever product or worldview you want. You do not have a
right
to come onto our property, into our homes and workplaces and distract our
families and staff with your message. Additionally, The Federalist, which is
advertising free and non-commercial, makes it very easy for anyone to
unsubscribe. Notably, we have very loyal subscribers.
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THE LAST WORD
"Here's something odd. The Barnes & Noble Web site
has its own list of 'Year-to-Date Bestseller'--the 'top 100 bestselling books
for Barnes & Noble stores and Barnes & Noble.com, for
January-September,
2003.' Hillary's book ("Living History") is nowhere to be found. The list only
goes to No. 100, so there's no telling where she ranks, but it is below the No.
95 book, which is called -- we kid you not -- 'Captain Underpants and the Big,
Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1'." --James Taranto
Lex et
Libertas -- Semper Vigilo, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for
the editors and staff. (Please pray on this day, and every day, for our
Patriot
Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty,
and for the families awaiting their safe return.)
-- PUBLIUS --
--- End Message ---
