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05 January 2004
Federalist No.
04-01
Monday Brief
CONTENTS:
The
Foundation
Insight
ICTUS
Imprimis
Family
Operation Shield of Strength
Liberty
The
Gipper
Government
Re:
The Left
Political Futures
For the
Record
Reader
Comments
The Last Word
2004 PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
It is with humble gratitude that I extend thanks on behalf of our entire
editorial staff to each of you who supported us in so many ways this past year
-- recommending The Federalist to family,
friends and associates; providing leads and useful insights regarding our news,
policy and opinion coverage; sending our staff notes of encouragement -- just to
name a few ways you have helped us meet our mission objectives. Additionally,
thank you to everyone who supported The
Federalist 2003 Patriot Sustaining Fund. We met our 2003 budget and
entered the New Year with that burden behind us! As always, it is an honor and
privilege to serve you as editor and publisher of The
Federalist! --Mark Alexander
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THE FOUNDATION
"In selecting men for office, let principle be your
guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate -- look
to his character...." --Noah Webster
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INSIGHT
"Exceeding the bounds of authority is no more a right in
a great than in a petty officer, no more justifiable in a king than in a
constable; but is so much the worse in him, in that he has more trust put in
him, has already a much greater share than the rest of his brethren, and is
supposed from the advantages of his education, employment, and counsellors, to
be more knowing in the measures of right and wrong." --John
Locke
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ICTUS IMPRIMIS
"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly
dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far
as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and
instead of God, I shall be moving towards
the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first
things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased." --C. S.
Lewis
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FAMILY
"Being a role model is the most powerful form of
educating. Youngsters need good role models more than they need critics. It is
one of a parent's greatest responsibilities and opportunities. Too often
fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making living they forget to
make a life." --John Wooden, former UCLA Basketball Coach
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OPERATION SHIELD OF STRENGTH
Many of our readers saw the Fox News story on Shields of
Strength last Wednesday. We currently have more requests than we have sponsors.
The Federalist will continue to conduct
Operation Shields of Strength as long as sponsors are willing to support this
project. Complete information about OpSoS is on our website --
http://federalist.com/news/sos.asp ______----********O********----______
LIBERTY
"The real story of this last year is not Saddam, but
something deeper, symbolized by the bizarre persistence of the 'antiwar'
movement even after the war was over. For a significant chunk of the British
establishment and for most of the governing class on the Continent, if it's a
choice between an America-led West or no West at all they'll take the latter.
That's the trend to watch in the year ahead." --Mark Steyn
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THE GIPPER
"Some people, even in my own country, look at the riot
of experiment that is the free market and see only waste. What of all the
entrepreneurs that fail? Well, many do, particularly the successful ones; often
several times. And if you ask them the secret of their success, they'll tell
you it's all that they learned in their struggles along the way; yes, it's what
they learned from failing. Like an athlete in competition or a scholar in
pursuit of the truth, experience is the greatest teacher. And that's why it's
so hard for government planners, no matter how sophisticated, to ever substitute
for millions of individuals working night and day to make their dreams come
true." --Ronald Reagan
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GOVERNMENT
"We have a species of parasites in America -- some call
them Democrats, who think that America's greatness comes from government.
America's true greatness was brought about by the dynamic of a free people
interacting privately with one another while adhering to a system of laws
crafted to preserve and protect basic individual rights. These laws protect the
right of the individual to act in his own best interests so long as he respects
the rights of others to do the same. Big government is a threat to those
rights, and thus far George Bush has done absolutely nothing to fight the growth
of government. ... Terrorists can destroy infrastructure and take innocent
lives. Social Security and Medicare could destroy an economy.... Medicare and
Social Security are headed towards bankruptcy. With every single day that
passes we have more people receiving those benefits and fewer people working and
paying taxes to fund those benefits. By the year 2020, those two budget items
alone will account for 80 percent of all federal spending. That's about 16 years
from now.... When taxes triple to fund these two entitlement programs, where do
our citizens and businesses have to go to escape? The threat here is as real as
the threat of terrorism, and it's time for Bush to apply some of the same
leadership qualities he's shown in the war on terror in a war against runaway
entitlements." --Neal Boortz
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RE: THE LEFT
"I believe the game plan is this: The Democrats will
spend the next 11 months ruefully admitting that it's going to be a 50-state
landslide for Bush. Republicans will engage in their normal partisan
cheerleading, and everyone will seem to be agreed that Bush is going to win a
50-state landslide. Then, if the final tally is anything short of that -- if
it's a 40-state landslide for Bush -- the New York
Times will be able to crow about Bush's poor showing and run
headlines like: 'Americans Still Deeply Divided on War.'" --Ann Coulter
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POLITICAL FUTURES
"Democrats are hoping now that 2004 will be a repeat of
the election of 1992. But a review of the historical record suggests that the
closest parallels to next year's ballot are Richard Nixon's re-election in 1972,
when he trounced ultraliberal George McGovern, and Reagan's impressive win over
another unabashed liberal, Walter Mondale, in 1984. On both occasions, the
country was newly emerged from a recession, and confidence in the economy was
growing. ... As the current economic and stock market revival continues to vote
for Bush, it seems near certain that he will win in a landslide. Huge progress
in the war against terrorism will add to his totals, with the GOP picking up
three to four seats in the Senate and 10 to 12 in the House. And Bush will make
it seven out of 10 presidents since the end of WWII who rode a good economy back
to the Oval Office." --Larry Kudlow
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FOR THE RECORD
"John Kerry emphasized...that now that Hussein was
captured, the time was right to internationalize the U.S. mission there.
(Please don't let British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister Jose
Maria Aznar, or Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi know that a sitting U.S.
senator, not known to be on medication, is publicly complaining that the mission
isn't 'internationalized' -- the diplomatic repercussions of an American leader
ignoring their contributions and sacrifices could be severe.) Of course,
American political candidates who stake out a 'this will never work, so stop
trying' stance are is in a tough position once the impossible is proved
possible. But in the early morning hours...they found a solution. First,
release a short statement saluting the troops. The second step is to avoid any
sense of backtracking or reconsideration of the candidate's previous position.
In fact, the subtext of the statement should infer that the candidate had been
urging Paul Bremer, Gen. John Abizaid, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to look in a
spider hole at a farm in the town of Ad Dwara all along." --Jim Geraghty
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SELECT READER COMMENTS
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)"The first shipment of tags from Operation Shield of Strength
(4,000) arrived in Iraq today. An Army chaplain here is meeting with 42 Army
Chaplains tomorrow morning, and he will distribute the 2000+ additional Shields
to those guys, and they will have no problems getting them in to the hands of
their troops. I'm handing Shields to humvee's full of Army troops going out on
a convoy. I told them everyone is praying for them; they are the guys that have
it the worst over here, out on the streets of Baghdad. All of our fallen
warriors come through our flightline almost on a daily basis, so tell everyone
to keep praying." (From an Air Force officer who is a distributor for Operation
Shield of Strength.)
"Your Christ-Mass special edition ranks with the
great writings of our Founding Fathers. I was thrilled to my roots. I only wish
every school child in the U.S. of A. could have this read and explained in
detail. Then all would understand the demonic hatred of this nation from within
and without. And why we are so great and prosperous. God bless and Merry Christ
Mass from the bottom of my heart. Keep up the valuable work."
"Happy
Kwanzaa! As The Federalist would say, "I am shocked -- SHOCKED -- that" your
fine journal did not run a special edition for Kwanzaa, the six-day celebration
of Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles of African culture) observed from December
26 to January 1. Why even George Bush offered a proclamation in support of its
observance. ;-)"
Editor's Reply: Once again, we missed Kwanzaa -- that
farce fabricated by Marxist sociopath Ron Karenga in 1966. Did we mention that
Kwanzaa's patron saint was convicted for torturing two black women -- he
stripped them naked, then whipped them with electric line cords, beat them with
a karate baton and then finished by hot-branding them. Oh, but happy Kwanzaa --
really!
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The
Federalist. It's absolutely great. I thoroughly enjoy reading it
and it provides outstanding reference information. I now forward
The Federalist to many friends. As a
retired USA LtCol, I now work in a very liberal environment (teaching), and your
articles find their way to some of our left-wing proponents such as our school's
journalism teacher. I've made her the target of my "educate the educators"
campaign. Your articles are informative, witty, and useful for countering the
anti-Christian bias we frequently deal with. Please keep it up."
"Just a
quick note to thank you and all the staff of
The
Federalist for all you are doing to encourage and enlighten. I cannot
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Federalist. I also can't think of a better way to spend $25, as I have done, to
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put my money where my praise is. Thank you again!"
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thank you note from Mr. Alexander, but it is I who must thank-you. I fear there
are many in this country who would prefer you not send your messages out to the
'common folk' such as myself. You are truly a beacon of freedom and common
sense. If you and others like you are stifled I am afraid life as we once knew
it will be entirely finished. Press on and be ever vigilante!"
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student in a doctoral program (public administration), I have to deal with
far-left liberalism on a daily basis, to the point that I've been threatened
with failure for expressing my 'out-of-date' conservative views.
The Federalist provides a refuge from this
and a powerful source of arguments with which to arm myself. Thank you for
'being there.' Keep up the good work."
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THE LAST WORD
"A young woman was about to finish her first year of
college. She considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, but her father
was a staunch Republican. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs
and his opposition to high taxes and welfare programs. He stopped her and asked
how she was doing in school. She answered that she had a 4.0 GPA, but it was
really tough. She had to study all the time and never had time to go out and
party. She didn't have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college
friends because of spending all her time studying. On top of that, the part-time
job her father insisted she keep left absolutely no time for anything else. He
asked, 'How is your friend Mary?' She replied that Mary was barely getting by.
She had a 2.0 GPA, never studied, but was very popular on campus, didn't have a
job, and went to all the parties. She was always complaining about not having
any money, but didn't want to work. Why, she often didn't show up for classes
because she was hung over. Dad then asked his daughter why she didn't go to the
Dean's office and request that 1.0 be taken off her 4.0 and given it to her
friend who only had a 2.0. That way they would both have a respectable 3.0 GPA.
Then, she could also give her friend half the money she'd earned from her job so
that her friend would no longer be broke. The daughter angrily fired back, 'That
wouldn't be fair. I worked really hard for my grades and money, and Mary just
loafs. Why should her laziness and irresponsibility be rewarded with half of
what I've worked for?' The father slowly smiled and said, 'Welcome to the
Republican Party'." --Unattributed
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 ---
