Patriotism

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - UN - Warner Todd Huston

Celebrating America’s Decline, ‘Waving Goodbye’ To The U.S.A.

January 31, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Through the pessimistically, penumbrous pen of Parag Khanna, the New York Times has declared that the U.S.A. is finished. Yes, we have lost our “global hegemony” and we will find that by 2016, “America’s standing in the world remains in steady decline.” Boy, it looks bad the for the good ‘ol U.S. of A., as far as the Times is concerned. My guess is that the news of our demise is being greatly exaggerated.

So, who is this Parag Khanna to whom the Times has given all this space? Well, he’s a “senior research fellow in the American Strategy Program of the New America Foundation” and guess who this organization is linked with? You guessed it: George Soros. Jonathan Soros, son of George Soros is one of those listed on the “Leadership council.” In fact, the larger portion of the Board members and other associates are journalists and left leaning activists. With a few token and so-called right leaning folks — like Francis Fukuyama and Christine Todd Whitman, neither of whom are conservatives — the Board of directors also sports such well-known names as the leftie Google king Eric Schmidt and Bernard L. Schwartz, the man responsible for transferring restricted technology to China during Clinton’s lamentable years in office.

No wonder Khanna thinks the U.S.A. is finished, look who he hangs out with!

Continue reading “Celebrating America’s Decline, ‘Waving Goodbye’ To The U.S.A.”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Elections - GOP - History - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

All Done but the Moulderin’

January 22, 2008 by

What for Federalism With Thompson’s Loss?

-By Warner Todd Huston

The question many of us dreaded is upon us. Fred Thompson has shown he cannot capture enough primary victories in his race for the White House. This brings us to a seminal question; what does Fred Thompson’s withdrawing from the race — or his irrelevancy to it — mean for the conservative cause? Even more specifically, what does it mean for the concept of Federalism? There is only one answer possible and it is one none of us want to hear. It means that, for the foreseeable future and for all intents and purposes the concept of Federalism in particular and the conservative agenda in general are more or less back burner issues in Washington D.C.

Now, I am not saying that no conservative issues will ever again win the day in D.C. I am also not saying that we conservatives should pack our bags and go home. Staying in the fight is absolutely a must for sure. But winning in the big game by taking the White House, or leading the cause from out in front is seemingly out of the question for now. Unfortunately, we are nearly back to a similar situation as the conservative movement was in1979, a day when conservatism was barely able to gather enough forces to win at small issues in Congress and in the national debate. Only, this time, there will be no Ronald Reagan poised to lead the charge.

Fred Thompson was the last chance we will see for a very long time for a president that is a traditional, conservative, principled American presidential candidate. We will see from this point on candidates who are far more socialist than conservative with their base ideological philosophy. Sure they will pretend at being conservative, but they will not be and their records will prove it.

Candidates like the center, left Mitt Romney and Rudly Giuliani will be the norm for the GOP because it will be assumed both by pundits and political campaign operatives that the strictly conservative candidate is doomed to lose. No one of Reagan’s basic small government principles will be able to run for the White House for a very long time with Thompson’s bowing out.
Continue reading “All Done but the Moulderin’”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Elections - GOP - Military - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

12 Veterans For Victory Running For Congress

January 19, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Day in and day out the Democrat Party makes its bid for defeat in Iraq and the war on Terrorism. Many of us out here in “flyover country” wonder on a daily basis why so many of our representatives in Congress have invested themsleves wholly for defeat? Well, here is a chance to do something about that.

12 U.S. Military veterans have come together to run for Congress across this great land and they are running on a platform of VICTORY in this great struggle in which we are engaged. Take a visit to the website Iraqivetsforongress.com, where you will see info on all 12 candidates.

UNIFY ALL PRO-VICTORY REPUBLICAN

IRAQ VETERANS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN 2008

Whether Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine, we all shared a common goal in Iraq: victory. As Republican candidates for Congress we share a vision for America’s future, her security, and that of future generations. We are unified in our commitment to relieve the Democrats of their command of Congress.

Voters want to restore leadership and honor back to Washington. Who better to accomplish that mission than our generation of warriors?

All veterans whose service to the United States brought them first to Iraq and now to a run for the House as pro-victory Republicans are welcome to become part of Iraq Veterans For Congress.

United we are capable of sending to Congress a squad-size element of Iraq vets to keep us on offense in the War on Terror and counter calls for defeat.

In short, unification of all Republican Iraq Veterans will be a powerful force multiplier. By joining forces we will generate crucial nationwide grassroots support while sharing ideas and strategies.

This is a great way to highlight a victory platform so please pass the word on about this effort.

The candidates each have a link to where you can donate you financial support.

Here is a list of the candidates and for what seat they are running:

Continue reading “12 Veterans For Victory Running For Congress”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - History - Media Bias - Military - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Magazine Reports New Veteran’s Cemetery With Photo Of WWII Nazi Soldier

January 13, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

**Updated below fold**

Lifestyle magazine, a publication that serves Pennsylvania’s Delaware Valley area, published a nice story this week reporting how a long awaited veteran’s cemetery is finally underway in Buck’s County, Penn. Oh, the story seems nice enough, but there is one problem. The photo accompanying the story shows a soldier, circa WWII, in near silhouette trotting across a wintry field, rifle in hand. That there is a photo of a soldier from WWII tacked onto a story about a new veteran’s cemetery isn’t the problem. The problem is that the photo is of a Nazi German soldier from WWII and NOT an American soldier! This is a shocking mistake that reveals many things about the folks at Lifestyle Magazine.

Why is a story about an American veteran’s cemetery being illustrated by a photo of a Nazi solder? The answer can only be that the folks at Lifestyle magazine are so unfamiliar with anything military that the glaring mistake went completely unrecognized by its Editors and designers.

Even the first paragraphs of the story are a bit odd. A story about the final resting place of our honored veterans is begun with two paragraphs about a Kris Kristofferson song!

“Caught in the action of kill or be killed, no greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for his brother.” These were the words that singer Kris Kristofferson said in his opening to the song by country music artists, Big & Rich entitled, “The Eighth of November.”

It was a ballad about a Vietnam veteran, Niles Harris, whom the two singers met in a bar, and they were so taken with his personal story of bravery and heroism they wrote a song in his honor.

Now, it seems to me that this is a rather flippant way to start a story about honoring our vets. Using an explanation of a pop song just seems so trivial when juxtaposed against the sacrifices of our military men in battle and the deserved construction of a suitable final resting place when they pass from this mortal coil.

I don’t know about you but I would not have started this story off with talk of Kris Kristofferson.

Still, the rest of this article is not so bad. But the glaring error of using a photo of a Nazi soldier when talking about our veterans is unforgivable here and the less than serious talk about a Kris Kristofferson song to kick the story off didn’t help much either. It all adds up to a magazine entering into unfamiliar territory; the military.

And, that is the saddest thing of all. That the folks at Lifestyle magazine are so out of their depth when discussing the U.S. military that they cannot tell the difference between a photo of a Nazi soldier and an American is outrageous. But it seems to be a mark of our times when folks in the media haven’t the slightest clue about our military and its history. It’s horrendous that they are so sloppy with their work that they don’t even know what an American soldier looks like but it is a situation that has sadly come to be expected of the media.

One last thing to show how ignorant the editors and writers at Lifestyle magazine are. Witness this line in the story (my emphasis)…

Currently, there are only three national veteran’s cemeteries in Pennsylvania. There is one near Pittsburgh, another northeast of Harrisburg, and the third, which is not taking any new internments, in Philadelphia.

Dear, dear editors of Lifestyle magazine. Cemeteries take interments NOT “internments”!!

**Update** 11AM 01/14/08

Well, there is a reason that I made a screen capture of the original picture that accompanies my article here. The photo on the Lifestyle website has now been changed to show American soldiers. Mysteriously, no correction notice or apology was made. The picture was just changed with no word about it.

Continue reading “Magazine Reports New Veteran’s Cemetery With Photo Of WWII Nazi Soldier”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Founders - History - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Why Cicero?

January 10, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Progressive education, the liberal-socialist tool of choice for brainwashing young minds, has left recent generations in ignorance of the great Roman statesman’s role in the structure of our own government.

Gary Galles’s post on the Mises blog, Cicero on Justice, Law and Liberty, reminds us that today’s students will hardly ever learn what was essential fare in our schools from earliest days until the 1930s.

Underlying the legacy of Cicero is the concept of natural law, which tells us that everything in our world is part of a grand design in which everything and every creature has a highest purpose that reflects its true essence. In humans, that essence is the soul and its quest for truth and justice within the intelligent world design.

To take a near at hand example of natural law, our Declaration of Independence asserts:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Writing to Richard Henry Lee in 1825, Jefferson said of his authorship of the Declaration of Independence, the essential thing was,
Continue reading “Why Cicero?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - Military - Nancy Salvato - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

What Does the Progressive Left Stand For?

January 8, 2008 by

-By Nancy Salvato

I’ve come to the conclusion that the United States is having a midlife crisis, an identity crisis. And this is a huge problem because if we don’t know who we are, what we stand for, or how we arrived here, how can we know how to navigate the 21st century while maintaining the freedom and standard of living we’ve come to take for granted?

US detractors (and there are many living within the boundaries of this country), it would seem, do not possess a very thorough understanding of our founding documents, the thinking from which they’re derived, or the importance of these ideas in maintaining the system of government which has served us so well over the past 200+ years. Much of the thinking on the Progressive Left echoes Socialist and Communist ideology, which historical records have shown to be enemies of freedom and creativity, two rights which I imagine if the Progressive Left were to be queried, they would admit are extremely important to them. The breakdown is that these people don’t have the surplus of information necessary to understand the repercussions of what they are seeking. How does the Progressive Left stack up?

China
In the politically repressive society of China, where there is no freedom of religion, the CPC endorses Confucianism, which “emphasizes obedience to authority, submission of the individual to government, the family, and elders, and unquestioning acceptance of tradition…Lu Xun attacked Confucianism as an oppressive and hypocritical morality thinly concealing and encouraging exploitation, injustice, inequality, passivity, and conformity.”
Continue reading “What Does the Progressive Left Stand For?”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - GOP - Military - News - Patriotism - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Vince Johnson

Third Open Letter to the Presidential Candidate I’d Vote For

January 6, 2008 by

-By Vince Johnson

Dear Sir/Ms/Mrs._____________________________________________
In review: In my first letter I suggested you walk out during a nit picky debate and announce a press conference on the Mexican border near Del Rio, Texas. At Del Rio you explained what you plan to do about immigration and announced your third conference at Santiam High in Mill City, Oregon. At the third conference you make a short speech before an audience of students, and teachers at Santiam High School:

“Last week I discussed my plans about immigration. This week I will state my position on education. Each student in this room is nearing a decision point that will affect their life as long as they live. Those desiring to have a meaningful and successful career have two basic choices. You can serve your country in any of many trades and professions. Or you can serve your country in the armed forces.

“In 2006, $1.4 billion tax dollars were spent on advertising designed to persuade you to enlist in the armed forces. Once you enlist, more billions are spent to feed you, cloth you, fix your teeth, treat you when you are ill, and on and on. Beyond that, more billions will be spent to train you in a wide variety of technologies and essential skills. And beyond that, billions and billions more are spent on military assets that you might operate, navigate, repair, maintain, and so on.

“To repeat: You have two options. You can serve your country in the armed forces, or you can serve your country in any of the thousands of trades and professions. Keep in mind that either choice is honorable and absolutely necessary. If you choose to join the armed forces the government pays you and gives you everything you need If you choose a career in one of the trades or professions, you might qualify for a loan from the government, otherwise you are on your own. This is not a wisecrack. This is fact.
Continue reading “Third Open Letter to the Presidential Candidate I’d Vote For”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - Race - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

‘What’s the Problem’ With Spanish in the Workplace?

January 4, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here’s a guy that really misses the point of a debate. In New Jersey’s Home News Tribune, columnist Roger Hernandez is asking why everyone is so hot and bothered about English Only legislation and claims that Spanish being spoken… well, everywhere… should be no problem for anyone. In fact, he claims that it isn’t really happening that much, anyway, so fear about it is unfounded. But, his view on the matter misses the point that it is government forcing the Spanish language via lawsuits and government intervention on the nation that English Only supporters are trying to oppose, not just the evolutions of society itself.

Writing about Lamar Alexander’s proposed legislation, the Protecting English in the Workplace Act of 2007, and using that as his springboard to lambast the English Only trend, Hernandez scoffs at anyone interested in protecting our national character via protecting English.

Alexander (a sensible moderate Republican, once upon a time) and the right-wing blogosphere are framing it as a fight to preserve our supposedly vulnerable linguistic unity.

But, after recounting the efforts to protect English, Hernandez goes off track, attacking the English Only idea from the entirely wrong direction.

It is true that the common language of the United States is English, and that it is difficult to succeed without learning it. The problem is that both questions stem from the false premise that immigrants are tearing apart the national fabric with their refusal to speak English.

Not completely, Mr. Hernandez. “The problem is” that government is being used by criminal immigrant’s “rights” activists who are attempting to sue their desires into law by constant lawsuit abuse intended to make us all bend over backwards for people who are breaking our nation’s laws on a daily basis.

Continue reading “‘What’s the Problem’ With Spanish in the Workplace?”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - History - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - President - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Why I Don’t Want Your Kid to Vote

January 2, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Every election year we are presented with stories about the vaunted “youth vote.” We are told how we must get the kids to the polls, we are told that the candidates are working hard to court the youth vote and we are given story after story of the efforts of one organization or another that is trying to excite young people to vote. We are presented with these stories as if it is a good thing that kids under 21 should vote, that it is somehow a desired thing. Well, I am going to say right here and now that I don’t want anyone under the age of 21 to vote. So, please, do keep your uninformed kid home on Election Day.

Many people will recall the reported words of the venerable Ben Franklin who said upon exiting the final session of the Constitutional convention that our representatives had created a republic “if we could keep it.” By this, Franklin meant that it is up to each of us to learn the issues, understand the principles upon which our system was created, as well as the mechanics of the system itself in order to cast an informed vote that will uphold those principles and keep our government orderly. This all means that it is incumbent upon each of us to stay informed and to educate ourselves.

I will not, of course, claim that all people under 21 are inherently incapable of becoming such a well-rounded and informed citizen. In some cases, there are surely 19 year-olds that are smarter, more informed, and trustworthy than certain 30 year-olds out there. This is beyond question. But one cannot make general rules for society by honing in on every individual case. One must strike for the best general rule and the general rule here is that people under 21 do not care a whit about government and will, therefore, make for uninformed — maybe even dangerous — voters.

Continue reading “Why I Don’t Want Your Kid to Vote”

00Publius Contributor - News - Patriotism - Podcasting - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Voice of Liberty Podcast Episode #9

December 31, 2007 by

Happy New Year! This is our last podcast of the year and we’re looking forward to a prosperous new year and conservative gains in November’s elections. Our weekly listenership has grown into the three-figure domain – next stop – four figures. We appreciate you listening to the podcast, and we especially appreciate when you tell your friends. Our audience is growing quickly, and there are going to be some very exciting changes coming in the new year. Stay tuned for further details.

In this week’s episode, Andrea Shea-King looks back on her year. Warner Todd Huston reveals the vacuousness of political correctness. The Blue Collar Muse wonders aloud why Mrs. Clinton continues to promote the failed notion of socialism. Host John McJunkin wraps up the episode with Reason Number Eight Why Mrs. Clinton Will Never Be President.

Download Podcast-Duration: 00:29:30

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Founders - News - Patriotism - Selwyn Duke - Uncategorized

How Free Are We Really?

December 17, 2007 by

-By Selwyn Duke

We Americans take great pride in our freedom. We call ourselves “the land of the free, home of the brave,” have Lady Liberty in New York Harbor and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. America is synonymous with freedom in the minds of most. Much of the rest of the world, however, is thought a land of darkness which doesn’t benefit from our unencumbered bliss. Thus do we speak of the free and unfree worlds.

In reality, it’s not that simple. There is neither such thing as a people with complete freedom nor one completely bereft of it; it’s a matter of degree.

While many realize this, few understand that there is a barometer with which liberty can be measured: The number of laws in existence.

By definition, a law is the removal of a freedom, as it dictates that there is something you cannot or must do. If the former, you’re not free to do it; if the latter, you’re not free to do otherwise.

Many rightly point out that some laws free us from the tyranny of our fellow man. Prohibitions against murder, rape and theft, for instance, provide us the freedom to walk down the street unmolested. Yet for two reasons this barometer of liberty is still valid. First, when we speak of how free a nation is, we refer to freedom from government intrusion. Second, while such laws are necessary and just, they do nevertheless deny us certain freedoms. Only, we’re not going to worry about freedoms whose removal only bothers Tony Soprano.

Yet we long ago transitioned from making just laws to just making laws, which is why I look forward with a sense of foreboding. Every year our nation enacts more and more laws but hardly ever rescinds any, which means every year we become progressively less free. I call this “creeping totalitarianism.”
Continue reading “How Free Are We Really?”

00Publius Contributor - Education - GOP - History - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Has Conservatism Lost its Soul?

December 11, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

For those of you who feel that the conservative movement has lost its soul, the New Centurion Program has begun.

I quote from their webpage:

Typically, programs focus on either intellectual cultivation or communication skills. Our program seeks to synthesize both the wisdom of our conservative heritage as well as the most up to date practical experience from local experts in public policy and communication.

There are specific reasons The New Centurion Program is different from existing programs. First, it is locally based with a local concentration of students and lecturers. While there is certainly an over-arching theoretical basis to the coursework, that theoretical knowledge will be focused on local issues. Our Centurions do not have to travel to Auburn University or Washington D.C. – we bring the course to them. We plant roots in a community. Our students ages range from 18 – 70.

When a movement is lacking vision or a mission – as many conclude is the current state of the conservative movement; one must believe that by going back to the beginning and teaching the foundations of conservatism, providing individuals with a wealth of resources and reference materials and supportive relationships to facilitate that intellectual journey; it provides the analytical and practical tools necessary for individuals to grow and lead.

This is not a class for a grade. This is a course for an “experience;” a journey. This is not a campaign school. There are many other institutions that are great at providing these type of tactics and strategies – that is not our purpose.

So, what are we? In a nutshell – we provide the environment where “book smarts meet street smarts.”

I, for one, have always harped on education for conservatives being the bedrock upon which we can build. And that, without that knowledge, we are doomed to failure as well as doomed to be short lived. If we do not teach our young people the true values and underlying principles of the conservative movement, along with the logic and history to those principles, we simply cannot continue to create new conservatives into the future.

Conservatives have been the only ones with ideas since Barry Goldwater strode the national stage. Liberals have failed to keep up with scholarship and intellectual pursuits where conservatives have excelled, undermining the leftist movements world wide.

Check out this new group. It is sure to be worth your time.
Continue reading “Has Conservatism Lost its Soul?”

00Publius Contributor - 2nd Amendment - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - President - Race - Religion - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Philly Inquirer: Pistol Packing GOP Candidates at Debates

December 10, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently, the Philly Inquirer wants us to know that the GOP candidates for president are drooling, half sentient, Bible thumping, gun toting, racists. Oh, and Fred Thompson is stupid and lazy. Just as apparently, the Philadelphia Inquirer is having trouble finding writers for their rag. I mean, what else could explain their giving a teenager a shot at filling space in the Sunday issue? Of course, I could be wrong. It could be that Dick Polman only writes like a 15-year-old. Worse, Polman seems to have sold himself to the Inquirer as some sort of comedian with “The American Debate, For the love of guns, God and Reagan,” too. But, if he IS an adult and really does think his Sunday piece is funny, well, there’s no accounting for taste — or sense — on the far left, I suppose. I guess the joke is on the readers of the Inquirer.

Billed as “what the GOP candidates might say in the next Iowa debate to woo conservatives,” Polman has decided the only thing that will do so is to appear as a gun crazed, racist that mindlessly echos Ronald Reaganisms. Like I said, it was supposed to be funny… I guess.

All the Republican presidential candidates will debate, again, on Wednesday in Iowa. Here’s an exclusive look at the advance transcript.

And here is what Polman imagines is the first question:

All these candidates have said they support guns. But talk is cheap. I want to know if they’re all proudly carrying their own guns, right now, right here on this stage.

Gentlemen, a show of hands . . . oh, my . . . that’s quite an arsenal up there. Somebody nudge Fred Thompson, wake him up. Sen. Thompson? Hello? What do you have?

So, what does Polman imagine the candidates will say?

Fred Thompson: Uhhh, got me a AP4 carbine rifle with a 16-inch barrel. This little ole honey would have surely impressed Ronald Reagan.

Rudy Giuliani: So what? Mine’s a bolt-action Remington. With a 24-inch barrel. Mine’s bigger than yours. And that’s not all I got. Say hello to my Charter Arms .44. It’s ideal for home defense against Islamofascists, because 9/11 changed everything. By the way, fuggedaboutit, I can see that there’s one wuss on this stage.

Mitt Romney: Yes, it’s true: I am not armed at this time. But I did just buy a gun cabinet for Christmas, and I have the receipt right here, with copies for everyone, see? From Dick’s Sporting Goods, and, my gosh, it’s a beauty. Wood veneer, tempered glass, holds six long guns

(Candidates scrutinize the receipt. Civil cross talk.)

You can just feel that Leno’s bookers are getting on the phone to book this funny man on the Tonight Show, eh? On second thought, he shouldn’t give up his job at McDonald’s just in case. There’s an old joke about comedy that comedians like to throw out: “Don’t try this at home, kids.” It’s a bit of advice that neither Dick Polman nor the Philly Inquirer seem to have followed.

Continue reading “Philly Inquirer: Pistol Packing GOP Candidates at Debates”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

This is America, speak Spanish

December 10, 2007 by

-By Michael M. Bates

I find it annoying to call a telephone number and have to press 1 to proceed in English. It seems to me that our national language should routinely be used and callers wishing an alternative should be the ones to select a number.

We’ve come very far from the sentiment of Teddy Roosevelt, who believed, “We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.” That’s not politically correct by today’s standards and the U.S. government explicitly disdains such views. A model of current official thinking is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s tormenting of the Salvation Army for setting up an English-only policy for its workers.

In Massachusetts, the Salvation Army gave all employees one year in which to learn English and speak it while on the job. Two people who sorted clothes for the agency refused and were terminated.

Enter the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Deciding that the Salvation Army’s action had embarrassed, humiliated, inconvenienced and inflicted emotional pain on the fired employees, last April the EEOC sued the Christian organization for back pay, damages and an end its “discriminatory rules.”
Continue reading “This is America, speak Spanish”

00Publius Contributor - 2nd Amendment - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Founders - History - Judges - Media Bias - Military - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

New York Times Hopes For SCOTUS Gun Grab

December 2, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

The “paper of record” once again makes like a broken record with another prosaic call to take away guns from the average American. The New York Times again displays its complete disregard of the Constitution in an editorial titled, “The Court and the Second Amendment”, claiming our founding law is out of date and doesn’t “confront modern-day reality.” In another editorial filled with extreme language, untrue definitions and arrogance, and cementing its reputation against self-defense and American principles, the Times addressed the recent decision by the Supreme Court to soon take on the DC Gun banning reversal case. Hitting all its best low notes and filled with propaganda laced verbiage, the Times again made the case that you, Mr. and Mrs. America, are too stupid and filled with bloodlust to be trusted with a firearm… quite despite that musty, stupid old, out of date Constitution thingie.

It’s hard to believe such a small editorial can have so many lies, distortions and misconceptions but the Times really packed them into this rant. Nearly every paragraph has something that is either incorrect technically, or just plain propagandistic. I’ll take each paragraph one at a time here:

By agreeing yesterday to rule on whether provisions of the District of Columbia’s stringent gun control law violate the Second Amendment to the Constitution, the Supreme Court has inserted itself into a roiling public controversy with large ramifications for public safety. The Court’s move sowed hope and fear among supporters of reasonable gun control, and it ratcheted up the suspense surrounding the court’s current term.

The Supreme Court “inserted itself into a roiling public controversy,” New York Times? Like most cases, this one came TO them, the SCOTUS didn’t go out to actively seek this case. And, notice the soft selling of their attempts to advocate for a reversal of the Constitutional right by calling the issue a “public safety” issue? No, it is a rights issue, not a “public safety” issue, Times, and you know it. By trying to reframe this debate as a “safety” issue, you are purposefully trying to pretend it has nothing to do with your plans to eliminate a Constitutionally guaranteed right to self-protection. It is also amusing that you call your gun grabbing “reasonable.” I am sure that totalitarians everywhere, in every age termed their desires to disarm the public “reasonable” before they undertook that outrage. It was quite a smooth propaganda effort there, though, Times, so props for trying to hide behind misleading language. I am sure your attempts at subterfuge might fool some.

Continue reading “New York Times Hopes For SCOTUS Gun Grab”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Frank Salvato - GOP - History - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

Henry Hyde: A True Statesman and a Constitutional Steward

November 29, 2007 by

-By Frank Salvato

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” – Congressional Oath of Office

One of the greatest responsibilities bestowed upon elected officials is that of constitutional stewardship. While each elected official has a duty to represent his constituents in a faithful manner, each swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution. We, the citizens of this Republic, through democratic elections, entrust this responsibility to those we elect and expect them to abide by the tenets mandated by the Constitution and to honor their oath to preserve it for future generations. Few have executed that oath more fully than Congressman Henry J. Hyde of Illinois.

Politics in the United States circa 2000 has evolved into what can be legitimately described as a cauldron of special interest narcissism. More often than not, those elected to office are more committed to their political parties and personal political well-being than they are to faithfully representing their constituencies. Because of this manipulation, the massaging of the truth – political spinning – has become acceptable; it has become status quo. While every elected official condemns the manipulation of truth in the political arena very few actually disassociate themselves from the practice. Where, it is said, there is honor among thieves, it would seem that there is little, if any, among America’s political class.

It was for his refusal to compromise neither his oath of office nor the trust of his constituents that Henry Hyde stood out amongst his counterparts in Congress. I can say this because Mr. Hyde served as my congressman for many years and I am proud to have voted for him.

Professionally, his door was always open to his constituents, his attention toward their concerns genuine in nature. Where most politicians view their constituents as entities to “handle,” Mr. Hyde served his constituents as a realist, helping when he could and explaining the intricacies of tough situations and providing guidance and assistance when he couldn’t effect the desired outcome regarding their concerns.
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00Publius Contributor - Islam - Islamofascism - Judges - Media Bias - Military - News - Patriotism - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Barnyard Justice and the Animal’s Court

November 26, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tuck yourselves in, children, for tonight I’m going to bring you a nice bedtime story. It’s all about our nice friends in the animal kingdom and how they dealt with their nemesis, the wily and ravenous wolf.

Barnyard Justice and the Animal’s Court

The forest is aflame with terror. Animals were being eaten at a voracious rate by the wily wolf and his carnivorous henchmen. For a time, the barnyard watched from a distance barely noticing. Eventually they became uneasy, yet they were still secure that they were safe inside their fences. But, soon enough, the terror was visited upon the barnyard animals, too. It came to pass that all involved decided that it was time that both communities did something about wily wolf’s reign of terror so the accused was brought before the animal court.

Wise judge Owl banged the gavel and called the court to order.

The stalwart Cow brought the accused into the courtroom to face justice.

The sly Weasel, representing the accused, took his place beside his client and winked his weasely wink.

The accused, the wily Wolf, stood proudly unrepentant and faced the court. He glanced at the jury with a slight snarling smile and nodded his head self assuredly. He unconsciously licked his lips and stared hungrily at the animals in the jury box making the Hens and Ducks there feel somewhat uncomfortable though they didn’t know why.

“A whoo-whooo, I bring this court of the Animal Kingdom to order”, said wise judge Owl as he banged the gavel.

“Yer honor”, interjected the sly Weasel, “I move fer a dismissal for the reason dat dis here pillar of the community, my client the wily Wolf, is being maliciously maligned by the court of public opinion and that these jurors could not possibly be unbiased seein as how they have been brainwashed by the powers that be against my innocent and shy client, the wily Wolf.” With that the sly Weasel sat down confident of his perspicacity.

“Motion denied,” Said the wise owl. “The court will now take opening statements.”
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The Pilgrims, Thanksgiving and the common good

November 25, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Michael M. Bates

The notion of a common good has traditionally been popular in this democratic Republic. In recent years and among certain public figures, however, the expression has taken on a more collectivist connotation.

When Senator Clinton said, “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good,” we knew she meant the government would do the taking as well as the determining of what is defined as the common good. Decision making by individuals would be replaced with state edict.

Last year Mrs. Clinton’s husband gave a speech on the common good. Using the term no fewer than two dozen times, he said it means a covenant for equal opportunity, shared responsibility and an inclusive community.

He went on: “We believe in mutual responsibility. They believe that in large measure people make or break their own lives, and you’re on your own.”

Other deep thinkers such as John Edwards and Barack Obama have hailed the concept of a common good. We know from their track records that they, like the Clintons, view this primarily in terms of forced economic redistribution.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we’re reminded that the Plymouth Colony’s Pilgrims gave their own form of the liberal common good theory a try. It failed miserably.
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Because She’s a Woman

November 24, 2007 by

By Selwyn Duke

It’s very easy to fall behind the times. It is for this reason that you find parents who never seem to really know what the younger generation is involved in, older folks who still act as if a hot dog should be 10 cents, and people who fight yesterday’s social battles. As to the last thing, there are those who ask if a woman can be elected president.

The real question is, can a man running against a woman be elected president?

With androgyny being the order of the day, it has often been lamented that men no longer know what is expected of them. Is being chivalrous courteous or condescending? Do I hold the door or let her roar? A similar quandary is apparent when watching the men who must run against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

When Clinton stumbled in the second to last Democrat debate, her opponents’ immediate political instincts were to attack the front-runner’s now exposed weak flank. This is what office-seekers do; it’s why the military term “campaign” is applied to political contests.

Yet almost as soon as the post-debate analysis began we heard the inevitable accusation that all and sundry were conspiring against the lone girl. The moderator, the other candidates, the butcher, baker, candlestick-maker and probably even male chauvinists beyond the grave were experiencing testosterone boil-over.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Entertainment - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Eagles Flightless With new Album

November 13, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The new album from The Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden, is just one long, sustained attack on the integrity of the United States and is as bad as any loud-mouthed Dixie Chicks diatribe. With songs prosaically about Global Warming and the evil American “empire,” seemingly the only one of the band who just wanted to entertain the fans was Joe Walsh, the others too puffed up with their own sense of superiority to bother. Unfortunately, what we have here just another exclamation from pampered rock stars that they are smarter, more environmentally friendly and more caring than the rest of us… but be sure and buy more albums for Christmas gifts, will ya folks!

This album should have been titled “Long Trip to the Bank” because for much of it the band seems to be on autopilot and too much of it seems like a cynically engineered ploy to sell plastic as opposed to a solid attempt to entertain. It even seems that they consciously wrote this one to appeal to specific sectors of the radio market — the country market, adult contemporary — so much so that the album lacks freshness. The Eagles have always been on the country side of Rock-n-Roll, but several of the songs are so obviously written to have a country sound in an effort to get airplay on America’s country stations, for instance, that it’s a bit hard to get past the obvious ploy to enjoy the tunes. This cynical ploy is quite unlike their past work, where the country influence seemed more natural.

This two disc set starts out with a short, whiney little piece that is a blatant plea to appeal to those worried about global warming. “No More Walks in the Wood,” penned on autopilot by Don Henley, from a poem by John Hollander, it ridiculously whines that his walk in the woods ain’t so cool anymore because “The trees have all been cut down.” Hollander’s poem tried to be clever with a globaloney reference, but it just ended up sounding clumsy. “This is the aftermath,” Henley warbles, “Of afternoons in clover fields, where we once made love… where we made our own weather.” Naturally, we ruined it all, man! It laments that “now they are gone for good” as if we could destroy all the clover fields and trees in the world. This little piece of doggerel is not very subtle, but it is thankfully a short one at two minutes.

Sometimes, I forget how preachy and boring Frey and Henley can get, but with that as a beginning, it slams the memory home and then some.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Fallen Hero Marine’s Grave Desecrated in Texas

October 22, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

If this is how the memory of heroes gets treated in the U.S. today, then I wouldn’t blame any U.S. soldier if they would stop caring about their own country — not that any soldier has done so. I reported several months ago that a bunch of ignorant, ingrates in Colorado were trying to stop a memorial to a local hero from being erected where school kids could see the display. And now we have a story where a fallen Marine’s grave is desecrated.

Where is people’s shame? Where is their patriotism? Where is their common decency?

The Houston Chronicle reports that Marine Jeremy Burris’ grave was desecrated in Liberty, Texas this week.

An all-American kid from a little all-American town, the 22-year-old Marine lance corporal died heroically in Iraq. More than a thousand people turned out Wednesday as a white hearse carried his body to burial in the historic 1800s Cooke Memorial Cemetery.

Within hours, the grave was desecrated. About 30 sprays of flowers were ripped apart, petals strewn over the loose earth. Flags decorating the gravesite were also torn down and sentimental notes and posters shredded.

This young Marine is a true hero. He saved the lives of several people in the incident that took his own.

Burris was killed Oct. 8 by an explosive device in al-Anbar Province.

Minutes before his death, he rescued two soldiers wounded when a device exploded under their military vehicle. When Burris returned to the vehicle to retrieve some sensitive equipment, another bomb detonated, killing him, his family said.

This sort of thing seems to be happening increasingly and my guess is that it isn’t just kids out to be jerks, but an anti-war activist who has been driven insane by the hate that is spewed day in and day out by the left in the USA.

Things like this are the fault of people like Michael Moore, Kieth Olberman, or Air America — people who egg on this sort of hate.

We can only hope that the creeps that perpetrated this outrage are found and persecuted… not just prosecuted… but persecuted by all. They should be ostracized by polite, patriotic society.

Folks, THIS is the anti-war left in action.

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Patriotism?

October 21, 2007 by

-By Marie Jon’

The strategy of “slow-bleeding” the heroic men and women serving in Iraq was one of the most disgraceful moments in the history of Congress and should never be forgotten…….

Before President Bush was sworn into office, Democrat politicians were beginning to exhibit some questionably odd behavior, almost across the board. They took to mirroring Socialism, or in some cases Communism in word and deed. It is not unusual that people are asking whether they are patriotic. Politically-speaking, those Americans who are not completely asleep feel that we are living in dire and serious times. At holiday gatherings, families are afraid to discuss political matters for fear of starting arguments.

There seems to be little to no patience amongst we who are living in a deliberately divided country. If Americans are wise — or miraculously “see the light,” they will not listen to those who promise anything to win the White House. Their only goals are to gain power, while creating their own view of America, a worldview, like that of Europe.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Floridian Raises Billboard Against Chavez — ‘Don’t Buy Gas From This Ass’

October 18, 2007 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s about time that an American stands up to an enemy of the United States and fights against people freely giving their hard earned cash to the criminal Hugo Chavez Junta. This man is not only an enemy to the USA but is an enemy to liberty and freedom and any American who buys gas from a Citgo is a traitor to both.

3 Letter Word on Billboard Draws Attention

Cameron Adams made a U-turn to get a picture. “Don’t Buy Gas From This Ass! That’s what it says right there in yellow and blue and red.” Once you spot the sign at Interstate 65 and County Road 287, it’s hard to look away. Mickey Donaldson says he’s never seen anything like it. “We just don’t see ASS on the side of the road everywhere we go in America.” Right now, you can find it on the side of the road in Bay Minette.

Tommy Rabon says it’s just not right! “Little kids come down here then they be saying mama, what is this right here? You know, that just don’t make sense.” Pam Brooks at the nearby BP gas station believes it’s bad for business. “Well if you’re going fast, you’d think it meant the next gas station which is BP, not a Citgo!”

Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. The picture on the billboard is the country’s president, Hugo Chavez.

John McCombs owns the entire billboard and says he had some free space so he put up that message. He believes that if people truly understand world events, they will be a little less opposed to that 3 letter word. “He called my president the devil so I don’t like him. He’s in with Iran’s president and he hates America. That’s the main thing.”

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00Publius Contributor - 2nd Amendment - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Lee Culpepper - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized

A Showdown at Tombstone High

October 18, 2007 by

– By Lee Culpepper

As high noon draws near, townsfolk in Medford, Oregon, scatter. Citizens peer outside through the safety of their computer monitors and T.V. screens. According to some, a renegade teacher has strolled in to town and this pistol-packing pedagogue (i.e. teacher) is poised for a gunfight.

Determined not to cough-up a 9mm Glock during grammar lessons, English teacher Shirley Katz argues she has more than enough legal ammo to support her right to carry. Loaded with the Second Amendment, the Oregon law, and a concealed weapons permit, Katz insists her argument and her aim are accurate.

Whether Katz is the poster woman for gun rights is not at issue. On the other hand, she has definitely posted a clear and public warning: “Ex-husband and Lunatics, Beware.”

The “sheriff in town,” Superintendent Phil Long, advocates gun-free campuses as the means for ensuring safety; unfortunately, gun-free zones never work when armed murderers swoop in and victimize defenseless people.
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00Publius Contributor - Elections - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Thompson: The Last Real American Presidential Candidate

October 16, 2007 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is how I see it; Fred Thompson may be the last quintessentially American candidate for the White House that we will ever see.

One statement that he made in Dubuque frames his entire philosophical position perfectly.

He told folks in Dubuque that he had “no special message for Iowans.”
Exactly right! He has nothing different to say in Iowa than he does in Peoria, Illinois, Boston or New York. He is NOT a panderer. He is not bending and shaping his “message” to fit the crowd he faces. He has ONE philosophy, ONE idea of what “America” is.
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00Publius Contributor - Constitution - GOP - News - Patriotism - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - The Law - Uncategorized - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

The Keyes to Reno

October 13, 2007 by 2 Comments

– By Warner Todd Huston

Ambassador Alan Keyes addressed several hundred attendees of the Conservative Leadership Conference being held in Reno, Nevada on Friday night, October 12th. Ostensibly he was there to explain why he was running for president of the United States but it soon became obvious that he was there far more for a cause separate from a simple run for the White House. Ambassador Keyes was there no less to rejuvenate the Republic and if mere passion could turn back the tide of anti-Constitutionalism, Alan Keyes would be the dynamo powering that effort.

Instead of simply desiring the national spotlight to take the Oval office, Keyes is seeking the pulpit for his oratory was not just your average meet-and-greet, no simple canned speech. Keyes’ presentation was more sermon than stump speech, and as powerful as that description assumes.

When he first mounted the stage, the setting seemed a tad incongruous. As Ambassador Keyes took the microphone form those who introduced him, a 12-foot-high Duncan Hunter for president banner loomed behind him, dominating the view of the audience before him. That somewhat odd juxtaposition of the monumental face of Hunter peering down at the seemingly diminutive Keyes didn’t dissipate with Ambassador Keyes’ initial comments, either. For Alan Keyes admitted he was about to break Ronald Reagan’s famed 11th commandment; “thou shalt not speak badly of other Republicans.”

But that incongruity quickly vanished for the audience as Dr. Keyes warmed to his theme. The Hunter for president banner that initially seemed to loom so large vanished to the mind as Keyes’ oratory captivated, compelled, cajoled and cavorted across that stage. All eyes and ears were on Keyes and, as always, he held that audience in the palm of his hand.
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00Publius Contributor - Military - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture - Uncategorized - Warner Todd Huston

Forgetting our Soldiers, American’s Skewed Priorities

October 13, 2007 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Recently I saw a story that seems, at first, to be a heartwarming tale of a selfless American sacrificing, if only in a small way, for one of our soldiers in uniform. But, upon reflection, the story does more than tell the tale of one American doing something nice for a soldier. It tells the tale of American priorities that are warped, if not turned entirely on their head.

As writer Roddy Stinson of the San Antonio Express-News relates the tale, the story is a disarmingly simple one. A woman on an airliner gives up her seat in first class to a U.S. soldier in uniform. The other passengers are impressed and give the nice woman a round of applause.

Last Wednesday, while flying from Phoenix to the Alamo City on U.S. Airways Flight 207, a San Antonio man, Gil Anderson, witnessed something memorable.

Shortly before takeoff, he overheard a flight attendant tell a young uniformed soldier sitting in front of him:

“A lady in first-class wants to switch seats with you.”

The soldier accepted the offer and walked up to the first-class section.

“When the lady came back to our area, I had a tear in my eye,” Anderson said when he phoned this column soon after his plane landed. “I gave her a little round of applause.

“Then, by golly, everybody in that area started applauding,” he said in a voice tinged with emotion. “It was a very moving moment.”

Acknowledging the applause of Anderson and the other passengers, the first-class lady said simply:

“I did it because he deserves it.”

The story almost raises a tear until you catch yourself with a curious cock of the head, realizing that something is wrong here.

This is the key part that reveals that things are out of whack.
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