Just a personal note before we start here. This past Wednesday I, along with other local veterans of the unit I fought with in Vietnam, attended the funeral of a local man(Spring Hill) who died in Afghanistan who also belonged to the same unit, the 173rd Airborne Brigade. http://www.floridaskysoldiers.com/ He died a hero, earning the Silver Star. It has been over 30 years since I attended a funeral for a fallen comrade and it sure didn't get any easier even with the passing of so many years. The local sheriff's department, fire department, veterans groups, motorcycle club, local citizens and many active military attended. It was a heart wrenching and at the same time extremely proud experience.
Staff Sergeant Michael Schafer [ http://michael-schafer.memory-of.com/About.aspx ] will be sorely missed by many people in addition to his young wife and child. I urge any of you that if a local soldier in your area pays the ultimate sacrifice, fighting for your freedom, make it your business as an American citizen, to attend the funeral service.
JF

05 August 2005
Federalist Patriot No. 05-31
Friday Digest
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THE PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE
Spitting on The Few, The Proud...
Upon entering a fine Southern high school with a long and honorable history as a military academy, this columnist's next nine months would be marked by the official indoctrination (and unofficial hazing) that attended freshman years at most such academies. It was September of 1970. A year later, however, this school, like many others across the nation, did an about-face and abandoned its military tradition. It seemed that public opinion of military service, and thus, parental enthusiasm for military feeder academies, had changed dramatically in the course of just a few years.
Prior to 1967, military service and tradition were still considered good and honorable. But by 1972, acrid protests against our military campaign on the Cold War front in Southeast Asia had taken a heavy toll. Elitist politicos like George McGovern, glitterati like Jane Fonda, John Kerry, et al., along with their Leftmedia propaganda machine, had overturned public support for the defense of South Vietnam and, by extension, support for anyone in a military uniform. There were no more ticker-tape parades welcoming troops home, but plenty of seething glares, name-calling and spitting from "enlightened youth" and their protagonists who tagged all military personnel persona non grata.
Fast-forward about three decades.
After 9/11, America was virtually, and rightly, united behind President George Bush's campaign against Jihadistan and its asymmetric threat vectors such as al-Qa'ida. Now that support has begun to unravel, however -- not because there are 58,000 casualties as there were in Vietnam, but because, once again, as America's finest are defending liberty at home by promoting freedom in critical regions abroad, the storm clouds of Leftist dissent are gathering. Once again, anti-American protests by political opportunists, Hollywonk elitists and the Leftmedia's (now 24-7-365) talkingheads, are taking a heavy toll.
Perhaps the earliest evidence of waning public support for the Long War against Jihadistan is the recruiting difficulty for our "all-volunteer" Armed Services. Army recruiters have fallen short of their goals for four of the last five months and may fall well short of their annual objective of 80,000 enlistments, with only two months left in this fiscal year. This will be the first time since 1999 that the recruiting goal has not been met. Guard and Reserve recruitments have also fallen short for the other service branches.
Military planners may ask Congress to authorize raising the age limit for Army active-duty service from 35 to 40, and authority to double the enlistment bonus for high-priority recruits (intelligence, infantry, special operations, civil affairs, and linguists) from $20,000 to $40,000. But this is not likely to offset the damage inflicted upon the image of military service by the Left.
Of course, part of the problem is that military service is, as it has always been, tough. But most active duty and reserve personnel are dedicated warriors who complain little.
The real obstacle to the enlistment of new recruits is the desecration of the image of military service by the Fifth Column -- the enemy within. The American anti-war movement, led by neo-McGovernites such as DNC Chairman Howard Dean and lawmakers Kucinich, Kennedy and Kerry has not been able to find legs. So rather than target "war," these malcontents have rallied their minions to undertake counter-recruitment measures, figuring that a nation can't fight a war without warriors. (Of course, it can't defend itself either -- but the Left refuses to acknowledge that liberating Afghanistan and Iraq, and keeping Syria and Iran at bay, is relevant to our national defense.)
Doing the bidding of big dogs like Dean and the aforementioned KKK are their radical allied organizations like the Campus Antiwar Network, Code Pink for Peace, the Ruckus Society, Earth First, United for Peace and Justice and the Society of American Law Teachers, to name a few. These organizations and a hundred more like them are surrogates for the National Lawyers Guild, the ACLU, the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, Veterans for Peace, the War Resisters League and The American Friends Service Committee. Their objective is to undermine recruitment efforts by labeling anyone interested in military service persona non grata. It's deja vu all over again.
Periodic Leftmedia feeding frenzies over alleged "abuse" at places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay add fuel to protestors' efforts to debase military service by equating those in uniform with terrorists. Extending this equation, some of these groups are now deplorably suggesting that American casualties are justified because "freedom fighters" in Iraq are defending themselves against American invaders. (Rhetorical memo to the anti-war Left: What kind of "freedom fighter" detonates a bomb-laden SUV amid a group of Iraqi children receiving candy and toys from U.S. soldiers?)
The emergence of these cadres of Leftist agitators is a serious threat to U.S. national security. Their efforts to undermine the honor of military service in an effort to deter recruitment efforts should not be underestimated.
Predictably, where anti-American sentiments flourish, Jane Fonda can't be far behind. This week, Hanoi Jane announced plans for a protest tour on buses fueled by vegetable oil to suggest the current conflict in the Middle East is only a "war for oil." "I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam," Fonda said. "I carry a lot of baggage from that." (Click here to see some of that baggage, as "Hanoi Jane" mounts an NVA anti-aircraft gun about 100 yards from the "Hanoi Hilton," where American POWs were being tortured: http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/HanoiJane.asp) "It's another example of the government lying to the American people in order to get us into war," Fonda says of the liberation of Iraq.
Of course, it is Fonda who is lying to the American people.
Take note, Hanoi Jane and all you counter-recruiters endeavoring to denigrate military service -- ditto to Dean and KKK, who exploit the murder of military personnel as political fodder to undermine public support for a Republican administration in advance of midterm elections: Your actions are tantamount to spitting on not only those who wear our nation's military uniform, but those who have died in it.
Indeed, news about Fonda's shameless antics was overshadowed this week by the tragic death of uniformed Patriots in Iraq: 21 Marines (20 of them attached to the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in Ohio) and eight Soldiers were killed, and others wounded, in roadside bombings and other ambushes by Islamofascist death squads.
Sergeant Justin Hoffman of Delaware, Ohio, was among the fallen. His father, Robert Hoffman, said that Justin believed in the cause he was fighting for, and he challenged his fellow Americans to support the mission in Iraq through its completion. "I have some real doubts whether Americans will stand tall and follow through on it," Mr. Hoffman said. "It needs to be done, and if they don't, it'll be a real disgrace to the lives that were sacrificed."
If America does not stand firm, there will be many more lives sacrificed -- and on American soil.
"The Word of God is like cool water from a canteen," said retired Marine Corps Commandant Charles C. Krulak. "During the most difficult times, it brings relief and a feeling of renewal that allows us...to accomplish any mission set before us." To that end, please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces, and especially for the families of our fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who have died in defense of American liberty while prosecuting the war with Jihadistan.
In their honor, and that of all Patriots standing watch today, we must not allow the Left, in pursuit of their self-serving agendas, to once again treat military uniforms as spittoons. The re-emergence of counter-recruiting/anti-war cadres should be rejected with prejudice.
Quote of the week...
"Support the troops. An ideology like Islamofascism is surely something that must be fought with means other than armed forces. But, to the extent that this ideology is enabled by state sponsors, military instruments are likely to be critical to our victory. If we are to maintain the ability to wage conventional war with an all-volunteer force, the public is going to have to encourage young people to enlist and to stay in the military." --Military analyst Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
On cross-examination...
"He probably could have gotten out of going just because he has a newborn son. But he said, 'No, I have a job to do, I have a duty to do for my country'." --Paul Montgomery, father of Lance Cpl. Brian Montgomery, among the Ohio Marines killed this week.
Open query...
"Mark Yost, who served in the Navy during the Reagan years, caused a stir in media circles for stating the obvious in an editorial in the St. Paul Pioneer Press: 'To judge by the dispatches, all the Iraqis do is stand outside markets and government buildings waiting to be blown up.' On CNN's 'Reliable Sources,' host Howard Kurtz asked Frank Sesno, a former Washington bureau chief for CNN, about the Yost column. Sesno acknowledged you get more depth from print coverage but suggested, 'even then, the bias is towards that which is going wrong, that which is blowing up and that which is not working.' He said Americans ask: 'Is anything getting rebuilt? Are they really democrats over there? How engaged are the Sunnis? Could I see an interview with any of these founding fathers and founding mothers of this new emerging country? Can you find that? You'll have a hard time doing it.' He's not kidding." --Brent Bozell
This week's "Braying Jackass" award:
"So what are American soldiers and Iraqi police supposed to do in the face of this violence, especially these suicide attacks? As NBC's Jim Maceda reports tonight, the latest crackdown on the insurgency in Baghdad sounds impressive, but many Iraqis are wondering where it is." --NBC's Brian Williams
News from the Swamp...
In the Executive Branch, President Bush stymied the Demos by installing John Bolton as UN Ambassador through a recess appointment. Democrats had refused to allow a vote on Bolton, claiming that he was abusive to subordinates and was too combative and disrespectful of the United Nations to be an ambassador. The appointment ends a stalemate that lasted five months and will leave Bolton in the post until the end of this congressional session.
In other efforts to restore sanity, President Bush wants to create a Sunset Commission for federal agencies, a review board that would assess the viability of federal agencies on a regular basis to find overlaps, redundancy or outright waste in programs being kept alive. Remember the Federal Helium Reserve? How about the Federal Board of Tea Examiners? Well, if this program has its way, federal agencies that have outlived their usefulness will go the way of these bureaucratic gems. Big-government fans oppose the idea, but it is really just one small step toward a more efficient federal branch.
On the Hill, Demos are poring through thousands of pages of documents related to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, while TheNew York Times has seen fit to pore over the adoption records of the nominee's son. Opponents of the Roberts nomination have tried to make a big deal out of his supposed ties to the Federalist Society, trying to make it seem as though his association with this respected organization were a blight on his record.
Elsewhere on the Hill -- finally! The Scandal-That-Wasn't seems to be losing momentum with all but the most dedicated Demos -- those bent on blaming Karl Rove for exposing Joe Wilson as a partisan Democrat and a camera-hogging liar ... or, rather, for exposing Valerie Plame as a pseudo-covert CIA operative. The House Select Committee on Intelligence is planning hearings on potential national-security threats posed by leaks with an eye toward barring the unauthorized disclosure of classified information. However, this may be little more than an exercise in political grandstanding. Laws already exist against such disclosures. The point being lost is that neither Rove nor anyone else really broke the law when Plame's identity became public. Robert Novak now says he could just as well have deduced Plame's identity from the "Who's Who" directory.
In the Senate, there was reason to celebrate the passage of legislation protecting gun manufacturers from frivolous lawsuits, but Republicans let slip in a provision for mandatory trigger locks. So, unless the House can strip out this gun-control amendment, the bill itself will be only a muted victory for the Second Amendment.
New and notable legislation: In the House, Reps. Bob Goodlatte and Henry Bonilla introduced the Strengthening the Ownership of Private Property (STOPP) Act (HR 3405), which would prevent Supreme Court justices like David Souter from taking property from one private party and giving it to another.
Also, Rep. Tom Tancredo, a possible '08 presidential contender, is making a name for himself by introducing an immigration bill denying illegal jobs to aliens while also creating a guest-worker program for employers needing temporarily legal workers. Before the guest-worker program begins, however, the government must meet several benchmarks in enforcing immigration laws, including increased deportations to reduce the number of illegals currently in the U.S. Tancredo's is a politically courageous bill, in that it doesn't call for amnesty of one sort or another. It is also likely to be defeated by his cowardly congressional colleagues -- if it's ever brought up for a vote.
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This week's "Alpha Jackass" award:
"Mr. Bolton does not have the full confidence of the U.S. Senate. This recess appointment will hurt our nation's interests and hinder Mr. Bolton's effectiveness." --Delaware Demo Sen. Joe Biden, long a fixture on the Foreign Relations Committee
On the National Security front...
Wasting no time after the "election" of dependable hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad to the presidency, on Monday Iran formally requested that the IAEA remove the seals from the Esfehan uranium-enrichment facility. Concurrent with this formal step, Iran has resumed its standard practice of highly charged rhetoric regarding its nuclear program, claiming it will never give up the right to enrichment. The IAEA, feckless as ever, issued only a toothless statement that Iran should not take this step at a time when "the Agency is making steady progress in resolving outstanding issues." The EU-3 did much the same, promising to have a new package of economic and political treats ready for Iran in a few days. Iran can be expected to play the EU-niks and the IAEA for all they can get in terms of economic payoffs over the coming weeks, but the terror-sponsoring state will not lose sight of its ultimate goal: nuclear weapons.
Friends and fellow Patriots, we have said it before and we will say it again: When it can no longer be ignored or hidden that Iran is pursuing nukes, war will follow. When the spineless Europeans can no longer swallow their pride and continue to pretend that Iran is cooperating, Iran will have to be disarmed via preventive, pre-emptive war. Iran's new president seems certain to accelerate the timetable for that war, as he has a proven track record of virulent anti-Americanism and inflexibility over the nuclear program. The only question remains whether Iran will have produced the necessary fissile material for nuclear warheads before disarmament begins.
From the warfront with Jihadistan...
King Fahd bin Abdel Aziz al-Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, has died, leaving the crown to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz. The transition of power for the chief of state was seamless, as the Crown Prince has been in charge since 1995, when Fahd became seriously ill. Now, what should be a 21st-century cultural curiosity -- a new King with absolute authority -- is deadly serious statecraft for America and the West.
Saudi Arabian oil is essential to the economies of the West. Saudi Arabian theology and money are vital to the Islamists trying to destroy the West. The paradox continues when a nation that takes in $100 billon a year in oil revenue has 30 percent unemployment. The paradox redux is that Saudi Arabia isn't a nation-state, and therein lies the dilemma. Saudi Arabia is a 'country' created by the Brits in 1932 by promoting a tribal leader to King -- so Saudi Arabia is a tribal kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is called a 'conservative' kingdom. Conservative in this case means pre-Magna Carta (1215) absolutism. Likewise, the 'conservative' Wahhabism branch of Islam means 7th-century thinking. The ruling family (tribe) of 30,000 royals saps resources, initiative and freedom from the exploding population. The governing religion gives an identity to any person with grievances and a focus for their hatred. As you recall, 15 of the 19 mass murderers on 9/11 were Saudis, as is Osama Bin Laden.
The new king created popular elections for local councils but didn't diminish the power and prerogatives for the royal tribe. So, the incentive for intrigue within the extended family for absolute power and the festering internal security threat of Islamists -- who care nothing about keeping the outflow of oil to the West and inflow of money -- remain. This is why Americans must hope the new King keeps security and stability working, and it's why Americans should hasten the day to develop other energy sources, or else be prepared to seize the oil and make it flow -- if the wrong people are in power in that place in the desert where a tribe with a flag currently rules.
From the "Department of Military Correctness"...
The U.S. military and the left-wing youth movement known as the Peace Corps have finally begun to rub shoulders after legislation was passed three years ago allowing military recruits to finish their service in the Peace Corps. The legislation was quietly enacted in part to help double the size of the Corps as the President promised in 2002. With the military now becoming more aggressive in promoting the offer, headlines are being made. Most folks in the Peace Corps are worried about their image around the world if "gun-toting" servicemen and women join their ranks. However, we tend to worry about the other side of the coin -- what kind of yahoos will this attract into the military if they can soon serve in the Peace Corps? The last thing we need is thousands of peaceniks toting M16s.
Judicial Benchmarks...
From the Leftjudiciary, a San Diego appellate court is now hearing a suit against a fertility clinic that refused on religious grounds to perform artificial insemination on a lesbian several years ago. Homosexual advocates are banging their highchairs that widespread discrimination might occur under the "guise of religion" if their "rights" are not upheld. A California law protects people from discrimination based on sexual (dis)orientation, but not marital status -- the woman is not married, and thus the refusal of treatment, says the California Medical Association.
From the "Court Jesters" File, the California Supreme Court has ruled that country clubs must offer the same discounts married couples receive to homosexuals who register as domestic partners. Birgit Koebke, the woman bringing the suit, said, "We aren't activists, we aren't politically charged. We just wanted to play golf together and we just really felt we had every human right to do that." Nobody was stopping them from playing golf together, just from getting the marriage discount. Besides, who knew golf was a human right?
This decision will have a far-reaching impact upon a "business establishment" as now set forth in California law. What constitutes a "business establishment" is not entirely clear, but insurers, banks and employee benefits will be immediately affected. It is likely activists may try to sue churches to force them to provide benefits to domestic partners of their employees despite freedom of religion.
From the "Non Compos Mentis" Files...
"God hates Boy Scouts. It couldn't be clearer. God hates the Scouts' policy of discrimination against gays. That's right, God is pro-gay, and he/she/it is letting that be known, beginning with some good ol' fashioned smiting of those who are blatantly going against his laws and discriminating against his creation, gay men." So says San Francisco's "Karel," a homosexual radio host, and contributor to the homosexual "news" site, The Advocate. "The evidence? ... First came the tragic deaths of four scout leaders while they were setting up a dining tent. By all accounts, it was biblical carnage at its best. ...[A]nother act of God against the Boy Scouts was reported by AP: Lightning struck a group of scouts gathered in Sequoia National Park in California, killing a scout leader and critically injuring a 13-year-old. More Old Testament smiting," writes Karel.
"Why wouldn't God do this?" Karel asks, concluding his/her/its diatribe with an atheist's pass at theologizing. "While under the law the Boy Scout stance on gays may be justifiable, socially, morally, it's just plain wrong. They do it in God's name, so maybe God is just sick and tired of people doing things in his/her/its name." This homosexual's pathological hatred speaks for itself; as for The Patriot, we'll continue to mourn the Scouts' losses, and pray for the families these committed adults left behind.
From the Left...
Proudly joining the blame-America-first crowd, our best-ever ex-president, Jimmy Carter, recently stated the detention of terror suspects at Gitmo is an embarrassment and gives extremists an excuse to attack the United States. "What has happened at Guantanamo Bay...does not represent the will of the American people," Carter said Saturday. "I'm embarrassed about it, I think it's wrong. I think it does give terrorists an unwarranted excuse to use despicable means to hurt innocent people."
Carter's sense of political cause and effect, profoundly absent during his misbegotten four years as President, is still in the ozone. If the existence of Gitmo gave Jihadis an excuse for killing thousands of American noncombatants in September of 2001, why did the bombings occur before the Hotel Gitmo became the preferred lodging for Jihadi terrorists? This kind of "thinking" brings to life an old lesson -- there are none so blind as those who will not see.
Appropriately, Carter delivered his remarks while in England, as it would take something resembling a spine to be in the U.S. when disparaging it. For the likes of Carter, confusing wisdom with the latest left-wing slogan has become chronic. It would be better for him and his lefty pals to let people imagine them wise -- rather than open their mouths and remove all doubt.
The BIG lie...
"They say we didn't win the election last time because of moral values. The opposite is true. If the election had been held on moral values last time, the Democrats would have won. Why is that? Because more people agree with our moral values." --Demo National Committee head Howard "Mad Doc" Dean, addressing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Birmingham, Alabama
All together now -- YEEAAARRRGGGHHH!
Regarding the redistribution of your income...
Our Republican Congress closed summer session with a series of budget-busting bills calling GOP fiscal conservatism into further doubt. "If you look at fiscal conservatism these days, it's in a sorry state. Republicans don't even pretend anymore," said Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, one of only eight House members to vote against the oinking transportation bill. Last year, the President insisted that a highway bill not exceed $256 billion, but the final product authorizes $295 billion over five years.
Last January, the President called for budget austerity by freezing non-discretionary spending for five years, but lawmakers feel little pressure to curb spending. "You have to be courageous to not spend money," said Sen. Tom Coburn, "and we don't have many people who have that courage." GOP (which apparently now stands for "Give Out Pork") lawmakers headed home for summer recess actually have instructions to brag about their local spending "successes."
Likewise, the White House has issued a veto threat to Congress on a $1-billion federal subsidy for Amtrak unless the money is accompanied by a list of reforms for the poorly managed railroad. For years Amtrak has been a black hole for federal dollars, and money-losing routes that should have been closed long ago are kept open because no one on Capitol Hill wants to be the person who turns down funding. President Bush's plan to slash Amtrak's budget this year was soundly rejected by Congress, and they are now disregarding his proposed veto as an empty threat. The President has not vetoed a single bill since taking office, which in itself is a record. Until he breaks that four-and-a-half-year streak and draws a line in the sand, Congress is unlikely to heed his warnings.
The Patriot looks back longingly to the budget battle of 1995 when Democrats demonized the GOP budget for reducing the scheduled spending increase on school lunches by six-tenths of a percentage point! Apparently, after ten short years in power, the GOP is morphing into its own former opposition.
From the "Regulatory Commissars" File...
The Senate passed the energy bill by a vote of 74-26 a day after the House overwhelmingly passed the legislation. At last President Bush will be able to offer the nation a comprehensive energy plan that is the first major overhaul of the nation's energy policy in more than a decade. The bill contains $14.5 billion in tax breaks for companies to drill for oil and natural gas, build new nuclear reactors and expand renewable energy sources.
What has not been noted in the media, however, is the hefty number of regulations that come with this new energy package. There are new regulations on ceiling fans, vending machines, space heaters, refrigerators and virtually every other appliance that plugs into a wall outlet. While the hoped-for outcome is more efficient energy usage, these regulations will only serve to mire down the production and sale of household appliances, creating higher costs for products and more headaches for consumers.
From the "Village Academic Curriculum" File...
In the academic land of love and tolerance, a New Jersey student-employee at William Paterson University has been reprimanded by the university president for telling a female professor that lesbian relationships are "perversion" according to his religious beliefs. Of course, the professor initiated contact, spamming students with an advertisement for a film described as a "lesbian relationship story." Prof. Arlene Holpp Scala, head of the women's-studies department, forwarded the student's reply email to the university's Office of Employment Equity and Diversity, whining, "[this] message to me sounds threatening and in violation of our university's non-discrimination policy. I don't want to feel threatened at my place of work when I send out announcements about events that address lesbian issues." (The head of the men's-studies department was unavailable for comment.) The student appealed the reprimand to the state's Attorney General's office, which declared, "[S]peech which violates a non-discrimination policy is not protected by the First Amendment." Huh? Taking this even further into the realm of the absurd, the student is a 63-year-old Muslim named Jihad Daniel! That's quite a conundrum for the Left -- "free speech" versus "diversity"!

On the Homeland Security front...
The ACLU and its stately spawn, the NYCLU, are once again miles from reason. The NYCLU has filed suit against the city of New York over random subway searches that include bags, clothing, etc., because they "violate" civil liberties. Their biggest contention, of course, is that it might result in -- GASP! -- ethnic profiling! However, officers have been instructed to conduct the searches randomly, which by our estimation results in quite a waste of resources. A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "The mayor has repeatedly stated since the start of this policy that there would be zero tolerance for racial profiling." Contrary to this "feel good" nonsense, our preferred solution would be both ethnic and "behavioral profiling," perhaps better known as "criminal profiling," in which law officers cull out for close search those who fit the personal characteristics and behavioral expressions associated with terrorists -- a.k.a. male Muslim extremists between the ages of 17 and 40. To take a helpful quiz on the advantages of profiling, see -- http://FederalistPatriot.US/news/profiling.asp

In business/economic news...
The U.S. economy created 207,000 non-farm jobs last month, and revised figures increased the number of new jobs in May and June by 42,000, raising this year's average monthly job creation to a hearty 191,000. Unemployment is holding steady at five percent, and the strength of the labor market is expected to move the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the effort to head off inflation.
On the culture front...
The Patriot has received countless inquiries from readers regarding the position this publication takes on Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's revised stance on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. At this point, our response has to be underwhelming.
As it stands, it's unclear just how much Sen. Frist has changed his position. He says that of the 78 existing embryonic stem-cell lines the federal government agreed to fund, only 22 are actually viable for research. Consequently, Frist says, Congress should increase funding to speed the research, and expand federally funded research to embryos created in vitro and frozen by couples who, having completed their fertility treatment, donate them to research. Otherwise, these embryos would remain frozen or be destroyed. Frist has endorsed House legislation to this effect -- legislation that does not permit creating embryos for research purposes.
All in all, this appears to be a mild change in policy; a slippery slope it need not be. Sen. Frist is, undoubtedly, jockeying for leverage on other issues, knowing that President Bush has vowed to veto any expansion to federal funding.
Around the world...
John Garang, Vice President of Sudan and leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, died in a helicopter crash this week. Garang, who received infantry training from the U.S. Army at Fort Benning in the 1970s, spent the last 21 years of his life fighting against the Islamist government in Khartoum. After Sharia law was instituted in 1983, systematic persecution and forced conversion of non-Muslims began in earnest, especially in the south, which is predominantly Christian: people were sold into slavery, villages were ravaged, livestock was stolen, and women were raped by the Sudanese military and forced into marriage. As commander of the SPLA, Garang managed to establish unprecedented unity among the various rebel groups in southern Sudan, galvanizing and strengthening the resistance movement. After two decades of civil war, Garang was able to broker a historic peace agreement between the SPLA and Khartoum and became the national vice president less than a month before his death. Now, with his untimely death, this troubled region appears to be descending into a new round of chaos.
And last...
Hail to the Chief! President Bush turned 59 last month, and a routine physical puts his health in the "superior" fitness category for men his age -- better than 99th percentile for 55- to 59-year-old men. However, despite checking in at 5'11" and 191 pounds, the President is "overweight" according to the federal government's official guidelines. (Federal obesity guidelines must be in the "Appendix" of the Constitution somewhere between endowments for the arts and deer-on-roads control.) A National Institutes of Health panel in 1998 moved the definition of "overweight" from a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27.8 for men and 27.3 for women all the way down to 25 for both genders. Millions of Americans, including then-Governor Bush, were all of the sudden "overweight" overnight. Of course, nothing maintains fitness like personal responsibility, which the President displays in his six-days-a-week workout regimen. Do we think liberal bureaucrats will ever catch on to that? Fat chance.
Lex et Libertas -- Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for the editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world, and for their families, especially those of our fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who have died in defense of American liberty while prosecuting the war with Jihadistan.)
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