THE FOUNDATION "It should be the highest ambition of every American...to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn." ---George Washington INSIGHT "We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive." ---C. S. Lewis IChThUS IMPRIMIS "When our lives are focused on God, awe and wonder lead us to worship God, filling our inner being with a fullness we would never have thought possible. Awe prepares the way in us for the power of God to transform us and this transformation of our inner attitudes can only take place when awe leads us in turn to wonder, admiration, reverence, surrender, and obedience toward God." ---James Houston FAMILY "While it's easy to understand a woman's desire to have a child, it is less easy to understand how it was decided that fathers are nonessential. I find little comfort in the fact that some sperm donors agree to meet their 'offspring' when the child reaches age 18. Ego gratification on one end balanced against narcissistic self-fulfillment on the other offers little to soothe the restless soul. Or the child, who might like to have a real daddy tuck him in at night... [This is] a diseased culture in which human relationships have no moral content and children are treated as accessories to adult lives. Yet, these trends are portrayed as the latest gosh-gee fashions. A society in which women are alone, men are lonely, and children don't have fathers is nothing to celebrate. And a future world filled with fatherless children---bereft of half their identity and robbed of a father's love, discipline and authority---won't likely be a pleasant place to live." ---Kathleen Parker CULTURE "The war, this clash of civilizations, is a war that will last for generations. Your grandkids will have to deal with it. It isn't going to go away. All the solutions to it are long-term solutions. All the solutions are painful and will require incredible perseverance... We Christians can understand that, because we can take a longer view of history. But today's instant-gratification culture doesn't get it [and] doesn't want to get it..." ---Chuck Colson LIBERTY "Some in Washington want to rein in 527's with greater government control and regulation, and that is certainly their right and a path that is consistent with the letter and spirit of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. However, I believe instead of greater government control of political speech, more freedom is the answer and that is why I could not support this bill. And while this liberty may be a bit more chaotic and inconvenient for some in the political class, as Thomas Jefferson said, 'I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.' The answer to problems in politics in a free society is more freedom, not less." ---Rep. Mike Pence, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee THE GIPPER "We don't have inflation because the people are living too well. We have inflation because the government is living too well." ---Ronald Reagan OPINION IN BRIEF "Years ago, people who supported racial discrimination and racial segregation were called racists. Today, people who are opposed to racial discrimination and racial segregation are called racists---at least they are on campuses all across America. If the diversity movement has accomplished anything at my university, it has been to teach young blacks to model themselves after members of the Ku Klux Klan... But there is another rather obvious conclusion that comes from watching the 'progress' made by the Offices of Campus Diversity in recent years. It is that these people are so arrogant as to presume that they may redefine racism whenever they see fit in order to garner support for whatever initiatives they deem fashionable at any given point in time. So, perhaps, it is no longer advisable to ask the diversity nabobs to inform us of their most recent postmodern definition of racism simply because they are, yet again, making spurious allegations. Perhaps, instead, it is time for those of us who are tired of the diversity movement (that includes those tired of paying for it with hard-earned tax dollars) to come up with our own definition of racism... Racism---is a pathological tendency to interject race into situations where it is not relevant, merely for personal gain." ---Mike Adams / GOVERNMENT "[W]hen Joe Klein calls [Massachusetts Governor Mitt] Romney's health-care plan 'rather remarkable' and Ted Kennedy is asking to be on hand for the signing ceremony and Hillary Clinton herself is weighing in favorably (i.e. not sarcastically frowning or smirking) and The New York Times really, really loves the idea... Well, fiscal conservatives can perhaps be forgiven for instinctively reaching for come garlic bulbs and a flask of holy water. Doubtless, Romney's pursuit of an individual mandate system compelling those with the means (as determined by the government, which we all know has always been so in touch with ordinary peoples' lives) to purchase health insurance while simultaneously subsidizing the insurance costs of those individuals or families within a stone's throw of the federal poverty line is much preferable to a single-payer socialized health-care system freezing out competition and innovation... Perhaps such a compromise is the only way to avoid a single-payer system disaster. It's politically smart, as well. The nagging question remains, however: Does anyone know what exactly has been invited in? Considering government programs' tendency to expand, not contract, it is probably advisable to treat them all as Maxes until significant proof to the contrary is uncovered. Once the government is in, it is in for the duration. Next stop, the fall of Rome." ---Shawn Macomber RE: THE LEFT "People who urge us to rely on the United Nations, instead of acting 'unilaterally,' or who urge us to follow other countries in creating a government-run medical care system, often show not the slightest interest in getting facts about the actual track record of either the UN or government-run medical systems. Those who believe in affirmative action likewise usually see no reason to find out what actually happens under such policies, as distinguished from what they wish, hope, or imagine happens. They crusade for 'a living wage' that will enable a worker to support a family proceeds without the slightest interest in finding out whether most people who are making low wages actually have any family to support---much less seeking out the facts about what actually happens after the government sets wages. People who have made up their minds and don't want to be confused by the facts are a danger to the whole society. Since the votes of such people count just as much as the votes of people who know what they are talking about, politicians have every incentive to pass laws and create policies that pander to ignorant notions, if those notions are widespread." ---Thomas Sowell POLITICAL FUTURES "For the past four years Republicans have won elections by tagging Democrats as the 'anti' party---as in antiwar, anti-tax-cuts, antijudges or just plain anti-Bush. The theme was clear: If Democrats want to be trusted to govern, they have to be for something. That's sound advice that Republicans themselves might want to heed. This year the GOP is becoming the 'anti' party that is against more ideas than it is for... Ask a Republican official why the GOP should hold onto control of Congress this year and the answer will invariably fall to one of two responses---either the generic (Democrats would spend more money, abandon the war or otherwise do a worse job running the country) or the more specific, which one top Republican said to us recently: 'Speaker Nancy Pelosi.' Regardless of what voters think of the San Francisco Democrat and House minority leader, this isn't a positive, forward-looking reason to turn out and vote for the GOP... Republicans need to put a few forward-looking ideas on the table of what they would like to do for the country. Look what we're stopping from happening isn't a winning strategy for a majority party." ---Brendan Miniter