Posted on 10/22/2002 7:46:55 AM PDT by Maigret
http://www.federalist.com/pub/02-43_Brief.htm
CULTURE
"In this era of nonjudgmental mush, too many Americans have become incapable of facing the brutal reality of unprovoked hatred, based on envy, resentment and ultimately on a vicious urge to lash out against others for the pain of one's own insignificance. That has been a common thread in things as disparate as ghetto riots, two world wars, and now Islamic terrorism." --Thomas Sowell
______----********O********----______ LIBERTY
"Name, in the past hundred years, a single important triumph for peace and for liberal democracy that was purchased by the jaw-jawing the Nobellians so admire. No rush, take your time. Now, look at what American war-war (and the threat of American war-war) won: the defeat of the fascist attempt to rule the world; the defeat of the Communist attempt to rule the world; the consequent rebuilding of a Europe protected by American arms into a democratic and peaceful continent for the first time in history; the rebuilding of an American-protected Japan into a democratic and peaceful nation for the first time in history; the emergence of a world in which, for the first time in history, the peaceful values of liberal democracy are the ascendant norm. No, no, it remains unthinkable. To imagine American force was a force for good, one would have to imagine America was a force for good. And this, the Bourbons of Oslo will never, never do." --Michael Kelly
______----********O********----______ THE GIPPER
"...[The specter] our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face is that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and appeasement does not give you a choice between peace and war, only between fight or surrender. We are told that the problem is too complex for a simple answer. They are wrong. There is no easy answer, but there is a simple answer. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right, and this policy of accommodation asks us to accept the greatest possible immorality." --Ronald Reagan
"Of course, it's a tragedy that the peace prize was awarded to Carter and not Reagan. I mean, who did more for world peace? Who did a great deal to end the Cold War? Who did a great deal to disarm and dismantle the Soviet Union, that mortal threat to world peace? Who removed the shadow of global annihilation from us, if only temporarily? Who envisioned a shield, not a sword? National Review once opined, many years ago, that, every year, the Nobel peace prize should go to the U.S. secretary of defense: The American military is the number-one guarantor of peace in the world. But maybe something like a Nobel freedom prize would be a more appropriate award for Reagan than a peace prize." --Jay Nordlinger
______----********O********----______ OPINION IN BRIEF
"Since the Vietnam War, many Americans have ridiculed the concept of 'nation building.' They have rejected the notion of stationing the men and women of our Armed Forces overseas. They are wrong. ... The purpose of the current war has been to destroy the Taliban, undo al-Qa'ida, and drive terror-supporting dictators from power. So long as we keep within those limits, however, we are placing ourselves in the position of Israel -- you kill so many of ours, we will kill so many of yours. But despite the superb Israeli military, that country's war against Palestinian terrorists is now very old, with no end in sight. Sooner or later, wars must give way to politics." --Stephen Ambrose
WORTH REPEATING/REFUTING
"The debate on the Iraq war resolution and the controversy over the replacement of Sen. Robert Torricelli on the New Jersey ballot presented an interesting contrast. Many of the same people who said that the words of New Jersey law should be brushed aside, as they were by the New Jersey Supreme Court, were saying a week later that the United States should be bound by every jot and tittle of international law. Rules don't apply at home, but the United States should be restricted by rules abroad. ... The cost of disobeying rules like the New Jersey election law is probably not too high: a marginal gain for one side in a few political campaigns. The cost of tying down the United States by requiring it to be bound by wispy international rules or the vote of the Security Council would have been much higher. We who thought we were safe under the umbrella of the United States learned otherwise on September 11. This is not the time to indulge an adolescent mistrust of our own country." --Michael Barone
RE: THE LEFT
"Liberals believe they are best qualified in war and peace and forced busing because they aren't going to suffer the consequences. Thus, they can act freely for 'humanity.' If it turns sour, like their adventure in Vietnam, they can always drop it and pin the blame on others." --Ann Coulter
______----********O********----______ POLITICAL FUTURES
"Has anyone had a better six weeks than George W. Bush? Just before Labor Day, the American people were uncertain about the need to act soon to remove Saddam Hussein. The Bush administration itself seemed to be in disarray. Senators and House members were objecting to a broad grant of authority to the president to use force. And our allies were even more unhappy than usual. Then the president called in the congressional leadership, went to the United Nations and made his case. The country now supports him. His administration is at least publicly united behind him. He has won large bipartisan majorities in Congress. And he is likely to prevail in the UN Security Council. What accounts for the president's success? Primarily it's the clarity, toughness and straightforwardness with which he has marshaled his arguments." --William Kristol
Ever noticed how many of these Clinton is a walking talking example?
Edmund Burke: "There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men."
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