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HUMAN EVENTS Weekly Wrap-Up
March 5, 2004
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In Today's Wrap-Up:
- 1. Two Cents: PATRIOTic Americans
- 2. EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Ten Worst Government Programs
- 3. Headlines and Highlights from HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE
- 4. Rep. Jim McDermott on God: Out of the Pledge & Not on Our Side
- 5. Jihad Watch: John Kerry and the War on Terror
- 6. Political Roundup from Bob Novak and John Gizzi
- 7. From PAGE 3: ". . . there might be a plan afoot in the White House to just
see how much the Republican base will take before they simply sit home. . ."
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1. Two Cents: PATRIOTic Americans
Listening to the media, one would think that Americans should be in the streets
rioting over the civil rights abuses contained in the PATRIOT Act. On the Right
and the Left, criticisms of the relatively new law abound, with claims bouncing
here and there that civil liberties are being -- or will be -- trampled by the
John Ashcroft Department of Justice as it enforces a law pushed by the Bush
Gestapo and passed 357-66 in the House and, quite notably, 98-1 in the Senate.
(Sen. Russ Feingold (D.-Wis.), not John Kerry, was the only dissenting vote, by
the way.)
I mention this not to discuss my views, pro or con, on the PATRIOT Act, but to
note the views of Americans as revealed by a recent Gallup Poll. After hearing
the press and pundits, I was under the impression that such reports reflected a
negative attitude among the American public about the law, or that, at the very
least, people would begin to be negative after hearing about the abuses of
individual freedoms from their favorite newsman.
But, according to Gallup, such is not the case.
In her March 2, 2004, report titled "Americans Generally Comfortable With
PATRIOT Act," Lydia Saad notes that most Americans "believe [the PATRIOT Act] is
within acceptable bounds in its treatment of civil liberties." Gallup's numbers
show that by more than 2-to-1 (64 percent to 26 percent), Americans believe the
law is "about right" or "does not go far enough in restricting people's civil
liberties in order to fight terrorism" rather than think the law goes "too far."
Of the various sub-groups listed, one that really stood out to me was the
opinion of self-described "liberals." According to Saad, only 45 percent of
these liberals say the PATRIOT Act goes too far, while 44 percent are in the
camp that feels the law is about right or doesn't go far enough.
The most interesting part of this Gallup report is the head-to-head competition
between John Ashcroft and the ACLU over who can best protect Americans from
terrorism while protecting basic civil liberties.
When queried about how much they "trust [Ashcroft and the ACLU] to balance the
need to protect Americans from terrorist attacks in the U.S. with the need to
protect basic civil liberties for Americans," 57 percent of those polled said
they have a "great deal" or "moderate amount" of confidence in John Ashcroft,
while 38 percent answered "not much" or "not at all." But only 43 percent
declared a "great deal" or "moderate amount" of trust in the ACLU, and 53
percent said they trusted the ACLU "not much" or "not at all."
Does this Gallup Poll run counter to everything you've heard about the PATRIOT
Act (whether you agree with it or not), John Ashcroft and the ACLU in the media?
It does for me.
#####
2. EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Ten Worst Government Programs
We're at it again. This week we spotlight the 2004 Ten Worst Government
Programs--which were selected for HUMAN EVENTS by a distinguished panel of
conservative leaders.
The "honor" of heading the list this year goes to the Medicare prescription drug
entitlement. When HUMAN EVENTS produced its first annual Ten Worst programs list
last March, this entitlement did not exist. A Republican Congress and President
labored in the interim to create it, ensuring its passage in a now-notorious
session of the House of Representatives that lasted into the wee hours of the
morning as conservative members were cajoled and pressured to support the
greatest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ.
When HUMAN EVENTS asked Medicare spokeswoman Kathleen Dziak last week to point
to the constitutional provision that authorized the government to create a drug
entitlement, she pointed instead to an agency document outlining the history and
policy rationale for the entire Medicare program.
The truth: There is no constitutional justification for either Medicare or the
drug entitlement.
Here's our Ten Worst: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3209
#####
3. Headlines and Highlights from HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE:
"DEMOCRATS CHOOSE MOST LIBERAL SENATOR AS PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE"
When John Kerry won 9 of 10 states on Super Tuesday, the Washington Post greeted
the news with a banner front-page headline almost worthy of a moon landing:
"Kerry Locks Up the Nomination" the paper declared in massive letters. No wonder
the Post was so thrilled. Just a few days earlier, the non-partisan,
non-ideological National Journal had published its annual analysis of
congressional voting records. The conclusion: John Kerry is the most liberal
U.S. senator.
And if Kerry picks John Edwards as his running mate, the Dems this year will
have a stunningly left-wing ticket -- even by the Democrats' standards. Edwards,
the National Journal said, "had a 2003 composite liberal score of 94.5%, making
him the fourth-most liberal senator."
Read about what it took to be the Most Liberal Senator: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3212
"JOHN KERRY: ON THE LOSING SIDE OF HISTORY"
The Cold War and the ominous threat of Communist expansion are long over. Still,
Americans should start thinking about communism again. Why dig up the past?
Because our current enemy--loosely organized Islamic radicalism--is not nearly
as serious a threat as the one Sen. John F. Kerry (D.-Mass.), pooh-poohed under
questioning from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971:"I
think [the threat of Communism] is bogus. Totally artificial. There is no
threat. The Communists are not about to take over our McDonald Hamburger
stands."
Find out who said: "If we had gone the way Kerry was voting while I was in the
Senate, we would have Russian soldiers walking in our streets today." http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3198
"MEL GIBSON'S ARTISTIC TRIUMPH"
We were told "The Last Temptation of Christ" that portrayed Jesus as a lustful
wimp pining over Mary Magdalene was a beautiful film. Yet the same critics tell
us "The Passion" is an insult to decency that should never have been made.
Now, it seems, comes payback time. Apparently, Hollywood, that bastion of
artistic freedom where the 1st Amendment is the 1st Commandment, intends to
blacklist Gibson. http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3216
"TO BROADCASTERS: THE STATUS QUO WILL NOT STAND"
"The current pressure on the broadcasting industry is not coming from some
secret cabal of conservative politicians in an election year. . . . It is coming
from American parents, most of whom were watching the Super Bowl broadcast and
most of whom were appalled by it. . . . The television industry, like every
other industry, works best when it regulates and polices itself. But, if the
entertainment industry cannot pull itself together and stay within some
boundaries of decency, Congress will have no choice but to step in. . . . Make
no mistake: if decision makers at studios, networks, and affiliates fail to
appreciate the sensitivity of the post-Super Bowl environment, the consequences
will not be merely economic." http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3203
You can read these and many other columns at www.HumanEventsOnline.com
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4. Rep. Jim McDermott on God: Out of the Pledge & Not on Our Side
We interviewed Rep. Jim McDermott (D.-Wash.) about the Pledge of Allegiance case
which the Supreme Court has agreed to hear and whether God is on our side in the
War on Terror. Once again, Mr. McDermott revealed a lot about himself.
HUMAN EVENTS: Congressman, this Pledge of Allegiance case is coming up. In your
opinion, should the Supreme Court order the word "God" be removed from the
Pledge of Allegiance?
MCDERMOTT: I personally don't think it adds anything to the Pledge of
Allegiance, and I personally don't say, "under God."
HE: You just sort of pause there and let other people say it.
MCDERMOTT: Yeah. I consider it an infringement I don't like. I don't like
infringements of Church and State. And so I don't know that I'm rigid, but I try
to be consistent.
HE: When other people say it, couldn't that be offensive to some people? Maybe
personally you don't find it really offensive, but couldn't that be offensive to
people? Shouldn't it be stopped from being said in public if that's the-
MCDERMOTT: I think if people want to say it, that's their belief. But
unfortunately in many wars, people always say, "God's on our side."
HE: Actually, I wanted to ask you specifically about that, because John Kerry
was asked that, and he didn't quite want to say, "God's on our side." What do
you think about that? Is God on our side in the war on terrorism?
MCDERMOTT: No, I don't think God's on anyone's side. These are human events.
He's quite often appalled at what we call on Him to do. He's given us the rules
about social justice and the way we should treat one another. And if we're doing
that, I guess He's on our side, but-
HE: If we're trying to stop people who want to, you know, blow us up, don't you
think He might be on our side for that?
MCDERMOTT: Well, you can look at some things that people have done, whether to
other Americans or to other people in the world, and in the name of Christ,
which I think might be questionable. So I think it's tough to decide when God is
on our side. http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3199
#####
5. Jihad Watch: John Kerry and the War on Terror
In an address to the Council on Foreign Relations in December, John Kerry
declared: "We have a president who has developed and exalted a strategy of war
-- unilateral, preemptive and, in my view, profoundly threatening to America's
place in the world and to the safety and prosperity of our own society. Simply
put, the Bush administration has pursued the most arrogant, inept, reckless and
ideological foreign policy in modern history. . . . The Bush administration
should swallow its pride and reverse course."
Reverse course? When John Kerry says that he wants to reverse course, he gives
heart to the forces of international jihad that are bent on destroying America.
Find out how: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3194
#####
6. Political Roundup
EVANS & NOVAK: One of the several issues Bob Novak covers this week is President
Bush's use of trade " to advance his realignment of American diplomacy. This
entails strengthening Western Hemisphere relations while paying relatively
little heed to traditional allies in Western Europe. Congressional Republicans
and Democrats are not exactly racing to eliminate a special tax break for
exporters known as the Extraterritorial Income Exclusion (ETI), the World Trade
Organization (WTO) has ruled ETI an illegal export subsidy, and granted the
European Union (EU) the right to impose up to $4 billion per year in retaliatory
tariffs. The EU has made it clear it intends beginning March 1 to impose 5%
levies on select U.S. products and will raise the tariffs by one percentage
point every month until ETI is fixed. The apparent lack of concern by Congress,
and the industries that lobby it, is due to the weakness of the threatened
tariffs. Europe has been threatening action for months without doing anything.
The original list of goods targeted for tariffs was amended because they would
drive up prices too much for European consumers. In short, Europe simply cannot
afford to disrupt trade, and the U.S. knows that. Now, as always, the U.S. has
the upper hand. The weak dollar is a boon to exporters, making them not too
worried about the imminent tariffs. Also, the poverty of Europe means exports to
Europe have become a less important part of our economy. Lawmakers want to make
the ETI repeal the vehicle for this year's tax cut. The administration wants to
cut corporate taxes, and it could structure the cuts to offset the tax hike that
ETI repeal will represent to many exporters." http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3205
POLITICS 2004: One of the many item's from Political Editor John Gizzi's "Golden
State Roundup" is "Dornan's Last Hurrah," in which he notes: "In what had to be
the last hurrah for former Rep. (1976-82, 1984-96) Robert K. Dornan, the
conservative firebrand lost a comeback bid to eight-term Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.
During the campaign, Dornan denounced what he said was a lack of support for
Israel and two pro-gay votes in Congress cast by Rohrabacher, Despite the
attacks, Rohrabacher (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 96%) rolled
up an 83%-to-16% margin over the 70-year-old former congressman (lifetime ACU
rating: 96%). Commenting on Dornan's surprise move into the 46th to challenge a
fellow conservative, Jon Fleischman--former executive director of the California
Republican Party and past president of the conservative California Republican
Assembly--said: 'The old Bob Dornan that everyone knew and loved is gone. The
new Bob Dornan is totally unglued from reality. Orange County's conservative
voters sent him packing back to Washington with a new label: "gadfly."'" http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3207
#####
7. From PAGE 3:
In 1996, the Republican National Platform committed the party to abolishing the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). On July 15, 1997, the
Republican-controlled House held true to that platform when it voted 238 to 192
for an Interior appropriation bill that eliminated all NEA funding. A
House-Senate conference committee later restored the money. That was the closest
the Republicans ever came to abolishing an unnecessary federal program.
In January, the administration announced it plan to increase NEA's annual
funding by about 15%--from $121 million to $139.4 million. Our David Freddoso
asked Republicans House members last week if they agreed with the 1996 platform,
or the administration's call to increase NEA funding.
-----
HUMAN EVENTS: The 1996 Republican platform called for de-funding the National
Endowment for the Arts. Should this Congress do that--
REP. TOM TANCREDO (R.-COLO.): Yeah!
HUMAN EVENTS: --or increase its funding by 15% like the President wants to do?
TANCREDO: You must have seen my response to the President's proposal. I said at
the time that I've never seen a better indicator of the fact that the Republican
Party has apparently lost any claim to a mantle of fiscal responsibility. I go
up every single year and try to de-fund NEA. I try to strike all of their money,
I try to move it around, I try to do everything. And here he is, wanting to
actually-- You know, there might be a plan afoot in the White House to just see
how much the Republican base will take before they simply sit home. Sometimes
you think that's--
HUMAN EVENTS: Do you think they really want to find that out?
TANCREDO: Well, I'm being facetious. But you wonder if they're just testing to
see, "I wonder how much they'll take." I wonder if it will start with No Child
Left Behind, or maybe the tariffs on steel, or maybe the Medicare/Prescription
Drug Benefit, or the Alien Guest Worker/Amnesty program for everyone here
illegally, or increasing money for the NEA? You know, I wonder what is next? If
they're trying to see how far the base can be pushed before they just simply
stay home, I think they're right there on the edge.
Read all of the Page 3 interviews here: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=3213
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And Finally. . .
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Later,
Chris Field
(You can send your comments, suggestions, ideas, and letters to me at
Chris.Field@HumanEventsOnline.com. I will read every email, but I can't
guarantee a personal response to all of them.)
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