Surviving the Blue Academy: A Modest Proposal - Beyond billionaires with left-wing political agendas, there are run-of-the-mill billionaires and millionaires who are loyal to their alma maters and not necessarily very inquisitive about the information provided them by the university fund-raisers. Also, when you’re talking about billion-dollar endowments, the high-prestige universities are largely immune to philanthropic pressure, at least until less fashionable institutions begin to provide real competition.(Sunday, November 28, 2004)
The Left's last paradise - Many campuses are intellectual versions of one-party nations -- except such nations usually have the merit, such as it is, of candor about their ideological monopolies. In contrast, American campuses have more insistently proclaimed their commitment to diversity as they have become more intellectually monochrome.(Sunday, November 28, 2004)
A Patriot Thanksgiving - Our nation's success in the world is not haphazard, not happenstance, and not merely the result of our own efforts. No, God has shepherded us from the first days colonists walked this new land -- and we put our country at risk whenever we forget this truth -- that we owe our Lord thanks and obedience. Our forebears knew that God judges nations and communities as well as individuals. They knew, too, that we are responsible for our own attitudes of thanksgiving and also for gathering together to offer prayers of gratitude.(Saturday, November 27, 2004)
Keyes moving political operations to Chicago - Keyes is moving the Declaration Foundation and the Declaration Alliance from Washington, D.C., to Chicago, but will probably not complete the transition until after the December holidays, said Keyes spokeswoman Connie Hair.(Saturday, November 27, 2004)
The triumph of perseverance: A Book Review - Victory At Yorktown: The Campaign That Won The Revolution by Richard M. Ketchum, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 350 pages. Index, maps, Notes, Principal Character bios. $27.50.(Friday, November 26, 2004)
A Very Christian Holiday - "Fundamentalists" gave us Thanksgiving, and we should thank them for it.(Thursday, November 25, 2004)
Thanksgiving Day, 2004 - By the President of the United States of America(Wednesday, November 24, 2004)
Declaration of Independence Banned at Calif School - LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence.(Wednesday, November 24, 2004)
Thanksgiving's Simple Meaning: The Claremont Institute - As our young men fight and die in Iraq and around the world, just as thousands died at home only a little more than three years ago, we should remember the war wisdom of Lincoln and the founding wisdom of Washington on Thanksgiving Day.(Wednesday, November 24, 2004)
The Rise of the Values Voters: NRO - When voters who chose moral values as their most important issue were asked "what comes to mind when you think about 'moral values,'" 44 percent named specific issues (29 percent said gay marriage, 32 percent said either abortion or stem cells). Eighteen percent said something like "God, the Bible, or religion," and 17 percent said some version of "traditional values" such as "family values," "right versus wrong," living by a "moral code," or a "general decline in morality." About 23 percent gave some response that indicated a reference to the candidates' personal moral qualities. All told, 79 percent of values voters agreed that the phrase referred either to social issues such as gay marriage and abortion, or to traditional values generally, or to religion. (The numbers add up to slightly more than 100 percent because voters could list up to two items.)(Tuesday, November 23, 2004)
Negroes vs. black conservatives - Much is made of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision striking down state segregated education. What is never mentioned is that the Supreme Court ruling was a reinstating of what Republicans had done nearly 75 years earlier in their 1875 civil-rights bill, which was overturned by Democrats in 1880.(Tuesday, November 23, 2004)
'Pro-choicers' condemn Congress for expanding choice - It's bad enough that the courts have, essentially, created a federal constitutional right to abortion in certain categories of cases for those who freely choose to engage in the procedure. But it's even worse for the government to force unwilling health care providers against their will, and oftentimes against their consciences, to engage in the abominable practice.(Tuesday, November 23, 2004)
Democrats May Use Results in Colorado as Political Primer: Washington Post - Some Republican conservatives refused to support Coors for the Senate because of his company's use of a "bikini team" to sell beer. In the 3rd Congressional District, another Democratic pick-up this year, the most conservative Republican candidate won a five-way nomination -- but then could not get the support of moderate Republicans in the general election. "We lost some important races because of dissension in our own party," Andrews said.(Monday, November 22, 2004)
Why Bush Scored in Nevada: a view from the left - Strategists on both sides point to cultural issues as a crucial factor in Kerry's defeat. "The economy, taxes, healthcare, that was lower down the list," says Earlene Forsythe, chair of the Nevada GOP and a longtime Washoe County resident. "The number-one issue was morals." Number two, according to Forsythe, was terrorism. AP exit poll data actually suggested a slightly more complex scenario: Fully one-quarter of voters said terrorism was their number-one concern, and 88 percent of these voters supported Bush. Number two was Iraq--and the voters who cited that as their top issue broke solidly for Kerry. But number three, beating out the economy and taxes, was morals, and three-quarters of those voters chose Bush.(Monday, November 22, 2004)
The Republic of Turmoil - The 'good old days' never were. The supposedly placid past, a superb new history book reminds us, was just as jarring as the disruptive present(Monday, November 22, 2004)
Putting a scare into Specter - What to do with Specter, then, was explained by one of the committee's most politically astute Republicans, who asked that his name not be used: ''We have to scare the hell out of Arlen before he gets to be chairman -- scare him so badly he will act properly as chairman.''(Monday, November 22, 2004)
Governor's views on social issues could doom AmendforArnold movement - Schwarzenegger supports abortion rights, stem cell research and civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. He's also said he would bend to the will of California voters if they decided to legalize gay marriage.(Sunday, November 21, 2004)
'Under the Radar' -- Up Till Now: Education Pick Is a Bush Confidante - Some conservatives, such as Reagan education secretary William J. Bennett, have expressed disappointment at her appointment, on the grounds that she is too pragmatic and insufficiently committed to such ideas as school choice. "The emphasis will be on standards and accountability rather than choice-based reform," said Frederick M. Hess, an education expert at the American Enterprise Institute.(Saturday, November 20, 2004)
A Few Fine Words: Reflections on the Gettysburg Address - It is strange that in an age when lengthy oratory was common, Lincoln gave a speech that in a mere 272 words gave the Civil War unambiguous meaning. Indeed in the middle of a war between citizens that had yet to be won on the field of battle, he explained in a way that everyone could understand what the nation stood for, and why it was worth the saving.(Friday, November 19, 2004)
Home-alone America - Absent fathers or mothers might read all this and feel guilty. Eberstadt doesn't consider that a bad thing, arguing that the reflex to protect parents from ever feeling guilt serves "to stop discussion just when it needs to start." She pleads for a broad cultural shift: "We need to replace our current low moral bar regarding nurture with a more humane standard acknowledging that individuals and society would be better off if more parents spent more time with children."(Friday, November 19, 2004)
Judiciary Committee backs Specter - "However, he will assume his new position on a very short leash," said James Dobson, founder of the conservative Christian lobbying group Focus on the Family.(Friday, November 19, 2004)
What the Marine Did - The shooting of an unarmed Iraqi was a tragedy. But was it a war crime?(Friday, November 19, 2004)
Stop Federal Civics Academies: Eagle Forum Alert - CCE's own documents describe "New Civics" as follows: "In this century, by contrast with the past, we may reasonably speculate that education for citizenship in a democracy will, with each decade, become everywhere more global, international and comparative in curricular content and processes of teaching and learning. And we ought to think now about how to improve our current curricular frameworks and standards for a world transformed by globally accepted and internationally transcendent principles and process of democracy."(Thursday, November 18, 2004)
Specter picks up judiciary chairmanship support: Associated Press - "I expect him to have the support of the committee," the panel's current chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, said after a closed-door meeting of the panel's 10 Republican members.(Wednesday, November 17, 2004)
Black Is Bigot?: NRO - But it was gay marriage that had the most resonance. "It really played," Nadler says. Black preachers, desperate to reinvigorate the traditional family, opposed it from their pulpits. "In the churches, there was a backlash against the notion of sexual proclivity being equated with civil rights," says Nadler. In the end, according to some estimates, 60 percent of black voters voted for the state-level referenda banning gay marriage.(Tuesday, November 16, 2004)
One of the chief aims of the Foundation is to foster civic education. In addition to the opinion and news pieces on contemporary political controversy bearing on the Declaration and its principles, I post articles on the subject of civics frequently. For example, here is a link to a November 10, 2004 op-ed titled, "Civics and Citizenship."
The internet class using our curriculum is well underway, and about to take its first comprehensive exam. I thought visitors to this site might like to try their own hand at this test.
In what one pastor is calling a "moral mandate" from the voters, millions of Americans made choices in the election yesterday based on traditional social issues.
October 29, 2004 EUROPEAN LEADERS SIGN EU CONSTITUTION
ROME (AP) - European leaders on Friday signed the EU's first constitution, a diplomatic triumph they hope will give the union a sharper international profile and speed up decision-making in a club now embracing 25 nations.
(Arlen Williams) - With four days to go before the elections, John Kerry seems to have based the selling of a would-be Presidency upon his mock certainty that 377 tons of very high explosives were looted from Iraq's Al Qa Qaa complex. This, despite conflicting evidence from reconnaisance and witnesses.
When the Patriot Fathers of '76 finally saw that they were compelled to declare independence from Britain, the central ground was simple and single. The Declaration itself contained a long list of abuses, but running through them all was this: the People's right to rule itself was under sustained attack by the King and his ministers.
October 27, 2004 KERRY, VIETNAM, TREACHERY -- HAVE YOU REALLY HEARD?
(Arlen Williams) - To say the story of John Kerry's Vietnam related wrongdoing has been suppressed in the main drain media is an understatement. From NBC's resident Democrats Chris Matthews and Lawrence O'Donnell, to Nightline's Ted Koppel, to Sinclair Communications' non-story, Vietnam veterans' attestations have been irrationally disputed, ignored, fragmented, and shouted down beyond the comprehension of those not taking an active interest.
October 25, 2004 DEMS REGISTER AL-QAIDA TERRORISTS IN OHIO VOTE DRIVE
Democratic Party activist groups in Ohio have registered at least two known terrorists involved in a plot to blow up a shopping center in a bid to get out the vote for John Kerry.
October 18, 2004 SEN. JOHN KERRY "EXCOMMUNICATED," ACCORDING TO VATICAN RESPONSE
SANTA MONICA, CA -- A Los Angeles based expert in Canon Law, the legal code used by the Roman Catholic Church, announced Friday on EWTN's the World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo that an important Vatican congregation has given an unprecedented boost to his case for heresy against presidential candidate John Kerry.
October 13, 2004 MYSTERY STILL SURROUNDING KERRY'S DISCHARGE FROM THE NAVY
An official Navy document on the John Kerry campaign website listed as Kerry's "Honorable Discharge from the Reserves" opens a door on a well-kept secret about Kerry's military service.
October 4, 2004 IRAQI DOCUMENTS SHOW SADDAM POSSESSED WMD, HAD EXTENSIVE TERROR TIES
Iraqi intelligence documents, confiscated by U.S. forces and obtained by CNSNews.com, show numerous efforts by Saddam Hussein's regime to work with some of the world's most notorious terror organizations, including al-Qaida, to target Americans.
October 1, 2004 MARRIAGE PROTECTION REJECTED BY HOUSE
WASHINGTON – A constitutional amendment defining marriage as an institution between one man and one woman was defeated in the House of Representatives last night as it fell 49 votes short of the two-thirds needed.
You have doubtless noticed that we have been covering news stories and op-eds, and posting historical documents and essays on one subject only this last week, namely, the relation of religion and politics in America.
Though the Foundation stays clear of campaigns for office, we cannot help having noticed the increasing controversy, both in Illinois, and nationally, about the relation of religion and public policy in our Republic.
This week I'll be posting thoughtful essays and current news articles on this issue, including a few newspaper reports on the way Dr. Keyes and Barack Obama handle the question.
September 23, 2004 TERRI SCHIAVO'S LAW STRUCK DOWN BY FLORIDA SUPREME COURT
Tallahassee, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The Florida Supreme Court struck down Terri's Law on Thursday, leaving the life of the disabled woman in jeopardy.
The state's high court unanimously ruled that the law violated the separation of powers clause in the state constitution and essentially allowed the state legislature to authorize Governor Jeb Bush to overturn a lower court decision ending Terri's life.
September 23, 2004 BIAS LIKELY AT HEART OF CBS NEWS DOCUMENTS CONTROVERSY, WORLD'S MARVIN OLAKSY SAYS
NASHVILLE -- World Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Marvin Olasky, says he believes that bias -- and not messy reporting -- likely was at the heart of CBS News' use of disputed National Guard documents.
September 21, 2004 CBS ADMITS BUSH MEMO STORY A "MISTAKE"
CBS News said Monday it cannot prove the authenticity of documents used in a 60 Minutes story about President Bush's National Guard service and that airing the story was a "mistake" that CBS regretted.
CBS News Anchor Dan Rather, the reporter of the original story, apologized.
September 9, 2004 FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK Inside the Mind of Karl Rove: A Guess
Following the impressive victory of the Republican Party in the midterm elections of 2002, President Bush’s political policy advisor, Karl Rove, basked in the political limelight. Rove was credited with designing the winning strategy, not only for 2002, but also for the two victorious campaigns of his boss in Texas, and for the Presidential win of 2000. A number of interviews and public appearances followed, and several books. The full titles of two of them speak for themselves: Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains behind the remarkable political Triumph of George W. Bush, by Lou Dubose, Jan Reid, and Carl M. Cannon, and Bush’s Brain: how Karl Rove made George W. Bush Presidential, by James Moore and Wayne Slater.
I have some good news about the work of the Foundation.
First, we have added two supplementary books to our textbook, which we have renamed, Declaration Statesmanship. The new texts are the Teacher's Manual, with detailed lesson plans, a schedule, test and teaching suggestion, etc., and Readings, a selection of original sources from American Statesmen, to give students a broader experience of the thought and deeds of our leaders throughout our history.
September 2, 2004 CLARIFYING HOMOSEXUALITY AND NATURAL LAW A Review of Gays/Justice: A Study of Ethics, Society, and Law, By Richard D. Mohr
The author is — we are told by the dust jacket — an "openly gay professor": who has turned his attention "to the lives of gay people in American and to the ethical issues raised by society's perception and treatment of gays."
This "timely book," it is said, "will prompt Americans to consider whether they have consistently applied their basic values to lesbians and gays."
August 26, 2004 NY COURT DECLARES PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION CONSTITUTIONAL
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Partial birth abortions will continue despite a 2003 federal ban signed into law by President George W. Bush, Federal District Judge Richard Casey ruled today in New York.
August 2, 2004 HASTERT BOOK SAYS GOP PLANS TO ABOLISH IRS
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) writes in a new book that Congressional Republicans plan to push for the elimination of the Internal Revenue Service during a Bush second term.
August 1, 2004 POLL: JOHN KERRY LOSES GROUND TO PRESIDENT BUSH AFTER DEMOCRATIC EVENT
They say there's no sure thing in politics. However, a party's presidential candidate is supposed to receive a bounce in the polls after the national convention.
Some say it is a show of women's rights, others say it is nothing but offensive. A new T-shirt that boldly states, "I had an abortion." It is being sold by planned parenthood on the internet.
