THE FOUNDATION
''Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they
are the people's liberty's teeth.'' --George Washington
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ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PUNT
In the BIG news this week, NATO officials are actively planning
for ground warfare in Yugoslavia, though insistent that the air
war will succeed. As The Federalist argued in March, the only
bomb that will change Milosevic's mind is the one that lands on
his head. Thursday, while saying Milosevic is personally not a
target, NATO forces sent three laser-guided bombs through the
sewer vent on the roof of his villa in the exclusive Dedinje
district of Belgrade. Unfortunately, Slobo was asleep in a nearby
bunker.
Meanwhile, if you are planning a visit to ''the shining city on a
hill'' this weekend, cancel. Washington is enshrouded in security
to protect the leaders of 40 countries arriving to celebrate
NATO's 50th anniversary. Their host, Bill Clinton, had
anticipated looking like a world class leader and humanitarian
hero on the heels of what was prognosticated to be a ''quick and
clean'' antiseptic air war to contain a third-rate dictator. So
much for legacies.
Boris Yeltsin says his seat at this weekend's festivities will be
vacant. Russia's lower house of parliament has passed a non-
binding resolution to allow Yugoslavia into the Russia-Belarus
union. (Yugoslavia's parliament voted to join the union last
week.)
Russia's role in the Balkans is summed up accurately in a few
notable excerpts from Thomas Sowell's 1995 book, ''An Insult To
Our Intelligence.'' Mr. Sowell says, ''...There are far more
belligerent Russian politicians waiting in the wings, eager to
restore Russia's power and its historic role as a force backing
the Serbs in the Balkans.''
Regarding other resolutions, despite the circumstances of Mr.
Clinton's current foreign policy benightedness, a bipartisan
coalition of senators introduced a resolution giving Mr. Clinton
the authority to use ''all force necessary'' to achieve our yet-to-
be-determined mission objectives in Yugoslavia, and House
Republicans will open debate on a formal declaration of war by
April 30.
''It's apparent that the objectives are much greater than the
resources devoted to them,'' said one Senate resolution sponsor,
Richard G. Lugar. Another sponsor, Sen. John McCain, said,
''Congress, no less than the administration, must show the resolve
and confidence of a superpower whose cause is just and
imperative,'' though he added, ''It would be nice if the president
would say to the American people that things are not going
according to plan.'' Rather understated for Mr. McCain....
More to the point, Linda Bowles notes, ''If our goal was to
alleviate human suffering in Kosovo, we have failed. If our goal
was to stabilize the Balkans, we have failed. If our goal was to
provide a framework for enduring peace in that area of the world,
we have failed.''
The Senate sponsors are rightly concerned that if we do not
follow through with our campaign against Milosevic, however ill-
conceived, every despot in the world would have carte blanche to
rise up and test our will (as if they don't already). But
sending American troops into a ''face-saving'' war against one of
Europe's toughest fighting forces -- the result of Mr. Clinton's
bungled photo-op -- is rather bitter medicine.
Mona Charen asks the question all America should continue to ask:
''So why are we now embarking upon a military adventure that has
not been thought through, has no clear goals and has precipitated
some of the civilian suffering it was designed to prevent -- all
in a region where no American interests are at stake?''
Continuing from Mr. Sowell's book, on the issue of ''American
interests'' he says, ''What would we do then, with 20,000 young
American soldiers as sitting ducks in Russia's backyard? We have
a huge national interest in avoiding any such situation. We have
no other national interest in that part of the world. Not one
American's safety will be endangered if we stay out. Not one
American's livelihood will be jeopardized....'' Anyone for a game
of roulette?
Last month, The Federalist also asked, ''Who will pay to
reconstruct all the civilian targets we are now obliterating?''
The answer: Mr. Clinton asked Congress for an initial token of $6
billion for the Kosovo campaign -- and said he plans for U.S.
taxpayers to shoulder 25% of the cost of ''reconstruction.'' But
the cost of this open-ended mission could be staggering.
Fresh from the front, Sen. Fred Thompson says, ''I came away with
a notion that this is going to last much longer than most people
are thinking right now. ... I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think
that I am.'' Retired Lt. Gen. Tom Kelly also concludes, ''Nobody
ever surrendered to an airplane. I think we are at the front end
of a long time here.''
And, a final note to Mr. Clinton and all those ''just war''
rationalizers: While we are on the subject of saving Muslims from
''ethnic cleansing'' in Kosovo, turn your attention for a moment to
a cleansing operation in the south of Sudan, where the Sudanese
government, one of the world's three fundamentalist Muslim
theocracies, has presided over the wholesale murder of almost 1.9
million Christians. Of course, like the million some-odd
Rwandans killed on the Clinton watch, the Sudanese dead are
''just'' black men, women and children....
In other news...
There was yet another murder rampage at one of America's
government schools, this time in Littleton, Colorado. The
Sociocrats have been quick to capitalize on the tragedy, blaming
it on guns, and calling for more gun control. (See today's Second
Opinion feature, The ''Gun Problem''). But some liberals are able
to distinguish between gun problems and cultural problems.
Flamboyant attorney Gerry Spence bushwhacked a panel of Larry
King's gun-control advocates the night of the Littleton murder
spree with this retort: ''Larry, we hear people amazed and
astounded at what happened, but maybe we ought not to be amazed
and astounded. I mean...aren't these the seeds of the violence
that we plant in this country?''
Referring to the cultural influence of television, Spence
continued: ''I think we have to realize that we're looking at the
seeds of what we planted ourselves and to blame guns or to blame
pipe bombs or to blame kids -- we better put the blame where it
belongs and that's on us.'' Congratulations, Mr. Spence.
Quote of the week...
''The Parties to this Treaty ... are resolved to unite their
efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace
and security.'' --Preamble to the North Atlantic Treaty,
as adopted April 4, 1949
Question of the week:
Anybody notice any similarities between Ireland and Yugoslavia?
How about Kosovo and Northern Ireland? How about the Kosovar
Liberation Army v. the Serbs, and the Ulster Defense Association
v. the IRA? Of course, there are a few differences. The IRA has
gotten most of its financing and arms from Catholics in the U.S.
-- and Bill Clinton has not bombed Dublin or London. --The
Editor
The big lie...
Trying to sell the air war in Yugoslavia to the annual meeting of
the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Mr. Clinton was asked
-- much to his chagrin -- how he would explain his ''moral
authority'' to U.S. pilots he is sending into a war. ''Well, I
don't have to address it to Air Force pilots,'' said Clinton. ''I
am his commander-in-chief, and they swore an oath to the
Constitution....'' Conclude what you may....
Bore2000...
The Left-Reverend of Eco-Theology, Al GloBullGore, can add
another award to his aspiring presidential credentials. He was
honored with the National Anxiety Center's ''Chicken Little Award''
for those ''who have scared the daylights out of millions of
Americans.'' The center's founder, Alan Cabua, said in making the
award, ''Hardly a week went by when he was not running amok with
bogus tales of global warming.''
On the political front...
Y2Kandidate, V.P. ''Chicken Little,'' raised $8.9 million in the
first quarter of 1999, after relentless cross-country campaign
junkets on Air Force II. Potential candidate, Gov. George Bush,
collected $7.6 million in donations -- without holding a single
fund-raising event.
Regarding your IRS overpayment...
April 22, 1999 marks the 29th anniversary of Earth Day. It is
estimated that the economic cost of environmental and risk
regulations to get ''Earth in the Balance'' will top $260 billion
this year. To celebrate, Al Gore proposed new regulations,
ostensibly to improve the air quality in -- and around --
national parks.
In the halls of injustice on the left...
This month's ''Legal Lotto'' Award goes to all those municipalities
who are filing suit against gun manufacturers for crimes
committed by those who are illegally using a product that is for
the legal use of law-abiding citizens. ''If we're going to hold
gun makers responsible for violence perpetrated with what is, in
essence, a hunk of metal, should we also blame hit-and-run
accidents on GM, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler?'' asks Ed Feulner of
Heritage Foundation.
On the culture war front...
McDonald's added ''sexual orientation'' to its corporate
nondiscrimination and anti-sexual harassment policies. Burger
King and Wendy's have yet to make that distinction in their
policy manuals.
>From the frontiers of science ''oops'' files...
In New York, a white woman and a black woman went to the same
clinic for in vitro fertilization. The black woman didn't get
pregnant. The white woman, however, gave birth to two children,
one white and one black. The black couple sued the clinic after
determining the white woman's black child's parentage. The white
woman has relinquished the three-month-old black child to the
black couple. Somebody get on the horn to Geraldo Springer!
And last, refugees fleeing Kosovo are barely getting enough food,
water, clothes, shelter and basic medical attention to survive --
while dodging bullets. But first things first. It's the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFP) to the rescue. ''UNFP recognized
that all refugees and persons in emergency situations have the
same vital human rights, including the right to reproductive
health, as people in any community,'' declared UNFP executive
director Nafis Sadik. Thus the UNFP is providing refugees with
''vacuum extraction equipment,'' ''complications from abortion
kits,'' ''intrauterine devices (IUDs),'' ''sexually transmitted
disease kits,'' and, of course, condoms by the case.
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INSIGHT
''A riot is a spontaneous outburst. A war is subject to advance
planning.'' --Richard Nixon {} "Treason doth never prosper,
what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it Treason."
--Sir John Harrington {} "Diplomats are only useful in fair
weather. As soon as it rains, they drown in every drop." --
Charles DeGaulle {} "I got very well acquainted with Joe
Stalin, and I like old Joe! He is a decent fellow." --President
Harry S. Truman {} "Not one cent should be raised unless it is
in accord with the law." --Napoleon {} "When you have to kill a
man, it costs nothing to be polite." --Winston Churchill {}
''The wise learn many things from their enemies.'' --Aristophanes,
Birds [414 B.C.]
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THE TEXT
Righteousness exalteth a nation. --Proverbs 14:34
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UPRIGHT
''The watching world will learn a new lesson, which is that the
iron fist of the United States doesn't pack much punch. Homicidal
gangsters have hamstrung the most powerful military force in
human history. This is Clinton's national security legacy. This
is his bridge to the 21st century. This is the cost of feckless
leadership.'' --John Ellis {} ''The problem is that for far too
long members of Congress have endorsed the unconstitutional
principle of complete presidential prerogative in military
affairs. It is Congress, not the President, which is empowered to
declare war. For years, though, Congress has allowed presidents -
- Republican and Democrat -- to recklessly scatter our troops
around the world to play the ill-conceived role of international
policemen.'' --Congressman Ron Paul {} ''President
Clinton...never speaks on this [Kosovo] without subtracting from
clarity....'' --George Will {} ''Bill Clinton has spent his life
hiding behind someone, usually a woman. This time, it's the flag
(and the men and women he has sent off to war). ...Playing
soldier is fun, as every little boy knows. But anyone but Bill
Clinton would understand that grown-ups playing soldier, using
the lives of others as mere pawns and diversions, is squalid
business.'' --Wesley Pruden {} ''I don't think ever has our
nation had such a bunch of fools running our national security as
we do now.'' --Colonel David Hackworth (US Army-Ret.)
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SECOND OPINION
THE ''GUN PROBLEM''
Last week, The Federalist reported a noteworthy development: ''The
families of three teenagers murdered in a Paducah, Kentucky
school shooting are suing the entertainment industry for $100
million in damages, claiming the violence the industry produces
influenced the young man who murdered their children.''
This week, there was yet another government school bloodbath
perpetrated by ''Clinton Culture Kids.'' Why ''Clinton,'' you ask?
All of the recent school murder sprees -- Paducah, Kentucky;
Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Pearl, Mississippi; Jonesboro, Arkansas;
Springfield, Oregon; and now, Littleton, Colorado, have been
committed by kids who ''came of age'' on Bill Clinton's watch.
That is certainly not to say Mr. Clinton is personally
responsible for these atrocities, but it is to say that the
liberal government and social policies he advocates contribute to
such ''behavior.''
In Littleton, the violence reached a new threshold as two
teenagers killed 13 other teenagers, booby-trapped the building
with 30 explosive devices, and then killed themselves.
Criminologist Bill Resiman says, ''...every time, [the violence]
has escalated, the kids have learned from the previous one.''
The television media have only the inclination to spin these
tragedies into microanalysis sound-bites, the most popular being,
''It's a gun problem.'' But the question, ''What has given rise to
this horrendous genre of antisocial behavior?'' can only be
answered through macroanalysis, as the causal origins span two
generations.
Contemporary liberal politicians are masters of sound-bites as
well. They also blame inanimate objects (guns) for the cultural
ills created by 30 years of misguided government policies and
court decisions -- from Johnson's ''Great Society'' to Clinton's
''New Covenant.'' Godless, fatherless sociopaths are the
disenfranchised effluents of such policies and decisions.
For two generations, modern liberals have endeavored to re-frame
the notion of human equality in the transience of man's
relativist laws and institutions. They discarded our Founder's
original framing of human equality in the timeless ''laws of
nature and of nature's God'' as referenced in the Declaration of
Independence. In other words, enduring truths have been
supplanted with contemporary relativism, thus turning the natural
order of man on end.
''Relativism'' as a new foundation for culture, has adulterated, as
Claremont's Larry Arnn says, our ''recognition that human beings
have a common nature, that they are able to understand that
nature by use of their reason, and that they are able to deduce
from it common rules of morality.'' The net result is the dawning
of social chaos -- and its tragic symptoms like Littleton. That
is to say, this is an emerging cultural phenomenon that is
destined to become much worse unless we start aggressive reforms
to restore enduring truths.
Kevin Ryan, director of Boston's Center for the Advancement of
Ethics and Character, says of liberal relativism, ''There was a
time when a school was a place where...society's values [guided
policy]. We've tried to make our schools all things to all
people, and we've let kids create the culture and the moral
system of the school. And now we're just reaping what we've
sown.''
This brings us back to Bill Clinton.... Arguably, he is as much
a reflection of contemporary culture as it is of him. And what
does he reflect? His election was funded, and transition team
directed, by Hollywood elites (the same folks spewing the
gratuitous violence that indoctrinates sociopathic teens who kill
their classmates). He is the most vociferous opponent of the
sanctity of human life in U.S. history, and demonstrates no
virtues of honesty and personal responsibility. He is the
ultimate relativist, a president perfectly matched to build a
bridge to the demise of the great experiment.
And for the sound-bite artists who want to dodge the tough
cultural questions generated by horrendous examples of social
entropy and individual sociopathy by using the bodies of slain
children as a political stage to lament the ''gun problem,'' we
offer the following retort. Obviously the phenomenon of
sociopaths who kill kids with bullets is no more a ''gun problem''
than those who kill kids with pipe bombs is a ''plumbing problem.''
This phenomenon is a cultural problem, the result of 30 years of
''Socialism Lite.'' The reason liberals don't want to blame culture
is that most of the culture to blame is of their own making.
To counter the ''gun problem'' smokes screen, provide the partisans
of such nonsense with a few facts. In South Africa, which in
recent years had the highest per-capita murder rate in the world,
the weapon of choice is the machete. Does South Africa have a
''machete problem''? On the other hand, the society with the
highest accessibility to assault weapons, Switzerland (with its
armed public militias), has one of the lowest murder rates in the
world.
It's not a ''gun problem.''
It's the culture, stupid!
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PRINT PERSPECTIVE
''We see a danger that publicity surrounding such attacks could be
contributing to the phenomenon.'' --Editor's note in the Chicago
Sun-Times regarding their decision to keep the Littleton,
Colorado school shooting, as they have with all previous school
shootings, off their front page.
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DEZINFORMATSIA
''If we got the guns out of schools and out of the hands of
younger Americans, say nothing of their parents and older
Americans...then perhaps this wouldn't be as pervasive a
problem.'' -- MSNBC anchor Brian Williams on ''the gun problem.''
{} So, which is it.....? ''[Milosevic] is slowly losing his war
against NATO....'' --CBS's David Martin ++ ''There's no sign
tonight that Milosevic himself is about to crack. The latest U.S.
intelligence says that Milosevic and his regime, despite NATO
bombing, remain firmly in power.'' --NBC's Jim Miklaszewski {}
''I don't think we're going to be very eager to help the KLA
(Kosovo Liberation Army). They have a checkered past, but so many
of us do.'' --Geraldo, with some brilliant NBC reporting on
''checkered pasts.'' {} After 18 years, it's ''goodbye Peter''!
''We are grateful for Peter's [Arnett's] contributions to CNN and
we wish him the very best in the future.'' --CNN's Tom Johnson.
Translation: Finally we can dump this pariah after he exposed our
anti-military bias in his special report, ''Operation Tailwind.''
++ ''I've had a long and wonderful relationship with CNN and have
been proud to be part of this great news organization.'' --Peter
Arnett. Translation: May the fleas of a thousand camels infest
Tom Johnson's panties. {} From the ''Department of
Corrections''... ''A brief article on Monday about a Connecticut
legislator who revealed that he is gay misidentified the
legislator. He is Representative Patrick J. Flaherty, a Democrat
who represents Coventry, not Representative Brian G. Flaherty, a
Republican who represents Watertown.'' --New York Times
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SOCIOCRATS
''Polls at this time in a campaign are a lot like sand castles.
They're nice to look at, but they don't mean much.'' -- Al Gore,
when asked about polls indicating his presidential aspirations
are ''feeling the pain'' of Mr. Clinton's ethical problems. {}
''We've got to make sure they have the counseling, the support to
help them come to grips with the anger of their life when it
occurs.'' --Janet Reno, in the wake of the Littleton school
murders, on treating the symptoms of a society undermined by
years of liberal social policy. ++ ''It's going to require all of
us to renew our efforts ... to reweave the fabric of community
around children and give them the guidance to live constructive
lives.'' --Janet Reno on treating the real problem. {} ''Castro
made me promise I would get Ben & Jerry's ice cream to him.'' --
Demo-gogue, Sen. Patrick Leahy, on the outcome of negotiations
with Cuba's dictator.
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VILLAGE IDIOTS
The Village Matriarch, Ms. Rodham-Clinton, on solving teen
pregnancy: ''My own theory is don't [have sex] till you're 21, and
then don't tell me about it.'' {} ''She's focused, she's smart,
and her vision of policy is a clear, perfectly legitimate one.'' -
- ABC's Ted Koppel on Ms. Rodham-Clinton's Senate prospects. {}
''Justice Blackmun saved more women's lives than any other person
in history.'' --Gloria Steinem eulogizing Justice Harry Blackmun
for his Roe vs. Wade decision. **That is, of course, unless you
include the lives of unborn women. {} Forget school
vouchers.... A prominent New York rabbi, Hertz Frankel, pleaded
guilty to charges that he conspired with a public school board to
place 80 Hasidic women in no-show jobs on the district payroll
and thus was able to siphon off more than $6 million in taxpayer
funds for his private Jewish school.
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SHORT CUTS
''If You Liked Vietnam, You'll Love Yugoslavia'' --Protest sign
outside one of Mr. Clinton's fund raisers. {} ''Friends of Bill
are fond of describing presidential critics as 'haters.' Does
this mean that speaking ill of Bill might in time become a
federal crime?'' --Tony Snow on Mr. Clinton's so-called ''hate-
crimes'' legislation. {} ''Sun Plays Key Role in Global Warming.''
--Headline of a news release from the National Center for Public
Policy Research {} ''Having Bill Clinton in charge of the Kosovo
operation is like having [Don] Corleone running a mob war in New
York.'' --Vermont GOP Chairman Pat Graham {} ''My president
fooled around with your honor student.'' --Bumper humor in the
nation's capitol.
>From the ''Double Entendre'' department... ''The Federalist stated,
'Mr. Clinton, cunning linguist that he is, has yet to define our
mission and objectives in Yugoslavia.' Let us also remember that
he is likely a master debater!'' --Member Comments {} And one
last question: Does ''war'' mean no more spare parts for one of the
finest automobiles ever produced by a Communist government -- the
Yugo? --The Editor
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