Quote-a-palooza
“The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them... Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently... God will bless or curse this nation, according to the course Christians take.” —Charles Finney
“Part of the devolution of marriage to minority status is the fault of the media. Look at who they feature on magazine covers, tabloid TV and awards shows: the cohabiting without benefit of clergy, same-sex ‘couples,’ fornicating couples who flaunt their ‘lifestyles’ and dare anyone to tell them to stop. The STDs that come from these ‘lifestyles’ are not the fault of those who engage in the sort of behavior that puts them at risk. Rather, Republicans are to blame for spending too little on ‘cures’ so the promiscuous can continue practicing their ‘lifestyles’ without fear of disease. TV commercials for drugs that treat genital herpes now run close to erectile dysfunction ads without irony.” —Cal Thomas
“No one seriously thinks 400 or 500 million Americans will lead to mass starvation. By ‘unsustainable,’ they mean that we might encroach ever so slightly onto the West Nile mosquito’s traditional breeding grounds in northern Maine. Which is sad if you think this or that insect is more important than the developed world’s most critically endangered species: people. If you have a more scrupulous care for language, you’ll note that population-wise it’s low birth rates that are ‘unsustainable’: Spain, Germany, Italy and most other European peoples literally cannot sustain themselves—which is why, in one of the fastest demographic transformations in human history, their continent is becoming Muslim. As a matter of fact, you don’t have to cross the Atlantic to see the consequences of a loss of human capital: The Burlington Free Press would be better occupied worrying less about the 300 millionth American and more about the ever emptier schoolhouses up and down the Green Mountain State. I used to joke that Vermont was America’s leading Canadian province, but in fact it’s worse than that: demographically, it’s an honorary member of the European Union. The reality is that in a Western world ever more wizened and barren the 300 millionth American is the most basic example of American exceptionalism. Happy birthday, kid, and here’s to many more.” —Mark Steyn
“As of this writing 2,802 young Americans have been killed during three and a half years of war in Iraq. That’s roughly the same number killed at Iwo Jima during the first three and a half days of fighting against the Japanese. Every life lost was precious and every loss grievous to those who loved them. Unfortunately, our media intends to use every one of those killed to make their point. It’s a lesson they learned in Vietnam. On Feb. 27, 1968, after a month of brutal fighting and daily images of U.S. casualties on American television, Walter Cronkite, then the host of the CBS Evening News, proclaimed that the Tet Offensive had proven to him that the Vietnam War was no longer winnable... It didn’t matter that Tet had been a decisive victory for the United States and South Vietnam. Today’s potentates of the press are trying to deliver the same message: that Iraq, like Vietnam, is un-winnable. One television network has gone so far as to broadcast images of U.S. troops being killed by terrorists—making Iraq the first war where Americans get their news from the enemy. The war in Vietnam wasn’t lost during ‘Tet 68’ no matter what Cronkite said. Rather, it was lost in the pages of America’s newspapers, on our televisions, our college campuses—and eventually in the corridors of power in Washington. We need to pray that this war isn’t lost the same way.” —Oliver North
“Sometimes it seems [the news media] are less interested in legitimate news than they are in proving their knowledge and wisdom is superior to ours. The most frustrating thing is when I have the facts to prove them wrong but cannot reveal those facts without endangering security or wrecking some plan we’re engaged in.” —Ronald Reagan
“According to the new ‘ABC News’ poll on health care, Americans are eager to have the government force employers to provide heath insurance: ‘Nearly eight in 10 favor a federal requirement that all employers offer insurance to their full-time workers.’ Why?! Do our employers pay for our food, clothing, or shelter? If they did, why would that be good? Having my health care tied to my boss invites him to snoop into my private health issues, and if I change jobs, I lose coverage. Employer-paid health insurance isn’t free. It just means we get insurance instead of higher salaries. I’d rather have the cash and buy my own insurance... But people think it’s something for nothing... Insurance invites waste. That’s a reason health care costs so much, and is often so consumer-unfriendly. In the few areas where there are free markets in health care—such as cosmetic medicine and LASIK eye surgery—customer service is great, and prices continue to drop... But many people still want a free lunch: ‘consumer-driven care looks less popular if it’s accompanied by the risk of higher out-of-pocket expenses.’ Somehow people seem to believe ‘insured’ means free.” —John Stossel
“How did the Republicans manage to bring themselves to this dire condition, just two years after winning both Houses of Congress, the White House, and most of the state governorships? It wasn’t easy—and it wasn’t new. It was the same thing that caused the first President Bush to lose his bid for re-election in 1992, after having had sky-high approval ratings in 1991. It was betraying the trust of supporters. Back then it was the betrayal of the ‘No new taxes’ pledge. More recently, it was the even worse betrayal of trying to legislate amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, combined with insulting our intelligence by saying that it was not amnesty. Add to this the Republicans’ runaway spending and the fact that the war in Iraq has been going badly, and you have all the ingredients of a political debacle.” —Thomas Sowell