On a Great Quote From a Great Man...
"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
--Abraham Lincoln, 1863. From "Church and State in the United States" (New York:
Harper and Brothers, 1950), by Anson Phelps Stokes, page 186. As quoted in the
June 1996 issue newsletter from Focus on the Family.
On the Success of the Christian Right...
"The Christian right is becoming the most important political force in our country. These people are increasingly important in setting the Republican agenda, framing the social issues from their perspective. They are succeeding in pushing Bill Clinton toward the right. Their opposition doesn't have the same energy. It's the tenor of the times."
--Nonpartisan pollster Andrew Kohut, in an interview with Dick Polman of the
Philadelphia Inquirer. Mr. Kohut has just released a survey on religion in
politics. Washington Times, July 1, 1996. Page A7.
On Telling the Truth as You Leave...
"No one is served when it takes several years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get rid of a single incompetent employee."
--NEA President Keith Geiger, in his farewell address to the 10,000 delegates
attending the union's 134th convention in Washington. Delegates responded with
only scattered applause. Washington Times, July 3, 1996. Front page.
On Searching Livingstone's File...
"Not only do I question the need for such a dirty tricks operation in a presidential campaign, I question what in Mr. Livingstone's background qualified him for the highly sensitive position of director of White House security."
--Rep. William F. Clinger, chairman of the House committee investigating the FBI
files fiasco. Washington Times, July 3, 1996. Front page.
On the Third Kentucky Cash Crop...
"The vote buyers are stationed at the end of the road leading to the precinct, and drivers going to the polls are given a kind of business card. The election judges see the card, know where it came from, and watch to see that the voter votes correctly. Then one of the judges will tear off a certain corner of the card. When a voter drives off, he stops to see the vote buyer at the end of the road, presents the torn card and is paid."
--Dale Wright, former Kentucky assistant state attorney general, describing how
voter fraud is commonly committed in that state. From "Votes for Sale" in the
July 1996 Reader's Digest. The article was originally condensed from "Dirty Little
Secrets" by Larry J. Sabato and Glenn R. Simpson.
On a Family Friendly Movie?...
"Parents do need to take responsibility to prevent their children from calling any number they see or hear."
--Tanya Moloney, Disney vice-president for home video distribution, shifting the
blame to parents concerning children calling an 800 number that was given in the
1994 movie, "The Santa Clause". The number was for a sex service catering to both
heterosexual and homosexual clients. The scene occurs early in the film when the
character played by Tim Allen is talking with his ex-wife concerning where the
children can be reached. American Family Association Journal for July 1996.
Page 3.
On the Save "Big Bird" Campaign...
"According to published reports, "Sesame Street" earns some $800 million per year in gross merchandising income \026 about the same amount generated by the National Hockey League. So, where's all the money going, and why is the American taxpayer continuing to subsidize this company via federal funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? I'd give you the answer except CPB refuses to open its books to public scrutiny."
--L. Brent Bozell III, chairman of the Media Research Center, in a well-written
commentary concerning federally funded broadcasting and educational programming
for children. Washington Times, July 6, 1996. Page D1.
On What We're Passing on to the Next Generation...
"Politicians need to bite the bullet and tell the truth. What we have done to our children, children will do to society. The moral poverty in which so many children are growing up has been so extreme that each generation of juvenile offenders makes its predecessors seem tame. Compare the Bloods and Crips of today with the Sharks and Jets of 'West Side Story'. And the next generation will be even more brutal."
--Arianna Huffington, Chairman (chairperson?) of the Center for Effective Compassion
and nationally syndicated columnist. Washington Times, July 6, 1996. Page D1.