On Coming Out of the Closet...
"I think there are more closet conservatives in Hollywood than closet homosexuals."
--Charleton Heston, in FiringLine on May 8, 1996, as quoted in the July 22, 1996
issue of Citizen Magazine from Focus on the Family.
On Chicken Little and Pornography...
"When the pornography industry or the ACLU cries that the sky is falling on our First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly because Congress no longer wants the military to be a porn dealer, they have moved beyond rational argument."
--Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, concerning the Military Honor and Decency
Act (HR 3300) recently passed by the House. The bill would prohibit military
stores, which exist for the benefit of military personnel and their families,
from dealing in pornography. Currently the military is one of the largest
distributors of pornography in America. American Family Association Journal
for July 1996. Front page.
On Comic Relief...
"Flying back East, Air Force One hit what's being called the worst turbulence in years. It was a mess, Republican FBI files all over the plane."
--Jay Leno, "The Tonight Show". June 12, 1996.
On Putting Regulation in Perspective...
"The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations on the sale of cabbage total 26,911 words."
--From an article on the growth of federal regulations in the Oct. 24th issue
of National Review. [Editor's Note: I'm still tracking down the author.]
On a Little Help From Friends...
"Usually to make that kind of money that fast you have to be friends with the governor of Arkansas."
--Comedian Jay Leno, on the success of the movie "Independence Day". From his
monologue on 7/8/96. From C-NEWS, 7/16/96.
On Where the Responsibility Lies...
Two fellows are talking religion. One says to the other, "Sometimes I'd like to ask God why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it."
"What's stopping you?" asks the second.
The first replies, "I'm afraid God might ask me the same question."
--From "Rev. Lowell's Treasury of Humor: He Who Laughs, Lasts".
Received in an e-mail from Bill Eberwein on the Promise Keeper
listserver, July 11, 1996.
On a Quote from William Marx Clinton...
"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.."
-- President William Jefferson Clinton, USA TODAY, March 11, 1993.
Received in an e-mail from Mark Howerter on the Promise Keeper
listserver, July 13, 1996.
On a Voice Crying in the Wilderness...
"I am concerned that the health -- and possibly the lives -- of tens of thousands of American women will be jeopardized because the RU-486 prostaglandin abortion technique is being rushed onto the market."
--Rep. Tom Boburn, Oklahoma Republican and Obstetrician, on the FDA
recommendation that RU-486 be made available in the United States.
Washington Times, July 20, 1996. Page A14.
On the New Math...
"...make a book about an endangered species, what is being done to protect this animal and how you propose to help."
--Except from a MATH book for eighth graders in Waukesha Wisconsin. Several
board members tried unsuccessfully to block the district from spending
$148,000 on the books. The teacher's edition lists aditional activities and
tells teachers to ask students to list threats to animals, including
"destruction of habitat, poisons, and hunting." A committee of Waukesha
teachers selected the math textbooks for the district. Washington Times,
July 18, 1996. Page A2.