NIHIL: It used to be that the United States was frequently referred to as a Christian country. Then Judeo-Christian was acceptable. Now, what is politically correct? Secretary of State Colin Powell didn't seem certain during an interview on PBS' "Charlie Rose Show". Talking about Iraq and her future, Powell said that he expected she would be "an Islamic country by faith, just as we are a Judeo-Christian. . . ." He realized his possible mistake and added, "Well, it's hard to tell any more, but we are a country of many faiths now."
DIVIDED BY FEAR: Despite his front-runner status-at least until former Gen. Wes Clark jumped into the race-Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean chose to lash two of his most prominent rivals this month. The September 15 New York Times reported that Dean said of Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D.-Conn.) and Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.), "I think what Kerry and Lieberman are doing is exactly what the President does. They divide by fear." Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera said in response, "The only thing we have to fear is name-calling in place of debate itself. Joe Lieberman has raised substantive questions about Howard Dean's positions on middle-class tax cuts, trade and foreign policy. He has done so in a respectful manner and our hope is that when pressed on the issues, Dean will respond in kind rather than resorting to name-calling." Noted a release from Lieberman's office, "Lieberman has raised concerns about Dean's plan to repeal all of the Bush tax cuts, which would effectively raise taxes on the middle class; about trade, where Dean said he supported trade standards that would lead to a loss of jobs here at home; and on foreign policy, where Dean said 'it's not our place to take sides' in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and referred to Hamas terrorists as 'soldiers.'"
GIFT FOR CONGRESS: Now that federal judicial tyranny has removed the Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama supreme courthouse, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has decided to offer the monument to Congress. "The monument represents the moral foundation of law and the acknowledgment of God upon Whom our nation and organic law are predicated," said Moore on September 16. Said Herb Titus, lawyer for Moore, "We believe that the placement of the monument in the nation's Capitol building would be most fitting and suitable. It is a beautifully carved 5,280-pound piece of Vermont granite of a quality comparable to the statuary in the building. Likewise, its thematic motif linking God and government is complementary to existing murals and other art work in the building. By taking such action, the 108th Congress would be following the footsteps of the First Congress which passed a resolution urging President George Washington to issue the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation just days after voting for a Bill of Rights that contained the provision that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Like that first Thanksgiving Proclamation, the monument, itself, is not a 'law,' because it neither commands nor prohibits anyone to do anything."
RU-486 KILLS AGAIN: The abortion pill has killed another mother along with her unborn child. An 18-year-old woman who kept her pregnancy from her father died after obtaining RU-486 from a Planned Parenthood clinic in San Francisco. "After experiencing bleeding and cramps so severe that she was unable to walk, she was rushed to the hospital by her boyfriend, where she was given painkillers and sent home. She was back in the hospital a few days later and died on September 17," reported AP on September 22.
GOOD FLIP: Sen. Norm Coleman (R.-Minn.) last week changed his mind on embargoing Communist Cuba. Visiting the island nation on September 21, he said that Cuba's crackdown on dissent earlier this year means that lifting the embargo would send the wrong signal. "I think about the folks in prison and what message that gives them," he said, according to AP. Coleman chairs the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Some agricultural interests want to lift the embargo and so sell more products to Cuba. Apparently displeased, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who usually meets with visiting American legislators, blew off Coleman. The Bush Administration continues to oppose lifting the embargo on one of the last remaining hold-outs of hard-line Communism in the world.
