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The ACLU–and President Bush–could learn a lot from America’s Founders. If only the group would stop lying about the Founders and their views on civil liberties.
Since America just celebrated its 230th birthday, take a look at what American Revolutionaries did just to get to a first day, let alone a first birthday.
It wasn’t at all the way lefty, self-proclaimed civil libertarians would have you believe.
Tory loyalists and other opponents of America’s independence were crushed like bugs. Revolutionaries weren’t the glowing respecters of dissent you’d think.
They treated British loyalists the way we should be treating terrorists and terror sympathizers in America. And they got the desired result we will never have with our limp policies of today: Toryists were the embarrassed class, second-class residents who held their heads low in shame. Today, the modern day worse-than-Tories– pan-Muslim, pan-Arabist, pro-terrorist groups–are feted by FBI and Homeland Security officials. And yes, even by the President.
The fish rots from the head down. It’s an old Greek saying. But so apt today. The head of the fish was alive and well in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. And long thereafter.
The Wall Street Journal’s Cynthia Crossen reports that British loyalists “never stood a chance against the zealous Patriots.” And sometimes, zeal is a good thing.
In 1774, just two years before Independence, the first Continental Congress “authorized local governments to form ‘committees of inspection,’ which would test their citizens’ allegiance to independence,” writes Crossen.

People who refused to take the Patriots’ oath often lost their homes and were prohibited from working. The General Court of Massachusetts advised Harvard College’s overseers to question their faculty and ‘dismiss any instructors who appeared to be unfriendly to American liberty.’

Today, it is the exact opposite. And that’s why we’re in trouble. You have to be unfriendly to American liberty to get a job at Harvard or pretty much any other college or university in America. To not hire a Muslim loyal to Hezbollah or refuse to sell him/her your home would invite a burst pinata full of lawsuits and prosecutions. You would be the Tory. They are the new revolutionaries. And, ultimately, we might be revolutionized out of the freedom business.
The founders recognized this. That’s why they crushed dissenters. Crossen writes that at least 75,000 Tory loyalists fled to Canada, England, and the West Indies.
Today, it’s just the opposite. Rather than shaming those who hate us and those who laugh at us, we have not thousands, but millions of those subversives, flowing into–not fleeing out of–our country. Unlike the Founders, we don’t shame them. We make it easy and acceptable for them to invade our country and undermine it. Unlike the founding Patriots we’ve gotten a little too comfortable.
The Patriot Act? Military Tribunals (now ruled Unconstitutional)? Guantanamo Bay? Homeland Security? Deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? All of these popular targets of the ACLU and Islamist groups had nothing on the machinations of the original American Patriots.
In the first days of America, it was a very different story than now. Instead of terror supporters like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and ADC (American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) fighting America on its own shores every step of the way, Tory loyalists who remained in America “usually tried to keep their heads down,” Crossen writes. She quotes the writing of one loyalist from Pennsylvania:

I am afraid to converse with persons here, or to write my friends in Philadelphia . . . a letter intercepted or an unguarded word would plunge me into troubles. . . . These oppressions on men who have never given offense are justified by the [Patriots] as necessary for the security of all government.

So what was it the ACLU keeps saying about the Founding Fathers turning over in their graves over the Patriot Act? Actually, they are turning over in their graves . . . over how we’ve turned America over to the new, far worse Tory loyalists who have taken America hostage through the courts, the media, universities, everywhere else.
And then there was the physical punishment. The violence. There was a lot of it–all directed at loyalists. Crossen reports that the Patriots tarred and feathered them, jailing hundreds of them.
Are the cells and Sole Amandine at Gitmo excessive, “cruel and unusual” punishment for those who’d destroy us? A Delaware loyalist to England would have traded places with them to be in what Amnesty International absurdly calls “the gulag of our time.” He was convicted of aiding and abetting the enemy and sentenced to be hanged, but, the sentence read,

not ’til you be dead for you must be cut down alive . . . and then your head must be severed from your body and your body divided into four quarters and these must be at the disposal of the Supreme Authority of the state.

Makes the Abu Ghraib hoods and a death sentence for Zaccarias Moussaoui (sought and not attained at trial) sound like paradise.
We’re not necessarily suggesting a return to the quartering alive and tar-and-feathering of the days of the Founding Fathers. We’ve become more civilized. But other cultures who wish to destroy haven’t. And it’s important to note that the Founders got the message–a incontrovertible message of which our current “leaders” are clueless:
You repel more flies with vinegar than with honey.
The Founders didn’t allow any ACLU to flourish and claim otherwise.

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Many readers have asked for a link to the video of to discuss .” Still looking for a link to video, but in the meantime here’s the transcript:

The new Superman movie hits theaters tonight, but hold on: Are the P.C. police beating him to it and are some fans saying the one-time man of steel is just not what it used to be? What is Hollywood doing with this American icon? . . .
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCARBOROUGH: The man of steel is back on the big screen tonight as “Superman Returns” opens all over America. Now, we’ve seen a lot of different supermen through the years, from the comic books in the 1940s to the mega-budget movie version of today. But is the latest edition of the ultimate superhero a less masculine imitation of the original? Have the P.C. police found enough kryptonite to turn Superman into a wimp?
Now to talk about it is columnist and radio talk show Debbie Schlussel.
Debbie, nice shirt. You’ve seen “Superman Returns.”
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Thank you. Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: You think it’s an attack on our values. You think that Superman is a super-wimp? Why?
SCHLUSSEL: Well, first of all, he has gone away for five years to find himself and visit Krypton. In the meantime, Lex Luthor has been released from prison because he wasn’t there to testify against him, and he’s fathered a child with single mother Lois Lane.
And not only is Lois Lane a single mother, but she’s a slut, because she thinks the father is somebody else who she also is sleeping with. I don’t think that those are good values or a good message to send to the children to whom this movie is being very heavily marketed.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, and you also take issue with the fact that they took away the line, “Truth, justice and the American way.” Talk about that.
SCHLUSSEL: Well, they took it away, and yet the movie studio, Warner Brothers Pictures, is still selling posters that do say, “Truth, justice and the American way,” and feature the American flag. You don’t see any of that in the movie.
They do mention truth and justice, but I guess it’s the neo-slacker superhero way, because that’s basically what Superman has become, and he’s been toned down in a lot of ways in terms of his masculinity. His muscles, a lot of them are gone. Even the Superman cape and uniform doesn’t have bright red anymore! It’s a muted burgundy tone that you’d probably see in “Men’s Vogue.”
SCARBOROUGH: So you’re telling me Superman is wearing a muted burgundy cape?
SCHLUSSEL: That’s right. It’s a muted burgundy cape. The “S” is muted burgundy. It’s kind of a dingy, you know, “Vogue” kind of fashion you’d see on one of their androgynous models. And Superman really isn’t the same Superman that you saw in the Christopher Reeve and even the Dean Cain and George Reeve impersonations.
What he is, is kind of a co-star. The movie really should be entitled “Lois Lane’s Feelings” co-starring Superman, because it’s more about Lois Lane being upset that Superman left her for five years. It’s about Lois Lane making it very clear that she’s against marriage. She’s living with somebody who she believes is the father of her child, but they make a point Jimmy Olsen tells Clark Kent she’s against marriage, she’s too busy with her career, she’s riding the space shuttle.
In a lot of ways, there’s a very strong message to young boys and girls who are seeing the Slurpees at 7-Eleven that have Superman all over them and other products that single motherhood is glamorous, you win a Pulitzer Prize. She’s won a Pulitzer Prize that is for an article entitled “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.” It’s kind of like something you’d read in the “Daily Planet’s” real-life version of the “New York Times” about why Al Qaeda is great.
SCARBOROUGH: Alrighty, Debbie.
SCHLUSSEL: It’s kind of the same thing.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, Debbie, we’ll have to leave it there. Thank you so much.
SCHLUSSEL: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: I can’t wait to go see the movie, and judge for myself, and get one of those t-shirts. Thanks for being with us.
SCHLUSSEL: Thank you.

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On this site, we’ve industry in pro sports. We think Congress has far more important things to do than insert themselves into a debate no-one really cares about . . . except jock-wannabes with the first name of Congressman.
If the public didn’t want to see exciting baseball, they’d avoid the steroid-enhanced, BALCO produced baseball players of today with their high number of hits. But the public is going to see exactly those games and voting with their pocketbooks.
That said, we note today’s AP coverage of Jose Canseco’s new baseball “career” minus the steroids. Monday, he took the field with the minor league San Diego Surf Dawgs of the independent Golden Baseball League.

Robo-Player: Jose Canseco When He Was Using
The now steroid-less Canseco struck out three times and was hit by a pitch in the Surf Dawgs’ 4-3 victory (a performance so bad that he is now seeking a trade from the team after just one game, due to “family obligations”–ri-i-i-ight). It’s a far cry from his Major League Baseball career in which he was the 1988 American League MVP and the first player to steal 40 bases and slug 40 homers in a season. Clearly, steroids made a difference in Canseco’s baseball abilities. (He openly admitted to using them in his book, “Juiced,” and in a 2005 “60 Minutes” interview promoting it.
Even though he stank, Canseco was the draw of the evening–a big gimmick resembling the 1951 use of midget Eddie Gaedel by baseball’s St. Louis Browns in order to draw spectators. The game drew 4,501 fans–the largest crowd ever to watch a game at Nettleton Stadium.
Canseco says he is working on a movie about his career. We wonder if baseball’s White Dennis Rodman will include his abysmal Surf Dawg “performance” will be included.

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More flattering news about European soccer fans.
USA Today “Sports on TV” columnist Michael Hiestand says the next episode of HBO’s “Real Sports” (premiering on July 18th)

will include a World Cup feature that hasn’t been prominent in other Cup coverage – how soccer fans visiting Germany have been flocking to the legal brothels.

Hmmm . . . we wonder how many of those “patrons” are from the “modest” Islamic nations that wouldn’t allow our women on tarmacs and in air traffic control towers at the Waco Airport (Saudi Arabia) and the other Islamic nations that protest our “immodest” women, Playboy for our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our alleged use of sexy female interrogators at Gitmo.
We’d bet a good many.

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A picture truly is worth 1,000 words.
One of the many reasons we support continued U.S. space exploration: From yesterday’s All-American, July 4th Space Shuttle Discovery launch . . .

(Magnificent photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images-Agence France-Presse)
Like NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said, “They don’t get much better than this.” But you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to recognize it. Our space exploration is one of the many things that makes America great.

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Today’s USA Today cover story, “A Nation of 300 Million,” presents some interesting and very important information.
As the US nears the 300 million population mark (expected in mid-October), the paper says that immigration–legal AND ILLEGAL–is the single biggest driver of population growth in America. No surprise to those in the know, but according to the article, a big surprise to most Americans who are not aware of the population figure (they think it’s much smaller), but are waking up to the immigration factor.
And by the way, the U.S. has added 100 million people since 1967, mostly from immigration. More:

About 53% of the 100 million extra Americans are recent immigrants or their descendants, according to Jeffrey Passel, demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center. Without them, the USA would have about 250 million people today. . . .
Once here, they had babies, which helped the nation maintain a birthrate that is higher than that of Europe and Japan.

A demographic graph in the print edition of the article (pictured above) shows that, every single day, America gains 8,500 new Americans–2,800 of them (1/3) are immigrants (5,700 through births minus deaths, which also includes many illegal aliens’ anchor babies). Are all of these 2,800 per day here legally and/or with the best of intentions? NO, to both. Even if only a small percentage of this daily figure comes to America with bad intentions, that is a huge number and more than our law enforcement authorities can handle.
As for the birthrate, it is highest among immigrants–again BOTH legal AND illegal:

Women have to give birth to an average 2.1 babies to offset deaths and keep the population even. . . . The overall birthrate is slightly above two – just below replacement levels.
When the U.S. population was at 200 million in 1967, women had an average of three children and the government expected the population to hit 300 million as early as 1990. By the 1980s, the birthrate had tumbled and government estimates projected that the country wouldn’t get there until the 2020s. The flow of immigrants turned those projections on their heads.

And a strange dichotomy for America: It’s finally waking up to immigration problems, yet still remains somewhat clueless:

Half of Americans say their communities have grown a lot in the past five years, but more than three-fourths say growth is a minor problem or no problem where they live, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken in early June. Though about a third say growth will become a major issue in their communities, more than half say it will be a major problem for the country as a whole. Almost half attribute population growth to immigrants. . . .
Oddly, most Americans don’t have a clue how many people actually live in the USA or how many are expected to. Twenty-nine percent guessed the population at 200 million or less, and 19% put it at 1 billion or more. Twelve percent came within 50 million of guessing correctly.

Important stuff, lest we be invaded and birthrated out of existence in America as we know it.

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A couple of interesting developments in both Europe and Ben and Jerry Country a/k/a “Vermont” and “Our Europe”–both of which demonstrate the double standards against America in the War on Terror:
* The loftily (and pretentiously and falsely) named European Court of Human Rights ruled that eight years of solitary confinement in a French prison for terrorist “Carlos the Jackal” (real name: Ilich Ramirez Sanchez) did not violate his rights or constitute inhumane treatment or breach the European Convention on Human Rights. Carlos the Jackal was held in solitary because he was deemed dangerous, an escape risk, and a threat to maintaining order in the prison.

Terrorist Carlos the Jackal a/k/a Ilich Ramirez Sanchez
Hmmm . . . . Nice that the Europeans continue to condemn Guantanamo Bay, where most prisoners are terrorists–just like Carlos the Jackal. And most of them, unlike the Jackal, are not held in solitary (and none for 8 years). The Gitmo prisoners are deemed dangerous, escape risks, and a threat to maintaining order in American prisons (among other things), our justice system, and safety in America at large. Yet, according to the Europeans, we are wrong to hold them in a better condition than they are holding Carlos the Jackal (who partnered constantly with Islamic terrorists like the kind we are holding in Cuba).
New motto for the EU: America must do as we say, not as we do. (Incredibly, the court still awarded the Jackal $12,800 to cover his legal costs in the challenge and $17,200 in damages. New twisted legal policy?: Winner pays.)
* Ben and Jerry Country: A judge in Montpelier, Vermont has revived the ancient punishment of “banishment” for a man who committed several crimes against his neighbors. After brief jail time, the man, Francis J. Robb, is not allowed to go home for three years. Robb is only allowed to visit his home village of Gilman, Vermont to see his mother on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and her birthday.
While Robb pleaded no contest to felony aggravated assault and eight misdemeanors against his neighbors, we note that his treatment–banishment for three years–is far worse than illegal aliens, who are also in violation of the law. They get every opportunity to remain here for years and remain in their homes, with a teeny, tiny chance of being deported (and even then, a great chance of returning to the U.S., anyway). Ditto for terrorists, like –who is now a citizen (thanks, Bill Clinton).
“Given Mr. Robb’s record of convictions and his menacing behavior toward some of his neighbors, it made sense to get him out of the picture for an extended duration,” said the case’s prosecutor. Hmmm . . . you can say the same about accused terrorists and many illegal aliens.
New suggestion: Banishment (a/k/a PERMANENT deportation) from the U.S. for all illegals and those convicted of crimes connected to terrorism (who generally do a few months in jail and then return to their lives of freedom here). If U.S. citizens can be banished, why not them?

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Happy Birthday, America! 230 years. We hope for an endless, infinite number of repeats and an endless supply of freedom and liberty.

Here are some 4th of July items of interest. We’ll start with the bad and end with the good:
* The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” reported that 18,000 new U.S. citizens will be sworn in this July 4th week. Will all of them be loyal Americans and good citizens? We hope so, but past experience says not all will be. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) pushes through many applications that should never have been approved. Many new citizens are from countries with terror ties.
* On Friday, the WSJournal’s Jeff Zaslow also reported this disturbing item:

In Los Angeles, the National Immigrant Solidarity Network each year supports an “activist carnival,” dubbed the “Farce of July,” featuring pro-immigration networking and speeches. CodePink, a women’s peace and social-justice group [DS: “justice”? Not really.], has invited immigrant-activist groups to join its “Troops Home Fast” hunger strike on July Fourth and report on the immigrant-rights fight and rallies nationwide.

Actually, they mean “illegal immigrant rights fight.” This is an outrage. Leave it to Code Pinko to foment it. They probably wouldn’t enjoy real meat hot dogs and fireworks, anyway.

Terror Apologist George Costanza Hosts PBS 4th of July
* PBS a/k/a “Palestinian Broadcasting System” or “People’s Broadcasting System” earns both of those nicknames with its new choice of host for its annual televised “A Capitol Fourth” 4th of July celebration from the Mall just in front of the Capitol. While our troops are fighting terrorists abroad, PBS enlists as its new host, a/k/a Jason Alexander–who thinks Israel should team up with HAMAS. Should we team up with Al-Qaeda? Give PBS your answer and don’t watch him. Well, at least Costanza has to share hosting duties with a muppet–Elmo. They should scrap both and return to able host, actor, and patriot Barry Bostwick (who hosted for the past several years and did a great job).
**** UPDATE: Reader Brian M. writes:

Well, my wife wanted to watch the 4th of July program on PBS this
evening and in the past it’s been good so I said Ok. I must say I don’t know what was worse – Jason Alexander (looking like Rob
Reiner!) or Stevie Wonder praising Allah. And what was up with having Stevie Wonder playing his hits while during the fireworks?
It just didn’t work.

Wounded War Vet Duane Dreasky w/ Bush, Before Injuries
* No, freedom is not free. A reminder of that is a touching, moving story about injured Michigan National Guardsman and Iraq war vet Sgt. Duane Dreasky of Company B, 125th Infantry Regiment. Badly burned and wounded, he is the lone survivor of an IED explosion that hit a HumVee in November 2, last year. Six others died. A martial arts devotee and former football player, Dreasky has burns over 75% of his body.
He keeps hope alive and is a symbol of the determination, struggle, and will to survive of all our brave men who are protecting our freedom, so that America can celebrate many more birthdays like today. He was “born to be a soldier.” Despite all his current hardship, Dreasky and his wife are thinking of others and setting up a foundation for scholarships for special needs kids to attend the Special Olympics and for others to pursue medical careers.
**** UPDATE, 7/12/06: Tragicly, after an 8-month long fight, the brave, valiant on Monday, 7/10/06. Duane Dreasky, Rest in Peace. ****
* French jewelry, writing implements, and time pieces company Breguet–founded in 1775–took out a full-page ad in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, celebrating 230 years of America and the active role of then-brave French leaders–like King Louis XVI, General Lafayette, etc.–in helping and encouraging America’s independence way back then. We wish France’s leaders were similarly supportive of America today. But glad to see that at least somebody in France–Breguet–still likes our country.
* The 209-year-old U.S.S. Constitution takes its annual July 4th voyage down Boston Harbor. Also known as “Old Ironsides,” the ship is the Navy’s oldest active warship and has 54 cannons.
* Interesting countdown of “America by the Numbers” includes the fact that $5 million of the $5.5 million in U.S. flags imported here in 2005 were made in Communist China.
* Historian David McCullough and descendants of Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and John Adams have a question and answer session about freedom, democracy, and America.
* Take the Patriotic Movie Quiz (bottom half of page). Our fave movie quote from the bunch:

This is a revolution . . . We’re going to have to offend SOMEbody!

–William Daniels as John Adams in “1776”

* Hot Dog Nation: Yes, the 4th of July is not about hot dogs. It is about freedom. Still, hot dogs are a major part of 4th of July culture in America, and we say that while we are appreciating freedom and the sacrifices to have it, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a hot dog.
The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire says the Census predicts 150 million hot dogs will be consumed at cookouts today.
Today is the day of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating championship. Favorites are Takeru Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut. 40 hot dogs or more in a single 12-minute sitting is what it will take to win. USA Today’s “Much More Than a Mouthful” details the contest.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! 230 YEARS AND MANY HAPPY RETURNS! LONG LIVE FREEDOM.

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There is strength in numbers. And a growing, diverse group of critiques join me in and the new, slutty, single momster Lois Lane.
The latest is Dean Cain, TV’s most recent Superman. He agrees with me that the Lois Lane portrayal to kids was just bad. Here’s what Cain told USA Today:

Q: How does Kate Bosworth compare to Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane?
A: Teri’s Lois had a hard exterior with a real soft interior. The whole thing with Lois having a child (a 5-year-old son, Jason) in the film was a little unsettling. I have a child (Christopher Dean Cain, 6) and that changes things. Lois Lane is always going to be an intrepid reporter, but I would never bring my child to a place where he could possibly get in danger – yet she does, which was kind of surprising.

Superman Dean Cain Disses “Superman Returns'” Lois Lane

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As readers of this site know, I have been a critic of Roger Ebert, and have also been a target of his website (regarding ). (He also mentioned me in his nationally syndicated movie review column.)
My criticism of Ebert stemmed from his support of Islamic terrorist ‘s efforts to fight deportation and remain in this country. We sparred in writing (, here, and ) and on this issue. I also take issue with his lefty movie reviews, especially those endorsing movies sympathetic to terrorists, like “Munich,” “The War Within,” and “The Road to Guantanamo.” I believe his praise of these movies has less to do with artistic merit than with Roger’s agreement with their messages, based on his e-mails to me.

That said, while I disagree with him sharply on many things, I was saddened to hear, yesterday, that Roger was in serious condition as a result of a recent operation related to his past salivary gland cancer. And I hope he has a full recovery. Prior to his initial surgery, I e-mailed Roger to wish him well and a complete and speedy recovery. He responded with continuing statements in support of his buddy Parlak, and I responded in kind. I’ve sent him some of my movie reviews, some of the points of which he compared to the sentiments of his late TV partner, Gene Siskel.
I wish him a complete and speedy recovery. Best wishes, Roger Ebert. Get well soon.