The claim by a Chico State University professor that President Bush wants to "kill innocent people," "colonize" the Arab world, and capture "oil for the Bush family"?

    Or Washington Post columnist Mary McGrory's statement:  "Bush said the attack was a 'test' for the country.  It was also, one for him.  He flunked"?

    Or the University of Texas professor, Robert Jensen, who said the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America "was no more despicable than the massive acts of terrorism ... that the U.S. government has committed during my lifetime"?

    Or the outporing of sympathy from the political and cultural Left for John Walker Lindh, the 20-year-old California man who fought on the side of the Taliban?

    Or Katha Pollitt of the Nation telling us that "the flag stands for jingoism and vengence and war"?

    Or Richard Berthold, University of New Mexico history professor, who told his classes, "Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote"?

    Or the students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison chanting "one-two-three-four, we won't support your racist war"?

    Or the schools and libraries that refuse to fly the American flag because it would be offensive to some?

    Most Americans support our war on terrorism.  So, do the morally bankrupt words and actions of a few frustrated radicals really matter?

    Yes, they do matter!  And that's what this article is about.

    The Leftists I've cited represent attitudes that are fairly widespread within the universities, the public schools, the media, and even some churches.  These are the institutions that have the widest and deepest influence on our culture and our ways of thinking, and we cannot ignore what they do and say.

    Decades ago, the Left began to worm its way into our institutions.  They have done so much damage that, even at this time of great patriotism by the vast majority of Americans, their influence is apparent.

    For example:  Why is it so difficult to speak openly about the fact that many mainstream Muslim individuals and institutions, throughout the world and within our own country, give moral and financial support to their fellow Muslims who are waging terrorist war against us?

    It's because the Left has conditioned us to believe that any statement about a group of people (except white Christian males) is unacceptable in polite society.

    But if we refuse to recognize the threats we face because of fear of being "politically incorrect," we are placing ourselves at great risk as a nation.

    And another example:  We have the Americal Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others crying in alarm about racial and ethnic profiling because all the terrorism suspects are Middle Eastern men. It appears that these Liberals would rather see our country destroyed than to drop their "politically correct" attitudes.

    I'm Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine.  I became a member of the Heritage Foundation's Board of Trustees last year because I consider Heritage the top Conservative organization in America.  I am urging you to become members and supporters of the Heritage Foundation as a way of helping to defeat the Left's domination of our culture and the adverse effect of this domination on America's war against terrorism.

    We do not approach this task through political means.  We are an educational foundation, not an electoral organization like the Republican Party, or a lobbying organization like the National Rifle Association.  But we are a militant, fighting educational foundation, with ambitious goals and an impressive track record.

    As the Dayton Daily News put it,

        "The Heritage Foundation is the mother of all Rightwing think
        tanks in Washington....  The operative word here is 'tank,' as
        in a vehicle that plows through just about anything and keeps
        on going, no matter what.  We are, in other words, not talking
        about a bunch of detached professor types sitting around debat-
        ing theory; we are talking about warriors with Ph.D.s."

    Our goal is to take on the Left directly and steadfastly, exposing their lies and distortions and presenting the truth to as wide and influential an audience as we can.

    A majority of the American people are Conservatives.  But they are not well informed, and too readily believe the dishonest and hysterical reports they hear on the network news.  That's why the most productive actions the Heritage Foundation can take are to give the people the real facts.

    Occasionally, we've had a dramatic effect on the debate, such as the time when the Left announced a "Stand for Children" rally on the Mall in Washington.  The media were teary-eyed at the wonderfulness of the cause:  "celebrating children."

    We researched the groups sponsoring the rally and launched a media campaign that pointed out that most of the organizations received federal funds, at least $392 million annually in all.  The point of the demonstration was to push for increased government spending, to the benefit of many of the groups themselves.

    The media picked up our criticisms and included them in their coverage, in hundreds of news stories.  The "Stand for Children" rally stood exposed, and their push for big new federal spending was unsuccessful.

    Further, Congress then instituted a requirement that organizations that testify before its committees must disclose any federal funds they receive.

    More often, we operate less dramatically, under the radar.  Our goal is to change the way people think about the issues, and we've had some notable successes.

Changing How People Think About the Issues:

    Do you remember when everyone believed that welfare recipients were incapable of working and that any attempt to make them work was an act of unspeakable cruelty?

    The Heritage Foundation began working on welfare reform back in the 1980s, at what then seemed an almost hopeless task.

    Our policy analyst, Robert Rector, wrote report after report on how destructive the welfare system was, destructive to the recipients themselves and to society at large.  He put forth ideas for reforming welfare and bringing its recipients into the mainstreamof American life.

    You've probably heard of his work, though you may never have heard his name.  He's the one who exposed the exaggerations of the poverty bureaucrats by showing that 41 percent of the poor own their own homes and the majority have cars, color televisions, VCRs, microwaves, and air conditioning.

    He's the one who, year after year, debunks the "hunger crisis" served up by Leftist groups.  And he's the one who showed the public, through patient work, that the welfare system was broken and needed fixing.

    He was able to do this because we learned how to get through to the media with his reports and op-ed pieces, and we knew how to present them so they would get reported.

    And we were also able to get through to many members of Congress with his facts and recommendations for changing the welfare system.

    By the time Congress seriously considered welfare reform in 1996, the American people were solidly behind it. And it was Robert Rector whom many members of Congress called on for his technical assistance in crafting the legislation that ended the federal welfare entitlement, perhaps the most important achievement of the 1990s.

Airport Security--Myths and Truth:

    More recently, we became alarmed over the irrational stampede towards big government in the debate over airport security.  Even the Senate Republicans voted to hand this critical function over to government bureaucrats.

    Heritage swung into action with a hard-hitting report that showed the downside of federalizing airport security. We pointed out that private companies handle the screening of passengers and baggage at nearly all of Europe's busiest airports as well as Israel's.

    And we got our report out to every member of Congress, key officials in the Bush administration, and hundreds of media literally within hours of its publication.

    The facts we presented were all over the media, in debates in Congress, and in statements from the Bush administration, almost immediately.  And although the big government side mostly won that fight for now, we made the best of a looming disaster, and led the way to a compromise that holds the promise of reversing this bad desision when its consequences become clear.

Can We Change the Culture?

    You've probably heard of the Heritage Foundation before, and you know we do good work for the Conservative cause.

    Now, I want to show you why it's so important for you to become members and supporters of the Heritage Foundation.

    It's absolutely essential right now to mount a credible and effective force to counteract the longstanding power of the Left over our culture.

    Our best weapon is, as I have said, the truth.  And the Heritage Foundation has the research, the facts and figures, the analuses, the arguments, and the communications setup to give the American people the truth.

    But to get the truth out effectively takes money, and it takes influence.

    When radical Leftist groups and Liberal members of Congress are filling the media with their distorted version of reality, we need to counteract them with own fact-filled reports and our own articulate spokesmen.

    And we need to let the media and Congress know that our side also has large grassroots citizen support.

    Conservatives have never been as good as the Left at organizing, demonstrating, and raising a ruckus.  And that's fine.  We're occupied with our real lives in the real world, not with carrying out grand utopian schemes.

    But right now, we've got to make it clear to Congress, the media, and the Left itself that we're through with their radical 1960s-era, blame-America views.

    And we've got to make respectable again ways of thinking based on truth vs falsehood, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, rather than the fashionable view that there is no truth, just power and interests based on group membership.

The Importance of Our Work and the Survival of Our Nation:

    The survival of our nation could depend on our success.

    This is why I am so eager for you to join the Heritage Foundation.  You may already belong to other Conservative organizations.  In that case, I hope you'll add us to your affiliations.

    Or you may never have been moved to join one.  If so, I ask you to consider making a start right now.

    In return for your membership and support, I can offer you two things.

    One, of course, is the knowledge that you are now a part of the most effective Conservative organization in Washington, D.C.  That means you are taking an important step in changing the culture the Left has given us, and bringing back the time-honored virtues that have made the United States of America a beacon of freedom and prosperity throughout the world.

    The other is your connection with the Heritage Foundation, one that I hope will be rewarding to you.  It's a two-way relationship:  We give you information on the important issues, and we listen to your opinion.

    I very much hope you will accept my invitation to join us.

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