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Dixie risen

"For generations, American elites from the North have treated the South as a benighted land of knaves, fools, and charlatans, a proper subject of scorn and satire and certainly not a region to be admired or emulated. They are comically wrong.

"The South has long risen from the ashes of the Civil War, and by many measures it is the most admirable region of our nation. It may well be on the verge of becoming America's dominant region. ...

"Culturally, Hollywood and New York City have created a steady stream of dreary and predictable 'entertainment" that ridicules Southerners. In an era that celebrates multiculturalism, has there been much enlightenment among our creative class between the years that produced 'Hee-Haw," 'Dukes of Hazard," 'Green Acres," and 'The Beverly Hillbillies" and last year when 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" was filmed?"

— Ed Lasky, writing on "The South Rises," Wednesday at AmericanThinker.com

PC epidemic?

"October has been designated Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and greater awareness is certainly needed. ...

"Unfortunately, for some groups, when it comes to breast cancer, it is 'Selective Awareness" month.

"The National Cancer Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health) and some groups with an interest in 'reproductive rights' or breast cancer research are keeping women in the dark about two risk factors for breast cancer: induced abortion and hormonal contraception.

"The chief reason women are not being informed of these risks is not a lack of evidence. It is an epidemic of political correctness.

"The American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation continue to deny the link between induced abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer. They make no effort to publicize (or they wholly ignore) the increased risk of breast cancer associated with oral contraceptive use."

— Susan E. Wills, writing on "Fully Aware," in the Oct. 28-Nov. 3 issue of the National Catholic Register

America the evil

"[Rep.] Pete Stark has apologized for saying that President Bush finds 'amusement" in the spectacle of American troops getting 'their heads blown off" in Iraq. Yet his comments have been embraced by many of the president"s detractors, among them bloggers at the Huffington Post and Daily Kos.

"It is not hard to see why. Congressman Stark"s words are faithful to a particular way of looking at America and its place in history — are faithful to what might be called the 'liberal interpretation of history." ...

"In the view of those who subscribe to the liberal interpretation of history, the philosophy of the Declaration is antiquated. ...

"Central to the liberal interpretation of history is the belief that a country founded on so flawed a philosophy cannot, as a rule, be a force for good in the world. Accordingly, when the United States acts in the world it most often acts not for good, but for evil."

— Michael Knox Beran, writing on "A Stark History," Friday at NationalReview.com