A free nation needs an informed citizenry to survive and function, according to Constitutional specialists Roger Pilon and Howard Phillips. Both agreed that the Dominant Media and Academia routinely manipulate information to suit a certain political agenda. Consequently, they observed that being fully informed requires extra effort.

“Modern education doesn’t help the matter,” remarked the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies Director Roger Pilon, Ph.D. He recalled attending Columbia University during the “halcyon days” of the Vietnam War. It was shut down twice while Pilon was there, he added. Then he studied at the University of Chicago. Having some experience then, at being in an academic setting surrounded by hostile Leftists, Pilon recommended that the assembled students challenge their professors in class when necessary. 

Being a conservative or libertarian makes one a minority. “You’re against considerable odds but that shouldn’t stop you,” Pilon offered. “That shouldn’t frighten you from wading into the battle… You’ve got to go into the belly of the beast to wage war, but you’ve go to be informed to do it. That is why you’re participating in a forum” [such as Conservative University], he noted. It is possible to stand one’s ground in a debate with a professor, but to do so effectively it is necessary to adequately know the subject matter. “So keep up the studying,” advised Pilon.

“To be a leader, you have to be a reader,” began Conservative Caucus Chairman Howard Phillips. “You should set aside at least 3 hours every day to read – at least 3 hours.” While studying at Harvard, Phillips recalled advice from a professor with whom he mostly disagreed, McGeorge Bundy (1919-1996): “’I’m about to tell you the most important thing that you will learn at Harvard,’” Phillips quoted the late Harvard Dean and National Security advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. “’Every morning before breakfast, read The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.’” 

Phillips added, “that’s still good advice.” The NY Times is a Liberal paper, he observed, “but it covers things that you won’t find elsewhere.” The Wall Street Journal has “excellent editorial content; it’s a daily education, so read it.”

“The most important thing that you’ll do in your life” if you’re so blessed, Phillips went on, “is to raise your children. We’re not going to take this country back unless parents take the responsibility to communicate their values to their children” rather than leave it to others. 

Every night he and his wife would read something from the Bible, American history and current events to their [now grown] children. “It’s a constant struggle,” Phillips noted. The Dominant Media “constantly contravene the great values and principles” upon which this country was founded. 

“The larger culture is in decay [and it really is with pornography, sodomy, promiscuity, abortion, etc.],” he observed. But the good news is God is raising up a remnant through such means as the home school movement, which Phillips urged the audience to consider. This cadre rejects that which the larger society portrays. Such a polity “gives us great hope for the restoration of our country - not just Constitutionally, but morally and economically as well.”

Howard Phillips is the Chairman of the Conservative Caucus, a non-partisan, nationwide grass-roots public policy advocacy group. He founded the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992, now named the U.S. Constitution Party. Mr. Phillips has been nominated by his party to run for the Presidency in 1992, 1996, and 2000. Mr. Phillips left the GOP in 1974, following two decades of service to the party, including positions as Boston Republican Chairman, assistant to the chairman of the Republican National Committee, and as the head of two federal agencies during the Nixon administration. Mr. Phillips has also published four books: The New Right at Harvard, Moscow’s Challenge to U.S. Vital Interests in Sub-Saharan Africa, The Next Four Years, and Victory 2000. Roger Pilon is the founder and director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies. Established in 1989 to encourage limited constitutional government at home and abroad, the center has become an important force in the national debate over constitutional interpretation and judicial philosophy. Mr. Pilon’s writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Legal Times, National Law Journal, among many other publications. He has appeared, among other places, on ABC’s Nightline, CBS’s 60 Minutes II, National Public Radio, FNC, CNN, and MSNBC. He lectures and debates at universities and law schools across the country and testifies often before Congress. Prior to joining Cato, Pilon held five senior posts in the Reagan administration. He has taught philosophy and law and was a national fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. Pilon holds a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law. He is also a recipient of the Bicentennial Commission’s Benjamin Franklin Award for excellence in writing on the U.S. Constitution, among other honors.