Free Republic

The pendulum swings both ways. Last year in Denver, it was Mayor John Hickenlooper proposing to replace the city's traditional "Merry Christmas" sign with one that said "Happy Holidays." The mayor wisely backed off in response to the public outcry, as did the Parade of Lights, this year, reversing its policy barring religious floats. Earlier this month, Speaker of the U.S. House Dennis Hastert, issued a directive instructing the architect of the Capitol to drop the name "Capitol Holiday Tree" - adopted in the late 1990s under the authority of no one who's now willing to admit to it -...

Sir Paul McCartney certainly cleaned up the Super Bowl half-time show's image, didn't he? Nothing racier was to be seen than a spiffy red shirt, revealed by McCartney removing his coat. It was during the first half of play, however, that Mr. McCartney impressed me with his supreme confidence. If you were watching the game, you saw a number of "cutaways" of Paul McCartney enjoying the proceedings from a V.I.P. box. If I am not mistaken, one of those closeups was seen at the two-minute warning, just moments before the half-time show was to begin. That may not seem like...