Free Republic

I have had an epiphany! I now know why Americans are hated everywhere. The United States is the biggest consumer country in the world. We grow, manufacture and import more of everything … from everywhere. We have the most stable government in the world … there are older nations, but few of them have governments as old. Our citizens strive to be well-educated, hardworking, family-oriented and are proud to be Americans. All the currencies of the world are measured in US Dollars. The symbol of right and success and decency is red, white and blue. The question must be raised,...

In the nine years that I´ve worked in the public schools I´ve had a great variety of experiences and many of them have been quite positive. I have seen many a student graduate from high school who we initially thought never would. I´ve also seen teachers who were so dedicated to their students that they tutored them in their spare time at public libraries and cried over their poor performance during meetings. Generally, the people that I´ve worked with, regardless of educational or intellectual limitations, have had a sincere affection for the students we instruct and have wanted the best...

How to address the recent spate of purple prose regarding the pros and cons of sorting out the Cons? You know the ones I mean; the neocons, the paleocons, even theocons and I suppose, some excons. For those of you outside the virtual Beltway, the 'cons' referred to above would be those who espouse conservativism, and the latest rage among liberals (and some cons themselves) is to pigeonhole its proponents. Yes Virginia, as strange as it may seem, there is Diversity amongst the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. And this seems to both surprise and elate its enemies.

A few years ago, I was an Executive Story Consultant on the Dick Van Dyke series, "Diagnosis Murder." A fancy title, but it just meant I was a member of the writing staff. There were five of us working in the writers room. We were, by most measures, a fairly diverse group of individuals. Two of us were born in New York, one in New Orleans, one in Chicago, one in a small town in Utah. Three of us were Jews, ranging from Conservative down to merely cultural; one was an ex-Catholic; one was Mormon. Four of us were married,...

I know a guy named Wes who plays bass for a rock band in Atlanta. Wes always says that whenever he loses the rhythm during a number, he covers his mistake by making loud, booming noises. Audiences love when Wes embarks on one of his tears. They think they are witnessing an improvisational genius in the throes of musical passion. However, his bandmates and those with an ear for music played properly know better — Wes has just screwed up again. It can be fun watching Wes and his bandmates play. A typical performance might go something like this: Singer:...

When I was a teen one of my best friends was David Flagg, who was the purest athlete I have ever known. In a pickup football game I once saw David throw a football from behind his back about 25 yards on a string. I had never saw a tighter spiral on a football before or since. It streaked like a laser and hit the startled receiver dead in the chest. The would-be receiver was too flummoxed to catch the ball. He was as shocked by David's seemingly impossible feat as the rest of us were. That's how athletically...

As I watched police attempt to disperse those protesting the arrival of President Bush, who came to Oregon for a fund-raising event, to pitch his plan for more forest logging to help reduce the amount of out-of-control wildfires, and, of course, the Iraq plan, one thought went through my mind — what a waste of completely good pepper spray. If you were one of the protesters, I mean that in a good way. You shouldn't have been gassed. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't have been there. In some ways, tear gas and pepper spray lend credibility to the...

Are you pleased with the condition of our nation today? Are you happy with the political, economic and cultural trends now dominant? Do you feel good about our ability to defend ourselves from terrorists? From China? Do you think you´re apt to make more money in the next ten years than in the past ten? Are the public schools teaching our children what they need to know? Are you confident that we have the men and women in government who have the good sense and courage to preserve and promote the prosperity, freedom and opportunity you and I have enjoyed?...

Largely ignored, or perhaps, worse, largely applauded ethnic cleansing of white farmers is taking place in Zimbabwe with very little concern being shown by most of the world. In fact, this week in neighboring South Africa 100 world heads of State will gather in Johannesburg during the UN´s World Summit on Sustainable Development to express their concern about something called "global warming." Only, the latest findings of climatologists indicate global warming doesn´t actually exist. In fact, according to embarrassing new findings, the Antarctic has been cooling for some time now. This contradicts the findings of the climate models upon which...

If Bill Clinton was a president in search of a legacy, then the war on terror may very well be a legacy in search of a president. George W. Bush, seizing the opportunity, would like nothing better than to be known as the president who led the charge against terrorism, but that is no reason to invade Iraq. I know that once the bombs start falling the official justification from Washington will be that it is in the best interests of the United States to bring about a regime change in Iraq by taking out Saddam Hussein, and to cripple...

The environmentalists have already scored a major victory at Earth Summit II. A United Nations agency that helped Enron develop Communist China´s energy resources is getting almost $3 billion more from the U.S. and other countries. In advance of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, being held August 26-September 4 in South Africa, the United Nations announced on August 17 that a fresh $2.9 billion will be funneled into its Global Environment Facility (GEF). The U.S. is listed by the GEF as one of 32 donor countries to the "replenishment" of the GEF. The head of the GEF says he...

Anyone who regularly reads non-American newspapers can tell you it's the fault of the United States that there's so much pollution in the world. We' re also responsible for floods in Europe, earthquakes in Afghanistan, and if global warming ever actually happens that'll be our fault as well for not signing the totally ineffective Kyoto protocol. We're regularly denounced at the UN for not signing treaties that would have a larger negative impact on us than any other nation. We're accused of wanting to be "above the law" for not recognizing the authority of an international criminal court treaty that...

Not satisfied with having emasculated America's men and its institutions, the misandric malcontents are ready to issue world-class orders. Yessir, the repeatedly defeated ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) has been reincarnated in the form of a 900 pound gorilla called CEDAW (rhymes with HEE HAW). Basically, CEDAW is a U.S. treaty with the world that calls for the International eradication of Mother's Day, Father's Day, parental rights, heterosexuality, and manhood in exchange for the legalization of prostitution and for one "choice" — abortion. That's it in a nutshell. (Sorry, just being colorful.) By now it's old news that the ever spineless...

David Stevens was the first white farmer to be murdered after Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe declared war against white farmers. Militiamen broke into Stevens´s house and looted it, then beat him. Two friends who saw him driven away in handcuffs followed the vehicle to town, then went to the police station to report the abduction. As police looked on, militiamen dragged the two men away, tied them up, beat them with iron bars and rocks, then dumped them by a river. Stevens was brought to the site, executed with a shot to his face, and his body dumped on his...

Is the Federal Bureau of Investigation suffering the institutional equivalent of a nervous breakdown? That is the just one of the questions raised by Steven J. Hatfill's second dramatic press conference, on Sunday, in which Hatfill continued to take the offensive, publicizing the facts of the case as he knows them, providing evidence that he believes should exculpate him, daring the FBI to be as open as he has been, and indicting his tormentors by name. Hatfill accused the Bureau, the media (particularly the New York Times and its columnist, Nicholas Kristof) and Dr. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg of using his...

The next few meetings of the AIDS Walk Committee were quiet ones. Jerry was missing, busily marching in gay pride parades all across America. The AIDS Manager kept us apprised of his whereabouts and agenda as we set the schedule and details for the Worcester walk. I did a lot of thinking over those days and weeks about the sensitivity training I had attended. I was troubled by Ralph's comment that there were no innocent victims. All logic told me that that was a lie. At one of our committee meetings, a member shared that a friend had been diagnosed...

People shown pictures of Dr. Steven J. Hatfill in Princeton, have positively ID'd the bioweapons scientist. The FBI has thoroughly canvassed the vicinity of a mail box on a street opposite Princeton University, that was found to be contaminated with anthrax spores. The Bureau does not believe that the mail box was cross-contaminated, say by a mail basket that had been contaminated elsewhere, but rather that at least one anthrax-contaminated letter had been dropped directly into the box. As the person most frequently interviewed by print and TV reporters, Leticia Fraga, observed to NBC reporters, she told the FBI agents...

This isn't going to be a cute column. It may be a bit long. Some things need saying, so I'm going to say them. Recently stories have appeared in the press implying that Steve Hatfill, among other things a former ebola researcher at the Army's biological-warfare research center at Fort Detrick, Md, sent the notorious anthrax-bearing letters to people around the country. The implication is that he is a murderer. I know Hatfill socially, though we are not intimate. We met years back in Washington at a party held by a common friend. We have the occasional beer, bump into...

Are the FBI and the elite media interested in catching the right guy, or the right-wing white guy? In the case of the terrorist who last fall murdered five people and made 13 others ill via anthrax-contaminated letters, the feds and Big Media have decided that it would be expedient to railroad scientist Steven J. Hatfill, and have engaged in collusion towards achieving that end. The only problem is, that no one has produced one iota of evidence tying Hatfill to the crime. And so, the media and law enforcement have subjected Hatfill to the death of a thousand...

As Americans have discovered, saying anything that disdains apologies for the most extreme elements of Islam leads one to infinite guilt for hateful, bigoted and intolerant opinion. I suppose it would be more comfortable to think instead like a mindless, brain disordered liberal. Amazing isn´t it, how quickly words like "hateful," "bigoted" and "intolerant" seem to emerge like fleas whenever the light of truth rears its mean-spirited beacon. Muslim apologists sound less concerned with the reality of Islamic terrorism than the fact it is being discussed at all. Back in January, I wrote a letter to the editor in the...