Free Republic

Just a few blocks away from the Capitol building is an unassuming, dingy flophouse – once owned by one William Peterson – which is directly across the street from Ford’s Theater, and it was to this tiny aprtment that President Lincoln was carried on that awful night back in 1865. I had read about this small, shabby little place for decades, and seen many deathbed illustrations of the place, but nothing can prepare you for how small, how appallingly, claustrophobically tiny, and dingy and cheap this little room actually is. There on this very spot, the sixteenth president underwent what a...

The following is a transcript of Bill's video essay Super Bowl Democracy: One of Us Is Better Than Most of Them If you can spare 10 minutes, better watch it - his presentation is passionate, sharp and down to earth.[bold and italics in the text by Bill]If you asked the average American on the street what kind of government we have, they’d likely as not say we live in a democracy. A democracy is – by definition – where the people rule.But we don’t live in a democracy. You don’t get to determine when or if our country goes...

[...] That’s a Republic. And despite the mind-numbing terror of it, it’s actually not a bad way to go. But why would so many free citizens be willing to put their lives and their fortunes into the hands of so few people? Well, we would do it if we believed that the person in question was one of us. We do it because we believe that the person we send to Washington represents not every little detail but at least the core of our values and desires, our needs and our hopes. We do it because the person – in...

[I've had a lot of requests for the SILENT AMERICA essays, which did not survive the move from the old site very well. The one I get the most requests to re-post -- by far -- is TRIBES. TRIBES was written immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, and tales of appalling circumstances in New Orleans -- specifically in the Superdome -- were flying loose everywhere. A lot of those events turned out not to have happened, but the essentials remain the same: I was furious -- just plain seeing-red livid -- at some of the charges that...

Afterburner with Bill Whittle  A Tale of Two Revolutions: The War of Ideas & the Tragedy of the Unconstrained Vision Sep 9 / Afterburner with Bill Whittle   10min Bill Maher, Barack Obama and the Truth About American Exceptionalism Aug 31 / Afterburner with Bill Whittle   15min MSNBC & The Great Liberal Narrative: The Truth About The Tyranny of Political Correctness Aug 24 / Afterburner with Bill Whittle   13min The Power & Danger of Iconography: The Resistance Steals Obama's Weapons Aug 14 / Afterburner with Bill Whittle   8min Beyond the Angry Mobs: Only You Can Bring Congress...

Bill covers the WW2 nuke bombing of Japan. Video at the link...

Two masterstrokes were accomplished in the last two days of this year’s Republican National Convention. In her first appearance on the national stage — which can only be called a tectonic event — Sarah Palin secured the conservative base for maverick John McCain, while also reaching out to Democratic women. Then on Thursday night, John McCain struck again, making a play for the rest of the Democratic party. When John McCain was sewing up the nomination in the early spring, I spent a lot of time in many comment sections defending him in as many ways as I knew how....

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I searched and didn't find.If you've never read Bill Whittle's blog Eject! Eject! Eject! you are missing out. In fact, "you are missing out" severely understates the case. I am not exaggerating when I say he is one of the best writers I've ever read. He would surely dispute this, and perhaps even be offended by the comparison, but he is Mark Twain for our era. We are blessed by him; a writing talent such as his comes along once in a generation... if a generation is lucky.If you've never read Bill...

What’s worse than crawling under your beloved house and seeing the foundations rotten with decades of termite damage? NOT crawling under your beloved house and seeing the foundations rotten with decades of termite damage. I’ve been away for a while, doing a little thinking. Usually, my thoughts for these past few years have started at home and then taken me to Iraq, and the war. Lately, though, I have been thinking about Iraq, and my thoughts turn more and more to home. I started thinking along these lines six months ago, after a young Marine shot and killed a wounded...

SANCTUARY (part 1) (If you're new here, welcome. The regulars usually grab some coffee and relax. This will take about an hour, and, as usual, the end point of our journey is not visible from the beginning.) What’s worse than crawling under your beloved house and seeing the foundations rotten with decades of termite damage? NOT crawling under your beloved house and seeing the foundations rotten with decades of termite damage. I’ve been away for a while, doing a little thinking. Usually, my thoughts for these past few years have started at home and then taken me to Iraq, and...

I’m generally an optimist, and it’s been my pleasure to be able to write mostly about the good and the noble things in our lives. But the events in the Gulf – of Mexico – have brought to a head a summer and a year that has been getting progressively uglier and more painful to watch. Who can not see the way the country has changed, not since 9/11, but before that – since the 2000 election? Who cannot feel the split, the division, that rips like a shredding sail on a broken mast, canvas tearing like the sound of...

Silent America - Essays from a Democracy at war. http://www.ejectejecteject.com/ Paypal payments now, should be available at online stores soon.