Free Republic

Events of the past week reminded me of the wisdom of the late Bill Crane, one of my political science professors. Crane wrote a popular textbook on Texas politics. Needless to say, he understood political corruption, and divided it into two types. It wasn't Democrat and Republican. This was before Texas Republicans had enough power to be corrupt. Crane's distinction was between Catholic corruption and Protestant corruption. He wasn't talking theology, but sociology. His use of the term "Catholic" was shorthand for immigrant groups that arrived relatively recently: Irish, Italians, Mexicans, and so on. The "Protestants" were the moneyed and...

TIGER FORCE - Ex-officer may face justice for atrocities - Army lawyer calls for war-crime charge By JOE MAHR, BLADE STAFF WRITER Three decades after an Army platoon repeatedly executed unarmed civilians and prisoners in Vietnam, a military lawyer has recommended the unit's former commander be brought up on a war-crime charge. In what would be an unprecedented event, retired Maj. James Hawkins could face a military court-martial regarding his actions commanding a platoon known as Tiger Force that killed hundreds of unarmed men, women, and children 37 years ago, The Blade has learned. As the scope of war crimes...

Kennedy clan black sheep William Kennedy Smith is again facing accusations that he raped a woman. The nephew of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and the late President John F. Kennedy was sued yesterday in Chicago by his former personal assistant, who charged that Smith, 43, sexually assaulted her in his home five years ago. The suit, filed 13 years after Smith beat a highly publicized rape case in Florida, comes from Audra Soulias, who says Smith attacked her at his North Side digs in 1999 after plying her and friends with booze to celebrate her 23rd birthday. "He dragged me...

DETROIT - Andrea Carlton hadn't planned on telling her daughter about the birds and bees until she was 8 or 9. But that changed the night 4-year-old Catherine spotted a porno movie flickering on a screen in a minivan nearby.

WHY WE CHEAT By SUSAN EDELMAN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORBIDDEN PLEASURES: Some researchers believe changes in gender roles are prompting more married women to sleep around. July 13, 2003 -- More women are cheating on their husbands - and doing it without remorse, sex researchers say. A stunning 90 percent of adulterous wives told one Manhattan researcher they suffered "no guilt," but rather felt "entitled" to the pleasure and excitement of their secret trysts, said Susan Shapiro Barash, a gender-studies professor and author. "Women feel entitled because they're not getting what they need in the marriage. That's why women today have affairs,"...

<p>DETROIT — The U.S. Attorney's Office is expected to seek an indictment as early as Wednesday of NBA star Chris Webber for allegedly lying to a federal grand jury about his dealings with banned University of Michigan basketball booster Eddie Martin.</p>