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Probably the single greatest problem between blacks and whites in America is that we are forever witness to each other's great shames. This occurred to me in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, when so many black people were plunged into misery that it seemed the hurricane itself had held a racial animus. I felt a consuming empathy but also another, more atavistic impulse. I did not like my people being seen this way. Beyond the human mess one expects to see after a storm like this, another kind of human wretchedness was on display. In the people traversing waist-deep water...

Slavery has been a part of man’s history since the beginning of recorded time. The pharaohs of Egypt used hundreds of thousands of African slaves to build the pyramids. The Romans used slaves from all over their empire to build their magnificent structures. The ancient Greeks used slaves to build the Parthenon and other palaces and temples. The Great Wall of China was built by Chinese slaves. When the Americas were discovered, slavery migrated with the people to the new world and was accepted like all the rest of the “old” world traditions. This acceptance lasted even through the drafting...

Failure of an Idea—And a People In his 1935 State of the Union Address, FDR spoke to a nation mired in the Depression, but still marinated in conservative values: “Continued dependence upon welfare,” said FDR, “induces a spiritual disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole our relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.” Behind FDR’s statement was the conviction that, while the government must step in in an emergency, in normal times, men provide the food, clothing and shelter for their families. And we did, until the war pulled...

What is it that bends and twists the soul of man in New Orleans such that he shoots at his rescuers, steals televisions while others drown, and then blames all and sundry for not helping enough? Biloxi and the rural areas of costal Louisiana and Mississippi have similar ethnic makeup and are equally hard-hit; yet they were not witness to the self-imposed parts of New Orleans’ devastation. The answer lies in the peculiar political economy of dependency in New Orleans, home to some of America’s last remaining old-style housing "projects," home to legions of life-long welfare recipients and home to...

I nearly fell out of my Barcalounger Sunday morning, watching The McLaughlin Group. The old Jesuit had Pat Buchanan, Eleanor Clift, Tony Blankley, and Clarence Page (who is black) sitting around. They were talking about Hurricane Katrina, of course. Suddenly, McLaughlin turned to Page and said: “Why the correlation between black and poor?” Good grief, I thought, you can’t ask that. People get taken off the air for less. Poor Clarence Page didn’t know whether to spit or wind his watch. He mumbled something that wasn’t even close to being an answer. McLaughlin, realizing his gaffe, quickly and deftly steered...

It took exactly one month — until the president's prime-time news conference of Oct. 11, 2001 — to refute the notion that 9/11 "changed everything." When a reporter said "you haven't called for any sacrifices from the American people," he replied, "Well, you know, I think the American people are sacrificing now. I think they're waiting in airport lines longer than they've ever had before." And that was before the sacrificing became really hellacious with the requirement that passengers remove their shoes at security checkpoints. The idea that Katrina would change the only thing that matters — thinking — perished...

LBJ's Great Society: 40 Years Later 1964 was a very busy year for Lyndon Johnson. First he rammed through Congress the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, giving him war powers in Vietnam. Next he signed into Law the now famous or infamous, depending on ones political slant, Civil Rights Act. He called this ambitious undertaking his "Guns and Butter" program. The first part of this equation to go sour was the war effort. Johnson treated the war like a political problem that he could solve by twisting the arms of Ho and Giap the same way he had got things done in...

Minneapolis Freepers! I'll be speaking for the Center for the American Experiment next week in your city. *On Thurs. 9/15 I'll be at St. Olaf College in Northfield at 10:15, and do a lunch there. *Same day, I'll do a reception at Providence Academy, Plymouth (6:00) and a lecture from 7:00-8:15 afterward. *Friday, 9/16, I'll be in Minneapolis for talks at St. Johns Juniversity in Collegeville at 10:15-11:30 and at 11:30-1:00 will do a lunch at St. Johns sponsored by Students Fostering Conservative Thought. Please come out, say hi, and I'll sign your copies of "A Patriot's History of the...

After the Flood By William A. Mayer - Editor & Publisher, PipeLineNews.org September 6, 2005 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews - Our species always looks for meaning in disastrous events. It's as if the human need to make sense of nature's random acts can - by force of will alone - create lessons not necessarily in evidence, and therefore soften the blow of conditions beyond our control. There are however some great truths to be learned from the devastation of Katrina, though they are not very reassuring. This event has the look of an accident scene; a grinding...

New Orleans Police Chief Edwin Compass said Friday that hurricane rescue efforts were hampered when relief workers came under attack by the city's criminal element, prompting conditions that resembled "urban warfare." "We have never had an urban warfare battle like this on any front in the history of our nation," Compass told NBC's "Dateline." "You're fighting in buildings that are pitch black with darkness. These individuals have root - the criminal element have looted all the gun shops and gun stores in this city, so they're armed, they're dangerous." Federal Emergency Management Agency Chief Michael Brown, under fire for his...

John McWhorter is right to say that we ought to pause and remember the Watts riots of 40 years ago and ponder their implication for America's present and future ["Burned, Baby, Burned..." FR post here]. I take strong issue, however, with the conclusions he draws from his review of the events in Watts and South Central Los Angeles in 1965. I think the difference between McWhorter and me arises in large measure from our profoundly different perspectives on the event. He writes that he was born two months after the riots occurred and that his conclusions are based on his...

Can anyone tell me when was the first time that congress took the SS surplus into the general fund.

For those who look closely, signs of desperation on the part of liberal Democrats are everywhere. I am not sure when they finally came to the realization people are figuring out what they are really about, but they know it's happening. And they are afraid of the truth more than anything. They are so afraid they will say and do anything to blur reality so the average person won't know their positions are baseless. For instance, Rep. John T. Salazar, D-Colo., said last week: "Creating private accounts will only hasten the demise of Social Security, by draining trillions of dollars...

Another mystery, is partially solved. Hillary Clinton's graduate thesis is missing. The topic was rumored to be Johnson's Great Society, but it was on the left wing Radical Saul Alinsky. Alinski promoted deseption in organizing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky. It fits in with her "makeover". Here is a quote from Alinsky: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so...

GWB may be the GOP's LBJ. With a historic electoral victory at his back, George W. Bush is now being compared to some pretty consequential presidents. Lincoln and FDR--as war presidents--immediately come to mind. But there is another, more obvious, comparison that strikes to the heart of why the left hates this president with such intensity. GWB may be the Republican LBJ. This isn't meant with any disrespect to Mr. Bush. Nor are the two simply comparable because they both came from Texas, came to power after each man's party prevailed in a narrow electoral victory (LBJ served out the...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

If the polls are to be believed, this could be the last day of John Edwards's presidential campaign. But before we bid him adieu, it's time for one last ladling of praise and blame. Edwards deserves some praise because he is the only major candidate who talks consistently about the poor. The problem is that he talks about poverty in an obsolete way, which suggests he has learned nothing from the past 40 years. Edwards talks about poverty in economic terms. He vows to bring jobs back to poor areas and restrict trade to protect industries. He suggests that if...

In a case that could bolster a long-running federal grand jury probe into Northeast Florida's construction industry, an undocumented Mexican worker permanently paralyzed on a job site is filing suit today in Jacksonville against homebuilding giant D.R. Horton. Jorge Gomez, 23, was injured Nov. 11 when a large beam fell on him and broke his neck at a D.R. Horton site in a Julington Creek subdivision, according to the lawsuit. The accident left him a quadriplegic. As an illegal alien, Gomez has no workers compensation insurance and has run up $500,000 in medical bills at Jacksonville's Memorial Hospital, which continues...

O'Neill's Backlash Against Bush Was Predictable by Howard Phillips Posted Feb 4, 2004 It isn't always nice to say "I told you so," but sometimes it is necessary. Paul O'Neill's blast at the Bush Administration, subsequent to his firing by Dick Cheney, was entirely predictable. He had previously opposed a President who promoted him -- Richard Nixon. As I wrote in December, 2000, Paul O'Neill was an LBJ "Great Society" Democrat, who, in 1973, as Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), strongly resisted the desire of President Richard Nixon to close down LBJ's "Great Society."...

George W. Bush: Man of the year Posted: December 31, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 Creators Syndicate, Inc. As Person of the Year, 2003, Time has chosen the American Soldier, a decision with which no patriot will quarrel. Whatever one believed about the necessity, wisdom or justice of the Iraq war, the American soldier did his duty and did it admirably well. But if the old standards had prevailed at Time – What man had the greatest impact on world affairs, for good or ill, in 2003? – the Man of the Year would have to have been George...