Free Republic

The fireworks you see on the Fourth of July make an irresistible spectacle, but they can do it only in the course of destroying themselves. Rod Blagojevich, in his mad blitz across all the channels on your TV, was following a similar course. He has our attention now, but not for long. A wise sage once said that every man labors to conceal his insignificance from himself. Politicians do so by conducting campaigns, winning elections and basking in the deference that goes to high elected officials. No one goes into politics in an effort to learn self-effacement. Some people, of...

Wall Street titan Bernard Madoff proved you can take an outstanding reputation and ruin it overnight. Now Roland Burris has demonstrated that even a mediocre reputation can be instantly destroyed. Burris is the prototypical time-serving career politician who owes his success to being simultaneously ambitious and bland. He has never been one to challenge the status quo, but no one underestimates his self-esteem. The two Burris children, after all, are named Roland and Rolanda. The result of his immodesty has been a persistent hunger for offices that most people thought beyond his abilities. He has lost races for mayor of...

One of the great achievements of our time has been the conquest of inflation. In the 1970s, it ravaged our savings, raised our taxes and kept the economy on a roller coaster. So it is a measure of our current economic crisis that the return of inflation might be the best thing that could happen. Over and over during the postwar era, the Federal Reserve has decided that overcoming inflation was worth suffering a recession. This time, it ought to recognize overcoming a deep recession is worth enduring some inflation. The existing downturn already looks certain to be the most...

Since the Supreme Court upheld the individual right to own guns last summer, one municipality with handgun bans after another has faced reality. Washington, which lost the case, changed its law. Morton Grove repealed its ban. So did Wilmette. Likewise for Evanston. Last week, Winnetka followed suit. Then there is Chicago, which is being sued for violating the 2nd Amendment but refuses to confront the possibility that what the Supreme Court said may apply to this side of the Appalachians. When it comes to firearms, Mayor Richard Daley is no slave to rationality. "Does this lead to everyone having a...

Since the Supreme Court upheld the individual right to own guns last summer, one municipality after another with handgun bans has faced reality. Washington, D.C., which lost the case, changed its law. Morton Grove, Ill., repealed its ban. So did neighboring Wilmette. Likewise for Evanston. Last week, Winnetka followed suit. Then there is Chicago, which is being sued for violating the Second Amendment but refuses to confront the possibility that what the Supreme Court said may apply on this side of the Appalachians. When it comes to firearms, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is no slave to rationality. "Does this lead...

Death tugs at my ear and says, 'Live, I am coming.'" Were Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. alive today, he might ascribe that line not to death but to nuclear terrorism. Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have had to live with the knowledge that the next time the terrorists strike, it could be not with airplanes capable of killing thousands but atomic bombs capable of killing hundreds of thousands. The prospect has created a sense of profound vulnerability. It has shaped our view of government policies aimed at combating terrorism (filtered through Jack Bauer). It helped mobilize...

All these years Americans have obeyed unwise laws granting special preferences to certain groups. For a while, there may have been some justification for treating some Americans differently from others, but that is no longer true, if it ever was. Now, Mary Sue Coleman, President of the University of Michigan, should obey the law. Why is it that leftists always think they know best and have a higher ‘duty’ to subvert laws with which they disagree? This reminds me of Michael Dukakis and John Kerry (as Governor and Lt. Governor of Massachusetts), who conspired to give fake Social Security Numbers...

Chapman is suing the operator of an Internet blog, or web journal, for defamation and his camp blamed the pending lawsuit for throwing them off course and missing the filing deadline. ... Chapman's spokesman, Faisal Gill, said Chapman missed the deadline because he was distracted by the ongoing defamation lawsuit against an Internet blogger. "I think he was kind of caught up with that and it was just something that he missed," Gill said. Chapman is suing a blogger who goes by the name Black Velvet Bruce Lee and follows Manassas politics. On several postings, the blogger and his Web...

Printer-Friendly Version Email This Story Chapman fraud charge dropped By ROB SEAL rseal@potomacnews.com Wednesday, September 21, 2005 A former House of Delegates candidate who was indicted in the middle of a heated election is no longer charged with felony voter fraud. Steve Chapman, 27, was scheduled to go to trial today for allegedly lying about his address on a voting registration form. On Monday, a special prosecutor dropped that charge, which carried the threat of a 10-year prison sentence. Chapman said the outcome was a relief, but not a surprise. "We're excited, but I always said these charges were trumped...

<p>A long time ago, by which I mean the year 2000, conservatives didn't want to expand the size and reach of government. Today, it's plain their sentiments have changed. They still don't want Democrats to expand the size and reach of government. But when Republicans do it &#8212; well, let the good times roll.</p>