Free Republic

Sometimes history replays itself – in strange and eerie ways. Our job is to remember, prepare for what may come, so we do not repeat what is avoidable, regrettable, tragic. Take the Venona Project. If you do not know about it, consider what it means for today. Venona was a counter-intelligence effort launched in WWII. It lasted 40 years, helping us understand Soviet intentions and bring the Soviet Union to an end. The centerpiece – public now – was decoding that pointed to Communist ambitions inside the United States. The significance of the project is that, while history, it validates...

On this day in 1948, Rep. Richard Nixon (R-CA) and his House Un-American Activities Committee questioned Alger Hiss, a State Department officer suspected of being a Soviet spy. Nixon zeroed in on contradictions in Hiss's testimony, revealing that Hiss had lied about not knowing Whittaker Chambers, another Soviet spy. Though never convicted of being a spy, Hiss did go to prison for perjury. For decades, many Democrats asserted that Hiss was innocent and that Nixon had persecuted an innocent man. After the fall of the Soviet Union, de-classified records revealed that Alger Hiss had indeed been a Soviet spy.

WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE BEING CENSORED By Ann Coulter Earlier this year, the Screen Actors Guild (news - web sites) issued a statement lamenting that "those in the public eye should suffer professionally for having the courage to give voice to their views. Even a hint of the blacklist must never again be tolerated in this nation." Feeling the lash of a right-wing blacklist, the Dixie Chicks (news - web sites) recently played to an adoring, sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. Ann Coulter   But earlier this week, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., denounced a radio corporation's decision...