Free Republic

Laura Ingalls Wilder is legendary. Her "Little House on the Prairie" series, based on her family's adventures on the Midwestern frontier, have sold more than 41 million copies in the U.S. and have been translated into more than 40 languages. The books spawned a long-running television show and, in 2008, a stage musical. Millions of readers have been captivated by Wilder's childhood on the prairie, but her newest book, "Pioneer Girl," released more than 50 years after her death, offers a new perspective. Annotated with exceptional detail by Pamela Smith Hill, "Pioneer Girl" is Wilder's autobiography, unpublished until now. Hill's...

Now that the early hysteria has died down, the legacy media is moving into the second phase of their assault against Sarah Palin: sometimes regretful, (often mocking) disapproval over her un-ignorable shortcomings. We’ll know we’ve reached phase three — “Palin’s moment is over” when they start digging up a few more rogue “Republicans” to express “second thoughts”. According to Jon Friedman, the media is simply going to close their eyes to Palin until she goes away. But none of it will stick any more than the savage first-stage attacks stuck. Palin will see it through because of her courage, her...

As the deadline nears to decide what image will grace the back of Oklahoma's state quarter, several Oklahomans have taken exception with what won't be on the proposed coins. Four of the five final designs for the Oklahoma quarter include visual references to Ponca City's Pioneer Woman, a 30-foot-tall bronze statue depicting a stoic young mother, her son's hand firmly grasped in her left hand, a Bible in her right hand. However, on all four quarter designs, the Pioneer Woman's Bible is not included. Guidelines posted on the U.S. Mint's Web site say "inappropriate" designs for the quarters include logos...