Free Republic

An elementary school set to open in Mountain View, Calif., next summer will be named after an illegal immigrant. The new school will be named after award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, after the Mountain View Whisman School District board voted on Thursday. Vargas emigrated from the Philippines with his family to America when he was 12 years old. Vargas said, “As a proud product of the Bay Area’s public school system, I am overwhelmed by this totally unexpected and deeply meaningful honor." Vargas revealed his undocumented status in 2011, in a New York Times Magazine essay. "On the surface, I’ve...

Afghanistan: The president's decision to withhold more troops over the country's less-than-pristine election is nothing but stalling. For our soldiers, desperate for reinforcements, it's a slap in the face. No doubt, a legitimate government, complete with free and fair elections, would be good for Afghanistan. Its Aug. 20 vote was loaded with trouble because the Taliban sliced off purple-inked fingers to discourage voting and because a United Nations electoral watchdog found widespread voter fraud. Yes, correct the problems. But holding U.S. troop reinforcements hostage isn't the way to do it. Elections aren't why we have troops in that country. They're...

It's hard for white people not to be viewed as racist now that they elected the first black President. And, of course, it's impossible for conservative whites. First we had our first black attorney general tell us we that we weren't only racists, but cowards as well: WASHINGTON – Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, said Wednesday the United States was "a nation of cowards" on matters of race, with most Americans avoiding candid discussions of racial issues. In a speech to Justice Department employees marking Black History Month, Holder said the workplace is largely integrated but Americans...

The recent deal between Congress and the White House clears the way for the ratification of free-trade agreements with Panama and Peru, two American allies in Latin America. But what about Colombia? Colombia has risked the lives of its police and military and sustained huge casualties in an effort to do us a favor by keeping drugs off our streets. Our military aid to Colombia has not been frittered away on useless hardware or used to line some general’s pockets, but has paid for a military that has disarmed the drug dealers’ personal armies — 30,000 have been disarmed —...

Calling an 11.5% raise over two years a slap in the face, cops on the street angrily blasted Mayor Bloomberg and police union officials yesterday for again failing to come up with a fair wage for New York's Finest. "We're the hardest working Police Department in the nation. Why can't we be paid like it? This settlement S-U-C-K-S," said Officer Rodriguez, a 19-year veteran who declined to give his first name. "Where's the beef?" Officer Vince DeLuca of the 46th Precinct said: "It's an absolute disgrace. It shows how much the mayor and the city thinks of cops. We asked...