Free Republic

Don't Blame Capitalism Amid the chaos of recent days, as the federal government has taken gargantuan steps to stabilize the financial markets, realigning the U.S. economic system in the process, comes a nearly universal consensus: This crisis resulted from government reluctance to regulate the unbridled greed of Wall Street. ... For the political left, which has long championed the need for such limits, this crisis is the opportunity of a lifetime. ... The United States reached its economic preeminence on the strength of its free markets. So far, the economic disaster exacerbated by government policies is creating opportunities for further...

Michael Gerson, long praised (some would say over-praised) as President Bush's genius speechwriter, is also, it turns out, a would-be moral philosopher and political strategist. In "Heroic Conservatism," he calls for the Republican Party to redefine itself and brighten its future by casting aside its suspicion of big government and pursuing lofty projects of statist do-goodery. Let us hope that Republicans ignore him. ... Mr. Gerson will have none of it. Siding with FDR and Woodrow Wilson, his acknowledged heroes, he assumes that traditional conservatives do not care about American society's problems. He never stops to ponder whether traditional conservatives...

Jimmy Carter Is Right Amend the immigration bill to require voters to show ID. Monday, May 22, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT Amid all the disputes over immigration in Congress, one amendment is being proposed that in theory should unite people in both parties. How about requiring that everyone show some form of identification before voting in federal elections? Polls show overwhelming support for the idea, and there is increasing concern that more illegal aliens are showing up on voter registration rolls. But the fact that photo ID isn't likely to pass shows both how deeply emotional the immigration issue has...

None, according to Richard Cohen of the Washington Post. EXCERPT: I am haunted by Gabriela Ocampo. ... failing algebra six times in six semesters, trying it a seventh time and finally just despairing over ever getting it. The L.A. school district now requires all students to pass a year of algebra ... Here's the thing, Gabriela: You will never need to know algebra. I have never once used it and never once even rued that I could not use it. ... Gabriela, sooner or later someone's going to tell you that algebra teaches reasoning. This is a lie propagated by,...

snip "Moderate Republicans can't stand these people (conservatives), because they're intolerant. They don't think tolerance is a virtue," Dean said, adding: "I'm not going to have these right-wingers throw away our right to be tolerant." And concluding his backyard speech with a litany of Democratic values, he added: "This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good." snip

UN staff ready historic no-confidence vote in Annan Fri Nov 19, 6:50 AM ET World - AFP UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN employees are expected to issue an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), union sources say, after he pardoned the body's top oversight official over a series of allegations. snip The draft resolution, also obtained exclusively by AFP, calls on the union president to "convey this vote of no confidence to the secretary general." Staffers who asked not to be named, afraid that speaking out could damage their future prospects in the...

Goodbye, Christ Jesus Lord God Jehova, Beat it on away from here now. Make way for a new guy with no religion at all— A real guy named Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME— I said, ME!