Free Republic

Theresa May’s Tories have always been far closer to Jeremy Corbyn than they like to admit. That’s why all their attacks on him fail so badly, and why there is a real possibility that he will become Prime Minister if the Government is idiotic enough to call an Election. The Tories’ wild, Trotskyist policies on marriage, ‘equality’, ‘diversity’ and education actually aren’t much different from Mr Corbyn’s. See their recent imposition of compulsory politically correct indoctrination in schools. Their spending and tax levels aren’t much lower than his would be, either. And, while they go on about Mr Corbyn and...

WASHINGTON - From the invasion of Iraq to the selection of Sarah Palin, carelessness has characterized recent episodes of faux conservatism. Tuesday's probable repudiation of the Republican Party will punish characteristics displayed in the campaign's closing days. Some polls show that Palin has become an even heavier weight in John McCain's saddle than is his association with George W. Bush. Did McCain, who seems to think that Palin's never having attended a "Georgetown cocktail party" is sufficient qualification for the vice presidency, lift an eyebrow when she said that vice presidents "are in charge of the United States Senate"? She...

Vladimir Putin wants to pay Russian women to have more children. Such pro-natalist policies are common in Western Europe, Japan and parts of Canada.It was odd, however, to see similar ideas floated last November in the "conservative" Weekly Standard magazine. Authors Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam suggested that Washington mail out checks for "bonus babies," then pay their parents to take care of them at home.Didn't welfare do much of that? Of course, the authors don't use such an unpopular term. "Subsidy" is a nicer word than "welfare," though to a true conservative, it's not a very nice word.Douthat and...