Free Republic

After a lifetime voting for and working for Democratic candidates and independents, I'm finally going to make the switch and become a Republican. The reasons are many, not the least of which is age. I turned 55 recently and, having lived more than half my life, I can't afford to worry anymore about the other guy. It's time for me. As a Republican, I can now proudly -- indeed, defiantly -- pledge to never again vote for anyone who raises taxes for any reason. To hell with roads, bridges, schools, police and fire protection, Medicare, Social Security and regulation of...

...The vigilantes are back. In the 1850s, they lynched Irishmen. In the 1870s, they terrorized the Chinese. In the first decade of the 20th century, they murdered striking Wobblies. In the 1920s, they organized "Bash a Jap" campaigns, and in the 1930s, they welcomed the Joads and other Dust Bowl refugees with teargas and buckshot... The most publicized of today's vigilantes are the Minutemen, who began their armed patrol of the Arizona-Mexico border on -- appropriately enough - - April Fool's Day. The Tombstone, Ariz., group is the latest incarnation of the anti- immigrant patrols that have plagued the borderlands...