Free Republic

First they came for Barry Goldwater, calling him a dangerous extremist, a crazy right-winger and a warmonger. And I said nothing, because I didn't want to be associated with anyone like that. Oh, I agreed with Goldwater about the Vietnam War, that we should fight to win, or not risk our service members' lives at all. But while those anti-war demonstrators may have talked a lot about peace and love, they sure could be mean and threatening. I'm just a typical American, middle of the road, for common sense, and I didn't want to get involved in all that controversy. ...

"Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out almost as much in taxes alone as he formerly got in wages." --H. L. Mencken Congress is debating a modest tax cut. Modest, we say, because the GOP tax cut amounts to about 3 cents out of every tax dollar the Demos want in the next ten years. It is a debate whose compromise will meet the certain death of a presidential veto. It is debate heated with "class warfare" rhetoric and dire projections. Bill Clinton claims erroneously, "The GOP tax cut is so large it would require dramatic cuts ...

This week was a big revenue booster for the networks and a high stage for their talkinghead netwonks. Not since Princess Diana's Mercedes Benz decelerated from 120mph into a Paris tunnel abutment has so much media hype been heaped on a deceased member of the glitterati. The numbers released by Nielsen indicate that viewership of CNN, MSNBC and FNC nonstop Kennedy coverage exceeded previous highs set after Princess Di's death. Are congratulations in order? The death of kindred social celebrities sparks endless fascination among media celebrities -- undoubtedly because these elites view themselves in such esteem as to think they ...

"Perhaps the most dangerous of all legacies left to the United States, to NATO and to the world is the notion that our role is to launch military interventions whenever television puts horrible pictures on the screen at dinner time." --Thomas Sowell Presidential doctrines are historically linked to some weighty geopolitical issue in which the United States has a vital interest. The Monroe, Truman and Reagan Doctrines immediately come to mind. When these doctrines were articulated, they had particular strategic objectives and specified the means by which those objectives were to be accomplished. Now, courtesy of an administration that loathes ...

When asked about Ms. Rodham-Clinton's Senate prospects in New York, Al Gore responded, "I'm all for it." And why not! Just look at her qualifications. She got Black Panther Bobby Seale acquitted of murder charges in 1970. She has written extensively about "children's rights" and how the government -- and perhaps the UN -- should oversee parenting. She is a cattle futures trader extraordinaire as demonstrated in 1978 when she turned $1000 into $100,000. (That's $260,000, adjusted for inflation.) She knows how to collect legal fees on questionable real estate deals, while bilking big bucks from the local savings and ...

Before Bill Clinton, only four Democratic presidents since 1900 had served more than one term in office: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson. Each of them initiated American involvement in the four major wars of this century: World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Four presidents. Four wars. Total American dead: 616,000. Some may feel that suffering four wars under four Democrats is mere coincidence. Others might argue that some wars are simply unavoidable. And even 10 repetitions might not convince the stubborn that a pattern exists. But we should ask the obvious ...