Free Republic

On 23 April I had a routine colonoscopy, and found out that I had cancer. I knew then I’d have to write this column once I knew the outcome. I had 25 days of chemotherapy, simultaneous with radiation therapy, followed by surgery on 11 August. The pathology reports came back yesterday. They were, as my surgeon said, ‘the best possible, given the circumstances.” They were clean margins and clean lymph nodes. The margins are the areas all around the site of the surgery. The lymph nodes are where cancer usually spreads first, from its original site. In laymen’s terms, I...

Shephard Smith just interviewed Judge Napolitano on air on the subject of the two military tribunal trials just beginning at Gitmo. The judge went way beyond his competence in saying that "there was no constitututional basis for these trials." Fox News has no meand to post immediately any response to their mistakes on air. They also have no way to reach them by phone. (I know. I've tried many times.) The bottom line is that the Judge made statements that are appallingly, obviously wrong, and Shep nodded like a bobblehead and agreed with him. The Judge said that the Quirin...

There are parts of Fox News I cannot watch. There is that self-important blowhard. There is that worldwide ambulance chaser. But as often as I can, I watch their news program at 6 p.m. My favorite part of that program is the lightning round, and especially the contributions of Charles Krauthammer. Charles normally dissects an issue with precision and accuracy. But not today, the 5th of August. He posed the issue whether a Congressman was right to say we need to amend the 14th Amendment to deal with the problem of anchor babies. Krauthammer made the mistake of not reading...

The facts for this article, but not the legal conclusions, come from an internal memorandum in the US Department of Homeland Security, Division of Citizenship and Immigration. This extraordinary document is from the Chief Counsel and the Directors of Policy and Strategy, Field Operations and Service Center Operations. It is addressed to the Director of that Office. Though the ACLU has no direct involvement in this memo, it is entirely in line with the ACLU’s position that everyone who can sneak across the border is immediately entitled to all the benefits available to Americans and to legal residents in America....

It’s been thirty years, and I still miss the classroom. I taught American Political Theory to mostly seniors, Pre-Law or Political Science majors, that long ago. If any of them had submitted a paper as ill-thought-out as Judge Susan Bolton’s decision on the Arizona immigration law, I’d have given them an F, and made them rewrite it from scratch. Here’s why: The largest point is that this US District Judge ignored the very case that was presented to her for decision. The federal complaint attacked the Arizona law for only one general flaw. It claimed that the state law preempted...

I listened to every word of President Obama’s statement on signing the financial institutions’ “reform” law, Wednesday morning. That was a filthy job, but somebody had to do it. The longest applause during the entire charade was when Obama thanked Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Christopher Dodd for their “tireless work” in getting this bill passed. Now, class, let’s conduct a brief review. First, not every Act that contains the word “reform” actually reforms or improves anything. As your grandma used to say, “Just because the cat has kittens in the oven, doesn’t make them biscuits.” Second, this “reform” law...

On our way through eastern Tennessee on US 26 for the fortieth time, give or take a few, we decided to visit the Gray Fossil Museum. It is one of the most extraordinary preserves of fossilized bones of long-extinct creatures ever found. An excellent book describes how this sink hole that preserves thousands of whole skeletons of ancient creatures was discovered, preserved and exploited. The book is The Bone Hunters by Harry Moore. In some cases, the scientists can identify a species from a single tooth. Compare paleontology to political science. We know more about the life and death of...

“Important” events happened recently to two women. The relative attention paid and press coverage about the two tells a lot about where we are as a nation, and it isn’t good. The two women are Lindsay Lohan and Pam Murphy. All of you know that Lindsay Lohan is a spoiled, self-centered, self-destructive twit who was just sentenced to 90 days in jail for multiple instances of contempt of court. But how many of you know who Pam Murphy was? Let’s not always see the same hands. Pam Murphy was the widow of Audie Murchy, the most decorated US soldier from...

It’s been a long time since I debated John Kerry’s Liberal Party at Yale. (We, the Conservative Party, whopped ‘em good.) Even longer since I debated in high school. Having listened to and analyzed President Obama’s speech on immigration, I’m more convinced than ever that Obama is a one-trick pony, an increasingly unsuccessful one. The war in Afghanistan is in trouble, and the Talban might snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Therefore, Obama gives a speech. The American economy is in trouble and high unemployment persists. Obama gives a speech. Spewing oil in the Gulf is unchecked. Obama gives...

Let’s raise two questions: What would Ben Franklin think of the Internet? And, what would be his opinion of efforts by the current Administration to censor Internet content, or even shut it down in “an emergency?” Events in Franklin’s life may answer those questions. A recent two-hour TV special on him made one point that deserves repeating: Of all the Framers who created the United States of America in law and in fact, the one who would be “most at home in the modern world” was Dr. Franklin. First, Franklin was a scientist. He observed facts in the real world....

<p>At most times and in some circumstances presidential speeches carry weight far beyond the actual words spoken or written. A President’s verbal gaff can start a war, rather than prevent one. A slight mistake by a President can cause American, or even international, markets to collapse, rather than stabilize.</p>

When you’ve been writing weekly for 16 years, occasionally the question comes up: what on God’s green Earth am I going to talk about now? I was going to write about the Jones Act. That Act requires that ships operating in American waters be American-owned with American crews. Not stated in the law is its real purpose. The maritime unions have a headlock on American shipboard workers. So, the Jones Act requires, in reality, that all ships operating in American waters generate dues for the unions which translate into funds to elect Democrats. Skimmer ships are sitting idle in foreign...

Saturday a week ago I had a $5,000 blueberry pancake. Actually, I had two of them. They were just as delicious as the ones I had last fall. All of them were courtesy of the Scaly Mountain Women’s Club. Scaly Mountain is an unincorporated community just down the Dillard Road from us, about ten miles from the intersection of the North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia borders. In the summer, Scaly Mountain swells to several thousand people. In the winter, it shrinks to a few hundred. But, there is never a shortage of fine people who willingly give their time,...

I’ve seen the movie, De-Lovely, at least six times now. Cole Porter’s personal life was a wreck, But with words and music he had no peer. Not even in two people at once, like Gilbert and Sullivan, or Rodgers and Hammerstein, for instance. I begin this column with a Porter quote from ‘You’re the Top,” and the subject is Paul Krugman. As my wife says of people who take themselves with far too seriously, “He sends his shirts out to be stuffed.” By all that’s right and holy, Krugman should be one of the great men of our generation. He...

Here are recent events concerning the new Arizona law on illegal immigrants in that state. First, the state passes a law which exactly tracks federal law on who is, or is not, an illegal immigrant. Then, President Obama and several other officials of the federal government condemn the law without bothering to read it. The most common claim against the law is that it authorizes any law enforcement personnel to go up to any person anywhere in Arizona and “demand their papers.” Anyone who bothers to read the law knows this statement is a lie. In an interesting development, it...

What is the impact of the current forms of gathering and transmitting information from person to person? Can people be affected by communications they don't use, or even know how to use? There were five of us around a table in church this morning. All of us used the internet at least somewhat. Most of us did not use Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. Our uses of the photo and video capacities of this generation of cell phones, fell someplace in the middle. But with some thought, the answer was clear. Whether or not we use these means of communication, they...

I read, and I write for, the Highlands Newspaper, a weekly paper with a modest circulation. The Editor, also my editor, is Kim Lewicki. She ran an article in last week’s issue that was excellently written and edited, and worthy of sharing with my national audience. The week before, Erika Olvera, a former Police Officer in this town, filed an EEOC Complaint against the Town of Highlands. Our experience with Officer Olvera was limited, but we found her to be diligent and capable. She worked for the Town for two years. She is a naturalized American from Mexico, who has...

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity to talk about the Constitution while dressed and speaking as Benjamin Franklin. Then, President Obama decided to make a vacation visit to the Grove Park Inn, in Asheville, NC. That’s just a hop, skip and a jump from my home. So I planned a one-man demonstration, dressed as Franklin, as close as I could get on public property, to the main entrance of the Grove Park Inn. My wife protested that I really should “leave the guy alone when he’s on vacation with his family.” I thought about it, reluctantly agreed. So, this here is...

I had the privilege and pleasure of spending four days as Ben Franklin in events connected with the Dayton Tea Party people, and their allies. Saturday I spoke at a special dinner for prime supporters and workers. Tuesday I spoke at the main rally in the Nutter Center. In between, I visited with nine different school classes in the Dayton area. Those are what I want to talk about today. One of the events was a session with an after-school program at a church in Springfield, Ohio, for “at risk” kindergarten, first and second grade students. Another was a combination...

This is more or less an open letter to Robert Groves, Director of the Census Bureau. Dear Bob. Can I call you Bob? I feel I know you since you’ve been all over the TV explaining that the screw-ups that have occurred in your Bureau about operations and cost will all be resolved. Well. here’s another screw-up for you to put on your plate. The Census has a rule that it will not mail Census forms to Post Office Box addresses. As a general rule, I understand and support that. There are probably more than a million people in the...