Free Republic

THE CREATURE FROM THE RIVER -- Lamar worked in a government office, in a government building parked in a government parking lot worked behind a government desk and drove a government truck. His life was hell. To begin with every other light in the building had been turned off to save energy. It was like working in a cave unless you had an office with a window, which Lamar did not. He worked for Dick. Dick saw his primary purpose in life as making Lamar’s life as miserable as possible. Dick would go looking for Lamar each morning. He would ...

A mere suggestion to freepers. The airlines are taking away all weapons including pocket knives. You will have only your hands to defend yourself in case of a terrorist attack. The local airport is even searching people’s socks. No I’m not joking. There is one they haven’t figured out yet. They never read Kipling. Get a substantial leather belt and a HEAVY belt buckle. The belt buckle can reach out 3 feet or so and can be used repeatedly. Just make sure your pants are tight enough that they don’t fall off when you take off the belt. Yes ladies ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on October 22, 2000 Every time American military personnel are killed, someone inevitably trots out the cliché: "They died in defense of freedom." If we are ever to construct a peaceful world and to save the lives of our military personnel, then we are going to have to stop lying. The 17 young Americans killed by a bomb in the harbor of Yemen were brave and loyal Americans. We mourn their loss. But they did not die in defense of freedom. They died to protect contracts British and American oil companies have in the ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on October 10, 2000 The Fox Network was right. Its show about a genetically altered supergirl battling bad guys in the future was a lot more interesting than the presidential debate. Fox chose to run that rather than the debate. Actually it wasn't a debate. This format of having a journalist ask a question, then giving each man two minutes to respond and a minute for rebuttal does nothing but produce a whole evening of sound bites. Who can accurately describe a complex issue in 120 seconds? Nobody. Sound bites, however, may be as ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on October 08, 2000 Traditional American society is being systematically deconstructed. The question is, do traditional Americans have the grit to defend it? The traditional family has been under fire for some decades by feminists and homosexual activists not to mention the government, which penalizes families with its tax code. Now it is being battered by the entertainment industry and public education. Yes, public education will undermine the religious faith of your children not to mention make it clear to children that they should not pay too much attention to their superstitious and out-of-date ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on October 03, 2000 Let's play let's pretend. Let's pretend that Suzy, an innocent citizen, and Joe, a cop, are forced to deal with the same criminal, Zack. Now Zack one night catches Suzy on the way to her car in a parking lot, beats the stew out of her, and rapes her. Now the gun-control crowd absolutely insists that Suzy does not need a handgun in order to deal with Zack. So an unarmed Suzy becomes a victim of Zack. Now Joe, the cop, tracks down Zack and puts his worthless carcass into ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on October 01, 2000 The Commission on Presidential Debates is really an establishment front designed to silence political dissent. That is precisely its purpose in excluding Ralph Nader, the presidential candidate for the Green Party; Pat Buchanan, the presidential candidate for the Reform Party; and Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party's candidate. The commission's message to the American people is that you can debate issues within the narrow parameters set by the corporate establishment that runs this country. You may not even hear any discussions that are outside those boundaries. And, of course, Al Gore ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 28, 2000 One of my favorite Southern things is what we call a Three-B night -- bullets, beer and barbecue. Of course, the beer and barbecue follow the shooting of the bullets at the gun range. Alcohol and gunpowder are a dangerous mix. But Three-B is a social activity I highly recommend. Good friends, a little target shooting and then a repast of spicy barbecue and cold beer is a fine, fine way to spend an evening. God, I love the South so much I can't stand it. I've been thinking it ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 26, 2000 The U.S. trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $353.7 billion so far this year. That means, as Jackie Gleason's character used to say in the Honeymooners, one of these days, pow! By that I mean that the U.S. stock market will go into the tank. Even the gnomes at the International Monetary Fund are starting to fret about that possibility. What trade deficits mean is that foreigners end up holding billions of U.S. dollars, much of it invested in American stocks and bonds. All they have to do ...

A presidential race is very much a referendum on what kinds of people Americans are. It is true, alas, that we get the kind of government we deserve. One of the questions to be answered is have the American people lost their ability to discern between good and bad character? It is impossible to have good government if the people can no longer tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. Given the state of what passes for culture these days, not to mention eight years of the Clinton-Gore administration, I have a pessimistic view on ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 17, 2000 I was walking the inherited dog the other morning, enjoying the cool east wind with a faint smell of the sea in it, when it occurred to me that we are all, in this age, stuck with so many multiple roles it's hard to keep up with them. Here I am, a writer, a father, a dog owner, a car owner, a dwelling owner, a yard owner, a citizen, a member of a couple of organizations, and all of them require time, attention and occasionally resources. One hardly knows what to ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 14, 2000 It's a heck of a note when the president of China seems more like George Washington than does the president of the United States. I realize, of course, that to put Bill Clinton and George Washington even into the same paragraph is an offense against the founder. Clinton's message at the big shindig in New York was that the United Nations must intervene militarily in countries' affairs. Jiang Zemin's message was that national borders must be respected. The Chinese leader is quite correct. He said, "So long as there are boundaries ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 12, 2000 John Taylor Gatto, a veteran of 26 years in the New York City public schools and former New York State Teacher of the Year, said that public education cannot be reformed and should be abolished. There you have it, an honest insider's assessment. Gatto, in speeches and essays, said that public education everywhere teaches a covert curriculum, whether teachers realize it or not. This curriculum consists of confusion, class position, indifference, emotional dependency, intellectual dependency, provisional self-esteem and the feeling that there is no escape from oversight. In short, public ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 10, 2000 George W. Bush called a New York Times reporter a bad name and didn't apologize. I like that. One local fellow remarked that anyone who knows anything about the New York Times knows that Bush was using a euphemism. I don't know if he was recalling when the New York Times covered up Joseph Stalin's crimes in the 1930s or when it was selling Fidel Castro as the new George Washington of the Caribbean. When it comes to spotting evil on the left, the New York Times and the Central ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 07, 2000 Seven Democrats have introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to revoke the federal charter of the Boy Scouts of America. I can only conclude that the Democrats have gone mad. The bill was introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., for herself and for Reps. Pete Stark, D-Calif.; Sheila Lee, D-Texas; Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga.; Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.; Mrs. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y.; and John Lewis, D-Ga. The text is simple and states the following: "Federal charters are prestigious distinctions awarded to organizations with a patriotic, charitable or educational purpose. ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on September 05, 2000 President Clinton's and Chelsea's jaunt to Africa is just another case of Bill Clinton being willing to squander millions of the taxpayers' dollars on a photo-op. The idea that Clinton, or any other leader, can jet in one afternoon and contribute anything to resolve a tribal civil war is, of course, absurd. Africa has graver needs than to provide a background for presidential snapshots. A World Bank report recently detailed those grave needs. According to the report, Africa's economy will have to grow at 5 percent per annum -- just ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on August 31, 2000 People who support Al Gore owe it to themselves to write a check for $3.95 to the ACU and then send it with a request for a paperback copy of Al Gore, America in the Balance. It's a neat, little documented account of his record, of his lies and of the very bad company he keeps. Sure, the American Conservative Union publishes it. I hope you don't expect Americans for Democratic Action to blow the whistle on Al Gore. If you want the negatives on a man of the left, you ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on August 29, 2000 Crowded skies, crowded roads and crowded parks seem to be the big topics these days, but hardly anyone ever points to the obvious cause -- too many people. The hard truth is that none of those problems can be solved unless some attention is paid to population growth. Most pollution is a product of large numbers. Most of what people complain about -- traffic jams in the air and on the ground, not to mention pollution -- are all direct results of too many people. The bulk of America's growth ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on August 27, 2000 What is the connection between rudeness and immorality and World War II? World War II taught, among its many lessons, that when the thin veneer of civilization slips away, there is no limit to humankind's capacity for cruelty and savagery. The ratio of civilian to military deaths in that war was about 20 to 1. That, alone, should make us all want to have a stake in maintaining civilization. Well, rudeness and immorality chip away at civilization and weaken it. It should not surprise anyone that, as standards of decency ...

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on August 24, 2000 I was thinking the other day: Which would be worse -- being trapped in the Russian sub at the bottom of the Barents Sea or being trapped in the Los Angeles Convention Center and having to sit through Bill and Hillary Clinton's speeches? I was leaning toward the sub. At any rate, the staged conventions are over, and people have a choice that they can exercise Nov. 7. I urge everyone to vote because it's going to be a close call. There's an old story that goes the rounds among speechwriters. ...