Free Republic

There is of course nothing wrong with organizing to elect party officials; it is what partisan politics is about. The problem in this case is in the result: It defeats the fundamental purpose of a political party, which is to elect its members to political positions. This requires the party to nominate and support candidates who have broad support and have the best chance to win election. The rise of the MAGA movement has resulted in the party endorsing candidates who are challenging the party’s incumbents. We can see this happening now. The county party has rescinded its endorsements of...

Young people face a cruel irony. Most can't land a decent job without a college education, yet many graduates are locked into poorly paying positions that don't permit repayment of student loans.

Lee was an avid reader of Northern newspapers smuggled across the lines. From them he gleaned not only bits of military intelligence but also – and more important in this case – information about Northern politics and the growing disillusionment with the war among Democrats and despair among Republicans. One of Lee’s purposes in the Maryland invasion was to intensify this Northern demoralization in advance of the congressional elections in the fall of 1862. He hoped that Confederate military success would encourage antiwar candidates. If Democrats could gain control of the House, it might cripple the Lincoln administration’s ability to...

This past weekend, I attended my daughter's track meet. I went to the concessions to get a soda.A little girl, who could barely see over the counter, was in line in front of me trying to buy a jumbo pretzel. Her mother must have given her only $2, and the pretzel cost $2.50.The girl behind the counter was trying to explain that she didn't have enough money. I listened to this and reached past the girl and put $1 on the counter and said, "Give her the pretzel."The girl behind the counter gave the little girl her pretzel and 50...