Free Republic

We Deserve More Than Electability Every year, there is a word or phrase that is repeated over and over until you can’t stand to hear it anymore. In 1999, it was ‘millennium’. In 2000, it was 'chad'. There are scads more: 'yellow cake', 'Shock and awe', the ever popular 'embedded'. And now, in 2004, we have 'electability'. It’s the word on everyone’s lips. When you hear John Kerry and Howard Dean and John Edwards and Wesley Clark on the campaign trail, the one point that they’re attempting to pound into people’s heads is their electability. They never explain what electability...

Governor Dean strikes again! He’s the picture of grim determination, if only he can be quite sure what exactly to be determined about. This week has been hard on the poor Governor. He can’t quite figure out what to think about Saddam Hussein’s capture. Is it good? Is it bad? Will Hussein be eligible to vote in 2004? All these are burning questions. Dean was forced to revamp a foreign policy speech on Monday, since the main focus of his speech was to have been how incompetent the Bush administration is at foreign policy. Now, not only does Dean have...

“We've got to stop having our elections in the South based on race, guns, God and gays” – Howard Dean Howard Dean. He makes us want to vote for him, for a split second, the first time we see him. He seems, at times, reasonably intelligent, and even charismatic and attractive – and then he starts talking, and talking, and talking. So Dean says he wants to win the South. He wants to be the lucky Democrat to take back the South from those “racially divisive” Republicans, and he wants to prove that a Democrat can win in the South....

Last week, after I wrote my column on conservativism, I received a considerable amount of mail telling me about the things that I neglected to say. It seemed a common consensus among the Republicans that I spoke too little about specific things like abortion, gun control, and free speech; and too much about general, basic beliefs. I thought about these comments a lot, and I considered doing a column that addressed these specific issues each in turn – but then I realized that there is one basic belief that underscores and supports conservative beliefs, including all these. As a matter...

Once, long ago, there was legitimate reasoning behind the zero tolerance policy in our public schools that could be fathomed - but there’s also legitimate reasoning behind the saying that good intentions pave the way to hell. Originally, zero tolerance measures were aimed at dangerous kids who brought guns and drugs to school. However, the number of items and behaviors now considered suspension or expulsion-worthy has grown to an infinitely ridiculous amount. The terms regarding these items and behaviors are conveniently vague, as well, and vary from place to place. There is zero tolerance for weapons - what is a...

There are two issues commonly focused on by the American people at this time in our history – the war on terror and the economy. While both have to do with our everyday and contemporary survival, there is another issue that is of deep and long-lasting importance that seldom gets the attention that it deserves – the demise of the public school system in America. Public education is fading away, and while it is doing so, it is taking a whole generation of children with it. The problem lies within the very foundation of public education – the notion that...

CNN is having a rough time of it lately. Not only has it been thoroughly trounced in the ratings war by Fox News, it has had to admit that they have a problem with facts - namely that they seem to have a problem reporting them. Christiane Amanpour is billed as CNN’s top correspondent - which is bad enough, considering her reporting. Now she’s embarrassing the already shame-worthy CNN by saying that they were intimidated into not reporting facts; intimidated by two rather ludicrous sources - Fox News and the Bush administration. She doesn’t offer any hard proof, just the...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Horowitz’s Academic Freedom: It Sounds Good, But . . ." " by Cathryn CrawfordIn an article entitled “The Problem With America’s Colleges and The Solution”, published on September 3, 2002, David Horowitz outlined the problems that he sees with college and university campuses across America. In a fairly detailed manner, he discussed the lack of diversity concerning political ideologies and viewpoints among faculty members. He correctly said that universities and colleges have an overload of generally liberal professors, and, quite often, only have one or two token conservatives, if that. In the article, he went on to...

In an article entitled “The Problem With America’s Colleges and The Solution”, published on September 3, 2002, David Horowitz outlined the problems that he sees with college and university campuses across America. In a fairly detailed manner, he discussed the lack of diversity concerning political ideologies and viewpoints among faculty members. He correctly said that universities and colleges have an overload of generally liberal professors, and, quite often, only have one or two token conservatives, if that. In the article, he went on to discuss his ideas for a solution to this problem. His ideas, which are condensed into an...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Something Else We Didn’t Learn " by Cathryn CrawfordIt was quite an embarrassment to several state governments after September 11, 2001, when it was revealed that many of the hijackers that were in the country illegally had state issued driver’s licenses. The flap over the revelation caused some state governments, especially the ones primarily involved, to rethink their policies concerning that issue. However, obviously some states didn’t think hard enough, because about half the states in the United States still provide illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses, and the erstwhile Grey Davis of California is using what are...

I've been thinking to myself. What would I do differently if I were elected President of the United States? These are the things I would do disregarding political implications. Such as resistance from RATS, etc. I wouldn't cut taxes, I would eliminate most all of them for good. I'd do away with Affirmative Action. I would ban any and all abortions. I would make the Prison system in the United States a very uncomfortable place to be. Even more so than it is now. There would still be some human rights, but no internet, TV, sofas, or just chilling. The...

It was quite an embarrassment to several state governments after September 11, 2001, when it was revealed that many of the hijackers that were in the country illegally had state issued driver’s licenses. The flap over the revelation caused some state governments, especially the ones primarily involved, to rethink their policies concerning that issue. However, obviously some states didn’t think hard enough, because about half the states in the United States still provide illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses, and the erstwhile Grey Davis of California is using what are apparently his last days in office to push through a piece...

FRN Columnists' Corner "Feminist Version of Rape" by Cathryn CrawfordThere is a movement in this country to push women towards a victim status, towards an attitude that implies that a woman is simply a passive person, someone whom men can and will always take advantage of, both in public and private life. This movement is fomented and spearheaded by the liberal feminists, who believe that men are monsters and women are powerless victims against them (a clear contradiction to true feminism). The symptom of this movement is that the liberal feminists have taken hold of the word rape and its...

There is a movement in this country to push women towards a victim status, towards an attitude that implies that a woman is simply a passive person, someone whom men can and will always take advantage of, both in public and private life. This movement is fomented and spearheaded by the liberal feminists, who believe that men are monsters and women are powerless victims against them (a clear contradiction to true feminism). The symptom of this movement is that the liberal feminists have taken hold of the word rape and its connotations and associations and twisted it to mean something...

FR Columnists Corner "The Pro-Life Movement's Problem With Morality" Commentary by Cathryn CrawfordMaking claim to being pro-life in America is like shouting, “I’m a conservative Christian Republican!” from your rooftop. This is partly due to the fact that a considerable number of conservative Christian Republicans are pro-life. It’s hardly true, however, to say that they are the only pro-life people in America. Surprisingly enough to some, there are many different divisions within the pro-life movement, including Democrats, gays, lesbians, feminists, and environmentalists. It is not a one-party or one-group or one-religion issue. The pro-life movement doesn’t act like it, though....

First Free Republic "Columnist's Corner" article listed on Townhall.com main page!The Perversion of Feminism by Cathryn Crawford Can feminism truly be pro-life? It’s a tough question, and one that not too many people are eager to discuss. A few weeks back I wrote an article about the pro-life movement, and in it I raised the point that not all prolifers are conservative Christian Republicans, as is so often the stereotype. I stated that there were many different groups involved in the fight against abortion, including feminists. I was challenged by several different people, however, who simply could not fathom the...

Not All Southerners Are Racist Hicks? Shazzam! Exclusive commentary by Cathryn Crawford Mar 7, 2003 What enters your mind when hear the word ‘Southerner’? Do you think of the Confederate flag, flying its rebel colors? Do you think of James Byrd, dragged to death in a little town not so far from my own Texas town? Or maybe you see a vision of a woman, barefoot and pregnant, in the hills of Tennessee with her live-off-the-land husband. There is even another vision of Southerners (and especially Texans), which is particularly amusing. Some people actually think that we all own oil...

The Stewardship Of A Nation Exclusive commentary by Cathryn Crawford May 9, 2003 There are many people who live in America without truly comprehending what it means. Here, in this country, you can love it, hate it, leave it; you can burn the flag, fly the flag, crush the flag beneath your feet; you can choose your own religion, your own marital status, your own right to bear children and when to do so. You, personally, have that choice. There is nothing, perhaps, that you have done to earn it – you simply have it because you were born in...