Free Republic

Meet the best, loudest (and only) Christian-libertarian-capitalist-environmentalist-lunatic farmer on the face of planet Earth. Joel Salatin, self-professed owner of that lengthy honorific, has a personality bigger than the Grain Belt and a genius for farming that has made him a glib, brilliant prophet to a growing movement of back-to-nature farmers from California to Swoope, Va. (pop. 1,326), where his 550-acre Polyface Farm rests at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Mr. Salatin’s agricultural preaching has influenced food author and journalist Michael Pollan (“Omnivore’s Dilemma”) and earned him a prominent spot in the documentary “Food, Inc.,” making waves worldwide. What...

It didn't take long last week to determine who's really running the Republican Party. Hours after mildly criticizing Rush Limbaugh, Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele apologized. The Limbaugh speech is an example of why popular conservatism today is, as the saying goes, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The first thing we learn from the Master's orotund remarks is that there is nothing conservatives need to rethink in light of dramatically changed circumstances. Limbaugh's ideology makes an idol of nationalism and optimism. He dunned Barack Obama for saying hard times were ahead, denouncing him for his lack of...

When John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, hunting entered the national conversation in a way it hasn't since 2006, when Dick Cheney shot a donor instead of a quail. Palin, in fashioning herself as a leader for Joe Six-Pack America, has emphasized her prowess as a sportswoman. Her office has released photos of her with a dead moose, a dead caribou, and several dead salmon. She was recently spotted in Pennsylvania carrying a tote bag with the logo "Real Women Hunt Moose." One bowhunting company was so excited (or shameless) that it introduced a new model called...

In my previous vanities Part I I described my progression into the Condition of Crunchy Conservative.. In Part II, I laid out some musings on “where I think we’re going, and how we got into this handbasket.” In this piece, I elaborate a bit more on the themes of the second piece, and offer some suggestions for how to recover from the predicament. To recap, I pointed out that the state of health of the “average” US citizen is nowhere near as good as it used to be. A number of factors are involved, including aging; relative lack of exercise;...

As you may recall, in my last vanity, ”Confessions of a Crunchy Con, or, You Can't Judge a Conservative by his Birkenstocks”, I discussed how I became a “crunchy con”—someone who endorses certain cultural and lifestyle values which have traditionally been associated with the left. In this piece, I follow up with some thoughts about health and lifestyle issues, with application to American society at large. Taking fish oil supplements, despite my misgivings, and finding how successful it was at rejuvenating me, was a real eye-opener. In fact, it got me thinking not just of my own health, but the...

See for example this comment first. I hope you're all taking fish oil 'fore shuffling off this mortal coil If your heart's feeling ill Take this little pill It's health from the sea, not the soil.

If I recall correctly, the term “crunchy con” does not refer to someone who has stolen a box of Captain Crunch. It refers to the term “crunchy conservative” and was popularized (if not invented) by Rod Dreher of National Review. For a sample discussion, check out this link. Yes, I know what you’re thinking—“First William F. Buckley comes out for legalization of drugs, and now supposed conservatives are talking of Birkenstocks! Fifth Columnists, all of them!” I wouldn’t blame you for thinking like that. I used to think that way myself. But that was before I joined the ranks of...

Fundamentalism in public schools This is making the blogosphere rounds. It's a list of definitions of racism taken from the Seattle public schools website. Presumable it defines school policy. It's bizarre, and more than a little scary. For example, according to the Seattle Public Schools, only white people can be racist. Seriously, look it up. So what do they do when a black, Latino or Asian kid picks on a white kid using racial slurs? Or non-white kids use racial epithets against each other? According to the Seattle Public Schools, if you are white and you insist that you have...

Most of the nation’s major food producers are hard at work developing organic versions of their best-selling products, like Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and Kraft’s Mac & Cheese. Why the sudden activity ? In large part because Wal-Mart wants to sell more organic food — and because of its size and power, Wal-Mart usually gets what it wants. As the nation’s largest grocery retailer, Wal-Mart has decided that offering more organic food will help modernize its image and broaden its appeal to urban and other upscale consumers. It has asked its large suppliers to help. Some organic food advocates applaud the...

Over this past weekend, I had the opportunity to read Rod Dreher’s Crunchy Cons. This is a book that has been stirring up conservative circles since its release this past winter. Dreher is a popular Generation-X conservative writer and a convert to Eastern Catholicism. He has worked for a number of publications, including the National Review, the New York Post, and the Washington Times. He is now a full-time writer and editor with the Dallas Morning News. A Manifesto for the Family In Crunchy Cons, Dreher sets out to chronicle how “Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip...

If you encountered someone who made his own granola, bought his veggies at a food co-op, wore Birkenstock sandals, and wanted to save the environment, if you’re like me, you’d probably think, well, there goes a lefty, or a liberal, or maybe an aging hippie. But the author of a new book says someone like that is just as likely to be a conservative Republican. In his book, Crunchy Cons, journalist Rod Dreher writes about a group of people he calls “crunchy conservatives,” a group that includes, among others, “hip homeschooling mamas,” “Birkenstocked Burkeans,” “gun-loving organic” farmers, and “right-wing nature...