Free Republic

The Free State Project has won some converts. Also: The lowdown on mercury - in loons and maybe legislators' hair. We're calling a truce this weekend. Today - and today only - there'll be no talk of budget bills, school funding plans or Medicaid reform. We got enough of that last week, and there will be plenty more hot air steaming out of the State House to keep us busy next week. Instead, let's revisit some old friends: the Free Staters. It has been 18 months since the Free State Project chose New Hampshire as its home, with the hopes...

A poll done just before U.S. President George Bush's first official visit to Canada yesterday informs us that nearly three-quarters of Canadians view America as our "closest friend." But the same poll also indicates Canadians in equal number dislike Bush. There is something wrong when Canadians proclaim friendship for their most important trading partner and traditional ally, then distance themselves from the democratic choice of Americans, with whom their common continental destiny is joined. The answer lies somewhere in the reality of an America that challenges Canadian self-identity, is unnerving and, hence, many Canadians indulge in caricatures of an America...

Are the Jacksonians Sated?   By Michael J. Totten  Published   03/22/2004       TCS    A curious thing seems to have happened since Saddam Hussein's regime was overthrown in Iraq. America no longer feels like a country at war. It isn't over by a long shot. There's a bloody insurgency around Baghdad that still needs putting down. Al Qaeda is still out there somewhere, sinister and nebulous as ever. Afghanistan is mostly lawless, and we're still exchanging barbs with Iran and North Korea. But it feels different now. The barbarous acts of terror in Madrid had a far greater impact...

Hiram Johnson confronted the same problem; he was also a political maverick," McClintock said. "He realized he had to take his case directly to the people, and he did." If state lawmakers won't curb their spending, McClintock says he'll take his case for reform directly to the people too. "Ultimately, the governor, whoever he is, will have to rally the people for the fundamental reforms needed to change our state," he said. "The Constitution gives the people the ultimate authority."