Free Republic

On the third anniversary of President Bush's Iraq debacle, it's important to consider why the administration so easily fooled so many people into supporting the war. I believe there are two reasons, which go deep into our national culture. One is an absence of historical perspective. The other is an inability to think outside the boundaries of nationalism. If we don't know history, then we are ready meat for carnivorous politicians and the intellectuals and journalists who supply the carving knives. But if we know some history, if we know how many times presidents have lied to us, we will...

DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER: I normally don't repeat other folks' commentaries, but Bill Maher's closing remarks Sept. 9 on his HBO show "Real Time With Bill Maher" were so interesting that I thought I would share them with my readers. So, here it is: (AND REMEMBER, I DIDN'T SAY IT!) "NOW, I KID, but seriously Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you anymore. There's no more money to spend -- you used up all of that. You can't start another war because you used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your term has...

Vanessa Stephenson knows what it's like to be treated like an animal. The 26-year-old spent one horrible day in the New Orleans Superdome, ducking from gunfire and trudging through a ground caked with human waste and garbage. "The whole ground smelled like a sewer," she said. And that was the situation outside. Inside, the sports arena was looted and mostly abandoned by the time Stephenson evacuated it over a week ago. "When you walked in, you could smell the bathroom," she said. She went into a bathroom, a towel over her face to block the stench. Still, her eyes watered...

If nothing else, Ted Nugent isn't going to have to relinquish his "Motor City Madman" nickname any time in the near future. In a speech given to the National Rifle Association's national convention in Houston, Nugent brandished a pair of assault rifles while urging NRA members to recruit other gun-packing nuts into the gang. He went so far as to urge NRA members not to associate with non-members, and to become "hardcore, radical extrimists." Siezed by a Second Amendment furor, Nugent then whipped up the crowd condoning shoot-to-kill vigalante justice. The spectacle, urged members to pull their heat and kill...

'We Were Soldiers' seems to be at war with itself Friday, March 01, 2002 By John Douglas The Grand Rapids Press At first, quot;We Were Soldiersquot; seemed like an old-fashioned gung-ho war movie like those that came out of Hollywood during World War II starring John Wayne or Robert Taylor or Errol Flynn. And, in a way, it is like those films -- but only some of the time. The problem is this movie also wants to be more sensitive, displaying more soldier angst. Both kinds of films are valid, but these two styles don't marry very well. quot;We Were...