Free Republic

How did the sister of Machiavelli's prince get so wealthy during an economic downturn?In popular legend, Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara (1480- 1519), stands falsely accused of poisoning her second husband. Victor Hugo portrayed her in thinly veiled fiction as a tragic femme fatale. Buffalo Bill named his gun after her. But new research by USC historian Diane Yvonne Ghirardo reveals that the only sister of Machiavelli's Prince was less interested in political intrigue than in running a business, undertaking massive land development projects that "stand alone in the panorama of early sixteenth-century projects, not only those initiated by women,"...

I have lots of experience with women. Not what you’re thinking. I mean experience in living around a variety of women. Most of those have been extremely strong and accomplished women. My Mother and her two sisters all had college educations at a time when Southern women were often expected to run the kitchen, clean the house, knit and sew, and play hostess. My grandfather was well educated, and insisted that all his daughters attend the strongest women’s college which was also south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Thus, they attended Goucher College in Baltimore, Md. (One met and married a...

This is not about Dick Morris’ latest book, Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race. The issue today is “Should America have a woman President?” I reply, “Of course, and not a moment too soon. But shouldn’t we put a LITTLE thought into which woman would be good for the job?” The woman/White House issue is, of course, raised by the new ABC program “Commander in Chief,” starring Geena Davis. Does anyone have slight doubt that a President should be impeached and removed, rather than praised, if he/she threatened war against another nation for executing one of its citizens,...

The archdiocese of New York has just announced that Msgr. Clark's resignation from the Rectorate of St. Patrick's Cathedral has been accepted.

Memo to: Hillary Clinton, Her Indescribable Holiness from: Irv, New York Impresario re: your Presidential Gig Hillary, baby, Yes, I know the last time I offered you show biz advice, it was about your senatorial shtick. I said it wouldn’t work, and offered several reasons. You were right and I was wrong. But now you’re looking at a bigger league. You’ve put yourself in a great position to have a shot at the presidential gig. The Democratic Leadership Committee has just made you chairman (you don’t mind being referred to as a man, do you?) of the effort to write...