Free Republic

San Diego, Calif.IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY that I was jetting around California with Arnold Schwarzenegger, enjoying one-on-one access, eating Arnold's food, laughing at Arnold's jokes, choking on Arnold's cigar smoke. In fact, it was a year ago, when Arnold was campaigning for his ballot initiative promoting after-school activities. Back then, he was running a modest little jobs program for former Pete Wilson aides. Now, five days before the 2003 recall election, at the kickoff of his home-stretch bus tour at the San Diego Convention Center, it's apparent that Schwarzenegger has gone Hollywood. There are so many staffers on...

Des Moines, IowaCan you feel the excitement? I can. It's hard not to, here on downtown's Grand Avenue, as we assemble for the Iowa State Fair parade. Iowa-bred writer Bill Bryson once wrote, "I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to." Adding insult, he called Des Moines "the most powerful hypnotic known to man." But he obviously never went to the parade. Everybody loves a parade. Especially presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. "This is it!" he says. "Where else would you want to be?" Got me there, Dennis. I mean, just look at these parade exhibits. There's the WB frog, the...

THERE WAS A TIME, not long ago, when primetime television was populated by famous people. Someone appearing on TV meant that they'd likely worked their way up through the ranks: doing school plays, regional theater, and embarrassing commercials, until finally, they honed their skills, perfected their craft, and slept with the lecherous casting director who'd cause them to become obscenely wealthy and loved by millions. These days, however, television isn't so much about being famous, as it is about auditioning to become famous. With televised tryouts being the entire point of such shows, aspirants of fame, even in failure, still...

"The Wal-Mart parking lot is shaping up to resemble an old-school gang fight. Except instead of knives and chains, the combatants use placards and really weak song parodies. The Hillaryites' tormentors are the Freepers, a fierce, warlike tribe from the Free Republic organization--a fire-breathing conservative band of Internet brothers who often call each other by their screen names, even in person. The gist of the Freeper complaint--one seconded by many mainstream book reviewers who are much less intense than they are--is that Hillary has been paid $8 million to perpetrate a fraud, one of the many tributary frauds being her...

Great article. Freepers shine. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/806rtsxw.asp

Fairfax, Virginia IT'S HARD TO DESCRIBE the electricity one feels when crossing this Northern Virginia strip-mall parking lot to attend Hillary Clinton's "Living History" book-signing. But I haven't been this excited about Wal-Mart since my one-hour photos came back in 25 minutes. It makes me feel all sprightly and young again--as if it were 1998.

Hillary Goes to Wal-Mart From the June 23, 2003 issue: The latest skirmish in the Clinton wars. by Matt Labash 06/23/2003, Volume 008, Issue 40 Fairfax, Virginia IT'S HARD TO DESCRIBE the electricity one feels when crossing this Northern Virginia strip-mall parking lot to attend Hillary Clinton's "Living History" book-signing. But I haven't been this excited about Wal-Mart since my one-hour photos came back in 25 minutes. It makes me feel all sprightly and young again--as if it were 1998. Hillary has yet to arrive, but already, her fans and detractors are sparring. On one side of the street, snaking...

From the May 19, 2003 issue: Meet the men and women of Mortuary Affairs. by Matt Labash 05/19/2003, Volume 008, Issue 35 "And so we brought our dead man home. Flew his body back, faxed the obits to the local papers, called the priests, the sexton, the florists and stonecutter. We act out things we cannot put in words." --Thomas Lynch, "The Undertaking" Camp Wolf, Kuwait The backstretch of the Kuwait International Airport, like much of the rest of the country, is ugly. It is barren and arid, and the frequent sandstorms that whip through make the entire place look...

The free press meets free people. Safwan, IraqIT IS ESSENTIAL, during times of war, to be in good company. And to that end, fellowship prospects improved markedly last week around the Kuwait City Hilton. After 36 sleepless hours, I had just stolen three or four when my phone rang. "Hello Matt," said the voice on the other end. "It's Christopher Hitchens. I'm here. Did I wake you?" Yes you did, I told him, though I wasn't about to turn down a social call from one of our finest magazine scribblers and seekers of truth. "Good," he said. "I'll give you...