Free Republic

The ducks, even the ducklings, are expendable. That’s the difficult message from the Minnesota State Patrol in response to a hair-raising video of cars swerving and slamming on the brakes on Interstate 35W to spare a line of ducks waddling across the highway. “I watched that video and I cringed,” said Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Tiffani Nielson. “People should not stop on the freeway for ducks.” Nielson knows her advice will not be popular with people who think the motorists did the right thing to avoid the birds. “It’s definitely a touchy subject … It’s not very kind, but the risk...

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle decried Monday what he called the "startling meanness" of American politics. The South Dakotan, who has been Senate Democratic leader for nine years and is seeking re-election in November, said campaigns were especially ugly in 2002 and that the ugliness continues. "Today, enormous new challenges confront each and every one of us," he said. "We will not meet those challenges or seize those opportunities if we indulge in the brutal politics of division, if we attempt to silence those who have other ideas." Daschle spoke to about 500 people at Kansas State...