Free Republic

My first name is my Irish grandmother’s family name. Over the years, I have run across the writings of a number of Butlers whose views of life seemed to parallel my own, leading me to wonder if there might be some genetic connection. Samuel Butler’s satirical political views along with his interest in a collective unconscious; the poetry of William Butler Yeats; and the Realpolitick of Smedley Butler, provide a few examples. Smedley Butler is a name with which you may not be familiar, even though he twice won the Congressional Medal of Honor. If he were to appear on...

It is now clear that the US government faces immense difficulties in Iraq. As bizarre as it seems, it would appear that the Bush administration knew nothing about the political demographics in this country before it decided to smash its state. Apparently, the administration failed to consider the implications of the fact that this country is 2/3 Shiite, and that its status as a liberal/secular regime, by regional standards, was highly tenuous. Now, I'm the last one to shed a tear for the crushing of any state, but even a libertarian extremist like me understands that there are prudential considerations...