Free Republic

STATE Assemblyman Patrick Manning says he's in "for the long haul" in the race for governor. Manning, R-East Fishkill, made his candidacy official on Thursday. He's vying for both the Republican and Conservative lines in the November election. He's particularly interested in the latter. "I'm going to run if I receive the state Conservative Party endorsement," he said. Some 15 county conservative chairmen across New York, including Columbia County's, have endorsed the six-term assemblyman during the past several months, and Manning said he expects to receive more support in the days ahead. Manning is among five Republicans considered as possible...

"Let no child be left behind"; ... "It takes a village to raise a child"; ... "Quality time"; ... "Crime Stoppers." Each of the foregoing, unfortunate phrases is supposed by many to be an expression of progress, is as American as Enron and now is at home in - the West Indian Republic of Trinidad and Tobago? During our just-concluded annual visit to my wife's folks in Trinidad, my family was bombarded with warmed-over Americanisms on television. (While prosperous, tiny Tobago with its beautiful beaches is the preferred destination of tourists, 93 percent of the 1.3 million largely hardworking, hard-luck...