Free Republic

For a long time, I sympathized with Dr. Anthony Fauci. There he was, trying to deal with a pandemic caused by a virus no one knew much about. Sure, he was often wrong about pandemic-related matters, but so were plenty of others, on both sides of the political spectrum and in between, who opined on these subjects. Everyone was shooting in the dark.But at some point — possibly because of all the attacks on him, some of which were over-the-top, possibly because of a personality flaw or maybe old age — Fauci decided to cast himself as Mr. Science. Criticize...

As we have explained, per Stanley Kurtz, this legislation, coupled with the new Biden rule favoring education grants that push Critical Race Theory, is a disaster for America. It will result in the large scale indoctrination of America’s students in the teachings of BLM and others who despise America and its founding. Yesterday, the Civics Alliance convened by the National Association of Scholars issued an open letter to Sen. Cornyn and Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican House sponsor of Civics Secures Democracy. The letter appeals to them to withdraw their co-sponsorship, particularly in light of the new Biden rule. Cornyn...

Vernon Jordan has died. He was 85. Jordan was a partner and an institution at the law firm where I worked. He had an office on the same floor I did. I never really got to know Jordan, but did have the opportunity to observe him. Jordan didn’t just care about young people. My observation was that he cared about everyone he worked with. When working long hours, I would set myself up in a conference room near the elevators on our floor. If Jordan popped by the office at night or on weekends and saw me on a regular...

Stanley Crouch died yesterday at the age of 74. Crouch is best known as a great jazz critic. His biography of Charlie Parker is a classic. But Crouch was also a literary critic and a critic of our culture. Here are some gems from his criticism: On rap: It is “either infantile self-celebration or anarchic glamorization of criminal behavior.” On Toni Morrison: She has a certain skill, but she has no serious artistic vision or real artistic integrity. “Beloved” was a fraud. It gave a fake vision of the slave trade, it didn’t deal with the complicity of Africans, and...

Recent numbers regarding the Wuhan coronavirus in the U.S. are somewhat encouraging. The reported number of daily deaths from the virus has averaged around 1,000 the past three days. In early May, daily deaths were averaging about twice that number. Two of the past three days were weekend days. Sometimes the number of reported deaths declines on weekends, so we’ll need to see what happens during the rest of this week. In fact, today’s total death (Tuesday’s) is already around 1,500. However, I can’t find three consecutive days of death totals as low as the past three since late March-early...

It was excellent. Even CNN, in a report to which Jim Acosta contributed, couldn’t find fault with anything Trump said, although it took the obligatory shots at the event itself. CNN acknowledged that Trump’s speech was not political, but rather “a message of national pride.” Unfortunately, the matter of national pride has become political. But there was nothing in the speech that anyone would have found objectionable before left-liberals rejected the notion of pride in America. There was nothing in the speech that any patriotic American rationally can find objectionable today. You have to dislike America to dislike what Trump...

In a compelling column, George Will – who knows a thing or two about conservatism – makes the conservative case against Donald Trump. Mr. Will refers to Trump as an “unprecedentedly and incorrigibly vulgar presidential candidate” who is coarsening our civic life. He labels Trump “a counterfeit Republican and no conservative.” And he argues that Trump is an affront to anyone devoted to the legacy of William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of National Review and a giant in American conservatism. Just as Buckley excommunicated the John Birch Society from the conservative movement in the 1960s, so should conservatives today...

Andrew Johnson of NRO reports that in 2002, as executive of Milwaukee County, Scott Walker signed a resolution that expressed support for “comprehensive immigration reform” that will “provide greater opportunity for undocumented working immigrants to obtain legal residency.” The author of the resolution says that Walker definitely supported it. Having signed it, he should be presumed to have supported, in any case. Will this news harm Walker’s chances of becoming the GOP presidential nominee? Standing alone, it shouldn’t. It’s one thing to sign a non-bonding resolution passed by the legislature in favor of “greater opportunity” for legal residency. It’s quite...

John and Scott have commented on the indictment of Gov. Rick Perry. As they note, it fits a pattern of politically motivated indictments of prominent Texas Republicans. The Perry indictment also fits a pattern of harassment via the legal process of prominent Republican governors: Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, and now Perry. What do these four have in common? Why, they all are (or were) potentially viable candidates for the national office. Invocation of the legal process against Christie may well be warranted. (So too with Bob McDonnell, whom I didn’t include in my list because, although once vaguely...

It's not clear why Sarah Palin resigned her position as governor of Alaska, but it must have been for one of the following reasons: (1) there is a scandal that would have made her position as governor untenable, (2) she couldn't take the heat that was coming her way, or (3) she concluded that it was in her best interests to do something other than fulfill the duties associated with the position the voters of Alaska entrusted to her. In all three scenarios, Palin is unfit for high office, and certainly unfit to be the vice president or the president...

Dennis Ross is perhaps the least successful diplomat in American history. And his lack of success isn't down to bad luck. Ross concluded that Yasser Arafat was a legitimate peace partner for Israel, and embarked on the fool's errand of trying to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians on that basis. Has any American diplomat ever misjudged an important matter so thoroughly? Ross now brings his analytical powers and judgment to bear on Iraq. He accuses President Bush, who has brought about both regime change and the rise of a constitutional government that's just about holding together, of engaging...