Free Republic

Making Amends: A Mini-Manifesto By Francis W. Porretto Francis W. Porretto avatar Fran here. This will be in first-person, as I have some hard things to say. Forgive me, Gentle Reader, but I don't think you'll like them much. One caveat: When I use the pronoun we in what follows, I don't necessarily mean all of us alive today. I'm using we in its political application: to the polity we call today the United States, to the polity and society it has been in the century past, and to whatever emerges from the chaos I foresee. Please read carefully, and...

It appears that we now know the approximate scope of the carnage in Beslan, Russia. The totals are not complete, as there are still Chechen Muslim terrorists struggling to resist capture by the Russian troopers who stormed the school. Undoubtedly a few more bodies will be added to the pyres before the day is done. Would anyone care to argue that the Chechen Muslims who perpetrated this horror were just acting on their legitimate nationalistic aspirations? Come closer, please. My arms aren't that long. There is simply no defense for the use of civilians as military targets, or hostages, or...

June 29, 2004 The opening days of World War I produced some of the most memorable quotes in recorded history. Among your Curmudgeon's favorites is the following, more doom-laden than any words that had been uttered for centuries before. "The world will be plunged into the most terrible of wars...all for a word -- 'neutrality'...all for a scrap of paper." -- Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, Chancellor of the German Empire, referring to Britain's decision to go to war over Germany's violation of Belgium's neutrality, which had been guaranteed by Britain, France and Germany in an 1832 treaty. Indeed. Yesterday was marked...

The president-designate's gaze passed swiftly over the faces of the cameramen. All were doing their best to retain a professional demeanor. None were entirely successful. The overwhelming majority of them, like the majority of their brethren in journalism, had supported the deposed administration. Few had any sympathy for the views of those who were to replace it. Yet each of them had volunteered for his assignment, knowing full well what had come to pass. "I wish it could have been otherwise, but the late president gave us no choice. He had decided to place himself and his associates above the...

Curmudgeon Emeritus -- Francis W. Porretto March 18, 2004 "Those who have not swords may still die upon them." -- Eowyn of Rohan, in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings. They can do more, much more. And some of them do. Now and then, your Curmudgeon frets over his contribution to the security of the nation. A 52-year-old man isn't normally expected to take up arms and cross the seas to do battle with evil, regardless of the Left's repeated cries of "chickenhawk!" at those of us who have counseled all-out war but would not have to...