Free Republic

"I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship." — Ralph Waldo Emerson It is in the spirit of delayed gratification that we decline to join the frenzy of decade-in-review commentary, at least until the first decade of the 21st century actually ends on Dec. 31, 2010. But those who share Emerson's disdain for instant gratification need not fret over the vagaries of the calendar. The past year provided ample illustrations of...

On Saturday, July 17, an unknown shooter wounded an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, police officer, then faded into the night. Was the shot fired by a partying teenager? Was it an accidental discharge from another officer's gun? Was it a mistake or an intentional assault? No one knows. What happened next is unclear; everyone gives a different version of the events. According to the most credible reports, the Oshkosh PD evacuated a several block area. Without warrants in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, SWAT teams and police dogs descended on the neighborhood. Officers got consent to search homes. (It's logical to...