Free Republic

'There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up." -- Rush Limbaugh, Oct. 5, 1995, on the Excellence In Broadcasting network. Rush Limbaugh's fans often tell me I don't have the right to criticize "El Rushbo" because I don't regularly tune in his program. Granted, I often go weeks without listening to Limbaugh, but I do check out his show from time to time,...

George Carlin delivered a monologue titled, "I Am a Bad American." The essay includes these statements: "I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some mid-level governmental functionary who wants to give it away to crack addicts squirting out babies.... I believe it's called the Boy Scouts for a reason.... I believe that if you're selling me a Big Mac, you'd better be doing it in English." George Carlin?! Sounds more like something Rush Limbaugh would say, but the actual author appears to be a guy calling himself "bootyist-monk" on FreeRepublic.com, a conservative Web site....

You'd think the political media as well as operatives for the Democratic and Republican parties would have learned two valuable lessons from Bill Clinton's election victories: 1. Sexual high jinks, real or alleged, do not necessarily doom a candidate. In 1992 and in 1996, tens of millions of Americans probably agreed with the GOP assessment of Clinton as a horny, rutting pig -- and yet they voted for him anyway, because they didn't think his sexual habits had that much relevance to his strengths as a world leader. 2. Military history (or the lack thereof) probably won't be the determining...