The masses, the "low information" voter will want their free stuff no matter what. They don't care, know or understand these scandals. Maybe a few "independents" will either stay home or pull the Republican lever, but long shot.  The dems will still vote on the policies versus the individual crooks who work at IRS.  Just don't see any impact.

Wonderful.  Sort of analog-ish compared to today's digital. Love this stuff. 

Well Done!  I like the advice, like the concept of the column.  Judith, if it's you, you have an avocation for which you're extremely well suited. 

Liar is, as we used to say in alky rehab, "into his head", to near paralysis.  As Penelope suggested this guy needs to get out of his head, into his conscious  And the devotion to mother's opinion strikes me as odd. 

I was late as father, 35 and 40; but what a joy. Unbelievable life changer, and it's still great; they're 25 and 30.  Great article and I agree with it completely. 

One of the things I noticed, and liked, when I moved from insanely nanny-state MN to FL is the blessed lack of silly bike helmets. Part of it may be that I live near the Atlantic, on Inter-coastal Waterway where a laid back beach bum metabolism prevails.

Here I learned everybody plods along leisurely on the trendy retro big bikes with fenders, upright handlebars and wide spring seats. That style doesn't lend itself to speed. Kids and adults alike lope at sightseers pace; often on the sidewalks; another no-no in MN.  

The folks who ride the faster road bikes (think Lance Armstrong gear), do wear helmets, ride in the street, with the traffic, follow the laws etc. But the entire bike vibe (surfer word) is completely different. And I find it very refreshing.

My kids tended to wear helmets when riding bikes to grade school because of my concern about coffee-drinking, texting, makeup applying adults sharing the road with them. But cruising around our little side streets, or going to playground etc did not earn a command from me about helmets. And the kids, and I, thought helmets look incredibly nerdy. No Laws.

Thank you for that insight. It was piercing in its honesty, yet not mawkish or affected. May his soul and souls of the faithful departed rest in peace Amen. 

Thanks Judith for the research on these two cardinals. As a recent returnee to Catholicism, I pay much more attention to the reasons for the drift of the church, the lowered membership, its secular tendencies.  I fully agree with the Canadian cardinal. The church has spent the last 40+ years making sure other religions like us rather than communicating and standing bravely behind the church's teachings. Statues have been stripped from churches, Gregorian and traditional music replaced with insipid modern music, and worst of all, bishops and priests have minimized or outright denied core Catholic teachings on sacraments and basic Catholic traditions from Jesus' day to now. 

It's similar to what happened in the ruling class GOP. As it gets watered down, members have no reason not to go Lutheran or abandon faith all together.  A strong, clear affirmation of basic Catholic teaching must be job one. The church is not in the business of recruiting. It is in business of teaching. 

I thought I was going to be unique in that I had read Caesar's commentary on Gallic Wars as part of high school Latin at the military boys school I attended. But you smart-assy Ricochetti apparently read that like you did the daily paper!  My altar boy experience probably helped to familiarize me with the cadence and pronunciation   Latin did/does help me understand bits and pieces of the romance languages.  Not a waste of time by any means. It is part of a truly liberal education

1800's English is best. I am just reading Moby Dick which headquarters in early America, but the idioms and expressions are a great mix of English English, American English and a good dose of the pilgrim sounding bible speak. Plenty of thines, thous, etc. And the Patrick O'Brien series feature great Napoleonic era dialogue with Jack, Stephen and others. Ask our boy Peter Robinson. He loves 'em!

Couple things: 

1. I believe many conservatives are wary of proposals for private school vouchers which involve gov't. subsidy. This will lead to the labyrinth of regulations, PC codes, curriculum oversight etc. symptomatic of the public schools.

2. The entire discussion of schools must be preceded even at the suburban  "good schools" about where we stand among school systems world-wide. Which of course is 15th or so in the core subjects, placing us dismally behind many countries that I truly never heard of.

3. Speaking of Michelle's. M. Bachmann is extremely well informed on these pernicious federal government intrusions into local schools. As if the silly lefty school boards need any incentives, they are bribed into these programs with tax paid largess  It's complicated as hell. She made her mark in MN as head of Maple River Coalition which was formed to uncover and discredit many of these schemes, including GW's no child left behind nonsense. She should be on Ricochet to help us understand. 

After looking at headline re "posters" and the picture of cheese etc, it took me until I had read about ten comments to realize that "poster" referred to we Ricochet contributors; not a work of art - you know - like an Andy Warhol piece.

See the post re purity vs moderation. Bush had no intention from day one, in fact from this days in TX, to consider serious reduction in size of government. Not reduction in growth, reduction in real spending. The compassionate conservative moniker was a neon sign to those of us paying attention that he and the Rove minions surrounding him were comfortable members of the ruling class.

The plan/no plan choice is classic example of nibbling on the edges and utter misunderstanding of what's at stake. But you're not alone. Entire congress, with some blessed exceptions, most of the country, the press, academia etc are right there with you. 

I liked GW the guy. But it's so sad that we continually feel the need to preface legitimate  accurate criticisms of devastating laws, policies, wars, statements at the hands of politicians with the obligitory acknowledgement they haven't served time. Obama is alleged to be good father,  McCain was a good sitter in a cell for 5 years. None of this matters a whit. If they are wrong on issues, proposals, frame of reference, statements... I don't want em. And I don't give a fig how nice they are. Where'd that get Romney. And what kind of faint praise is "decent?"  If overheard someone refer to me as decent, I'd be hurt!

The best as always. Can we get this on some kind of downloadable format?

Sorry Gang,

I'm with Caroline as a girl. Turn him off!! He has always struck me as anti-intellectual clown. He's the "entertainment" without the horsepower upstairs. Plus I disagree with his secular pro-abortion oriented view on the values issues. He has a snarl behind his alleged libertarian stance that oozes disdain for those who link Christianity to politics in any fashion.

He ain't no Ron Paul.

Boortz communicates a transparent rationalization for his clinging to a '60's moral nihilism. Painfully displayed with his audio leering with the female staff.

Hey Neil, there's no fool like and old fool. 

Somebody, anybody, tell me you agree!