Free Republic

We libertarians love to rail about government, and rightly so. But, tyrannical government can’t survive if people refuse to comply with its illegitimate demands. Ultimately, the actions of government reflect the willingness of the people it oppresses to comply with its dictates. Ultimately, we have no one to blame but ourselves if we continue to live in tyranny. This uncomfortable fact is perfectly illustrated in the newly released movie Compliance, which tells the chilling story of just how far ordinary people will go to obey a figure of authority. Watch the movie trailers here. . .

Determined to neuter the grassroots and head off future insurgencies like those of Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and Ron Paul, Republican party bosses have pulled off an audacious coup, high-handedly turning the GOP into a much more top-down, centralized party. Boehner with gavel Yesterday, the Republican National Committee in Tampa adopted some rules changes that shift power from the state parties and the grassroots to the RNC and the GOP presidential nominee. Former Governor John Sununu of New Hampshire touted the new rules as providing “a strong governing framework” for the party over the next four years. But in fact...

Michael Cohen, a Trump Organization executive, has confirmed to Newsmax that he has filed the necessary paperwork to create a non-profit group in California with the express purpose of urging billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump to throw his hat in the ring as a 2012 presidential candidate. Cohen, who provides political advice to Trump and works for his organization, confirmed to Newsmax that he has filed the necessary paperwork to establish the “Should Trump Run, Inc.,” organization. It is designed as a vehicle for Trump supporters to volunteer and donate money to encourage his candidacy, a mechanism that Cohen...

Now RINOs are voting to send more money to poor teachers (union bosses). Following the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Peloski (D-CA), RINOs Joseph Cao (R-LA) [#14 RINO] and Mike Castle (R-DE) [#5 RINO] voted to approve of Federal Aid to Education Jobs, which in reality will be gobbled up by teacher's union bosses to be used in Democrat Election Races.

If I had my druthers, the never-ending conflict between Israel and Palestine would be but a small news brief in American newspapers. But since we police the world, we must always monitor our global police scanner, where not only Israel's conflicts, but those of North and South Korea, the nation of Georgia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and pretty much everywhere else is the United States' business because we insist on making it so. What many Americans bizarrely consider national "defense" is actually an aggressive and enduring offense, and yet we are always surprised when other nations get offended. Last week,...

The one main benefit to the financial reform effort so far is that it helps further do away with the false paradigms of "left" or "right" and "Democrat" or "Republican" - fewer and fewer people are falling for those lies anymore. Try to get an ideological conservative to explain why Republicans love spending and so eagerly give welfare to banks. Try to get your local liberal to explain why it was a good idea to make backroom deals with abhorrent corporations and drill, baby, drill. Heck, even try to get a Tea Partier to explain choosing bailout-lover Sarah Palin to...

I recently read a member post that argued that one must sometimes support the lesser of two evils. The author explained it with a metaphor, by saying that, on the one hand, if offered two unhealthful foods, one could refuse to eat either of them, but if being forced to choose between an unhealthful food and poison, one would have to take the unhealthful food to avoid the poison. Likewise, he argued, having no choice but John McCain or Barack Obama, he should have voted for John McCain rather than the third-party candidate. It is a popular, understandable belief; an...

Paul Streitz has decided to call Sarah Palin by her real name, because she endorsed John McCain (who is trying to win a fifth term as Senator) and said she will campaign for him. Fanatic Palinites, such as the editors of the misnamed „conservatives4palin.com” website (they should rename it „liberals4palin.com”), lambasted him and called him a “backstabber”. “If Paul Streitz’s support of Governor Palin is contingent upon his agreeing with every decision she makes or her selling out her deeply-held values, that’s unfortunate. While all support is appreciated, the governor has never been for sale. Ask the Alaska establishment, who...

Oliver Willis notices Scott Brown defending the Massachusetts health care plan -- which he supported -- and trying to make the case that it's really quite different from the federal plan with which it shares key features. "They're two different programs. What we have here is a free-market enterprise where we're providing insurance in various levels to people in Massachusetts. The plans in Washington are a one-size-fits-all plan," he said.

Frum sees him as an antidote to the Tea Party madness: Strong on defense and school choice, opposed to the Obama administration’s signature initiatives, Brown voted in favor of Mitt Romney’s health plan in Massachusetts. He describes himself as pro-choice (subject to reasonable limitations), accepts gay marriage in Massachusetts as a settled fact, and told the Boston Herald editorial board he would have voted to confirm Sonia Sotomayor.