Free Republic

President Obama is taking heat for calling for changes in "how the media reports," during an anti-poverty event where he also took a swipe at Fox News. At the Georgetown University discussion on Tuesday, Obama lamented how, sometimes, the poor are cast as "sponges" who don't want to work. "I have to say that if you watch Fox News on a regular basis, it is a constant menu -- they will find folks who make me mad," Obama said. "I don't know where they find them. They're like, I don't want to work, I just want a free Obama phone...

When 8th grade student Jared Marcum got dressed for school this morning, he says he had no idea that his pro-Second Amendment shirt would initiate what he calls a fight over his First Amendment rights. … It was the image of a gun printed on Jared’s t-shirt that sparked a dispute between a Logan Middle School teacher and Jared, that ended with Jared suspended, arrested and facing two charges, obstruction and disturbing the education process, on his otherwise spotless record. Jared’s father Allen Lardieri says he’s angry he had to rush from work to pick his son up from jail...

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Religious liberties were a hot topic at the Citizens United Freedom Summit Saturday, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal taking particular offense at a remark made by Hillary Clinton on the issue. Jindal wondered how Clinton could actually change an individual’s religious views saying, “And by the way the speech in this conference where she said those of us who are pro-life should need to have our religious beliefs changed. She didn’t say how. What does it mean? Re-education camps? She proposed to have our religious beliefs changed.” “You have to see her most recent comments on religious...

The really big news this week for many would be voters is who won the least dressed award at the Metropolitan Museum’s Gala opening -- Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, or Jennifer Lopez? Fortunately for people like me who are sick of this stuff, a new app is being developed called KardBlock which disappears from every story and feed you read online any mention of the Kardashians. Take that, Luddites who claim technology doesn’t really improve our lives. This new development got me to thinking about how best to respond to those pundit morons on the left and right who attacked Pam...

The unnamed traffic cop who stood up to two offended killers did not follow Gandhi’s advice; he refused to lay down his arms or try to fight them with non-violent arms. His heroism reminds us that freedom is not defended with empty idealism easily perverted into appeasement of evil, but with the force of arms. Gandhi and his Western disciples were wrong. The soldiers who fought Hitler did far more to save humanity than Gandhi ever did. A single traffic cop with a gun has had more of a positive impact on freedom of speech in this country than all...

Today, in honor of the 70th anniversary of Victory Day in Russia (the country that imprisoned members of the Pussy Riot band for insulting Herr Putin) we focus on the unique American bedrock principle of free speech.Members of Pussy Riot awaiting the guilty verdictButt “free” doesn’t mean what you think it means…anymore. It’s more like what “free” means in Russia now, as we are being advised not to provoke while exercising our free speech. Bill O’Reilly said so, Donald Trump said so, Laura Ingraham said so and Chris Cuomo (brilliant law school graduate, son of Andrew and CNN legal correspondent)...

Does Pamela Geller regret organizing the Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that ended in gunfire? No, she says confidently. In fact, she says, she probably saved lives by hosting the event and plans to have more just like it, with one difference: Next time, she'll be wearing a bulletproof vest.

A bill working its way through the Alabama Legislature would allow probate judges and ministers to refuse to marry same-sex couples on religious grounds. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday heard passionate testimony about the bill that the sponsor says came about after a brief period of legalized gay marriage in Alabama. Proponents say the bill would protect religious beliefs, but opponents say it opens the door to broader discrimination of same-sex couples and other groups.

Commenting on the two men who were killed while trying to shoot up a “Draw Muhammed” contest on Sunday in Texas and the woman who organized the contest, activist Pam Geller, Lt. Gen. William Boykin (ret.) said there is a “double standard” when it comes to Islam and that U.S. leaders need to “stand up against this evil in America” that uses violence to threaten the First Amendment. VIDEO 2:40 minutes: Gen. Boykin supports the First Amendment and Pam Geller “I wish that as a nation there were more and more of our leaders that had the same kind of...

Congressional Democrats are pressuring President Barack Obama's FCC to require super PACs and other secretive groups that buy political advertisements to disclose their major funders in those ads. Along with consumer advocates and a former FCC commissioner, some Democrats contend that the agency doesn't need congressional authorization to force super PAC donors to reveal their identities. But it's unclear whether the agency's top dog will have the appetite to act in the face of stiff Republican opposition. Last week, House Democrats introduced the Keeping Our Campaigns Honest (KOCH) act, a not-so-subtle jab at the billionaire Koch brothers, whose political network...

In an appearance on Monday's broadcast of MSNBC's Hardball NBC terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann berated Pamela Geller and those who hosted a contest to draw the prophet Mohammed in Garland, Texas on Sunday night. The event ended tragically when two gunmen, at least one being a Muslim, shot a security guard before they were shot dead by police. Kohlmann said that while everyone has the right to freedom of speech, the coordinators of this event were "standing by the principle of hatred for other people." However, Kohlmann did admit that the response to contest was "predictable." "Everyone has the right...

Texas' elected officials treaded carefully Monday as they reacted to a shooting on Sunday in Garland that left two gunmen dead outside a contest featuring cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Some called it an attack on free speech, while others simply thanked law enforcement and said they were monitoring the situation. Speaking with reporters Monday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott called the shooting a "heinous crime" that struck at the heart of the First Amendment. He added he would not feel differently if the shooting had happened in connection with an event mocking Christianity. "What Christians believe is we need to...

Two years ago, a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices ruled it was a terrible thing for the federal government to dictate the definition of marriage to all 50 states. Despite the fact it was done lawfully via a bill passed through both houses of Congress, and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. Two years later, the same five justices who made up that majority are poised to reverse themselves, and say it's perfectly fine for the federal government to dictate the definition of marriage to all 50 states. Provided it's done so unlawfully by judicial fiat...

While conservatives in Indiana and Arkansas were explaining last month why their new religious objections laws weren’t invitations to discriminate against gays, the leaders of Wisconsin’s capital city were busy protecting the rights of another group: atheists. In what is believed to be the first statute of its kind in the United States, Madison banned discrimination against the non-religious on April 1, giving them the same protections afforded to people based on their race, sexual orientation and religion, among other reasons. It’s hardly surprising that such a statute would originate in Madison, an island of liberalism in a conservative-leaning state...

The admission was made by Barack Hussein Obama's lawyer, the sitting Solicitor General of the United States, Donald Verrilli, Jr., on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, during questioning by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Samuel Alito, Jr. Solicitor General Verrilli, using a public office to defend same-sex marriage on behalf of the United States, was asked by Justice Alito if religious institutions could be at risk of losing their tax-exempt status due to their beliefs about Biblical marriage. Verrilli's reply was, "It's certainly going to be an issue."

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case to determine whether the Constitution requires states to issue same-sex marriage licenses and requires other states to honor same-sex marriages performed in those states. A primary argument by the plaintiffs is that gay marriage is covered under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment and that if straights can marry, then so can gays. The counterargument is that marriage is a privilege and not a right, a union of one man and one woman sanctioned over millennia by virtually every culture and country over time as the stable...

UPDATE: The implementation of Barack Obama's takeover of the Internet is less than 45 days away. And as Marsha Blackburn says, if Congress does not take action to stop Barack Obama, the government will "control the Internet" in a little over the month. Make no mistake, the Internet as you know it will never be the same if we let Barack Obama implement this takeover. You'll pay more for less service and the government will use this draconian ruling as a club to bludgeon Internet freedom, including ultimately your free speech. And if you think we exaggerate, consider what Rep....

Arguments over same-sex marriage played out in the U.S. Supreme Courton Tuesday, but many religious groups opposed to gay marriage aren’t waiting for a ruling. A court ruling expected two months from now could sanction same-sex marriage nationwide. In anticipation, some congregations and religious advocacy groups are re-emphasizing their teachings on marriage, fine-tuning their approach to gays and lesbians and bracing for legal battles and public criticism. “The outcome of this decision will shape the landscape of the church’s ministry in the U.S. for generations to come,” wrote Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the...

Nationally syndicated radio host and columnist for the Washington Times, Steve Deace, explained that there are three specific issues animating the 2016 Republican presidential contest. “If you are weak on these, don’t even show up,” Deace cautioned conservative Republican presidential aspirants. “This is sort of the triumvirate of issues. That is amnesty, that is religious freedom, and the other is Common Core. If you are soft on these issues, or have been in the past, you’re done.” The author of Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again, told Breitbart senior writer and guest host of Breitbart News Sunday airing...

The IRS targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups prior to the 2012 election was an unconscionable abuse of power for which accountability and punishment have been noticeably absent. But this was and is not the only use by the Obama administration of the power to tax to attempt to destroy its political opponents. The IRS is also involved in targeting what President Obama has called “less than loving” Christians through the mandates of ObamaCare and its attack on the free exercise of religion through the attempted coercion of mandated health insurance coverage This administration’s war on religion is...