Free Republic

Two-hundred-and-thirty-four years ago our forbears rose up and overthrew the existing government in a just and honorable rebellion against a tyranny which forced them to pay taxes to a body in which they had no representation. While they did not like the taxes themselves, it was not the taxes alone against which they revolted, rather it was being taxed by a disconnected government in which they had no voice or representation. America was founded upon the very principle that we would elect “representatives” to go to Washington D.C. to express our will. Ours is a government which only legitimately does...

WASHINGTON – GOP Chairman Michael Steele thinks Republicans have "screwed up" for the most part in the years since Ronald Reagan was president. And, he adds in an interview on the heels of his new book's release, Republicans won't win back the House in fall elections and might not be ready to lead even if they do. That forecast of failure sparked a pushback Tuesday at the GOP's own National Republican Congressional Committee, whose aim is to elect Republicans, and delight at its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Gout forced Charles V abdication, study finds By Gene Emery BOSTON (Reuters) - Tests of a 500-year-old pinky finger confirm that Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was debilitated by gout and the painful joints it produces, Spanish researchers reported on Wednesday. Jaume Ordi of the University of Barcelona and colleagues used a microscope to examine the tip of one of Charles' pinkie fingers, which was preserved separately from his body in a small red velvet box. After rehydrating and slicing the mummified fingertip, the Ordi team found telltale signs of gout, including the buildup of uric acid crystals. At the...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Pope John Paul II was healthy, talk of papal resignation was taboo. Now, as the 82-year-old pontiff struggles with his physical frailty, even top aides like Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the doctrinal congregation, are discussing the possibility that the pope may one day choose to step down. Cardinal Ratzinger's comments in mid-May and those of other church leaders have given rise to a rash of resignation scenarios. The most-discussed theory hinges on the pope's planned visit to Poland in August. Some people think the pope has in mind a one-way trip to his...