Free Republic

To begin to fix immigration, we must agree the American identity is worth preserving and then work to build an immigration system that nourishes it.Can Washington discuss immigration without devolving into a debate about racism? If we lay down our Twitter weapons, perhaps we could discuss what kind of immigration we need. Should we allow anyone, from anywhere, to come here at any time? Amid the political establishment’s promotion of all immigration as virtuous and their relentless attacks on all things traditional or patriotic, we can demand something better: An immigration system that is good for America and requires that...

Starting about 15 years ago a trend began that convinced Americans to focus on this country’s imperfections rather than its exceptionalism. This now rapidly growing trend has resulted in long-term economic stagnation and a deeply divided country. America’s astonishing growth and well spread generosity has resulted in the world’s most prosperous country. It has also resulted in keeping much of the world safe from unwanted oppression, mostly by leading the victories in World War I and World War II. America fought other wars around the globe that protected our security interests but mostly help preserve freedom in other countries. America...

The left fears elementary students loving the United States and believing in the principles of life and liberty established by the founding fathers and endowed by God himself.Prager University’s short and informative video content used to focus on college-aged students. Now they are also providing materials to kids in high school, middle, and elementary schools.The nonprofit organization recently announced PragerU Resources for Educators and Parents (PREP) to help children “think critically and combat the leftist lessons on gender fluidity, identity politics and defunding the police—among others—that students are forced to learn in many American public and private schools.”In the wake...

America always has been an exceptional nation. People in other countries recognize that America is unique. It’s why so many of those fleeing foreign oppression come to the “land of the free.” What made the U.S. great were its principles, not its officials. America was different from most other nations. It was committed to limited government and individual liberty, alien concepts in most countries. The U.S. attempted to restrain government abuse through the separation of powers, another unusual idea, especially at a time of absolute monarchs. Federalism protected different levels of community. Not every dispute was decided at the national...

Editor's note: This column was coauthored by Ken Klukowski. At the funeral of Justice Antonin Scalia, his son Paul, giving the homily, cited his father's belief that the success of America arose from the blessing of God -- a blessing experienced in part because of faith's role in the life of this nation. As usual, the justice himself explained it best. In his life and at his death, Scalia has defined the contours of an epic battle that will determine a central part of America's future. Speaking at his father's funeral mass, Fr. Paul Scalia explained: "God blessed Dad, as...

We can’t say that Barack Obama hasn’t warned us. While running for his first term as president he clearly told us that he intended to “fundamentally transform” the United States of America. The naïve among us took that proclamation to mean something positive. Those who looked at Obama’s history with a little more discernment were very uncomfortable with exactly what Barack Obama intended to do if elected. Promising to “fundamentally transform” was a rather vague and ambiguous statement, unless one took a close look at who he associated with throughout his life. It then quickly sent chills down one’s spine....

It’s hard sometimes with the country intent on navel gazing to get America to pay attention to other parts of the world in their proper context. We only need look at places like Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq to understand this. The conventional wisdom is that the US screwed up those places. The reality is that American intervention in each of these countries gave them their best chance at success, and-- if we failed in each-- it was a failure of the locals mostly, not America. Except in this one regard: America failed each because we failed of nerve. After watching...

Efforts to proclaim moral equivalence are not always misguided; sometimes each side is equally at fault or close enough. But these efforts are often misguided and unhelpful -- and sometimes harmful. Throughout my life, there has been an increasing trend to attach moral equivalence to all kinds of disputes and conflicts, such as Israel vs. Hamas, which is the subject of a future column. I assume this is mostly an outgrowth of our culture's descent into moral relativism, but it's also a product of our intellectual laziness. We see it everywhere. It is a common practice in describing marriages gone...

Forty-five years ago, there was a day like few others that rallied Americans and changed America forever. Yet I could find but one or two news stories about that momentous occasion and triumph. Do you remember what it was? It's the type of event that America needs now, maybe more than ever before. If you're old enough, you remember July 20, 1969, when 123 million of roughly 200 million Americans were riveted to their televisions, watching astronaut Neil Armstrong 240,000 miles from Earth. As he stepped off the Eagle -- the lunar landing module -- to become the first human...

"..........I differ with Cruz on a number of things and think his misguided behavior in the shutdown hurt the GOP and the cause of conservatism. Nevertheless, just as Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is leading the right to a more constructive, positive domestic agenda, Cruz can do the same on foreign policy. If he does continue his defense of a strong U.S. foreign policy, he can help himself, his party and his country.

On Sunday The HoustonChronicle,which in 2008 broke a 44 year tradition of backing Republicans and endorsed Barack Obama, endorsed Mitt Romneyfor President in 2012:>>>Like so many others,we were captivated by the Illinois senator's soaring rhetoric and energized by his promise to move American politics beyond partisan gridlock and into an era of hope and change.It hasn't happened. Four years later,PresidentObama's deeds have failed to match his words,much less his specific vows to cut the national debt by half and bring the nation's unemployment rate to 6 percent. As Texans,it is a particular vexation that this president's attitude toward the interests...

........Of all the waste by the Federal government and with all the other Federal agencies that could be moved to privatization, Obama selects our space program. This detracts from the progress of our missile technology that is shared with our military, it inhibits our national defense, and it damages our national identity.Space X is Obama's choice for supplanting NASA. It appears Obama has picked another loser. Move over Solyndra.Let's begin with the performance to date of the ersatz space program called Space X....."Thus far, NASA has awarded at least $2.1 billion in SAA money to private space companies,including a total...

...Before Endeavour could travel through the streets, some 400 trees were chopped down, cable and telephone lines were hoisted, and steel plates were laid down to protect the streets and underground utilities....The cost of transporting it cross-town was estimated at over $10 million. As complex as the latest endeavor is, Southern California is no stranger to moving heavy things. In 1946, Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" aircraft was built in sections and hauled from Culver City to Long Beach, 30 miles away. In 1984, an old United Airlines DC-8, with its wings and tail disassembled, was towed from Long Beach to...

When it comes to American exceptionalism, Mitt Romney is going all in. His book “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness” is a love song to the idea that this country merits “the protection of Providence” and has a singular “calling” to be a beacon for freedom. A major theme for him on the campaign trail is the nation’s divine destiny, a heritage Romney said has made him “stand a little taller, a little straighter” when overseas. But what Romney doesn’t say is that, for followers of his made-in-America religion, Mormonism, exceptionalism isn’t political metaphor. It’s theology. The faith’s sacred...

..............IT'S TIME TO FIGHT for the survival of Americanism,............................ Americanism is freedom founded on the power of the individual, and his ability to achieve without undue government interference. It’s the idea that the state exists to serve man, to protect God-given rights, and to allow the greatest amount of political freedom within the bounds of ordered liberty. It’s the idea that people truly own their property and are not merely renting it, and that they are free to use their talents, initiative, and “can do” spirit to make the lives they dream for themselves a reality. It is indisputable that...

Those lucky enough to still be here to look back at history post Barack Obama will recognize the last sight-piggyback funeral dirge of the once noble Space Shuttle as the Obama Regime’s defining moment. Were an artist to paint a picture of a small boy looking at up at his flying kite as the space shuttle passed over Manhattan yesterday, no portrait of the story of America’s deliberate ruin at the hands of a single politician could ever come closer to the truth. [BIG Snip of text] Few will remember that it was on the fullest moon of the year...

MILLSBORO, Del. - At 7 p.m. on Thursday, in the back shed of a firehouse, a presidential candidate who continually concedes he's unlikely to capture the Republican nomination held a rally - and 350 people showed up. Earlier, Newt Gingrich spoke to more than 150 people in nearby Magnolia. And a day earlier, he greeted a sold-out auditorium that seats more than 400 at the UniversityofNorthCarolina-Wilmington. The Republicans who come to Gingrich's campaign events, signs in hand and ready to offer standing ovations, are under no illusions that the former House speaker is going to overtake Mitt Romney to become...

...The candidate admitted to reporters Tuesday that finances are “tight” and, asked if he was willing to spend his own money to stay in the race, Gingrich told Bill O’Reilly. “If necessary, but that’s not the point, we are raising some money.” ...His opening remarks at Salisbury University in Maryland shed light on the candidate’s efforts to change the tone of his campaign. "I have been trying to wrestle with what I have not been able to communicate,” the former professor told the student audience. “I feel like in a lot of ways in my campaign, I got sucked into...

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich took aim at GOP rival Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama during a campaign stop in north Alabama. Speaking at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Gingrich portrayed himself as a visionary leader and criticized Romney as a caretaker of decline. Gingrich said Obama's energy policies are behind rising gasoline prices. He encouraged the audience to update their Facebook status with "Newt = $2.50 a gallon." "We need to develop our own energy here so we don't have to worry about Iran and Middle East," he told the crowd....