Free Republic

While several unions and a multitude of Marxist groups are involved in the Wisconsin and other state capitol protests, the lead organization is undoubtedly America's huge public sector union, the  American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). AFCSME website While ostensibly about preserving public sector union collective bargaining 'rights', the protests are really a confrontation of values. AFSCME wants to preserve and expand union power in an increasingly government dominated economy. AFSCME is confronting several, mainly 'Tea Party' backed state governors who want to roll back the power of the unions, in order to save their states from...

The ex-governor and her Mama Grizzlies argue that the real women’s issue is our country’s fiscal future. When Sarah Palin took the podium in St. Paul to accept her nomination for the vice presidency in September 2008, calm and collected feminists might have recalled the old saw: Be careful what you wish for. Here she was, an ambitious political woman with the sort of egalitarian marriage that would put the Swedes to shame. Here she was, a charismatic, working-class heroine who oozed folksy provincialism with the naturalness of Lyndon Johnson in the same breath as she cheered her Hillary Clintonesque...

SAN ANTONIO — While T-shirts commemorating the 175th anniversary of the legendary battle are now on sale at the Alamo, the star-studded, fireworks-laden concert planned in March has been pre-empted by a state investigation. Alamo marketing director Tony Caridi thought last year that he had corporate sponsors ready to put up $400,000 to stage a free, nationally televised concert for 60,000 people, but none of those backers have since made a firm commitment. As a result, an opportunity to raise $2.5 million in television rights and DVD and merchandise sales to benefit preservation and expansion of the state-owned Alamo site...

Two men are in jail, accused of robbing an Inver Grove Heights man and attacking him with a battle axe. Jacob Anhalt, 22, and Randy Knight, 31, are charged with burglary, aggravated robbery, and auto theft. According to the criminal complaint, Anhalt made arrangements to come to the victims home on December 21. When the victim opened the door, he told police two men wearing masks came running inside. One of the men was carrying a large sword, and the other was carrying a battle axe.

John Boehner says Barack Obama disrespected him during tax-cut extension battle. On an appearance on 60 Minutes on Sunday evening, incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner scolded Barack Obama for what he says was the disrespect that the president showed him during the battle over extending all of the Bush-era tax cuts. Specifically, Boenher really disliked the time last week when Obama held a press conference to broadly accuse the GOP of taking the American people hostage over their principled stand to ensure that the Bush tax cuts for all income earners get extended. Initially, when asked to comment...

Foreign firefighting crews have begun to arrive in Israel to help battle a massive forest fire out of control in the north of the country.Further global assistance is due to arrive later on Friday, as fire crews battled high winds driving the blaze towards the city of Haifa. > Aircraft from Bulgaria, Jordan, Greece and the UK have arrived, after Israel issued a rare request for foreign assistance. Planes from Cyprus, Turkey and Russia were on their way, while flame-retardant materials were being flown in from France, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said. "The Russians are sending and we are waiting...

(WSB Radio) -- Despite the freezing temperatures, hundreds fought for a place in line in Marietta to apply for federal aid to help pay their heat and power bills this winter. Only 30 people were being let in at a time at the assistance center in Marietta. "It was freezing," applicant Linda Benefield told WSB-TV. "I was in line for three hours and 15 minutes, but I needed the help." Some needed even more help just to deal with the cold. Ambulances were cold in and took at least two people to the hospital because of the freezing temperatures ....

The U.S. military is sending a contingent of heavily armored battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, defense officials said, a shift that signals a further escalation in the aggressive tactics that have been employed by American forces this fall to attack the Taliban. The deployment of a company of M1 Abrams tanks, which will be fielded by the Marines in the country's southwest, will allow ground forces to target insurgents from a greater distance - and with more of a lethal punch - than is possible from any other U.S. military vehicle. The 68-ton...

Pelosi's new position for Clyburn to avert Dem battle: 'Assistant Leader' By Molly K. Hooper - 11/13/10 04:00 PM ET House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked her colleagues Saturday to support Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for "Assistant Leader," a newly created third-ranking position at the leadership table. In a letter to her fellow Democrats, Pelosi wrote "should I receive the privilege of serving as House Democratic Leader, I will be very honored to nominate our outstanding colleague, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, to serve in the number three House Democratic position. I will also ask the Caucus to...

Many readers of American Thinker will recognize Midway as the scene of our first and in many ways our greatest naval victory of World War II. It is not remembered now, but for the first six months of 1942, we were losing World War II. After sinking most of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese occupied Wake Island and Guam in December 1941. In April 1942, they defeated our army in the Philippines and put it on the Death March. After Jimmy Doolittle bombed Tokyo in April 1942, the Japanese decided to eliminate the U.S. Navy in a...

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious. Vince Lombardi Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory. Sun Tzu We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power......

The over-reaching policies of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, a trio manipulated by the puppeteers of the Far Left (including men like Soros), have triggered a very public expression of passion by millions of citizens in a battle of ideas--a battle which has been seething beneath the surface for decades! The problem has been that, until now, most Americans went about their business and ignored it, while some who called themselves "progressives" were working to undermine the very foundations of liberty. Today, however, ordinary citizens are engaged under several banners (TEA Parties, Libertarians, Independents,) and as individuals, and they are beginning...

Battle Looms Over Huge Costs of Public PensionsBy RON LIEBER Published: August 6, 2010 There’s a class war coming to the world of government pensions. The haves are retirees who were once state or municipal workers. Their seemingly guaranteed and ever-escalating monthly pension benefits are breaking budgets nationwide. The have-nots are taxpayers who don’t have generous pensions. Their 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts have taken a real beating in recent years and are not guaranteed. And soon, many of those people will be paying higher taxes or getting fewer state services as their states put more money aside to cover...

51 Seats Needed For Majority Likely Dem CT: Open (D) NY: Gillibrand (D) OR: Wyden (D) WV: Open (D) Leans Dem CA: Boxer (D) Toss Up CO: Bennet (D) FL: Open (R) IL: Open (D) KY: Open (R) NV: Reid (D) OH: Open (R) PA: Open (D) WA: Murray (D) WI: Feingold (D) Leans GOP MO: Open (R) NH: Open (R) NC: Burr (R) Likely GOP AR: Lincoln (D) DE: Open (D) IN: Open (D) IA: Grassley (R) LA: Vitter (R)

Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts has just introduced an amendment calling for the Senate to declare the recess appointment of Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick “an abuse of power.” The nonbinding “sense of the Senate” resolution also calls on Berwick to appear before the Senate Finance Committee to answer questions. The measure is designed to send a message to the White House that Republicans remain angry about President Obama’s decision to short-circuit the confirmation process, before a hearing was held for Berwick, and put Berwick in the job by recess appointment. The president blamed the GOP for its potential,...

So, not much text necessary... enjoy, think, and remember!

Analysis: Dems show signs of battle fatigueDavid Espo, Ap Special Correspondent Tue Jul 13, 5:53 pm ET WASHINGTON – Four months before midterm elections, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats show signs of collective battle fatigue, ducking political fights they might once have welcomed and quarreling among themselves as they confront the likelihood of majority-threatening losses this fall. Republicans pounce on every sign of Democratic discord, seemingly confident of a political payoff after a two-year campaign to kill whatever White Houses-backed legislation they could while slowing the rest. This past weekend, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs strayed across the...

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2010 – Several members of the Washington Redskins joined forces with the USO and the Wounded Warrior Project here yesterday at the ESPN Zone for a “Guitar Hero” video game showdown with soldiers stationed in Basra, Iraq. Soldiers play “Guitar Hero” against players at the ESPN Zone in Washington D.C., as part of the “Pro vs. GI Joe” video game competition, June 8, 2010, which pitted troops against Washington Redskins football players. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class William Selby.   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The event is known as “Pro vs....

Seven score and seven years ago, a wounded Wisconsin soldier stood his ground on the Gettysburg battlefield and made a valiant stand before he was felled by a Confederate bullet. Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of modern-day supporters, 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing shall not have died in vain, nor shall his memory have perished from the earth. Descendants and some Civil War history buffs have been pushing the U.S. Army to award the soldier the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration. They'll soon get their wish. Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved their request, leaving...

Fort Polk Guardian FORT POLK, La., May 18, 2010 – Aug. 7, 2008, was a hot day in Iraq, and it seemed as if the walls were closing in on Army Spc. Joe Sanders. Army Cpl. Joe Sanders and Spc. Albert Godding pose April 27, 2010, after Godding received a Meritorious Service Medal for preventing Sanders' suicide in Iraq in 2008. U.S. Army photo by Zach Morgan  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Sanders had deployed to Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division’s 5th Battalion, 25th Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. Sander’s wife was leaving him, and he had...