Free Republic

Amidst riots in central Europe that have now spread to London and a debt downgrade that threatens to plunge the United States into a double-dip recession, Americans’ lack of confidence in their leadership is so crippled that they are now “pre-revolutionary,” according to pollster Pat Caddell. A new Rasmussen poll shows that just 17 per cent of Americans believe that the U.S. government has the consent of the governed, an all time low. This dovetails with a record low for Congress’ approval rating, which stands at a paltry 6 per cent, while 46 per cent of Americans think most members...

A controversial U.N. proposed treaty aimed at regulating guns worldwide has been shrouded by confusion and misinformation. Known informally as the 'Small Arms Treaty,' its detractors have charged the proposed agreement with secretly trying to take guns out of the hands of Americans and circumventing the 2nd Amendment. While that is unlikely, a working draft proposal obtained by FoxNews.com contains language that some gun advocates say could have a real impact on American gun makers. Last month a U.N. committee met in New York and signed off on several provisions, including the creation of a new U.N. agency to regulate...

President Obama let his frustration over the stalled debt talks seep into an address on Latino issues on Monday, confessing that he’d like to “bypass Congress and change the laws on my own.” He told the National Council of La Raza, “Believe me, the idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you.” But he told the group meeting at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel that he has to work with Congress and will continue to fight for what he called a “balanced” plan that does not focus solely on spending cuts but that spreads the...

As federal criminal statutes have ballooned, it has become increasingly easy for Americans to end up on the wrong side of the law. Many of the new federal laws also set a lower bar for conviction than in the past: Prosecutors don't necessarily need to show that the defendant had criminal intent.

Leading Trend Forecaster: We Are Not Entering a New Recession Mac Slavo July 14th, 2011 Trend forecaster Gerald Celente, of the Trends Research Institute, in his latest Trend Alert to subscribers, says that media presstitutes continue to sell Americans and the rest of the world the big lie of recovery. It’s nothing more than a cover-up. We never exited the recession that started in 2008.For the second consecutive month, employers added scarcely any jobs in June, startling evidence that the economic recovery is stumbling … The government also revised downward the small gain for the previous month to 25,000 new...

All over America, restlessness and frustration are growing. It has now been almost three years since the great financial crash of 2008, and yet the U.S. economy is still a complete and total mess. In fact, there are all sorts of signs that things are about to get even worse, and the American people are just about fed up. Virtually every major poll, survey and measure of consumer confidence shows that the American people are becoming more pessimistic about the economy. Millions of hard working Americans that worked their fingers to the bone for their employers and that did everything...

I would like to thank my neighbors and friends for participating in our annual emergency preparedness meeting. Your comments and contributions were what made the meeting great. Hopefully we all left with a desire to be better prepared so our family and loved ones are well taken care of in the event of...

They choose a pivotal moment in the Gunwalker investigation to announce a gun-control bill.A handful of Democratic lawmakers in Congress and a fish cop held a press conference Friday to announce a new gun control proposal, the “Stop Gun Trafficking and Strengthen Law Enforcement Act.” The proposed law has no chance of passing, and seems orchestrated as a Democratic response meant to draw attention away from the still-developing “Gunwalker” scandal: U.S. Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) will join other members and a...

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- A UN committee wrapped up a week-long series of meetings on a massive treaty that could undermine both U.S. sovereignty and the Second Amendment. This is the third round of meetings by the so-called “preparatory committee” on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) as the UN gears up for final negotiations in 2012. The most comprehensive treaty of its kind, the ATT would regulate weapons trade throughout the world on everything from battleships to bullets. And as information trickles out of Turtle Bay in New York City, it is obvious the UN is getting more clever about taking...

VIPR Searches and the American Citizen: 'Dominate. Intimidate. Control.' By John W. Whitehead 7/5/2011 "They're trying to scare the pants off the American people that we need these things... Fear is a commodity and they're selling it. The more they can sell it, the more we buy into it. When American people are afraid, they will accept anything."--Kate Hanni, passengers' rights advocate "Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government...Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and...

Napolitano’s V.I.P.R. Vows to “Dominate,Intimidate and Control”the American People BY COACH COLLINS,ON JULY 15TH,2011 By Doug Book,staff writer Since its inception in 2002,the Department of Homeland Security has grown increasingly contemptuous of the rights of the American people. Indeed,the Gestapo-like tactics of one of the Department’s better known masters of overreach–the TSA–are responsible for countless examples of the organizations daily assault on the Constitution. But recently,another of Janet Napolitano’s handmaidens of harassment has begun to make news…albeit only on the web,of course. It is the TSA’s Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response task force–or VIPR. Organized into mobile swat teams,VIPR has...

A few days ago, the Blaze reported on the low-key plans of the Obama administration to increase the penalties for certain gun law violations, and add steps to the background checks for legal gun ownership. Today the administration’s plans are beginning to come into effect. Through an Executive Order, the Obama administration is implementing new restrictions on the sale of certain weapons in border states, and increasing the penalties for violating certain firearms laws.

WASHINGTON -- In an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into Mexico, the Justice Department announced Monday that all gun shops in four Southwest border states will be required to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered rifles. The new policy comes amid criticism of a failed federal probe aimed at dismantling large-scale arms trafficking networks along the Arizona border with Mexico. In the probe, called Operation Fast and Furious, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives say they were inexplicably ordered by superiors to stop tracking some small-time "straw" buyers who...

Another day, another power grab around Congress from the Obama administration. Great news! The Obama administration plans to implement gun control measures "gun safety measures," through the Justice Department without Congress. Spokesman Jay Carney said that the new steps would be made public "in the near future." He didn't offer details, but people involved in talks at the Justice Department to craft the new measures said they expected to see something in the next several weeks. Whatever is proposed is not expected to involve legislation or take on major issues, like banning assault weapons, but could include executive action to...

The scope of Eric Holder's disastrous 'Fast and Furious" ATF operation just keeps expanding. Now a single traffic stop in Phoenix has revealed 43 weapons with serial numbers traceable to the the ATF scandal - taken from 4 illegal aliens arrested in the stop. How many guns has this Administration put in the hands of gangs throughout the U.S. How many children will die in drive-bys using weapons Holder GAVE to criminals? And with the ATF Director now saying the DoJ obstructing the investigation, the House GOP must not stop until all responsible are rotting in jail. And what did...

After yesterday’s news of the deal between Senators Pat Leahy and Charles Grassley to get documents and testimony from ATF chief Kenneth Melson on Operation Fast and Furious, it seemed as though Democrats might finally take the scandal of the gunrunning fiasco seriously. Alas, Elijah Cummings and House Democrats appear uninterested in abuses of government power, incompetence, and potential cover-ups at AFT and the Department of Justice. In fact, they want to turn the probe into an argument for expanding government control of firearms: The top Democrat on a House investigative committee is broadening an inquiry into a botched gun-tracing...

Americans must to decide if, in the name of homeland security, they are willing to allow TSA operatives to storm public places in their communities with no warning, pat them down, and search their bags. And they better decide quickly. Bus travelers were shocked when jackbooted TSA officers in black SWAT-style uniforms descended unannounced upon the Tampa Greyhound bus station in April with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and federal bureaucrats in tow. A news report by ABC Action News in Tampa showed passengers being given the signature pat downs Americans are used to watching the Transportation Security...

Ezra Klein, the founder of journolist, proves yet again why whatever the Washington Post is paying him is much too much: Here’s your out-of-the-box policy idea for the day: America should implement weighted voting to make voting more objective and fair, and give the young more power, because the consequences of political decisions will affect them the longest.

Increasingly, it seems that the American flag is joining toy guns and dodgeball on the banned-from-school list. And the latest story on this front involves The Butterfield Elementary in Orange, Massachusetts, where a teacher told an eleven-year-old boy that he may not hang his depiction of Old Glory because it might "offend" another student. The boy, Frankie Girard, had drawn the picture in art class but then found that his teacher didn't share his patriotism. Says his father, John, "He was denied hanging the flag up. And he asked if he could just even hang it on his desk, and...

There are three issues that could presently trigger a Civil War in America: * Illegal aliens. A government that refuses to protect our borders, the methodical structure of citizenship, and the rule of law, will only be tolerated for so long. America is reaching a tipping point on this issue. * Abortion. Irreconcilable differences here. This may likely become as potent an issue as slavery was in the 1860s. * The right to keep and bear arms - see "2A Today for The USA" No other significant present day problems could potentially result in the “brother against brother” tragedy of...