Free Republic

Much has been made of the piety, or rather the lack thereof, of Charles Darwin. He has repeatedly been characterized on FR as an atheist, a fool, a demon, an agent of devil, and one on a vendetta to drive believers away from God. Some go so far as to declare him a false God and the science he suggested to be a false religion. Those that profess this are either grossly ignorant or intentionally deceiving so as to reinforce their personal beliefs and conclusions. Diminishing the messenger is often easier than diminishing the message. The Myth that Darwin was...

The president recently said; “no body should go broke because they got sick”. That didn’t tell the whole story. What he could have, and should have said was that no body should go broke because they got sick and had already blown all of their money on things they had no business buying at their income level. I grew up in a dirt-poor home that had a policy that if we couldn’t afford it, we didn’t get it. We did always have some kind of health insurance. I have heard the left talk about “means testing” a number of government...

A friend of mine in the SF Bay Area just received the following: From: My.BarackObama.com [mailto:info@barackobama.com] Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 5:21 PM To: XXX XXXXXXXX Subject: Signup Confirmation: Bay Area Congressional Send Off Rally for Health Insurance Refrom This email is to confirm your signup for the following event: Bay Area Congressional Send Off Rally for Health Insurance Refrom You can view the details of this event at any time by going to: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfkrv Attending: Wednesday, September 2 - 2 hours Time(s): Wednesday, September 2 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Location: San Francisco City Hall Plaza 1 Dr...

Veterans and active-duty servicemembers not in uniform can now render the hand salute during the playing of our national anthem, thanks to changes in federal law that took effect this month. The legislative change was sponsored by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., an Army veteran, and included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009. The new provision improves upon a little-known change in federal law last year that authorized veterans to render the hand salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag. But it did not address salutes during the national anthem. Last year's provision also applied to members...

I attended a Congressman Pete Stark town hall meeting today (8/15/09). It was everything I thought it would be….and that ain’t good. I arrived well over an hour before the event and there was already a line. The people in front of me actually counted the numbers of people ahead of us and there were only 72. This is important because when I entered the hall I was given a number that might be “randomly” called. That number was not 72, it was 97. Since the hall only held a couple of hundred that raised some suspicions that the event...

The state constitution of California gives a great deal of power directly to the people via the initiative process. Question: Does anyone know the legality or constitutionality of a potential ballot initiative that would prohibit the state government from recognizing, certifying and otherwise dealing or negotiating with Public Workers Unions?

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part I consider it...

Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution permits the Legislature determine the rules of its proceedings. Since 1880 the rules of the House specify the content of committee reports. Specifically, House rule XIII and the Budget Act require certain matters to be included in committee reports. Among these is the Constitutional Authority Statement (Clause 2(d)(1) of Rule XIII which requires each report on a public bill or joint resolution to contain a statement citing the specific constitutional authority for enacting the law proposed.

I am as sick to death of RINO apologists as I am the RINOs themselves. Too many real conservatives took a lot of flack here on FR during the last mid term and presidential election cycles for expecting Republicans to actually legislate like Republicans rather voting for every Obama-lite candidate with an “R” after their names who just might be electable. To too many, elections are about partisan score keeping and not about the direction and future of the country. Many conservatives received a lot of undeserved criticism because they refused to vote straight party line or choose the lesser...

Notre Dame differs from a host of other Catholic universities only because of the myth and mystique of its football program. Anti-Catholic bias and rhetoric are vicariously fought by millions of Catholics through the exploits and wins of the Fighting Irish. The Fighting Irish symbolize the successful preservation of one’s Catholic identity against all odds. Wherever the “Irish” play, from Annapolis to Los Angeles and from New Orleans to Anarbor stadiums are packed with friendly crowds and every game is a home game. Here are millions who never miss a televised game. Every Catholic household has multiple articles of Fighting...

The TEA Party movement needs to take it to the next level and make itself impossible to ignore or dismiss. We need a way to passively and actively keep ourselves in the public’s eye and the way to do that is simple - Paint it orange. Every political movement needs an easily recognizable unifying symbol and a color is as simple as it gets. Orange is ideal because: · Orange is a symbol not already associated with any American political party or movement like red, blue, green, pink, or even purple. · Orange is a distress color – it DEMANDS...

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Many will recognize the above from the Declaration of Independence. With the TEA parties fresh in our memories and the words of our Founding Fathers still ringing in our ears a new American Revolution is being discussed in many quarters. The American Revolution, as embodied...

A discussion of values with any teenager, twenty-something, Gen-Xer, or Boomer will leave you scratching your head. The operative word would have to be equivocation. Nothing is inherently right or wrong. Everything is situational or conditional. The ends always justify the means, depending only upon who is or is not acting. Killing an unborn child is a private matter. Generational theft is fine so long as their generation is OK. Freedom of religion is fine so long as you don’t actually act on it in your public or political life. Sex between any two consenting individuals is simply a personal...

Like watching a car wreck play out in slow motion, our Marxist-in-Chief, Barak Obama, has clearly set his sights on Detroit. If allowed to spool out it will bring GM to the same catastrophic conclusion. Extrapolating a straight line from Obama’s past to GMs future allows us to ignore the clever media assisted misdirection and slight of hand. Obama’s goal is to transfer the means of production to its rightful owners, the proletariat of the UAW. The talk of bankruptcy is just that, talk. Pelosi has already said that it is not an option. What will happen is that GM...

There is a single name that comes up in every attempt to get the Obama Eligibility issue before the Supreme Court, Court Clerk Danny Bickle. The disturbing thing is that I can find no reference to him anywhere other than as a blocking or impeding party in this issue. Does anyone know who this public servant is, what his education and qualifications are to be a Court Clerk with the Supreme Court of the United States? We need to know who paid for his education, what his current income and assets are, and if they are commensurate with his position....

I think I can clear up some of the confusion regarding Rush Limbaugh's statement that he wants the President to fail. What he meant to say, taking a page from the Dem's playbook, was like the military in Iraq, we support the president, we just want his mission to fail.

Milton Friedman and the concept of free market economies are under attach by the left. The Stimulus Bill has taken us as a country decidedly to the left. The concepts of Capitalism and Free market Economics cannot be diminished if accurately or honestly portrayed and cannot be defeated if known by the voters. As always, knowledge is power. Below is a link to the entire ground-breaking Free to Choose series as it originally aired in 1980 as well as an updated 1990 version. A link to "The Power of Choice" is available here also. It will require a considerable investment...

Now that Specter, Snowe, and Collins have collected their 40 pieces of silver we can expect them to begin rehabilitating their images before the next election cycle. They will be humble and contrite. They will claim they were acting in our best interests and were stabbed in the back by their honorable collegues across the aisle. They will swear they have seen the light and that they will toe the conservative GOP line if we will only forgive and reelect them. They might even make a few votes and speeches in favor of conservative causes. Don't buy it.Like the elephant...

CHICAGO (CBS) ― An extra-alarm fire this morning at the historic Holy Name Cathedral caused major damage to the roof and sanctuary.......

Who Gets to Define Success? Now that the the peaceful transfer of power had been accomplished we are being implored to hope and pray for Obama to be successful. I'm all for it if, and only if, I get to define what constitutes success. I sincerely hope Obama will be successful in shrinking government and reducing the cost of government on every tax payer. I hope that Obama will be successful in securing our borders and keeping us safe from terrorism. I pray that Obama will see the light and realize that each and every unborn child is a gift...