Free Republic

Would it surprise you to learn that if you were picking a governing philosophy based only on personal satisfaction, many would choose to be conservative? The perks cover everything from a potentially better sex life to the ability to lose a few pounds and a sense of greater meaning in life. Don’t take my word for it; let’s go to polls. Researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles recently reported on a study in the Social Psychological and Personality Science that looked at “five data sets that include representative samples from 16 countries,” finding that conservatives found...

Tolerance--a word we hear a lot these days--is “the ability to live with people whose opinions and behavior you don’t agree with.” That’s essentially how Oxford defines it, how Merriam-Webster defines it and how we, as a society, have always defined it. You may favor the death penalty while your cousin is against it. Your dad might have voted for Trump, your mom for Clinton and your brother may not have voted at all. Whatever differences we have, tolerating the opinions of another is a prerequisite to a functioning and free society. America itself was built on a foundation of...

At an astonishing pace, one third of the 27 German dioceses have already now come out with statements concerning the recently published controversial intercommunion guide of the German Bishops’ Conference. Only one diocese has, so far, declared that it will hold back on implementing the new guide allowing, in individual cases, Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Holy Communion on a regular basis, and without converting to the Catholic Faith, and even without a prior sacramental confession. The most troubling message came out just last week from the bishop of Würzburg, Franz Jung, who invited, for the weekend of 5...

Meanwhile, duped conservative politicians both past and present: Be aware that George Clooney’s texting buddy is Clooney described as the “filthiest stuff” and “foul” Sacha Baron Cohen—who reportedly interviewed Sarah Palin posing as a disabled veteran in a wheelchair—isn’t the first to use revered US military as props. Former President Barack Obama and his overbearing wife, Michelle came first. Even as he was gutting the U.S. military, in 2013, a preening Obama created something of a stir when he summoned over two marines to hold umbrellas over himself and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for protection from light rain...

Last fall, the Pew Research Center released one of its periodic typologies of the American electorate, identifying the demographic and ideological fissures both within and between the two parties. The two most conservative factions within the Republican Party were familiar types. The first, and largest, “Core Conservatives,” holds doctrinaire positions on everything. This group is “financially comfortable,” and “overwhelmingly supports smaller government, lower corporate tax rates and believes in the fairness of the nation’s economic system,” and also “express[es] a positive view of U.S. involvement in the global economy.” This is the conservatism of Paul Ryan. Another group, “Country First...

Because of the ever-descending moral and intellectual state of the mainstream news media, there has been no outcry against the leftists who call President Donald Trump and all Americans who support him Nazis. Indeed, members of the media now regularly do so. Without that outcry, this labeling will only increase; and this steadily increasing drumbeat of hysteria is likely to lead to one result: violence against conservatives. It is not plausible to foresee any other outcome of left-wing normalization of the terms “Nazi” and “white supremacist.” The American left has put itself in a moral quandary: Either it doesn’t mean...

Apple has announced a new “midterms election” feature for its official News app, which will feed users election content from a cherry-picked group of left-leaning and establishment news outlets that the tech giants considers “trusted sources.” Instead of letting users decide what news they want to see on their phones, Apple confirmed that it intends to deliver exclusive news and opinion to their users that have been “curated by Apple News editors from trusted publishers.” “Today more than ever people want information from reliable sources, especially when it comes to making voting decisions,” said Lauren Kern, editor-in-chief of Apple News....

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been able to maintain popularity at home during his three years in office despite a challenging, at times combative relationship with the Trump administration since 2017. But amid a conservative rise at home, the young leader of the country's Liberal Party is about to face a new front from Canada's most influential province. The Progressive Conservative Party firebrand Doug Ford, brother of the late former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, will be sworn in as the premier of Ontario on Friday and assume a highly influential position in a province he calls "the engine of...

Democrats' Plan: Tear Down America and Eradicate the Country of Conservatives In a collective national temper tantrum, leftist-Democrats across the country continue to openly reject the election of President Donald Trump in 2016. I used to just write about the “Two Californias,” a phrase coined by Victor Davis Hanson to describe the urban elite, out-of-touch coastal communities, and the rural inland agricultural areas. “We may speak of the richness of “diversity,” but those who cherish that ideal simply have no idea that there are now countless inland communities that have become near-apartheid societies, where Spanish is the first language, the...

But, one of these days, I swear that big, good-natured fella, the ARMY of conservatives here in America, will have had enough and finally reach his last straw. Then, surely he will turn and fight It was when I was a kid in junior high that I came to the end of my patience with bullies. At thirteen, I was an easy-going young man closing in on 6 1/2 feet tall. On the way there, a lot of my smaller (most all of them were) peers discovered that I would take a lot of ribbing and silently absorb it or...

In our increasingly divided and partisan society, it appears that some forces are stepping up their efforts to silence others, shutting down debate rather than taking part in it. It's a mark of folks who know they have no winning argument, so therefore have to project, obfuscate and name call rather than actually address issues. Snowflakes! This is nothing new, but in the Trump era – in which the losing side of the 2016 presidential election still thinks of itself as the side of goodness despite increasing evidence to the contrary – U.S. President Trump's efforts to drain the deep...

Germany has asked the new US ambassador in Berlin, outspoken Trump loyalist Richard Grenell, to clarify his reported comments on website Breitbart that he wants to “empower” European conservatives. A German foreign ministry spokesman said Berlin had “asked the US side for clarification” and that its state secretary Andreas Michaelis would revisit the issue at a pre-arranged meeting with Grenell later this week. Grenell, who took his Berlin post less than a month ago, was quoted by Breitbart London as speaking about his excitement at a “European groundswell of conservative policies” that had come because of “the failed policies of...

There's a great scene in the movie Witness where a bunch of bullies start picking on some Amish farmers, and then they pick on Harrison Ford, who is sporting Extreme Mennonite drag. They knock off his straw hat, laugh at him, and then he beats the crap out of them.The bullies are shocked, stunned, and bewildered. Why, he’s not supposed to fight back! Why, the Amish, they’re better than that! But Harrison’s not. As his buddy says, he’s from Ohio.I am not better than that either. How about you?Because today, being “better than that” means being willing to allow other people...

More than 20 prominent figures in the conservative movement plan to send an open letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), urging the Freedom Caucus member to declare himself a candidate for Speaker “at once” to replace Paul Ryan. Axios has obtained a letter — circulated by Ginni Thomas, longtime leader in the conservative movement and spouse of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — stating that current House Republican leadership "has utterly failed" and "proven that it’s part of the Swamp," and that Jordan is the solution. Richard Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, and Jenny Beth Martin, Chairman of the Tea Party...

The King, Queen and Joker of Social Media’s False Gods Overlooked in the aftermath of thousands of conservative casualties left behind by the brutal social media truck drive-through: Many who are (infuriatingly to social media giants) still standing; still being followed by those who will still go looking for their favorite sites on the now pothole-warped Information Highway. Long before Facebook be-knighted itself as the ‘Hate Speech Killer of All Time’, people saw through the phoney claims of prominent users like former President Barack Obama deceitfully claiming more than 45 million fawning fans. Social media has been in cahoots with...

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a terrorist with a huge rusty knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and charges at you yelling “allah akbar!” You are carrying a Kimber 1911 .45 ACP, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do? A Democrat’s Answer Well, that's not enough information to answer the question! What is a Kimber 1911 .45 ACP? Does the man look poor or oppressed? Is he really a...

Former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said in an interview published this week that she thinks conservatives have an “advantage” because they are “so much more willing to lie, cheat, steal, deceive, break the law — tactics that frankly we don’t use in the progressive community.” The Department of Justice confirmed in December that Planned Parenthood is under federal investigation in the wake of allegations the abortion chain harvests the body parts of aborted babies to sell for a profit. In an interview with Salon, Amanda Marcotte asked Richards why she believes “nonprofits like Planned Parenthood” have experienced an “escalation...

A long-awaited report on free speech protections at the University of California, Berkeley, blames “hard to defend” conservative speakers for inciting left-wing students to violence. A commission of Berkeley faculty, students formed in 2017 after violent and costly student protests called its commitment to free speech into question. Their months long study of the issue resulted in the conclusion that “ultra-conservative rhetoric” by the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter only exists to “advance a facile narrative that universities are not tolerant of conservative speech.” “Contrary to a currently popular narrative, Berkeley remains a tolerant campus,” the report says,...

Facebook on Wednesday confirmed that it is bringing in two outside advisers to help it run an audit of the platform's effect on communities of color and to offer advice on the social media giant's alleged bias against conservatives. The new advisers come shortly after Facebook dealt with reports uncovering how its ad platform could allow discrimination and charges from Republican lawmakers that Facebook censors conservative opinions. The so-called civil rights audit, which was first reported by Axios, will be led by the Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, Laura Murphy. D.C.-based law firm Relman, Dane & Colfax will...

Here is a short list of prominent conservatives and independent thinkers who've been accused by their critics of being an "Uncle Tom" or some other vitriolic variation on the overplayed left-wing theme of being a traitor to their race or gender ("Aunt Tomasina," "Uncle Juan," "Aunt Jemima," "Uncle Wong," etc.): --White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. --U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. --HUD Secretary Ben Carson. --Rapper Kanye West. --Lt. Col. Allen West. --Former Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal. --Attorney Miguel Estrada. --Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. --Judge Janice Rogers Brown. --Author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza. --Author and CRTV...