Free Republic

Battling persistently low approval ratings across party lines, Vice President Kamala Harris (D) appeared Wednesday on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in the latest attempt to burnish her public image. But Harris stumbled badly when she seemed either unable or unwilling to define the vice president’s job. During the awkward exchange, host Stephen Colbert asked Harris to explain “what is the actual role on a daily basis” of the vice president. Harris avoided answering the question by praising President Joe Biden (D). “Well, I have the great privilege of serving with Joe Biden, who is president of the...

Political correctness is an abstract from the pit of hell, and it smells like smoke. It is dependent upon demagoguing people not to speak truth and the corruption of speech by redefining verbiage. When I speak of the corruption of speech by the redefining of verbiage, a prime example is the word “fascism.” As my son pointed out to me, Google defines “fascism” as: “An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization; (in general use) extreme right-wing, authoritarian, or intolerant views or practice.” The Google definition most accurately defines those inhabiting the California state education system. And...

I am not a fan of Barack Obama, but I have not criticized him as harshly as many other writers do. I have a different view of him. I see him as a rather run of the mill Progressive/Liberal who firmly believes his ideology and acts somewhat consistently on those ideas. Rather than pillory him personally, my approach has been to criticize the philosophy of which he is a product. In my mind, it's all about ideas. I detest his ideas because I believe they are anti-intellectual and they don't work.  There are many like Mr. Obama out there. His admirers...

Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) Monday said a deal to cut the federal deficit fell apart because Republicans refused to raise taxes, and said the issue would be the defining debate for Congress as the country heads toward the 2012 elections. "America is stuck with the absolute rigidity of people who wanted to protect the wealthiest people in the country instead of providing $1.2 trillion of deficit reduction," Kerry said in impassioned remarks hours after the congressional panel announced it had failed to reach a deal. "That's the fight we have to take out to the country over the course...

Abstract: President Barack Obama has said that America would reach out to other countries as “an equal partner” rather than as the “exceptional” nation that many before him had embraced; that “any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail”; and that “[o]ur problems must be dealt with through partnership” and “progress must be shared.” He has laid out in his public statements the tenets of a doctrine that, if enacted, would enable his Administration to remake America as one nation among many, with no singular claim either to responsibility or exceptionalism: (1)...

.......In sum, the new age of civility is a political response to an acknowledged tragic event that was apolitical. It is intended to tone down growing political and media opposition to the status quo in Washington. And bipartisan friendly dialogue cannot and will not be adhered to by those now calling for its implementation, since divisive language often achieves what an unpersuasive ideology cannot. The hate-filled rhetoric of a Michael Moore (who sat in Jimmy Carter’s reserved box at the 2004 Democratic convention) or a Cindy Sheehan (the darling of the press and Democratic politicians at Camp Casey in 2005)...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama went for the defining television shot in Iraq and got it — pictures of hundreds of U.S. troops cheering wildly as he told them it was time for the Iraqis to take charge of their own future. The war zone photo opportunity produced a stunning show of appreciation for Obama from military men and women who have made great sacrifices, many serving repeated tours in a highly unpopular war. And the televised outpouring of affection likely will prove critical to the credibility of a new and liberal commander in chief as he tries to sell...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2006 – With hurricane season nearing, the Defense Department has tremendous assets to offer a civilian-led response to a major disaster, a top DoD official involved in the process told reporters here yesterday. "Those assets are ready for deployment, and ... we are better prepared than at any point in our nation's history to move that assistance as rapidly as is humanly possible," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said. DoD defense coordinating officers will be assigned full-time to each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency's regional offices to ensure coordinated planning and operational...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), taking center stage at the Republican convention on Wednesday, said the November election was a "defining moment" when Americans would make a fundamental choice about the country's long-term security. Cheney said in published excerpts of his evening speech that President Bush (news - web sites)'s first term had amounted to "years of achievement" but there were vital differences between Bush and his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites). "Moments come along in history when leaders must make fundamental decisions about how to confront a...

<p>IRVINE - The current climate of big-government Republicanism has caused traditionally conservative commentators to become apologists for George W. Bush. This, coupled with a dishonest academic climate, threatens to create a generation of Republicans without respect for small-government principles, as these younger ideologues emulate the positions of the most influential voices in conservative and Republican politics.</p>

Can technological progress be brought to a halt? Despairing technological determinists like philosopher Jacques Ellul feared that technology had escaped the bonds of human control and was now, in some sense, an autonomous force. In The Technological Society (1964), Ellul declared, "Modern technology has become a total phenomenon for civilization, the defining force of a new social order in which efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity." So in his view technological progress is, alas, inevitable. But is that so? Northwestern University economist Joel Mokyr has written a remarkably interesting history of Western...

"Should These Conditions Be Normalized?" : American Psychiatric Association Symposium Debates Whether Pedophilia, Gender-Identity Disorder, Sexual Sadism Should Remain Mental IllnessesOn Monday, May 19th, 2003 in San Francisco, at a symposium hosted by the American Psychiatric Association, several long-recognized categories of mental illness were discussed for possible removal from the upcoming edition of the psychiatric manual of mental disorders. Among the mental illnesses being debated in the symposium at the APA's annual convention were all the paraphilias--which include pedophilia, exhibitionism, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism, and sadomasochism. Also being debated was gender-identity disorder, a condition in which a person feels persistent discomfort...

Local religious leaders appeared unlikely to immediately join the city Unitarian minister who will no longer sign marriage licenses in protest of the state's ban against same sex marriage.

Yesterday, after eight weeks of haggling, the United Nations at last adopted a resolution demanding Saddam Hussein open up to international inspectors. This latest resolution, U.S. President George W. Bush says, represents Saddam's "final opportunity" to satisfy the world that Iraq does not possess weapons of mass destruction or programs for making them. Even those permanent members of the Security Council reluctant to back action against Iraq -- Russia, China and France -- signed on. The resolution gives Saddam seven days to respond, and requires that weapons inspectors report back to the Council 60 days after beginning their work. But...