Free Republic

As the calendar slips toward the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, there’s a storm cloud hanging over America that will release its thunder in late June. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court is widely expected to declare a constitutional right to same-sex “marriage.” We are at a moral precipice. America’s Founders could scarcely have imagined a handful of people in black robes becoming so powerful and arrogant that they could defy natural law with the stroke of a pen. The question is: Will they do it? The drive to radically redefine marriage didn’t happen overnight. It’s the rotten fruit...

In Harm’s Way: The Forgotten Service of Military Chaplains George J. Galloway In Otto Preminger’s 1965 classic movie In Harm’s Way, starring John Wayne as “Rock Torrey” and Kirk Douglas as “Commander Paul Eddington,” there’s an interesting dialogue that ensues after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent return of the cruiser Swayback to the lagoon-shaped sanctuary, now burial ground for thousands of American sailors, in Oahu. It’s a direct reference to a famous quote from John Paul Jones: “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s...

It’s difficult to describe anything as a “feel good story” on a day when we are commemorating the Honored Dead, but I suppose this story comes as close as any. CBS News is providing the details of a tale which took place long ago in a small village a bit to the north of where I live, in Gowanda, New York. They have a war memorial in their town just like so many other places around the country. But for the lifetime of most of the current residents, one name has been missing. Carroll Heath was a young boy born...

Congress, led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), is preparing to betray American workers, and the grassroots should rise up and say, "No, you don't." The secretive underhanded deal is called Fast Track, and that's an appropriate title because, indeed, it puts Americans on a fast track to lower wages and fewer available jobs. Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/lets-say-no-to-fast-track-and-get-on-a-pro-american-track-139015/#ylD1c6oBpMiKKJ67.99

Venezuela is afflicted with the world’s highest inflation, its second highest murder rate and crippling shortages of food, medicine and basic consumer goods. Its authoritarian government is holding some 70 political prisoners, including the mayor of Caracas and senior opposition leader Leopoldo López, and stands accused by human rights groups of illegal detentions, torture and repression of independent media. All of that is now pretty well known, and it is finally beginning to gain some attention from Latin American leaders who for years did their best to appease or ignore Hugo Chávez and his “Bolivarian Revolution.” What’s less understood is...

This is the season of college graduations, and many people may be wondering what kinds of gifts would be most appropriate for young people leaving the world of academia and heading out to face the challenges and opportunities of adulthood in the real world. Given the narrow range of left to far left views of the world on most college campuses, and the vast ignorance of other views, even among graduates of elite academic institutions, one valuable gift might be a book giving a different perspective on the world. The recent publication of "American Contempt for Liberty" a hefty, 417-page...

To my comrades, fellow veterans of the Global War on Terror (GWOT): on this Memorial Day I call you to action. Do not let others define our generation and our service. Define yourselves. In a time where victimhood is celebrated, where discourse is dominated by ineffectual and verbose liberal academics, and society led by inept deceivers – we alone showed the world for the seven years after 9/11/01 that America was the indisputable world super power and that darkness could never put out the light. To the contrary, the light would come with insurmountable power to punish its enemies. We...

Do Americans really want to remember their war heroes? If by saying “remember,” we mean it in the same sense in which we remember things like the 2004 World Series, the television show Cheers, or the Ford administration, then sure, we can take some time to think of those who have given their lives in war. But in reality, Memorial Day ought to involve something more substantive than merely remembering. What the day really calls for is commemorating, but very little in our contemporary culture is particularly attuned to having the orientation toward history that would make this truly...

This Memorial Day, in-between the water balloon fights at the backyard BBQs and roasting of marshmallows around the camp fire, it's important to remember what this day is really about. Of course it is great if you are lucky enough get off from work to spend time with family. It the unofficial start of summer and for so many it's a day of fun and celebration. But the day also has a somber meaning that we as Americans just cannot ignore. It's a time to remember those brave men and women who fought and died in every American war. From...

I have no desire to pile on with more comments about Josh Duggar, who appears to be a very serious and committed Christian who has made no excuses for the sins of his youth and who deeply desires to make a positive impact for the Lord in the years ahead. I simply want to share some redemptive thoughts, supplementing some of the excellent statements made by others, including former governor Mike Huckabee and Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore. 1. Jesus really does change people. While critics of the Duggar family want to indict them (along with other, evangelical Christians, especially...

During the early years of the Reagan administration, a Washington news conference was held for me for my first book, "The State Against Blacks." Before making summary statements about the book, I offered the reporters assembled that they could treat me like a white person. They could ask me hard, pressing questions. They could demand proof of the arguments that I was making. People such as former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and former Chairman Julian Bond and the Rev. Al Sharpton can make ludicrous statements. An intimidated news media just swallow the nonsense. They are probably afraid to challenge, lest...

Editor's note: This is the 14th anniversary of this edition of Mullings which was first written for Memorial Day, 2001 - four months before 9/11. Our son, Reed, was a young member of the team in charge of President George W. Bush's visit to Arlington Memorial Cemetery on that day. We went to Arlington National Cemetery to attend the annual Memorial Day observance. The entrance to Arlington National Cemetery is directly across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. These two historical, mystical, sites are connected by the Memorial Bridge. At the entrance to the Cemetery there is a sign...

The Senate Appropriations Committee did something last week the Senate has never done; it passed a marijuana reform measure. It was the narrowest of proposals, an amendment co-authored by Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., to a military spending bill that would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from using federal money to prosecute doctors who recommend medical marijuana to veterans in states where the drug is legal. Last year, the House passed five measures that supported states' rights on marijuana. For its part, the Senate would not budge -- until Thursday. Twelve Democrats and four Republicans supported...

[full title] GOP’s demonic new crusade: Right-wing zealots look for even crueler ways to treat the poor like garbage Happy Memorial Day! But if you’re in Wisconsin, and relying on food stamps, remember that Republicans don’t want you to have ketchup on your hamburger. They’d probably rather you didn’t have a hamburger at all, but Wisconsin farmers and ranchers have clout, and so proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program made room for Wisconsin products. But they still don’t want you to have “crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish.” Or ketchup. Or spaghetti sauce. Really. For now, that’s...

If you love In-N-Out burgers and care about the workers who flip your burgers, then you should support a minimum wage of $0. Deep down, I know you’re tired of seeing actors jump up and down for TV cameras while waving professional signs that read: “McGreedy! McStingy! McPoverty!” or “McShame. McDonald’s. Raise That Wage.” You weren’t born yesterday. You doubt that these protestors come up with these slogans on their own or fashion them into makeshift signs with their own cardboard, sticks and markers. You suspect they were given signs and paid to wave them. Indeed, in recent protests, 84%...

**SNIP** Professor Garrett makes the controversial point that carbon dioxide emissions, which are a major cause of runaway climate change, can only be stabilized by a complete collapse of the global industrial economy or society builds the equivalent of one nuclear reactor per day. "Stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions at current rates will require approximately 300 gigawatts of new non-carbon-dioxide-emitting power production capacity annually - approximately one new nuclear power plant (or equivalent) per day," Garrett says. "Physically, there are no other options without killing the economy." Every week new scientific reports are published that note how industrial civilization is...

As I sat all alone in the courthouse square, an old man named Sam approached me there. His once-dark locks were now all gray. His eyes were bright, sharp, and clear. They pierced your soul, your heart, your mind, and showed not a trace of fear. He looked tired and weary, aged past his years. His lips held a smile, but his hand wiped a tear

As ISIS continues its orgy of rape and beheadings in Ramadi, perhaps our president could show a rare flash of dignity by simply slipping out the back door of the White House and down the road to the links instead of putting on his annual farce of “honoring” the sacred dead at Arlington. If he gave one half a damn about those who gave their lives for this country, the black flag wouldn’t be flying over the cities and towns purchased with the blood of so many valiant warriors. But Barack Obama, like the rest of the liberal elite, cares...

**SNIP** Derision, rather than refutation, seems to be the norm of discourse in mainstream politics as well. Accordingly, opposing views are seen as a sign of some moral defect, not genuine disagreement. Earlier this year, for example, a prominent Democrat compared delaying the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as attorney general (she’s the first African-American woman to be given the role) to Jim Crow segregation. Elsewhere, questioning certain sexual-assault statistics makes one a ‘rape apologist’; proponents of traditional marriage are dismissed as ‘bigots’; and even President Obama is called sexist for arguing with Senator Elizabeth Warren about a trade bill (he...

U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) made headlines recently when he introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 1735). The amendment allows for the transfer of surplus 1911A1 handguns to the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) for sale to the general public. Last week, in response, the U.S. army released a white paper voicing “concern” over this amendment and claimed that there would be “potential negative impacts on public safety from the large amount of semi-automatic and concealable pistols that will be released for public purchase.” These concerns included the traceability of the firearms after sale, and...