Free Republic

Between the town hall meetings and the tea party rallies, millions of Americans are taking to the streets to protest a government gone berserk. They are angry and determined to take their country back. But there are snakes in the grass intent on using this movement to return to power, not the people, but the Republican establishment. If this happens we lose everything, including our country.

PHOENIX (AP) - President Barack Obama took on both the defense establishment and freespending lawmakers on Monday, saying they were draining the defense budget with "exotic projects." "If Congress sends me a defense bill loaded a bunch of pork, I will veto it," he declared in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He accused members of Congress of using the defense budget to protect jobs back home, including on wasteful projects he said were diverting money needed for U.S. military forces battling everything from nuclear weapons to "18th century style piracy and 21st century cyber threats."

That, in a nutshell, is the meaning of most of the news stories about Sarah Palin in recent months. It's the reason for the wrangling between her and the Democrats over the Juneau-area state senate seat; it's the reason for the fight over her AG nominee, Wayne Anthony Ross; it's the reason for the sniping from machine tools in the state legislature like Fairbanks RINO Jay Ramras; it's the reason the New York Times paid a visit to Alaska. This is what all the badmouthing boils down to. Obviously, the stories about members of her family are not, in and...

Surfer that he is, President Obama should know a riptide when he's in one. The center usually is the safest, most productive place in politics, but perhaps not now, not in a once-in-a-century economic crisis. Swimming in the middle, he's denounced as a socialist by conservatives, criticized as a polite accommodationist by government-is-the-answer liberals, and increasingly, dismissed as being in over his head by technocrats. Luckily for Obama, the public still likes and trusts him, at least judging by the latest polls, including NEWSWEEK's.But, in ways both large and small, what's left of the American establishment is taking his measure...

In fact, this past Friday before Thanksgiving, when her name was on every cable news channel bannered as America's soon-to-be announced next Secretary of State, the real Hillary was hiding in plain sight in the center of the known universe. Here. Here as in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (You knew Harrisburg was the center of the known universe, right?) No, I'm not kidding. And if you're into the reading of political tea leaves (and if you belong to MoveOn.org you perhaps should be), there was, quite possibly, something to learn. Senator Clinton was a stone's throw or so from my writing desk...

Mock the Vote by David Heleniak Jesse Ventura, when he’s not talking about 9-11, makes a lot of sense. Describing the two party system to Larry King, he said: “[W]hat you have today is like walking into the grocery store and you go to the soft drink department, and there is only Pepsi and Coke. Those are the two you get to choose from. There is no Mountain Dew, no Root Beer, no Orange. They’re both Colas; one is slightly sweeter than the other, depending on which side of the aisle you are on.” In an interview with Newsmax, he...

The Democrats have discovered just how badly they have constructed their college of delegates in this cycle. They have used the superdelegate structure since the mid-1980s, but no one foresaw how that could appear when two candidates split the vote almost equally. Now one the architects of the Democratic delegate structure defends the concept in today's Washington Post by saying what no one else will -- the Establishment is smarter than the electorate: In presidential election years, Americans see the face of a political party most clearly in the personality, views and character of its presidential candidates. But a national...

It didn't take long for the Democratic Party establishment to react to Hillary Clinton's stunning loss in Wisconsin yesterday. A new 527 will raise money for a messaging onslaught in Texas and Ohio, funded by political strategists and deep-pocket donors who have ridden to Hillary's rescue: Looking to boost Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's sagging fortunes, a group of Democratic political strategists has assembled an organization that will raise money from wealthy donors and run ads promoting her views in Texas and Ohio. Called the American Leadership Project, the organization has been formed as a so-called 527 committee, which can raise...

A deal was made. I don’t know where (I suspect Washington), I don’t know when (I suspect prior to the 2004 campaign), I don’t know what (I suspect McCain was to leave Bush a clear field in 2004 in exchange for Bush’s support in 2008). I can’t prove it, but a deal was made. I’m sure of it. I elaborated on the idea here: Ironically, the erstwhile “maverick” is pursuing an insider strategy, hiring George W. Bush’s consultants, lining up local party loyalists and shaking the same establishment money tree that, in the 2000 campaign, he complained had given Bush...

<p>LADY LAKE, FLA. — Is John McCain, maverick flyboy of the Republican Party, becoming the candidate of the GOP establishment?</p> <p>McCain, who has delighted in sticking his thumb in the eye of mainstream Republicans throughout his political career, is now accumulating a base of support among party regulars who see him as the strongest general election candidate in the remaining Republican field.</p>

MCCAIN EMERGES AS THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT...

This post is a follow up to the previous post, the lowdown about church & state separation. The following essay goes into more detail about the Supreme Court's scandalous interpretation of the religious aspects of the 14th Amendment. I will start this discussion of the folly of politically correct interpretations of the 14th A. by reluctantly agreeing with the main reason that I believe that atheists and secularists cheerlead the Supreme Court's perverted, 10th A.-ignoring interpretations of the establishment clause and the religious aspects of the 14th Amendment. The problem is that it's hard to find judges that interpret religion-related...

The American Civil Liberties Union again is suing under the twisted rational the fourteenth amendment somehow disables local government from displaying anything remotely religious in nature. The latest victim targeted by the ACLU is the rural Florida county of Dixie, which has a Ten Commandments monument at the steps of its courthouse.The lawsuit says the monument violates the First and 14th Amendments because it is not part of a historical display and because the uniquely Christian message of the Ten Commandments on a government building could intimidate people with different religious beliefs.Well I’d say if anyone finds any community...

Ground zero for today's social unrest concerning c&s separation issues, in my opinion, is Justice Black. Justice Black made a career, it seems, out of rewriting history in order to misrepresent the intentions of constitutional lawmakers, both the ratifiers of the Bill of Rights and the post Civil War 14th Amendment lawmakers. He misrepresented their intentions concerning religious related statutes, particularly ignoring the 10th A. power of the states to address religious issues. More specifically, he misrepresented their intentions in order to sell his treasonous interpretations of both the establishment clause and the religious aspects of the 14th Amendment. The...

After Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed a bunch more this summer...after Israel responded with its assault on Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon...after Israel's stock market dropped 10 percent in the first week of...a strange thing happened to Israel's capital markets: nothing. The stocks quickly recovered almost all their early losses. So did those in Egypt, Kuwait, Dubai, and Qatar. Even the Saudi Tadawul, which shed more than 6 percent in the days after the fighting started, climbed soon after (and 6 percent wasn't that big a deal since it had doubled last year and was looking to resettle)....

AUSTIN - Public school students don't need to go to church on Sunday for a strong dose of religion — in some cases, according to a new study, they merely show up for class. . . . The 76-page report, titled "Reading, Writing and Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools," is one of the most ambitious looks so far at Bible courses that have sprouted in the nation's public high schools. The report was a joint effort by Mark Chancey, a biblical studies professor at Southern Methodist University, and the Education Fund of the Texas Freedom Network, a...

"3. Resolved that it is true as a general principle and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the constitution that ‘the powers not delegated to the US. by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people’: and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the US. by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, & were reserved, to the states or...

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com A federal court ruled a Florida county cannot prohibit a rabbi from holding prayer and worship services in his own home. Rabbi Joseph Konikov of Orlando was faced with two land-use ordinance violations filed by Orange County. "Americans have the right to meet in their homes for prayer or to study religious materials without government interference," said Rick Nelson, head of the American Liberties Institute, a group allied with the Alliance Defense Fund. In 2001, Konikov and his family were ordered by code enforcement officers to stop holding prayer meetings in their home, near Disney World, alleging...

Congressman Sees Progress in Military Prayer Issue Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 Posted: 9:18:27AM EST The lawmaker leading a congressional drive against Air Force guidelines encouraging non-sectarian prayers in certain situations is confident that the White House is looking into the matter, according to the legislator’s spokeswoman. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) discussed the contested military policy last Thursday with President Bush’s Domestic Policy Advisor Claude Allen, and was confident that the matter would receive more attention within the Bush administration. “The Congressman was very pleased, because he felt that [Allen] had a good grasp of the issue,” said spokeswoman Kathleen Joyce....

Separation of Church and State is meant to protect religion from government......

The past few weeks have been a wakeup call to those Republicans, and especially those conservatives, who got stars in their eyes and supported movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor during the historic Gray Davis recall campaign. On the heels of a decisive defeat in the recent special election for his reform ballot initiatives, the Terminator is acting like he wants to terminate his alliance with the Republican Party. Since he has failed to even slow the nonstop spending of the California Legislature, Arnold's false reading of the election-results tea leaves has now led him to join the Democrat Party...

It is time we all face a few facts: The political establishment in Washington DC -- both Republicans and Democrats -- has grown into a lazy, lying, manipulative and dirty machine which is surely destroying our country. The so-called mainstream media (MSM) is an adjunct to this corrupt machine. Instead of asking questions in behalf of the American people, the MSM has become the propaganda arm of the politicians of both parties who lie constantly. Let’s take Iraq: last week’s column, WAR BASED ON LIES, has prompted numerous emails from good readers (so many, in fact, that they can’t all...

The Hugh Hewitt Show is heard on 112 radio stations nationwide. You may obtain information about affiliates by e-mailing: johagan@hughhewitt.com. Location Call Letters Frequency Show Times Ashburn, GA WTIF 107.5 6-9 PM Sat., Sun Atlanta, GA WLTA 1400 AM 10-12 PM WNIV 970 AM 10-12 PM WGKA 1190 AM 6-9 PM - "Best of" 7-10 Sat. Bakersfield, CA KNZR 1560 AM 7-10 PM Baltimore, MD WITH 1230 AM 6-9 PM Bartlesville, OK KWON 1400 AM 7 PM Black Mountain, NC WFGW 1010 AM 6-9 PM Boone, IA KFFF 1260 AM 99.3 FM 5-8 PM Boston, MA WTTT 1150 AM 6-9...

College students are persistently imbued with the idea that it is fashionable to be anti-establishment. But a tangible definition of the establishment is never given; it’s often idly expressed as the middle-America lifestyle; a wife, 2.3 children, a house with a white picket fence, and a nine-to-five job. But regardless as to how students conceptualize the establishment, the idea is vague at best, and leaves youth helplessly rebelling against an obscurity, for the purpose of mere non-conformity. To be exact, the establishment is any individual or group of individuals who discontinue thought, which can be done either consciously or subconsciously....

The American Civil Liberties Union has found a sympathetic ear for its latest assault against the Boy Scouts. At issue is the famous Jamboree, held since 1981 at Fort A. P. Hill in Virginia and indirectly receiving support from the Army in billeting, infrastructure, and so forth. The ACLU argues that this arrangement breaches the First Amendment's separation between church and state. A federal judge in Chicago concurs, declaring government aid for the Jamboree unconstitutional. Because the Scouts require members to "privately exercise their religious faith as directed by their families and religious advisors," the ACLU petitioned the court to...

...We need to restore the original definitions of "law," "establishment," and "religion" in the First Amendment. A monument or display could never be a "law," the mere posting or installation of it is not an "establishment," and the recognition of God by the public display of the Ten Commandments is not "religion." After all, the original definition of the word "religion" -- the duties we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging those duties -- which was recognized by the Supreme Court years ago, acknowledged God and a higher law. ...[I]t should be clear that, as Justice Antonin...

A few days ago, the majority of the Supreme Court ruled as if it were using the Constitution of France instead of the Constitution of the USA. The French Constitution states that its nation is a secular one, while our Constitution states that we are a nation under God. One would not know this if the majority of the Supreme Court today is to be believed Mark Levin states in his book, Men in Black, “Chief Justice William Rehnquist has written that the Court ‘bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life.’” Based on a misreading of Thomas...

So: Does a display of the Ten Commandments on government-owned property violate the Constitution's ban on establishment of religion? Two Supreme Court decisions yesterday suggest the answer is: It depends. Certainly, the twin 5-4 rulings were confusing. And, thus, unsatisfying. Americans look to their top court to resolve issues — in clear and simple terms. But the decisions suggest that, in the case of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, it's not so easy to do that. The rulings, though, did at least squarely dispel the notion that any display of a religious symbol on public land clearly violates the constitution....

<p>WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday rendered two more hairsplitting, migraine-inducing decisions about when religious displays on public property do and do not violate the First Amendment protection against ``establishment'' of religion. In a case from Texas, where a Ten Commandments monument stands outside the state Capitol, the court, splintered six ways from Sunday, said: We find no constitutional violation. The second case came from Kentucky, where the Commandments displayed in several courthouses are surrounded by historical symbols and documents -- e.g., copies of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Star Spangled Banner -- to comply with the ``reindeer rule,'' more about which anon. On Monday the court recoiled from Kentucky's displays, saying, they are unconstitutionally motivated by a ``predominately religious purpose.'' Not enough reindeer?</p>

A traffic stop in Greer, S.C., this month is turning into a holy war of sorts, as a practicing Druid couple claim they were targeted by a Christian police officer who tried to convert them away from their pagan belief. Debra and Tony Gainey say they were pulled over because they had a bumper sticker reading "It's A Druid Thing." Tony Gainey was driving at the time of the stop June 10 and was taken into custody on charges of driving with a suspended license, operating a vehicle with an improper tag and failure to have proof of insurance....

PARIS - Secularists criticized the French government Monday for lowering flags to half-staff out of respect for Pope John Paul II, calling it an attack on the country's century-old separation of church and state. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's office ordered that flags at public buildings be lowered for 24 hours following the pope's death Saturday "in keeping with republican custom." But critics said France's republican custom is secular, pointing to the law enacted last year that bans Islamic head scarves and other conspicuous religious symbols from schools. "The French Republic should not descend to such a level," said Socialist Sen....

About 15 years ago I wrote a book about crime, tackling the knotty problem of how "technicalities" based on the Bill of Rights could end up excusing people of ancient crimes like robbery and murder. The problem, I found, was the tendency of judges and lawyers to elevate the Constitution to Holy Writ. Murder, rape, and other crimes, you see, are only statutory offenses. There's nothing in the Constitution that says you can't kill someone. On the other hand, if a murderer argues that he wasn't read his Miranda warnings three times in the language of his choice, he is...

Scalia Sounds Off on Religious Rulings ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Tuesday that judges should look to historical practices when ruling on religious issues. Speaking at the University of Michigan, Scalia criticized judges for using what he called "abstractions" to interpret religious issues when they should be looking to the text of the Constitution itself. "The Constitution says what it says and does not say what it does not say," he said. Scalia's appearance was sponsored by Ave Maria School of Law, a private school in Ann Arbor backed by Domino's Pizza founder...

Memo to Media Establishment: Ignore Blogs at Your Peril By Frank Bajak January 25, 2005 AP Technology Editor CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- The managing editor of The New York Times threw down the gauntlet as she stared across a big O-shaped table at the prophets of blogging. Did they have any idea, asked Jill Abramson, what it cost her newspaper to maintain its Baghdad bureau last year? The unspoken subtext was clear: How can you possibly believe you can toss a laptop into a backpack, head for Iraq's Sunni Triangle and pretend to even come close to telling it like...

Americans who hold to traditional values are expressing outrage this Christmas over the blatant double standards with which the enemies of this country’s Judeo-Christian heritage seek to completely expunge any vestige of it from their midst. Almost everywhere they look, Believers are confronted with legal actions of zealous individuals in authority positions, displaying outright hostility towards Biblical symbols of the Christmas season, while simultaneously encouraging every possible alternative, whether secular or otherwise. The very manner in which traditional America now seeks to defend itself, not on the basis that these actions result from a grotesque distortion of the First Amendment,...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Censoring American HistoryRemember James Lord? He's the student in Illinois who was booted by Dupo High School officials for daring to close his school's closed-circuit news broadcast by saying "God bless." Of course, the simpleton school administrators believed the James Lord's transgression violated the constitutionally-mandated separation of church of state. Never mind the fact that such a constitutional mandate doesn't exist. Dupo High indoctrinators...oops...educators aren't the only school officials in desperate need of a remedial course in American government. Not to be outdone by her Illinois counterparts, Patricia Vidmar, the principal of Stevens Creek School in Cupertino, California, has barred...

Legal group awarded 1/2 million tax dollars for ridding courthouse of 10 Commandments A new online petition asks Congress to change a specific civil-rights statute in hopes of preventing the American Civil Liberties Union from collecting attorney fees from taxpayers of local governments the organization takes to court. The effort – spearheaded by Craig McCarthy of CourtZero.org, a site dedicated to stemming judicial activism – seeks to change 42 U.S.C., Section 1988, of the United States Code. The statute now allows judges to award attorney fees to plaintiffs in civil-rights cases brought against local governments, thereby putting the taxpayers on...

By Washington standards, Mr. Bush is a misfit. He's different. He barely socializes at all and on weekends and holidays makes a beeline for Camp David or his ranch in Crawford, Texas. He'd rather invite Christian musician Michael W. Smith and his wife to the White House for dinner than eat out. If Mr. Bush really wanted to soothe establishment types, he'd invite them to state dinners at the White House, after which their names would be in the paper. But he's held fewer state dinners than any president in memory. Mr. Bush is also a seriously religious man in...

The FNC just had a Rathergate segment with a package by mediocre journalist Kelly Wright --who only refers to President Bush as "Mr. Bush" -- kind of like Jesse Jackson-- and he basically said that the only beef the blogosphere had with the memos was the superscript and that other undisputed Bush docs had a superscript (so basically he's peddling the Rather line). There is so much wrong with the "documents"-- they are clearly forgeries--- even the Wash. Post and ABC and NBC News are saying they most probably are. The Staudt retirement that renders one memo as total bs,...

South Korea: Drifting Economy, Boiling Society Andy Xie (Hong Kong) at Morgan Stanley Korean society appears to be focusing on democratization and empowering people, demystifying government power, as well as decreasing the scope and social tolerance of corruption. Because of this, economic liberalization may take a backseat. Indeed, Korean society appears to be focusing on reducing the income inequality that economic liberalization may exacerbate. Korea’s economic establishment is deeply bearish about the present state of affairs, fearing that the lack of direction will depress the economy in the short term and may damage Korea’s longer-term economic competitiveness. The economic establishment...

The Supreme Court takes up the Pledge of Allegiance and those two words: "Under God". We'll hear the fresh debate. Hosted by Tom Ashbrook Guests: Erwin Chemerinsky, professor at the University of Southern California Law Center and chief advisor to Michael Newdow Jim Henderson, senior attorney for the American Center for Law and Justice.

The Terri Jello Brigade Will Continue To March Forward Until Terri Receives Therapy For Oral Feeding.Question of the day: Why oh why wouldn't the government allow Terri to receive communion yesterday? Answer: It would prove she can swallow!!!!! They'd have to stop the murder by decree, and declare the death of the greatest growth industries ( spell that s-c-a-m ) by the two evil sisters - religion and government!!! Could you do without food and water for six days? DAY 6 THE STATE OF FLORIDA, U.S.A. IS EXECUTING TERRI SCHINDLER-SHIAVROBY STARVATION (See http://terrisfight.org ) At 2 P.M. on October 15,...

Join the Terri Jello Brigade Today!!! Could you do without food and water for five days? DAY 5 THE STATE OF FLORIDA, U.S.A. IS EXECUTING TERRI SCHINDLER-SHIAVROBY STARVATION (See http://terrisfight.org ) At 2 P.M. on October 15, the State of Florida surgically removed the feeding tube from a conscious and otherwise alert human being. Her name is Terri Schiavo. Her unfaithful husband, acting as her legal 'guardian' demanded and received a court directive to end Terri's life through the intentional deprivation of food and water - staving her to death. The entire establishment structure in Florida from the governor to...

Join the Terri Jello Brigade Today!!! Could you do without food and water for four days? DAY 4 THE STATE OF FLORIDA, U.S.A. IS EXECUTING TERRI SCHINDLER-SHIAVROBY STARVATION (See http://terrisfight.org ) At 2 P.M. on October 15, the State of Florida surgically removed the feeding tube from a conscious and otherwise alert human being. Her name is Terri Schiavo. Her unfaithful husband, acting as her legal 'guardian' demanded and received a court directive to end Terri's life through the intentional deprivation of food and water - staving her to death. The entire establishment structure in Florida from the governor to...

Join the Terri Jello Brigade Today!!! Could you do without food and water for three days? DAY 3 THE STATE OF FLORIDA, U.S.A. IS EXECUTING TERRI SCHINDLER-SHIAVRO BY STARVATION (See http://terrisfight.org) At 2 P.M. on October 15, the State of Florida surgically removed the feeding tube from a conscious and otherwise alert human being. Her name is Terri Schiavo. Her unfaithful husband, acting as her legal 'guardian' demanded and received a court directive to end Terri's life through the intentional deprivation of food and water - staving her to death. The entire establishment structure in Florida from the governor to...

A Good-Tempered Man Several times I've heard television journalists complain that Howard Dean has to learn to control his temper. Actually, it is his temper that I find attractive. An honest man with sincere convictions will get angry when he hears lies. Some of our greatest presidents had ferocious tempers. George Washington, Andy Jackson and Harry Truman are three examples. You don't see other candidates getting angry because they are all phonies. Their so-called convictions are just campaign positions manufactured by their staffs. They don't really believe in anything except getting elected, so they really don't care what is said....

Tuesday, July 1, 2003Mojave Cross gains support of state American Legion   By KELLY DONOVAN/Staff WriterThe American Legion of California will seek support for the Mojave Cross from its counterparts across the country, Legion officials said Monday.Willy Wilkin, who represents California on the American Legion's executive committee, said he will urge his colleagues to pass a resolution in favor of U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis' efforts to save the cross.The executive committee, which has one member from each state, will meet in August in St. Louis.Wilkin said the Mojave Cross, bolted on top of a rock outcropping in the Mojave...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." That is the First Amendment. It forbids the Government from establishing a religion of its own, as England did with the Church of England...and it prohibits governmental interference with the free exercise of practicing the religion of your choosing...or not, if that is what you want. What has happened in the last 40 years...

This is a call for a "Freedom of Religious Cultural Expression" Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is a profound document that has in great measure stood the test of time. However, in the inspired wisdom that was providentially granted during its writing, none of the Founders foresaw an era when judges could distort the meaning of the document. Fortunately, those Founders provided to the people a means for adjusting the document. This has never been so necessary as it is with the distorted understanding of the 1st Amendment regarding "religion." It is clear from reading the Constitution...