Free Republic

The FReeper Canteen Presents...Happy Fathers Day 2014!! WHAT MAKES A DAD? God took the strength of a mountain, The majesty of a tree, The warmth of a summer sun, The calm of a quiet sea, The generous soul of nature, The comforting arm of night, The wisdom of the ages, The power of the eagle's flight, The joy of a morning in spring, The faith of a mustard seed, The patience of eternity, And the depth of a family need. Then God combined these qualities, And then there was nothing more to add, He knew His masterpiece was complete,...

Editor Note: This is an excerpt from Tom Purcell's new book, "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!"Get this: Dads are essential to kids. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, kids who grow up without dads are more likely to grow up poor, drop out of school, end up in jail and encounter numerous other struggles in life than kids who grow up with dads do. This information comes as no shock to most men. We know that boys are prone to stupidity and that the creature best suited to taming them is the like-minded...

Today would be my father's 90th birthday. Dad was born on June 13, 1924. Friends kidded him all his life about being born on a Friday the 13th. He died when I was in college, and I especially miss him on Father's Day. If he were alive today, I would thank him for teaching me that family is my highest privilege and responsibility, and for loving us so unconditionally. My dad would have agreed with the 75 percent of fathers who say that being adad is their most important job. Sixty-one percent say they are more involved with their children...

When I was working on my book, “7 Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness,” I thought about the way that our culture has depicted men, specifically fathers, over the past half-century or so. It’s hard to believe today, but one of the iconic television shows of the 1950s was actually called “Father Knows Best.” And believe it or not, the title was not ironic! Jim Anderson, played by Robert Young, really did know best. He was kind, patient, generous and firm when he needed to be. As the saying goes, that was then and this is, well, not then....

"Before he and his brothers hit comic paydirt, Adolph “Harpo” Marx (left, with Groucho) spent his early 1900s childhood in a tenement on East 93rd Street. Though his family of 10 struggled, he credits his parents for not letting poverty make “any of us depressed or angry,” he wrote in 1961′s .... .....;

Chelsea Clinton, who grew up in a White House dogged by scandal but one that also protected her from the media's spotlight, credits her dad's "words and even more his actions" for teaching her right and wrong. In a touching Father’s Day message that is part of a worldwide campaign to put the focus on men who’ve nurtured their daughters, Chelsea Clinton said he helped guide her effort to make an impact on the world. “It is impossible for me to describe the extent to which my father has supported me, nurtured me and empowered me over the years,” she...

"the importance of honesty, integrity, transparency, and reliability are still requirements for the job. Dad, I thank you for modeling those traits."

I'm not out to put down any other team, just share a story. As a little girl growing up near Syracuse, I became a huge basketball and football fan. My Dad was a huge fan and if we weren't at the game, we had the radio on and the TV turned down. If there were more then just he and I watching a game, we each had our Walkmans on to listen to the local guys, especially during football season, because they didn't bother trying to explain the rules of the game to those that just tuned in to "the...

Hey Guys! You responded so well to yesterday’s posts about dad that I thought I’d add a few more photos! I’m so thankful for the many roles my dad plays, and so thankful Tripp will grow up with such a great role model in my dad. Click here for Photo 2!

President Obama’s gun gaffe was nearly lost in the pre-Christmas flood of TV and internet chatter. But Breitbart’s Joel Pollak was right to highlight Mr. Obama’s bizarre post-election statement. One of the reasons he ran for re-election, Mr. Obama told Barbara Walters, was so he could have “men with guns around” as his daughters entered their teen years. What a gaffe! We need to focus on that comment now, especially in light of his bromides about fathers in his Father’s Day message. Mr. Obama last week issued a typical Father’s Day Proclamation leading up to the weekend. In it, he...

Though deadbeat dads and high-school dropouts might pervade some communities, there are still far more models than mess-ups across our country, and some stand head and shoulders above the rest. Let me tell you about a few stellar examples. I understand that the fact that 1 in 4 U.S. students do not receive a regular high-school diploma is not good enough, with that number increasing to 1 in 2 students in New York City and other places and among Native Americans. And I understand that, as First Things First reported, in Richmond, Va., 60 percent of families are single-parent households,...

A Utah man has been arrested for allegedly walking into a church on Father's Day and shooting his father-in-law in the back of the head in front of horrified parishioners. Police say Charles Richard Jennings Jr., 35, stole a pickup truck at gunpoint after the incident at a Catholic church in Ogden but was captured hours later in the next county, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The injured man is in critical condition but is expected to survive. Police describe the shooting as a "domestic violence-related incident." Witnesses say Jennings entered the church hand-in-hand with his wife before walking over...

On this Father's Day, we celebrate a dying role. With all of the problems currently plaguing our culture -- crime, violence, promiscuity, poverty, divorce, drug abuse, and so on -- the one thing that we as a nation could do to remedy such things most quickly would be to return fathers to their families. You've almost certainly heard the sad statistics when it comes to fatherhood in America.

Wishing Americans a happy Father’s Day, the White House tweeted a picture of President Obama and one of his daughters playing with toy water pistols. The Tweet comes at a time when several schools around the country—fearful that such toys make kids more prone to violent behavior—have launched trade-in programs that encourage children to exchange their harmless toy guns for chances to win prizes, like books and bicycles. One such trade-in took place last weekend at Strobridge Elementary in California. Principal Chris Hill, who organized the event, explained that toy guns desensitize kids toward gun violence.

It’s Father’s Day — but do these New York men have reason to celebrate? The Post spent the past few weeks cruising shotgun in a mobile DNA-testing truck helping doubtful dads find proof of their progeny. Health Street, the testing company, has two 27-foot Winnebagos — “Who’s Your Daddy?” emblazoned on either side — that rumble through the city seven days a week offering a range of services, including drug and heritage testing.

Father’s Day is this Sunday. A time to celebrate fathers throughout America, it is also a time to bring renewed attention to the consequences of fatherless households.

Hey, Dad. If you’re going to send your kid to a public school or a state run university, then you’ve got to teach your child not to just sit there in class, like a nice boy, and take whatever propaganda the “progressives” shove down their pie hole. The Conservative/traditionalist is the rebel of our day. “The Man” and “The Machine” on campus to rage against is not stodgy traditionalism, but rank socialism and its moral and political vacuity. Meet the new boss — it’s not the same as the old boss. For Dads who want their kids to make a...

The FReeper Canteen Presents...Happy Father's Day!!

In rolled summer, and out came the lighter wardrobe for the hotter season. In the pockets of a linen blazer, I found an assortment of odds and ends abandoned and forgotten since the jacket was stored away for winter: a five-dollar bill, a movie stub, two dinner receipts, and a handwritten note from Dad. “Brett, you need to work less, find someone to love you and take care of you, and live a little. Love, Dad.” My father died on Sept. 29, and although I miss him, I haven’t been successful at following his advice any more than I did...