Free Republic

We hear a lot about the United States' Judeo-Christian heritage, but according to President Obama, "Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding." That's what the president told a White House conference on "countering violent extremism" on Wednesday. Obama has said similar things in the past: "I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story,” Obama said in a June 2009 speech in Cairo, Egypt. "Islam has always been part of America," he said in a 2010 statement marking the start of Ramadan. And in a 2014 statement marking Eid, Obama...

At the end of the American Revolution, King George III asked his American painter, Benjamin West, what George Washington would do next. West replied, “They say he will return to his farm.”“If he does that,” the incredulous monarch said, “he will be the greatest man in the world.”Colloquially we now call the federal holiday on the third Monday in February “Presidents Day.” Legally, though, it’s still “Washington’s Birthday.” Which is appropriate, because without Washington we might not have had any other presidents.George Washington was the man who established the American republic. He led the revolutionary army against the British Empire,...

The upcoming six-part miniseries, Sons of Liberty, follows a defiant and radical group of young men – Sam Adams (Ben Barnes), John Adams (Henry Thomas), Paul Revere (Michael Raymond-James), John Hancock (Rafe Spall) and Joseph Warren (Ryan Eggold) – as they band together in secrecy to change the course of history and make America a nation.Calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, they light the spark that ignited a revolution. Though their names have become American legend, this group of young rebels didn’t start off as noble patriots in powdered wigs. They were a new American generation of young men from...

Sons of Liberty Three-Night Event Begins Jan 25 at 9/8c on the History Channel. Video at source link. Topics will include Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, and more.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a fascinating op-ed by William A. Galston, "The Christian Heart of American Exceptionalism," much of which I agree with but some of which I don't. Galston argues that the idea of American exceptionalism should not be discounted and that its primary source is the "durability of American religious belief" -- mostly Christianity. Bravo. This will doubtlessly come as a shock to zealots for the blurry concept of multiculturalism, which on its face dictates that all cultures are equal and that all who disagree with the notion are more or less bigoted. At a deeper...

The oldest time capsule discovered in the country that dates back to 1795 will be opened Tuesday in Boston, ABC News reported.American Revolution patriot Paul Revere and then-Gov. Samuel Adams originally placed the relic under a cornerstone of the Boston Statehouse in 1795.

The coming clash between President Obama and Congress over immigration promises to light up what I like to call a constitutional moment. This is a moment in which our politics are so divided that we have scraped away the soil of legislation and are fighting on American bedrock. Rarely has it shone more clearly than in respect of who has the power to decide who can come here and be naturalized as a citizen.

On March 6, 1799, President John Adams issued a proclamation “Recommending a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer”--for “thanksgiving to the Author of All Good.” Among the things Adams wished Americans would ask God on this day was to make American schools teach not only sound science but also sound morals and religion. Americans, Adams said, should ask God to “smile on our colleges, academies, schools, and seminaries of learning, and make them nurseries of sound science, morals, and religion.”

For the last two days, Sen. Ted Cruz has been the guest on "Life Today," telling host James Robison that it is vitally important for Christians to vote so that America can continue to enjoy God's blessings. On yesterday's program, the Texas Republican declared that Christians are required by Scripture to vote and cast their votes based on biblical values. After praising his father's efforts to mobilize right-wing pastors and get them involved in politics, Cruz said that Christians could fundamentally reshape this nation is they simply voted according to the Bible. "Can you imagine how different our country would...

Vice President Joe Biden was exactly right when he said as he campaigned in Iowa on Oct. 27, "Folks, this election is even more important than the two elections you elected Barack and me." With President Obama's approval rating tanking to 38 percent in September, I can understand why Biden is shaking in his boots. The fact is that this election can serve for the 6 in 10 voters who are disappointed with the administration as a mega-loudspeaker and overarching referendum. As a way of showing the potential power of that vote, I want to share what America's founders told...

In the years following the adoption of the Constitution, before he was Secretary of State under President Thomas Jefferson and then president himself, James Madison, who wrote the Constitution, was a member of the House of Representatives. During that period of his life, he gave illuminating speeches and wrote elegant essays and letters about human freedom. In one of his essays, Madison noted that freedom came about in Europe when the people rose up and cast off or intimidated tyrants, who reluctantly granted the people the freedoms they sought. That was, in Madison's words, "power granting liberty." The American experience...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)If the local grand jury brings no charges against police Officer Darren Wilson in the case of Michael Brown's killing, street protests in Ferguson, Missouri, are inevitable. Demonstrators angry about Wilson's shooting of the unarmed black teenager in August already decry the grand jury's secrecy and "lack of transparency." But for those who believe that the grand jury procedure is some sort of cop and prosecutor conspiracy to trample the rights of minority citizens, a little background on this hallowed institution might be in order. Although prosecutors are often accused of controlling grand jury proceedings, the institution was actually created...

Reflections on the anniversary of the Fort Wilson Riot... America’s War of Independence was striking for many reasons, reasons that are sometimes overshadowed by the shock of a ragtag army defeating the world’s greatest military power. But this striking issue is in fact just as important as the victory itself: As historian Joseph J. Ellis puts it, the American Revolution is famous for the fact that “it didn’t eat its young.” Consider the French Revolution, and its subsequent Reigns of Terror, followed by the Napoleonic Wars. Most revolutions go through stages: overthrow the incumbent ruling class, then kill them all,...

A few hundred years ago, humanity went through a remarkable period of transformation, the Enlightenment. A number of different developments enabled this transformation to take place, and the impact of the Enlightenment has been tremendous. One area where the Enlightenment had particularly strong influence was in political theory. Before the Enlightenment, it was common knowledge that all men were natural slaves. We were slaves to our parents and slaves to our rulers in the same way that we were naturally slaves to God. This ancient doctrine justified the despotic political systems that had existed in one form or another throughout...

As we reflect on the historic vote in Scotland this week (all votes seem to be “historic” these days, don’t they? Might have more to do with news network ratings than actual history), we Americans find ourselves rather conflicted. On the one hand, we cheer for the idea of independence, a race memory of sorts that dates back to our own War for Independence over 230 years ago. We feel a special affinity for all members of the British Empire; we speak the same language, share the same customs, even enjoy many of the same television shows. Their heroes are...

The Constitution is our most endearing document, but not everything you read online about the Constitution is accurate! Here are some of the top myths about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers still out there on blogs and websites. To be clear, these myths are not about interpretations of the Constitution; they center on people and events related to the founding document.

For years, we’ve read a lot of stories about “anti-establishment” Republicans “attacking” their “mainstream” opponents. But the mainstream media narrative rarely runs in the opposite direction. House Leadership GOP Elections The coordinated ruling class surge against constitutional conservatives who don’t know their place gained force last week with both serious and farcical attacks on its presidential contenders. Rand Paul got the viral video treatment for a gotcha moment at an Iowa fundraiser for Congressman Steve King (R-IA)–a compliment of sorts for the senator regarded by many as “Democrat’s Enemy #1.” Senator Paul’s offense is his ability to draw some of...

August 16, 2014 College Board Erases the Founding Fathers. By Patrick Jakeway The classic novel Brave New World describes a future in which people have lost all of their liberty and in which they have become drugged robots obedient to a central authority. It also details how this control was first established. First, the rulers had to erase all history and all the people’s memory of a time before their bondage. Today, the history of George Washington's leadership has been erased in the new Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History test/curriculum, taking effect in the fall of 2014. The College Board,...

"The public be damned!"— William H. Vanderbilt, railroad magnate, 1882 A shattering new study by two political science professors has found that ordinary Americans have virtually no impact whatsoever on the making of national policy in our country. The analysts found that rich individuals and business-controlled interest groups largely shape policy outcomes in the United States.This study should be a loud wake-up call to the vast majority of Americans who are bypassed by their government. To reclaim the promise of American democracy, ordinary citizens must act positively to change the relationship between the people and our governmentThe new study, with...

A startling new political science study concludes that corporate interests and mega wealthy individuals control U.S. policy to such a degree that "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy." The startling study, titled "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens," is slated to appear in an upcoming issue of Perspectives on Politics and was authored by Princeton University Professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Professor Benjamin Page. An early draft can be found here. Noted American University Historian Allan J. Lichtman, who highlighted the...