Free Republic

Mike Pence is a bigot, according to one of his fellow governors. “When you see a bigot you have to call him on it,” Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Story Continued Below Malloy, the incoming chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, on Monday signed an executive order banning state-funded travel to Indiana in response to a "religious freedom" law signed last week by Pence. Critics say the law, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians; Pence insists it’s meant only to protect religious communities from government encroachment...

Perhaps Indiana Gove. Mike Pence and state lawmakers should revisit the “religious freedom” legislation. They’ve officially lost NASCAR , a sport that, despite its growing diversity, still has a strong conservative base. “NASCAR is disappointed by the recent legislation passed in Indiana,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Brett Jewkes, in a statement released Tuesday. “We will not embrace nor participate in exclusion or intolerance. We are committed to diversity and inclusion within our sport and therefore will continue to welcome all competitors and fans at our events in the state of Indiana and anywhere else we...

As I watched "Good Morning America" today, I saw a segment where the media was bringing pressure to bear on the Indiana legislature and governor. George Stephanopolous was questioning governor Pence: George Stephanopolis:Final question, final yes-or-no question, Governor. Do you think it should be legal, in the state of Indiana, to discriminate against gays or lesbians? And this is how they characterize the debate. They portray one side (theirs) as heroic, and the other side (ours) as evil. Governor Pence was not prepared for this ambush. His response was scatter shot and muddled. Among the things he could have said...

Today’s Indianapolis Star front page uses the headline approach usually reserved for war. Because that’s what this is: culture war, and the mainstream media, as a vital part of the progressive movement, is waging total war for a cause they believe is holy. I’m not exaggerating. To most of the media, there is no other side in the gay marriage debate, or on anything to do with gay rights. There is only Good and Evil. And so we have the spectacle of a moral panic that makes a party that is a chief beneficiary of the First Amendment — a...

I know that I should say something about the backlash and debate over Indiana’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but it’s been hard to come up with something that I didn’t already say in my column when it was Arizona’s variation on the same law, vetoed under pressure, that was in the news. That column made the case that the only remaining question in the same-sex marriage “debate” was what kind of space, if any, an ascendant cultural liberalism would leave to Americans with traditional views on what constitutes a marriage; that the correlation of forces (corporate now...

Indiana Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kevin Brinegar comments on SB 101, the Religious Freedom Restoration bill, becoming law today and the reaction to that: “In our eyes, the law is entirely unnecessary. The reactions to it are not unexpected or unpredicted; passing the law was always going to bring the state unwanted attention. "Yet we are optimistic that the public overall will continue to look to Indiana as a place to come to do business, attend a convention or enjoy a sporting event. Indiana has shown time and time again – whether it’s hosting the Super Bowl or...

I spent the weekend reading as much as I could about the controversy over Indiana’s new religious freedom law. What it tells us is very bad, from a conservative perspective, especially a religious conservative perspective. Let me explain. First, the Indiana law is not substantially different from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, nor is it substantially different from state RFRAs in place in most other states in the US. Indiana law professor Daniel O. Conkle, who supports gay rights in general and same-sex marriage in particular, also supports the Indiana law, and explains why here. Excerpts:

A feminist group at the University of Wollongong plans to hold an event on Wednesday about gay pornography. The "cr*p" in their event is never actually specified, meaning that the pornography will either feature fecal matter or disabled people. The event, advertised on Facebook, is titled "FreeSchool #5: The Radical Potential of Queer Cr*p Porn." It will be hosted by FemSoc, which is short for "Feminist Society." This is the picture used to promote the event: The description states, "This weeks free school will be delivered by FemSoc member Liv Todhunter on the radical potential of Queer Cr*p Porn to...

There’s something very dangerous happening in states across the country. A wave of legislation, introduced in more than two dozen states, would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors. Some, such as the bill enacted in Indiana last week that drew a national outcry and one passed in Arkansas, say individuals can cite their personal religious beliefs to refuse service to a customer or resist a state nondiscrimination law.

Late last summer, with midterms consuming the attention of the political class, a group of GOP activists spent two days in Des Moines trying to convince their fellow Republicans that change was coming to their party. With eyes on 2016, they attended the Iowa State Fair, talked with newspaper editorial boards, and even ventured onto conservative talk radio. To cap it off, on the last evening, supporters gathered at 801 Chophouse, the upscale watering hole of the city's political elite, as if to announce their movement had gone mainstream. That it couldn't be dismissed as fringe any longer.

In the plane, the automatic alarm signal ‘Sink Rate’ sounds almost at the same time, according to the voice recorder. Shortly afterwards there is a loud bang, which sounds like someone trying to enter the cockpit. Sondheimer yells: ‘For God’s sake, open the door!’ In the background, passengers can be heard screaming. At 10.35am ‘loud, metallic banging against the cockpit door’ is heard again, according to the French authorities. The jet is still 7,000ft above the ground. About 90 seconds later there is a new warning message – ‘Ground! Pull up! Pull up!’ The pilot is heard shouting: ‘Open the...

In the days since audio was extracted from the black box recorder of crashed Germanwings flight 4U9525 suggesting that copilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately downed the plane, investigators and journalists have rushed to find an explanation for his actions. Initially, many hypothesized about the possibility of an extremist religious or ideological motive. In his apparently lacking significant religious or ideological commitments, Lubitz is speculated to have been mentally unstable. A concealed health issue has been offered as a clue. Thousands of words pile up in dozens of news sources to make up for Lubitz’s silence in the cockpit. The pounding...

Mikhail Ivan Gallatinov, 40 and his fellow male inmate Marc Goodwin, 31, tied the knot in the children's play alcove at their prison's visitor centre

Comrades, glorious news! You can now upgrade your old, outdated Race Card™ to a Gay Card™! What's a Gay Card? Why, it's like the old fashioned Race Card, but on steroids. You see, the venerable Race Card is starting to lose its edge, and white people are becoming less and less prone to bouts of guilt, self-doubt, and introspective soul searching for deep, subconscious, genetically coded racist tendencies. In fact, some white people even laugh off the Race Card when it's presented. But those days are over! That's right, with the new Gay Card you can do anything the...

SISTERON, France — The German co-pilot accused of crashing a passenger plane in the French Alps frequented a gliding club near the crash site as a child with his parents, according to a member of the club. Francis Kefer, a member of the club in the town of Sisteron, said on i-Tele television that Andreas Lubitz' family and other members of the gliding club in his home town of Montabaur, Germany, came to the region regularly between 1996 and 2003. ... The crash site is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from the Aero-club de Sisteron glider airfield.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law Thursday a bill he claims will protect religious liberty in his state. Overwhelmingly approved by that state’s Republican-controlled legislature, the law allows businesses and workers, citing their religious beliefs, to refuse service to anyone they find objectionable. Of course, what the so-called “religious freedom” act really does is legalize discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people.

MailOnline US Friday, Mar 27th 2015 BREAKING NEWS: Germanwings co-pilot nicknamed 'Tomato Andy' tore up sick note on the day he crashed jet and hid secret illness from the company, prosecutor reveals Pilot Andreas Lubitz might have been suffering a 'personal crisis' after failed relationship, it was claimed last night He had suffered from depression and 'burnout' and was once deemed 'unfliable' but was later passed as fit to fly Head of Lufthansa admitted the 28-year-old had slipped through the 'safety net' - with devastating consequences Friends said he was teased and called 'Tomato Andy' because he worked as a...

Add Keith Olbermann to the now trending #BoycottIndiana mob looking to punish the state over its new religious freedom law — a law that closely mirrors the 1993 Chuck Schumer sponsored, Bill Clinton signed Religious Freedom Restoration Act:

On the eve of next week's Final Four in Indianapolis, the NCAA expressed concern about a new Indiana law that will allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers based on “religious freedom” and suggested future NCAA championships in the state could be impacted. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday signed into law a measure that has created uproar in the state where the NCAA is located. Some conventions are threatening to pull out of Indianapolis. Greg Ballard, the Republican mayor of Indianapolis, broke with the Republican governor on the bill and said it would put the city's economy...

Orlando, FL - Heather Barwick, who was raised by two lesbians, shared her compelling story and why she opposes same-sex marriage. Married to a man and raising four children, Heather has come to realize why same-sex marriage is wrong and why it harms children. In her powerful story, Heather wrote in The Federalist: “Growing up, and even into my 20s, I supported and advocated for gay marriage. It’s only with some time and distance from my childhood that I’m able to reflect on my experiences and recognize the long-term consequences that same-sex parenting had on me. And it’s only now,...