Free Republic

The Framers structured the Constitution to lead the new Republic to the ultimate end of slavery but were unable to set a time frame for its abolition. The story comes to us from James Madison’s classic Notes of the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787.The discussion on slavery at the Federal Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 centered on two issues: 1. how to count the slaves in the apportionment of members in the popularly elected House of Representatives and; 2) setting an end date for the slave trade.Three distinct groups clashed on the assignment of House...

The sun never set on the British Empire. It was the largest empire in world history. Out of nearly 200 countries in the world, only 22 were never controlled, invaded or attacked by Britain. In April of 1775, the British Royal Military Governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage, sent 800 British Army Regulars, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, on a preemptive raid to seize guns from American patriots at Lexington and Concord. George Mason of Virginia stated: "To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them." A warning was sent from...

WASHINGTON — In the fall of 1992, Kanatjan Alibekov defected from Russia to the United States, bringing detailed, and chilling, descriptions of his role in making biological weapons for the former Soviet Union. ----------- Officials still value his seminal depictions of the Soviet program. But recent events have propelled questions about Alibek's reliability: No biological weapon of mass destruction has been found in Iraq. His most sensational research findings, with U.S. colleagues, have not withstood peer review by scientific specialists. His promotion of nonprescription pills — sold in his name over the Internet and claiming to bolster the immune system...

An initiative to rename roads in Northern Virginia is the kind of wasteful, worthless bureaucratic radicalism that Glenn Youngkin and the Republicans campaigned against in the commonwealth.The irony could not have been richer. A few days after Glenn Youngkin won his surprise gubernatorial victory in Virginia campaigning on a repudiation of government radicalism and incompetence, I received a piece of mail from the government of Fairfax County on behalf of the “Confederate Names Task Force.” Written in English, Spanish, and Korean, the notice asks: “Should Lee Highway (Route 29) and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway (Route 50) in Fairfax County be renamed?”...

George Mason University Professor Todd Zywicki isn’t a pushover to anti-science COVID-19 policies. Zywicki has natural immunity to the virus, and thanks to his own hard work and that of his legal team, Zywicki has been granted a medical exemption from his employer’s vaccine mandate. He’s also created a blueprint for others to potentially follow suit.Zywicki Fought Back and Was RewardedGeorge Mason University (GMU) tried to penalize Zywicki for possessing the “wrong type” of COVID immunity, but he wasn’t having it. As a law professor beginning his 24th year teaching at Virginia’s largest four-year public university, Zywicki enjoys well-documented, robust...

George Mason University granted a veteran law professor a medical exemption from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate after he filed a lawsuit demanding recognition of his natural immunity, according to his lawyers. But the Virginia public university has not updated its policy to recognize recovery from prior infection, as proven by antibody testing, as an accepted alternative to vaccination or exemptions for religious or medical reasons.For that reason, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) said it "continues to explore litigation against GMU." The public interest law firm implied it's scrutinizing other Virginia public universities, asking COVID-recovered faculty to get in touch...

Lawsuit battles over vaccine mandates continue to heat up across the country. The Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue (IROAR) filed a lawsuit against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over the vaccine mandate he imposed on indoor dining venues, entertainment establishments, and fitness studios.Those seeking redress: individuals who have pre-existing conditions where a vaccine would do them harm rather than help, and those who have had COVID-19 and recovered, and their natural immunity is equivalent, if not more robust, than the current vaccines.Todd Zywicki, a 24-year tenured law professor at George Mason University (GMU), won a victory in his...

A George Mason University law professor with naturally acquired immunity from COVID is fighting against his employer’s strict COVID vaccine mandate. Antonin Scalia Law School Professor Todd Zywicki, who recovered from a bout with COVID and has blood tests showing antibodies to the virus, said he will not agree to the university’s policy that employees get the vaccine or face numerous sanctions. “George Mason is forcing me to choose between serving my students on one hand and undergoing an unnecessary and potentially risky medical procedure on the other,” Zywicki said in a statement. “Multiple clinical studies have shown that natural...

The anniversary of George Mason's death is coming up. on Wednesday. His thoughts were pure, both of his times and ahead of them. This bit of Word Art pays tribute.

"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Thus began the first of the Ten Amendments, or Bill of Rights, which were approved SEPTEMBER 25, 1789. "The Father of the Bill of Rights" was George Mason of Virginia. George Mason was the richest man in Virginia, owning 15,000 acres. When George Washington was chosen to be the Commander of the Continental Army, George Mason was drafted by the citizens of Virginia to fill Washington's place in the Continental Congress. George Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Jefferson drew from to...

Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by George Mason. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. George Mason was a dedicated federalist, one of three men who refused to sign the new U.S. Constitution because it didn't go far enough protecting state's and individual's rights. Considered the father of the original 10 amendments, he foresaw the populist and globalist attack on the principles for which the document was founded. His prescience was confirmed with the ratification of several subsequent amendments which significantly weakened the intent and the practical application of...

Students at George Mason University are advocating the termination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who is scheduled to teach a George Mason law class in England this summer. Kavanaugh is currently scheduled to teach the class “Creation of the Constitution” to George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School students in Runnymede, England, where the Magna Carta was signed over 804 years ago, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Students on George Mason University’s Fairfax, Virginia, campus who say they are survivors of sexual assault are now banding together to protest Kavanaugh’s right to teach at George Mason. “As a survivor...

THE I’s had been dotted; the T’s were crossed. The 55 delegates to America’s first and so-far-only constitutional convention had hammered out compromises on the separation of powers, apportionment of seats in the legislature and the future of the slave trade. But on September 15th 1787 George Mason, a plantation owner from Virginia, rose to his feet to object. Article V of the draft text laid out two paths by which future amendments could be proposed. Congress could either propose them itself, or it could summon a convention of representatives from the states to propose them. Mason warned that if...

On June 11th, 1788 at the Virginia Ratifying Convention to the Constitution of the United States, Anti-Federalist George Mason remarked in reference to the House of Representatives, “They must form an aristocracy, and will not regard the interest of the people. Experience tells us that men pay most regard to those whose rank and situation are similar to their own.” Certainly, he did not mean a British aristocracy of artificial legal distinctions, special rights, duties, and privileges along perhaps with land from a centuries-long gone monarch. To what did Mr. Mason refer? In the revolutionary, radical Whig, American vernacular he...

Published on May 12, 2017 On May 12, 2017, the Show Me State became the 12th to successfully adopt the Convention of States Article V application to impose fiscal restraints, term limits, and other limits on federal overreach. Thank you to the thousands of COS Missouri warriors! http://www.cosaction.com

FAIRFAX, Va.—A top admissions officer at George Mason University (GMU) condemns faithful Christians and conservatives as “worthless trash,” a sentiment that could alarm thousands of high school students seeking admission to the university, and raises serious First Amendment problems if it impacts any admission decisions.

The dodgy scientists who wrote to resident Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch demanding that RICO laws be used to prosecute climate skeptics just got even more badly screwed. Already one of them — George Mason University professor Jagadish Shukla — is under Congressional investigation for what has been described as the “largest science scandal in US history.” Now the background to their footling conspiracy has been exposed thanks to a FOIA request by the Competitive Enterprise Institute which has forced them to release their private letters and emails. Like Climategate, it makes for some fascinating reading, mainly because —...

Court documents say three students at George Mason University have been arrested after alleged bomb-making materials were found in a dorm room. [Snip] Search warrants say police found a leafy green substance, match books, shaved match heads, a mortar and pedestal, lighter fluid, hand sanitizer candles and a PVC pipe.

"Is that Bill Clinton?" "Nixon, maybe?" "A certain politician of sorts." Joe Biden doesn’t do much better, but rest assured, everyone recognized Kim Kardashian. It’s a good thing it’s only three minutes because every second you spend watching it will make you dumber. Here’s what I’m trying to work out from this: Yes, they should all recognize Reagan and Biden, but is this really an indictment of the current generation or would this have pretty much been par for the course at any point in history? When I was in college in the mid-‘80s, what if someone had walked around...

My favorites are Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.