Free Republic

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the joint candidate of the French Communist Party and the Unbowed France political movement, is surging in the polls following his pledge to "raise taxes on the rich to 100% and gut the goose that lays the golden eggs for the benefit of the working class." "The idea that anyone has the right to withhold anything from the people and their representative, the state, is a pernicious doctrine we must exterminate," Mélenchon said. "For too long progressives have held back from this obvious truth and solution to society's problems. When everything is thrown into the common pot and...

1777: British Army forces commanded by Gen. William Tryon begin burning the village of Danbury, Conn. Much of the town is destroyed before Continental forces can arrive several days later. 1836: Texas Army forces led by Gen. Sam Houston surprise and decisively defeat Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna’s Mexican army in the Battle of San Jacinto. In 18 minutes, some 650 Mexicans lay dead while less than a dozen Texans are killed. The Mexican army surrenders and Texas secures its independence. Santa Anna is captured...

The two phase French election system dooms Marine Le Pen, just like it doomed her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002. Their are five main parties contending, the top four are getting roughly 19-23% each, and only the top two finishers will go to the second round runoff. * Leading at 23.8% the so called “Centrist”, Marcon, who was the protege of the current President, Hollande, who is a Socialist. For various reasons Marcon is running as an independent, but in France “Centrist” means “Socialist”, and that’s not Obama style Socialism, that’s “let’s nationalize the 100 biggest companies in France”...

1861: Col. Robert E. Lee, considered for a top command by Gen. Winfield Scott (whom Lee served as a chief aide during the Mexican-American War), and having just rejected an offer of command in the Confederate Army, reluctantly resigns his commission in the U.S. Army following the secession of his home state of Virginia. In three days, Lee takes command of Virginia state forces - one of the first five generals appointed to the Confederate Army. Meanwhile, Norfolk Navy Yard is abandoned and burned by Union forces to prevent it from falling into enemy hands after Virgnia's secession. The Confederates...

How to Talk Like a Social Justice Campus Crybully It’s not the end of free speech, it’s just the end of speech that is free. April 20, 2017 Daniel Greenfield Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. We spent the second half of the last century in a long war with a bunch of leftists who wore funny clothes and shouted a jargon of incomprehensible slogans. These days you can only find them in North Korea and on your local college campus. As free speech disappears from campuses...

Despite the grim, fatalistic title make no mistake: this is a hagiography. These authors, after all, produced ‘HRC: State Secrets And The Rebirth Of Hillary Clinton’ in 2014. That book, of course, was an unabashed hagiography featuring information gleaned from the so-called inner circle. The authors employ the same method here, guaranteeing interviewees that they will be ‘on background’ and not identified by name. Had Allen & Parnes been Atlanta-based sportswriters covering Super Bowl LI, they would have provided painstaking detail of every aspect of the Falcons’ game preparation and playcalling – and the New England Patriots would simply be...

She wasn't even doing anything illegal. And she was completely open about what she was doing with the government. But it's much less fun to pick up the phone and ask a couple of questions to clarify matters than to get a bunch of armed agents together to set up a sting like some little old lady is El Chapo, North. Also, agents make their careers through their wins -- as do government prosecutors -- which is why the unscrupulous ones go for the win even when they're doing wrong instead of making right and dropping the case. As for...

1775: An expedition of 700 British regulars under the command of Lt. Col. Frances Smith departs Boston to seize and destroy military stores of the Massachusetts Militia in Concord. At dawn, 70 militia members led by Capt. John Parker meet the British at Lexington, and the two sides briefly skirmish. The Americans withdraw and regroup, attacking the redcoats again at North Bridge with a much larger force, forcing the British to turn back towards Boston. The American Revolution has begun. 1861: 86 years to the day after the “shot heard round the world,” Massachusetts volunteers headed for Washington, D.C. are...

1775: Paul Revere and William Dawes begin their famous “midnight ride” from Boston to Lexington, Mass., where they link-up with Samuel Prescott, who rides on to Concord. All three are sounding the alarm – warning town leaders and alerting the militia – that nearly 1,000 British infantrymen, grenadiers, and Royal Marines are advancing from Boston. 1942: Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers led by U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle launch from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in the first raid against the Japanese mainland during World War II. The raid will be successful, but all aircraft will...

In years past, the event was over by noon. "Why are they still here?" I wondered. I soon found out. As I approached the gate, I overheard a young mother complaining to another mom, as both of their four-year-olds screamed their lungs out, "Can you believe this? We've been waiting four hours now, and the line isn't moving. My kids are hungry, and there's no food."

On the evening of April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British commander in Boston, dispatched a contingent of troops to seize a supply of arms and powder that the colonial insurgents had stored at Lexington and Concord, as well as to arrest two leading patriots, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were also hidden in the area. As every schoolchild knows, Paul Revere's ensuing midnight ride called the local militia to arms, and the battles of Lexington and Concord followed the next day. Largely obscured by the great renown of Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride", is the fact that...

If you are a white student in college, you doubtless hear daily that white people are evil, the principal cause of everything wrong with the world. Whiteness is bad, white people are bad. We are to blame for everything. If you believe this, you are being gamed. What you are being told is nonsense. If you have the intelligence and self-respect to think for yourself, ask: “What have other races and ethnic groups accomplished in the world compared to what we white people have?” This question will be shocking to you because you have been carefully programmed not to think...

Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, O.S.S. and Aleksandra Rebic "Forgotten 500" Halyard Mission Reunion / Michigan June 2009. Photo: Rebic collection.This year, 2017, the world will be marking the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War Two, the era of the "Greatest Generation". For me, one of the measures of a man who dies is how deeply the loss is felt in the hearts of those who knew him, and if they didn't know him personally, were affected by his work or by his existence on this earth in a positive way. WWII OSS radioman Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian was short in...

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. What does #Resistance really mean? It means the overthrow of our government. In this century, Democrats rejected the outcomes of two presidential elections won by Republicans. After Bush won, they settled for accusing him of being a thief, an idiot, a liar, a draft dodger and a mass murderer. They fantasized about his assassination and there was talk of impeachment. But elected officials gritted their teeth and tried to get things done. This time around it’s “radically” different. The official position,...

Lois Lerner, the IRS official implicated in the agency's illegal targeting of conservative groups for discriminatory treatment, came out strongly against the suggestion by House Republicans Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) that the Department of Justice look into the matter. "The reopening of an incident occurring five years ago will only stir up unnecessary interest in something that cannot be undone," Lerner pleaded. "The animosity that will be unfairly directed at me for misdeeds perpetrated by subordinates without my knowledge is risky. It would expose me to harassment and possible harm without really righting any of...

Sunday, April 16, 2017 The Screams of Little Girls in Little Palestine Posted by Daniel Greenfield Livonia, Michigan is known as Little Palestine. The Detroit suburb is famous for its anti-Israel meetings. You could go hear Mustafa Barghouthi, Omar Barghouti and Ali Abunimah without taking a long drive. It’s also known for its shady doctors. Dr. Murtaza Hussain was busted for letting unlicensed employees diagnose patients and write prescriptions. Dr. Waseem Alam and Dr. Hatem Ataya pleaded guilty in the nation’s largest Medicare fraud case totaling $712 million in false billings centering on Shahid Tahir, Muhammad Tariq and Manavar Javed’s...

The “Resistance” Democrats are a Terrorist Party The Democrats have committed to overthrowing our government. April 13, 2017 Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. What does #Resistance really mean? It means the overthrow of our government. In this century, Democrats rejected the outcomes of two presidential elections won by Republicans. After Bush won, they settled for accusing him of being a thief, an idiot, a liar, a draft dodger and a mass murderer. They fantasized about his assassination and there was talk of impeachment. But elected officials...

The schizophrenia is palpable. We get rid of Obozo, send Shrillary to the showers - probably forever - thus ensuring she doesn't drive the country right off a cliff in fifth gear, and somehow, someone straps a 2x4 to Bitch McConjob long enough for him to use the nuclear option, derail ChuckU Schumer, get Judge Gorsuch confirmed to SCOTUS, and pave the way for Trump to carpet the country with conservative judges in every district and circuit, undoing Leftist destructive judicial activism for decades. Pretty good, right? Then Trump drops a few dozen old Tomahawks onto one of the vilest...

The drive to Brownsburg, Virginia from my home is always a pleasant one. Driving south on Route 252 through the rolling hills and farmland of Augusta and Rockbridge Counties is like taking a trip back in time. Much of the landscape appears as it did 150 years ago. It is simply beautiful. But my most recent trip had an added benefit: I was headed to the home of Robert (Bob) J. Driver, Jr. to chat with him about his most recent book: The Confederate Soldiers of Rockbridge County, Virginia: A Roster . Driver’s circa 1795 home in the quaint village...

This week, former Hillary Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmeri agreed that media bias exists, but maintained that “this makes it tougher on Democrats.” “Look, when CNN or the New York Times portray Republicans as the scum they are the bar is set comfortably low,” She argued. “All any Republican has to do to rise above the bar is: nothing. The mere absence of the usual crime, corruption and depravity puts them in a more positive light than they really deserve.” “The bar is set much higher for Democrats,” Palmeri said. “We are expected to deliver all-star caliber performances on a daily...