Free Republic

credit: calguns.net Dealing as I do in the fetid fever swamp of politics, I often confront ideologues, people who are absolutely convinced of the supremacy and rightness of their position, no matter what.  My favorite Bookworm recently wrote an informative article on this very subject, via the gun control debate.  If you’ve not read her work, it’s surely worth your time, particularly so because while she still lives in California–Marin particularly–she is a recovering Progressive (she’s recovering nicely, thank you).My former Confederate Yankee co-blogger, Bob Owens, incorporated this observation into the CY masthead: Because liberalism is a persistent vegetative state....

<p>Wal-Mart’s wages are so low that many of its workers must rely on food stamps and other government aid programs, costing taxpayers as much as $900,0000 at just one Wal-Mart Supercenter in Wisconsin.</p> <p>So how did the report’s authors come up with the $900,000 figure? First, they took into account the number of Wal-Mart stores and employees across Wisconsin and the per-person costs of Badgercare, the state’s health care program, estimating that the cost of the publicly funded health care comes to $251,706 per year for a Supercenter that employees 300 workers.</p>

<p>LITTLETON, CO (RNN) - There is a possible active shooter situation at Arapahoe High School in Littleton, CO. All schools in the area are on lockdown.</p>

ByStephanie Condon CBS News December 13, 2013, 6: 31 PM Sebelius dodges question about whether she offered resignation Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Friday refused to say whether she's offered to resign in the wake of botched rollout of the new Obamacare marketplaces. "I'm not going to discuss what I talk about with the president," Sebelius said from Miami, where she was promoting the new marketplaces. Earlier this week at a congressional hearing, Sebelius acknowledged to lawmakers that the launch of HealthCare.gov, the Obamacare website, was "flawed and failed and frustrating." She hasaccepted responsibility for the failed...

This year marks not only the 50th anniversary of the shooting of John F. Kennedy but also the 45th anniversary of the shooting of Robert F. Kennedy, which occurred in June 1968. Was there a common source motivating the assassins of both Kennedys—that is, Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Sirhan? That renowned political philosopher Mick Jagger speculated on a source. “I shouted out ‘Who killed the Kennedys?’” asks the lyrics in the 1968 song by The Rolling Stones. “When, after all, it was you and me.” The song was titled, “Sympathy for the Devil.” It was, The Rolling Stones suggested,...

President Barack Obama, the quintessential leftist, would have us believe, as would all leftists, that his overarching motivation is his compassion but, like most leftists, reveals through his actions that his driving passion is not so much concern for his fellow man as it is an obsession to control people. That explains why Obama isn't the slightest bit sympathetic about people losing their health care coverage as a direct result of his fraudulent advertising on Obamacare and why, so far, he has callously resisted all calls for a reset of the worst policy train wreck on the longest policy train...

Leftist geography professor at taxpayer-funded university rails at students over shutdown 9:35 AM 10/07/2013 Eric Owens Education Editor Last week, a geography professor at the public, taxpayer-funded University of Wisconsin-La Crosse used a required assignment in one of her courses to wage a campaign against Republicans, blaming them entirely for the government shutdown over federal spending. Rachel Slocum, an assistant professor in the UW–La Crosse geography and earth sciences department, sent the vitriolic email entitled “government websites” on Oct. 1, reports Media Trackers Wisconsin. Here it is, unexpurgated: hi everyone Some of the data gathering assignment will be impossible to...

Megan Kelly is off to a rocky start, pulling Fox hard to left, challenging Senator Ted Cruz in much the same way Candy Crowley did at CNN. So far she has quoted polls by Politico and PPP.

(NOTE: Huffington had to shorted to Huff because the original title exceeded the limit of characters.) Dana Loesch is a well-known conservative writer and thinker. Her fame comes about in part because, aside from being one heck of a smart gal and a good writer, she’s also extremely beautiful. Perhaps that beauty is what drove a Progressive Huffington Post contributor to abandon his political argument with her on Twitter and simply threaten her with anal rape. Loesch is a chronic irritant to Progressives. She’s a pro-gun conservative who looks like a fashion model and who can communicate her conservative ideas...

Forty-one days after legendary Motown singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder vowed to boycott Florida, Miami Beach’s sultry sultry summer evenings called out to him and he couldn’t resist. Jose’ Lambeit’s Gossip Extra broke the story Tuesday that the legendary recording artist spent the weekend in South Florida’s legendary South Beach before jetting off to Los Angeles. During a Canadian performance on July 14, Wonder told the audience he would boycott Florida, saying, “for those of you who’ve lost in the battle for justice.. we can’t bring them back. What we can do is we can let our voices be heard.” He made...

There is an illustrated list of Leftist and media reactions here. "It’s 2013 and an American jury just acquitted a man who admitted to stalking and killing an unarmed child" — Richard Dreyfus, actor I think you can see why in the face above.  That face is expressing glee  -- barely restrained delight.  The slightest hint that America is unjust is manna from heaven for Leftists.  They  build their self-esteem on being wiser and more compassionate than "the masses".  And given America's black/white tensions, a chance to see others as racist is not to be missed.  It is America's...

Dear Supporter, We have a unique opportunity in Virginia. Governor Bob McDonnell is currently considering which felonies should be categorized as “non-violent” for the purpose of the new, more streamlined restoration of civil rights process that will go into effect as early as next week. Right now, there are several felonies arbitrarily classified as “violent,” like breaking and entering or drug possession with intent to distribute. Those particular felonies disproportionately affect people of color and communities in poverty. We need your help. Will you take the time to email Governor Bob McDonnell and ask that he take the broadest approach...

The Mindset of the Left At least as far back as the 18th century, the left has struggled to avoid facing the plain fact of evil -- that some people simply choose to do things that they know to be wrong when they do them. Thomas Sowell | The New American 02 July 2013 When teenage thugs are called "troubled youth" by people on the political left, that tells us more about the mindset of the left than about these young hoodlums. Seldom is there a speck of evidence that the thugs are troubled, and often there is ample...

For those who may have forgotten what kind of a President Bill Clinton was: 1) Clinton’s own words show his often expressed innate hostility to, and utter contempt for, the core principles of the American founding: ``If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government’s ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees.’’ -- President Bill Clinton, August 12, 1993 ``The purpose of government is to reign in the rights of the people’’ –- Bill Clinton during an interview on MTV in 1993 ``We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the...

Breitbart News has learned that less than a month before Barbara Walters defended Bill Maher's vicious attacks on Sarah Palin's special-needs son, Walters personally called Palin's camp to ask if the former Alaska governor could be a guest co-host on The View sometime during the months before the legendary anchor retires from TV journalism. Maher mocked Palin's special needs son by referring to him as "retarded" during a June 8 Las Vegas show. When Palin's schedule did not allow for her to guest host, Palin's advisers left the invitation as an open question. This backstory makes Walters's refusal to defend...

Dear Supporter, Next week, the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission (MIRC) is planning to meet. As you know, this commission is tasked with ensuring that certain reforms to Medicaid are met before moving forward with expansion. We need your help to remind the committee members how Virginia feels about Medicaid expansion! We need to remind them that Medicaid expansion will create jobs, provide insurance for hundreds of thousands of Virginians, lower health insurance rates, and not cost Virginia a dime for the first several years. Will you take a moment and call members of the committee and let them know...

Earlier this year, I had some fun when it was revealed that the President’s new Treasury Secretary had a lot of money in the Cayman Islands. After all, leftists want us to believe tax havens are rogue regimes that should be eliminated. Some of them even want military intervention against these low-tax jurisdictions! Much to my amusement, Mr. Lew even pretended he was financially illiterate to justify making sensible decisions to invest via the Cayman Islands. And unlike the President’s first Treasury Secretary, Mr. Lew didn’t break the law and cheat on his tax return. You probably won’t be surprised to...

It must be nice to be a leftist. The solution to every problem is more of someone else's money. That's the favored solution over on the Democratic Party side of the aisle when it comes to the IRS' targeting of conservative non-profits. In a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Democratic Rep. Jose Serrano of New York suggested, "There is no clearer way to promote more scandals than by cutting funding that could be used for oversight, training and reform. At the level of this subcommittee is funded right now, we're just asking for more trouble at the IRS and elsewhere." This...

Friend -- Last week, Senator Warner emailed you in order to solicit your help in the fight for marriage equality, and I wanted to follow up real quick. The Supreme Court is currently deliberating on the constitutionality of DOMA, a discriminatory federal law that that denies same-sex couples legal rights like access to their spouse’s Social Security and insurance survivor benefits. As Senator Warner said, “That’s just wrong. All married couples should be entitled to the same legal rights – regardless of sexual orientation.” It’s critical we make our voices heard before the Court issues its ruling in June. Will...

When Cardinal Bergoglio was first chosen as Pope, my immediate reaction was that, although he would probably not tamper with the Church’s views on sexual issues, he would likely move it to the left in terms of economic rhetoric. I based that to some small degree on his choice of name: Saint Francis is something of a favorite of progressives in the Church due to his vow of poverty and his love of animals. But even more important to me was the intellectual milieu out of which he came: Argentine populism, and his own public statements as a cardinal in...