Free Republic

The most dangerous term likely to come out of President Joe Biden’s lips during his address to a largely empty congressional chamber is “institutional racism,” and it isn’t even close.No matter what massive spending policy prescriptions that are laid forward or draconian regulatory attacks are promised, the idea that the very foundation of our nation is illegitimate undermines the essence of America.Those who espouse the notion of “institutional racism” dismiss the quest for religious liberty which drove a small band of Europeans across the Atlantic to the shores of Massachusetts in December of 1620. In a world where everything that...

On March 23, Mohammad Anwar of Springfield, Virginia, a 66-year-old immigrant from Pakistan earning his living as an Uber Eats driver, was killed by two girls, ages 13 and 15. They carjacked Anwar, Tasered him and then, as he held on to the car (the source of his livelihood) in an attempt to stop them from stealing it, floored the gas pedal and crashed the car, killing him when he was thrown from the vehicle.As reported the next day in The Washington Post:"Anwar tried to force his way back into the car by climbing on top of the teen in...

The government is letting all kinds of violent felons out early due to COVID-19, while keeping political prisoners at high risk for COVID-19 behind bars. Last week, an inmate serving an 84-years-to-life prison sentence for murder was released to parole in California due to COVID-19. Terebea Williams shot 23-year-old Kevin "John" Ruska Jr. in the abdomen in 2001, shoved his body into the trunk of a car and left him in a hotel room to die.  In contrast, conservative former Congressman Steve Stockman of Texas has been prohibited from leaving, despite the fact he is in his 60s and has diabetes, hypertension,...

Lately it seems that we conservatives can't win even when we're winning. But the country is under siege, so we cannot indulge the luxury of being discouraged. This year has been one body blow after another to the nation we love. First, there was the coronavirus, and we thought, "How can this get any worse?" Then came the economic shutdown and the incalculable pain and suffering it brought. Next were the riots, the radicals' unopposed seizure of a section of Seattle and the maniacal efforts throughout the country to defund the police. Now a series of rulings from the "conservative"...

It’s fitting that Donald Trump’s birthday should fall on Flag Day because the values that Old Glory has always stood for are currently under assault from the radical left, and only President Trump can defend them. The outrageous situation unfolding in Seattle, Washington — where activists have taken control of several square blocks that were abandoned by the police — is a poignant example of the battle that is currently being fought between the defenders of societal order and the anarchists who want to tear down our most venerated institutions.“Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being...

Norway plans to ban semi-automatic firearms as of 2021, nearly a decade after right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's mass shooting left 69 people dead, a Norwegian lawmaker said on Tuesday. The minority right-wing government had presented a proposal on the ban last year. "Today (Tuesday), it has become clear that there is a parliamentary majority in favor of the government's proposal. Semi-automatic weapons will therefore be banned in Norway," Peter Frolich, a Conservative member of parliament's standing committee on judicial affairs, told AFP. The ban, which would enter into force in 2021, comes amid renewed debate on semi-automatic weapons in...

In 2016, same-sex “marriage” was legalized in Colombia. One year later, the courts have now recognized a polyamorous “family” of three men. And there is no slippery slope.As reported by the Daily Mail, “Actor Victor Hugo Prada and his two partners, sports instructor John Alejandro Rodriguez and journalist Manuel Jose Bermudez, have signed legal papers with a solicitor in the city of Medellin, establishing them as a family unit with inheritance rights.“‘We wanted to validate our household... and our rights, because we had no solid legal basis establishing us as a family,’ said one of the men, Prada, in a...

Germans proved to hold less progressive ideas about gender equality than their European counterparts in the UK and France, but rose above the United States, according to a new report. Pollsters YouGov quizzed people from 24 countries in a survey published on Thursday, and found that Germany ranked eighth place for attitudes towards gender equality. The British scored just one point higher than Germans while French people gained two points more. The only Western country in the report that performed worse than Germany was the United States. ...

Everyone knows that the self-styled progressives and others on the Left are inveterate liars. Not a day goes by that some left-wing activist or talking head won't be found on our television screens or in our newspapers uttering some falsehood designed to make the leftist agenda more palatable to the masses or to cover up the disasters being caused by it. They lie to us, and they lie to each other as well. The lower ranking "progressives," the "foot soldiers" out there spreading the disinformation at a demotic level, typically do so without even understanding that the news they're spreading...

Rush Limbaugh fielded a phone call the other day that even he couldn't answer. "What's happened to the country I live in?" asked the frustrated woman. "And what do we do now?" The Great Rushbo was understandably flustered. Coming up with a cure for what ails America after five years of Barack Obama and decades of bigger and stupider and meaner Big Government in D.C. is not something you can do off the top of your head. The woman's question reminded me of a question Newt Gingrich posed to me about five years ago. "Mike," he said, "how is it...

Google has recognised the Palestinians' upgraded UN status, placing the name "Palestine" on its search engine instead of "Palestinian Territories," a company spokesman said on Friday. The domain name www.google.ps, Google's search engine for the territories, now brings up a homepage with "Palestine" written underneath the Google logo. The change took effect on Wednesday, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said in a statement. "We're changing the name 'Palestinian Territories' to 'Palestine' across our products. We consult a number of sources and authorities when naming countries. In this case, we are following the lead of the UN... and other international organisations,"...

Amid signs that recession in the single currency area may be deeper than expected, Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, announced than the jobless rate in February was 12%. … Unemployment has now hit 58.4% in Greece, 55.7% in Spain, 38.2% in Portugal and 37.8% in Italy. Joblessness is lowest in Austria (4.8%), Germany (5.4%), Luxembourg (5.5%) and the Netherlands (6.2%). …

Video A retired New York City police officer living in Florida has been ordered to take down his flag commemorating September 11 by his homeowners’ association, WPLG reports. Richard Wentz, who helped victims out of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, has been told he has just days to take down his flag or face possible legal action. "That flag means the world to me. Other than my children, that flag means the world to me," said Wentz. A letter from the Fairways at Heron Bay association said the flag detracts from the aesthetic harmony of the surrounding...

Bruck’s message to President 0bama: Give it back. My first thought upon hearing that President 0bama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, or, I should say my first rational thought was, “couldn’t they find anybody who’s actually done anything for peace or human rights in the last year?” Well, of course there are many people working on various fronts, in the less sexy places of the world, toiling thanklessly against the ravages of poverty, genocide, human trafficking, and other scourges of the human condition. Perhaps in a future column I could highlight some of our modern human rights warriors whose...

One of the key components of the health care bill that has started the most controversy is the idea of a public option. Liberals have been pushing for universal health care for decades, obviously with no success. Americans are becoming increasingly wary of the Democrats and their attempts to push their costly and overly-ambitious agenda. Despite public anger and polling numbers, liberal Democrats are bound and determined to pass the $1 trillion health care bill, only under their conditions. However, there are Democrats in Congress that aren't so anxious to rush into another costly entitlement. Senate Majority whip Dick Durbin...

It was a media cage fight, televised every weeknight at 8 p.m. But the match was halted when the blood started to spray executives in the high-priced seats. For years Keith Olbermann of MSNBC had savaged his prime-time nemesis Bill O’Reilly of the Fox News Channel and accused Fox of journalistic malpractice almost nightly. Mr. O’Reilly in turn criticized Mr. Olbermann’s bosses and led an exceptional campaign against General Electric, the parent company of MSNBC. It was perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade and by this year, their bosses had had enough. But it took a fellow television...

"...Democratic New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will be fighting for his political life following an allegation he met with a high-priced prostitute last month at a Washington, D.C., hotel...As governor, though, he's been out front on climate change issues perhaps more than any other. David Sassoon, writing at SolveClimate.com, thinks the scandal has potential to slow the entire nation's climate actions: "Spitzer's rendez-vous, the night before Valentine's day s'il vous plaît, will unfortunately strike a blow at progress on global warming, whether through his resignation, unavoidable distraction if he stays in office, and/or his diminished effectiveness. He has been a...

Thursday’s edition of "Good Morning America" featured a Diane Sawyer anecdote that unintentionally revealed the low opinion Americans have of journalists. After wrapping up a July 12 segment on a Massachusetts man who is in trouble for attempting to avoid jury duty, the ABC co-host recounted the "hurtful" experience she had in a courtroom:Video (0:55): Real (1.51) or Windows (1.71 MB), plus MP3 Audio (607kB)  7:34am[Wrap up of segment on getting out of jury duty.]Diane Sawyer: "You know, I wanted to sit on a jury once and I was taken off the jury. And the judge said to me, 'Can,...

watch video here: javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/bestoftv/2006/08/16/lou.dobbs.nation.commentary.cnn','2006/08/23'); if that doesn't work, go to: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/ ....and scroll down for video link.

(2006-03-31) — A team of scientists today ended a 10-year study on the so-called “power of prayer” by concluding that God cannot be manipulated by humans, not even by scientists with a $2.4 million research grant. The scientists also noted that their work was “sabotaged by religious zealots” secretly praying for study subjects who were supposed to receive no prayer. The allegations came at a news conference where researchers announced their findings that intercessory prayer by two Roman Catholic religious communities and a group from the Missouri-based Unity church failed to produce better results for patients recovering from heart surgery....