Free Republic

[Summary: Decline in American public schools is best explained by the far-left politics of our Education Establishment. These people prefer mediocrity.]-- Historically, Socialism and Communism were sometimes synonyms. But generally there was a sense that Socialism was softer. If you had enough power, you moved on to Communism, which was more coercive. One intellectual summed up the matter this way. Socialists persuade you with speeches. Communists persuade you with guns. In the days after the Russian Revolution, American leftists expended billions of hours trying to describe the perfect society. Fundamentally, all the debates turned on how much power the central...

Hi Andrew, I'm writing because I just can't deal with my father anymore. He's a 65-year-old super right-wing conservative who has basically turned into a total [expletive] intent on ruining our relationship and our planet with his politics. I'm more or less a liberal democrat with very progressive values and I know that people like my dad are going to destroy us all. I don't have any good times with him anymore. All we do is argue. When I try to spend time with him without talking politics or discussing any current events, there's still an underlying tension that makes...

They were the ultimate symbol of the lawlessness and blight of the 1980s and early 1990s — and now they’re making a comeback. Squeegee men are menacing motorists across New York City, including spots near the Holland, Lincoln and Queens-Midtown tunnels, as well as the Queensboro Bridge, The Post has learned. Residents and drivers who pass through the areas said the panhandlers are spraying and wiping windshields without permission to shake down drivers for cash. Benthins, who has also been seen with a squeegee near Times Square, was using a wadded-up copy of the amNewYork free newspaper as a rag....

The need for strong American foreign policy has never been greater. As the world burns, Barack Obama's White House tells us, "The world is less violent than it has ever been." Deaths in Ukraine and Gaza mount while anti-democratic terrorists attempt to suppress freedom and rain fire upon their enemies. This is happening in the most fragile places. Places that had more calm and resolve under the Clinton and Bush Administrations than they do under the Obama presidency. Even at home, Mexican refugees flood across the American border in historic numbers, amounting to the greatest humanitarian crisis since Hurricane Katrina....

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jimmy Carter takes to ForeignPolicy.com to argue that the key to ending the current war in Gaza is "recognizing Hamas as a legitimate political actor." Writing along with fellow "Elder" Mary Robinson (part of an "international group of elder statesmen"), the former president pins the blame for the current conflict on Israel's refusal to appreciate a "major concession" made by Hamas in April and to recognize the new Palestinian government formed by the Hamas-Fatah "reconciliation": This tragedy results from the deliberate obstruction of a promising move toward peace in the region, when a reconciliation agreement among...

MRCTV's Dan Joseph asks people to sign a petition to bring the unaccompanied minors at the border to Alexandria, VA. Once they sign he asks them to sign an agreement to house one. No one signs up for housing.

At his best Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., made short work of a Democrat-friendly law professor testifying before Congress, even offering him some “free litigation advice.” The former prosecutor turned congressman was surgical in his questioning of Professor Charles Tiefer, who was brought before the House Judiciary Committee as an expert witness by Democrats — Tiefer has a history of being of service to the Democratic Party, according to The Blaze. “Professor Tiefer, would you seat a juror who referred to your client as an obscene body part?” Gowdy asked in his opening question.

Dead bodies of illegal immigrants are turning up in south Texas as Central Americans pour across the U.S.-Mexico border, and a veterinarian who ranches cattle 70 miles from ground zero has the photos to prove it. Dr. Mike 'Doc' Vickers of Brooks County, Texas showed some of the grisly images to MailOnline, all of them far too grotesque to publish unedited. One picture shows a corpse propped up against a tree near his ranch in Brooks County, his eyes missing and dried blood cascading down his shirtless body. 'This guy, obviously, had to lay down up against that tree, and...

f the Modern Liberal is in fact as stupid as I believe him to be, then how is one to explain the fact that so many Liberals rise to the very pinnacle of their professions? If Nancy Pelosi is stupid, how did she become the Speaker of the House of Representatives? If Katie Couric is stupid, how did she become the most recent recipient of the Walter Cronkite award for “excellence” in television journalism. If Henry Gates and Ward Churchill are stupid, how did they become tenured professors? In this short video, I explain the otherwise

Stand-up comedian Evan Sayet, former writer for Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect and most famous for his stirring speech at The Heritage Foundation in 2007, has once again resurfaced with a brand new video on his website excoriating what he calls "modern liberals"...

How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA A new report was released today by the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, and it is damning. All this time that climate skeptics are accused of being in the employ of “big oil” is nothing more than a projection of their own greed. Some excerpts: Over 7.9 BILLION in funding between these groups.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Fusion TV's Jorge Ramos that part of the reason Hamas hides rockets in schools and civilian areas is "Gaza is small." "I'm not a military planner but Hamas puts it's missiles, it's rockets in civilian areas, part of it is Gaza is pretty small and its densely populated," she said as neglecting the question of whether or not Hamas should have rockets in area to begin with.

Liberals are forever struggling to understand the basic tenets of human nature that most other people just take for granted. You’d think they would have picked something up from the death throes of the Soviet Union, Greece, or Detroit, but as Talleyrand might say, “They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing.” Whether that’s some sort of genetic defect liberals are born with, ignorance, or just willful blindness is hard to say, but the results are the same in any case. Since it’s easier for light to escape a black hole than it is for a liberal to entertain a new...

Michelle Nunn — the Democrat running in the very close U.S. Senate contest in Georgia — has a problem on her hands now that an exhaustive campaign plan drafted by aides has leaked in the media. The document, revealed online Monday by the National Review, describes the candidate’s liabilities likely to be exploited by opponents. It also specifically describes the necessity of raising money from Jews, Asians and gays while working to increase turnout of African-Americans and Latinos. Speaking of the Jewish community, the document notes: “There is tremendous financial opportunity.” “Michelle’s position on Israel will largely determine the level...

From the movie, "Beatles Stories: A Fab Four Fan's Ultimate Road Trip" (2012). Pretty interesting video describing how John Lennon, the King of the hippies and God of liberals everywhere, actually became conservative in his last years and was a Reagan fan. DOH! Sacrilege!

CHICAGO – Employers in Illinois can no longer access criminal background checks on potential hires until after an interview is conducted. Gov. Quinn signed into law this week a bill that prohibits private employers from asking applicants about their criminal history prior to determining if they are qualified for the job. “Everyone deserves a second chance when it comes to getting a job,” Governor Quinn said in a press release. “This law will help ensure that people across Illinois get a fair shot to reach their full potential through their skills and qualifications, rather than past history. It will also...

Officials have said that more than half of all children initially placed in shelters have gone on to be reunited with at least one parent already living in the United States, and 85 percent of all children have been placed with a close family member.

Ahh, government: In this week’s “Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t” file: A Southern California couple received a letter from Glendora city officials threatening to fine them $500 if they don’t get their sun-scorched brown lawn green again, reports AP. Which Laura Whitney and Michael Korte would gladly do, except for one thing: They could also be fined $500 if they water their lawn too much; they’re currently only watering twice a week. With more than 80% of California in an extreme drought, according to the Los Angeles Times, the state water board voted this week to...

Over the past few decades the rhetoric of the Progressive-left in the Democratic Party has relied more and more on the effect of inherent racism as the primary obstacle facing minorities in this country. As the sole political power in most black and Latino neighborhoods, Democrats have increasingly blamed racial attitudes and white privilege as the culprit to explain the reversal of African-American progress, tragically under-performing inner-city public school systems and disproportionate unemployment for young men and women of color. They continuously assert that America's inherent racism is the primary barrier to minority success, a liberal myth that is debunked...

Liberal groups already enjoy a tremendous structural advantage over conservative groups in terms of foundation support, bricks and mortars institutions and a steady pipeline of youngsters eager to shape mankind to their own image. There’s another often overlooked advantage enjoyed by the left: big law firms donating thousands and thousands of hours to help leftist causes far outside of the American mainstream. There is no counterpart donation of time and money for conservative causes. Big Law’s ideological “lawfare” completes the architecture for attacks on election integrity laws, springing free Al-Qaeda terrorists and even suing conservative new media pioneers like Andrew...