Free Republic

25 December [1991] Gorbachev resigns; Russian flag replaces Soviet over Kremlin.

The outrage among some of America’s most vocal liberals at President Barack Obama’s failure to expand government-run health care caps a year of disappointments for Obama’s allies on the left and raises worrying questions for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. The revolt led by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean comes after a series of more contained disappointments among traditional Democratic constituencies that invested heavily in Obama — unions, gays, civil libertarians, Hispanics, and anti-war Democrats, among others — who have seen specific promises deferred and grand hopes of systematic change denied by an administration that has found itself severely...

Do you live in the happiest state in America? Well if you live in New York, you're in the least happy state according to the Huffington Post article. The top thing on the list that made the Empire State the least happy was the government. One resident described the government as “…corrupt, self-dealing and too quick to increase taxes.” It is no secret that New York has had a troubled government for sometime now. Constantly cutting well needed programs for children and the elderly. Not being able to pass a budget in a timely fashion or one that works for...

With the announcement today by Government Motors (GM) that it's closing the books, the last chapters of which are written in red ink, on the cult-car Saab brand, the delightfully irreverent car blog Jalopnik asks, "What Will Latté-Swilling Liberal Northeasterners Drive Now?" Actually, now that Saab has gone the way of Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Plymouth, one of Jalopnik's readers asked the question, and blogger Matt Hardigree recommended a used Saab, a Volvo Wagon or a Subaru Legacy. Apologies, but that just won't do. That won't do at all. A used Saab is simply out of the question. Used cars are...

So now Howard Dean and Markos, at the Daily Kos, want to kill Obamacare. [As does, Keith Olbergirlyman.] It seems that, without a public option, they no longer are concerned with helping all those poor folks dying because of a lack of insurance. I never believed they gave a damn about those people, but I’m glad they could confirm it for me. For the far left, it was never about reform and improving access. Instead, it was all about bigger government and more control over people’s lives

War is a very grave affair. Instead of just money, it involves risking the lives of men and women with our policy decisions. On the battlefield, people will be killed without trial. Lives will be ruined. Cities will be decimated. It is an intensely serious matter — the most serious matter a country can engage in — which begs an obvious question. Why do we involve liberals in it at all? There’s an old expression I just made up: There’s no liberal in a bear attack. In matters of life and death, like a bear ripping apart your house, there...

With today's news of Saab's death and Volvo's impending sale to China, what brand is left to fill "English Dept. Faculty Only" parking spaces at liberal institutions of higher ed? More bluntly, what will latté-swilling liberal Northeasterners drive now? This question comes via Robert, appropriately of Boston, MA, who asks "I am another east coast, liberal, soy latte sipping Saab owner. On my second one now, bought the first one in 1995. What will I drive now? " Our answer? If can't get a used Saab or don't want to live through that experience and you're older and don't care...

If the consequences for this great nation of ours weren't so serious and the policies preferred by the left weren't so dangerous, one would really laugh, almost uncontrollably, at the beliefs and (il)logic of American liberals. Based on things they have actually said or done, here are some of the things they really, truly seem to believe.

I'm wondering whether there's anyone out there with the guts to pretend that it's insignificant that President Barack Obama keeps appointing radical after radical to his czar positions. Can anyone honestly say Obama's appointments don't tell us a great deal about Obama himself -- as if we needed any further proof he is a left-wing extremist? I don't need to make a list of his radical appointees and detail proof of their extremism. Anyone paying attention knows it's irrefutably true that this has become a deliberate pattern. Statistically, Obama couldn't accidentally appoint this many radicals in two political lifetimes. Is...

President Barack Obama is on a path to becoming the greatest con man in history. He conned the Nobel Committee into awarding him the Peace Prize, even as he continues military occupations and escalates and expands his wars. He conned many peace advocates into voting for him, but now he continues President George W. Bush's military policies. He conned many environmental activists into voting for him, but now his administration promotes nuclear power, persecutes endangered species such as wolves, and promotes an ineffectual, loophole-filled "cap and trade" carbon scheme. He conned many health reform advocates into voting for him, but...

Here is video of liberal Markos Moulitsas, of The Daily Kos, telling Keith Olbermann that Democrats are in a "lose-lose situation" for the 2010 mid-term elections. Moulitsas said that if Democrats don't pass a Health Care Plan, they will "rightly be accused" of not being able to govern. If they do pass a bad bill, he said every item in the bill will be hung on them during the campaign next year. On President Obama, Moulitsas said the danger for Obama if Democrats lose big in 2010, is that he may not have enough of a majority in Congress to...

Liberal Democrats in and out of Congress are expressing mounting frustration with President Obama and what they say are decisions by the president discarding major elements of their agenda. The political left provided Mr. Obama's base of support during last year's election but has been disappointed repeatedly during his first year in office. The Democratic president has agreed to a series of compromises on health care reform, ordered an escalation of the war in Afghanistan and failed to lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military. When Mr. Obama this week gave tacit approval as Senate Democrats dropped...

Firedoglake, a prominent liberal blog has posted an article calling Barack Obama a homosexual rapist straight out of the classic 1972 movie Deliverance who has forced himself on Democrats, violently raping them with his policies.Writing at the aptly titled "Seminal" blog at Firedoglake, Alabamagunn vents in a sometimes incorehent rant that he/she was seduced by Obama, and then horridly violated:I admit I kinda began to believe the hype–another bad omen; should’ve listend to Flav. When promises to end a senseless war, revive the middle class, combat and prosecute war crimes, meaningfully reform healthcare, curtail Wall Street’s abuse of power and...

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has just signed a bill into law that forces schools to teach the glories of organized labor and collective bargaining. Doyle has received significant campaign contributions from labor unions over the years prior to forcing their special interest agenda into the classroom. Ever since unions have been involved in teaching, our system has spiraled into laughable mediocrity. It is what happens when you abandon actual education to turn children into racially-sensitive little environmentalists. Teachers' unions even tried to have the fact that 9/11 was committed by Muslim extremists scrubbed from the history books. Their effect on...

There are so many to choose from, but what three liberals would you consider the most contemptible to you?

Despite its good intentions, San Francisco is not leading the country in gay marriage. Despite its good intentions, it is not stopping wars. Despite its spending more money per capita on homelessness than any comparable city, its homeless problem is worse than any comparable city's. Despite its spending more money per capita, period, than almost any city in the nation, San Francisco has poorly managed, budget-busting capital projects, overlapping social programs no one is certain are working, and a transportation system where the only thing running ahead of schedule is the size of its deficit. It's time to face facts:...

But the coup de grâce may happen very soon and may be coming from the left, not the right. Howard Dean will be dropping this bombshell today. In a blow to the bill grinding through the Senate, Howard Dean bluntly called for the bill to be killed in a pre-recorded interview set to air later this afternoon, denouncing it as “the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate,” the reporter who conducted the interview tells me. Dean said the removal of the Medicare buy-in made the bill not worth supporting, and urged Dem leaders to start over...

The thirteen US soldiers murdered at Fort Hood were killed by the bullets fired by Malik Nidal Hassan, but there were those who helped Nassan fire his bullets, who did everything but hold his gun and pull the trigger for him. The initial FBI review has found that the Justice Department guidelines for opening a criminal investigation were too high, in turn investigators have said that it now requires a very high standard of evidence in order to convict a terrorist plotter. Pursuing charges before all the evidence is in hand can backfire – suspects have sued authorities before, claiming...

Guilt Quiz & Guilt Level Chart: Tools for the Guilted Age Now that the properly conditioned guilt-ridden voters have elected the first Certified-Oppressed-Minority™ president, America has officially entered a new Guilted Age. The Guilted Age is similar to the Gilded Age, only instead of being motivated by the acquisition of gold, the nation is motivated by the distribution of Guilt™. A guilty electorate is a less demanding electorate: beggars are not choosers. Collective remorse makes the masses more malleable. Workers toil harder for less pay and donate surpluses to progressive causes within the hope that it would offset their culpability...

One of the most extraordinary features of Barack Obama's victory over John McCain was his capture of 78% of the Jewish vote. To be sure, there was nothing extraordinary about the number itself. Since 1928, the average Jewish vote for the Democrat in presidential elections has been an amazing 75%—far higher than that of any other ethno-religious group. Yet there were reasons to think that it would be different in 2008. The main one was Israel. Despite some slippage in concern for Israel among American Jews, most of them were still telling pollsters that their votes would be strongly influenced...

A liberal Web site is trying to enlist celebrities to persuade a top breast cancer research group to dump Sen. Joe Lieberman's wife as its "global ambassador," saying Hadassah Lieberman's health care lobbying work and her husband's opposition to the so-called public option make her unfit for the role.

Liberal Columnist Bestows the Virtues of the Ninth Amendment and credits it with allowing for Abortion and Gay Rights - and therefore says it is his "favorite" Amendment

Barack Obama was the Political Pied Piper of 2008. His campaign motivated millions of young people to finally come to the polls and pull the levers -- and not just for Obama but other party members down the ticket, yielding sweeping power for the Democrats in Congress. A year of Obama has come and gone and so have many of his youthful supporters. This does not bode well for 2010 and beyond. Obama owes his presidency to the ranks of 18-24 year olds who overwhelmingly supported him over John McCain (66-32 percent). He tapped into their idealistic yearnings with promises...

This is startling. Progressives arrogantly grant themselves a monopoly on tolerance and respect for dissent. That is why moments like the one just released on Big Government are a devastating display of Progressive hypocrisy. Progressives, like many other movements, cannot live up to their own rules. If Progressives don’t like your line of questioning, they try to shut you down and call the police.

With the loss of the filibuster, Congressional Republicans have only ONE play left to stop the coming train wreck, when Obamunism runs head-on into millions of increasingly angry American patriots in the streets. Only Congressional Republicans can stop that clash! Congressional Republicans MUST WALK OUT immediately! You must pack your bags, close your offices, refuse to enter the congressional chambers for one more pretend vote in which the Democrats will hand you your hat once again.If Republicans want to harness the power of the Tea Party - 912 - and Town Hall patriots across this land, you can do it...

Today I have read a piece of "journalism" by a freelance writer whose Slate article shows me why the profession has fallen on such hard times. The piece on fast food drive thru windows is not only pretentious but it is filled with enough fluff to stuff a mattress and leaves the impression that the writer thinks it all resembles wit. It simply amazes for its vacuous nature. And, worse, it doesn't even pay off fulfilling the premise of its headline. In fact, it is so ridiculous for its assumptions and its presumption of surety that one wonders if the...

I just received a breathless e-mail from Erin Neff and Brian Fadie of the very liberal ProgressNowNevada, bragging about how their group stood up to Sarah Palin at her book signing in Reno. Dear Friend, There were eight inches of snow. It was 10 degrees. But that didn't stop us from shining the light of truth on Sarah Palin when she came to Reno on Wednesday night.Our members braved the elements because the truth matters. And, thanks to our stalwarts in Reno, we helped make sure the good people of northern Nevada got to see the real Palin. http://rgj.com/article/20091209/NEWS/91209016&OAS_sitepage=news.rgj.com%2FbreakingnewsWe even...

Protesters are arrested outside US Senator Chuck Schumer's office in New York. Angry constituents of Schumer staged the sit-in at his Manhattan office, dissatisfied that the influential senator hasn’t done enough to push for universal, national health care.

At the Heart of the Anti-Obama Protests Is the Scared White Man Overwhelmed by Change By Robert James Taylor Writing about the wave of anti-President Obama protests by white middle class Americans in recent weeks, conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan attributed what was taking place to the rise of “the angry white man.” Buchanan is only partially right. What we are actually witnessing is the near lunatic backlash of white conservatives who have been overwhelmed and frightened by change. Yes, there is definite anger at those anti-health care reform town hall meetings. But if you listen closely to what is being...

Here is video of Rev. Franklin Graham talking to CNN's Campbell Brown about the War in Afghanistan and President Obama's speech in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. Franklin Graham said "true Islam cannot be practiced in this country (America). You cannot beat your wife, you cannot murder your children if you think they commit adultery, as they do in these other countries." He pointed to Saudi Arabia as an example of a whole nation devoted to Islam that lives this way. Graham said wherever Islamic Sharia Law is practiced, this is how people are treated. Campbell Brown was disbelieving. Graham...

Michelle Obama is more than just the First Lady; she's also Barbara Walters' "Most Fascinating Person of 2009." During the broadcaster's TV special on Wednesday night, Obama was given the top honor over people such as Sarah Palin, Kate Gosselin, Lady Gaga, and Brett Favre. In addition to appearing on Wednesday night's TV special, Walters saved part of the interview for Thursday's episode of "The View." During the previously-unaired footage, the First Lady talked about attempting to raise humble and gracious children while they continued to live in the White House. In terms of responsibility, Obama told Walters that "they...

First, Colorado State University voted to ban concealed firearms on campus. Then the University of Colorado went a few steps further and cracked down on another nefarious threat: Nerf guns. Plans for a student-led game of humans vs. zombies took a hit after campus security officials discovered that players intended to use the popular orange-and-green toy weaponry. Simulated guns, even those that shoot spongy Nerf balls, are banned at the University of Colorado. (snip) CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said students cooperated fully, replacing the Nerf guns with balled-up socks and even taking it upon themselves to hang fliers in dormitories...

Two recent news stories illustrate, more clearly than ever, the Obama Democrats' contempt for the free market and individual economic liberty. If given the chance, they will expand government and spend as much of our money as they can get away with. First we learn that Obama and his party simply will not agree to keep their grubby government hands off the estimated $200 billion the banks are going to repay under TARP. Just when we finally receive this glimmer of good news to ameliorate our reasonable panic over the ever-increasing national debt, Obama announces that he intends to intercept...

Consider that 23 percent of conservatives and 35 percent of liberals say that they have been in touch with the dead. Eighteen percent of conservatives and 33 percent of liberals believe in reincarnation. Another 18 percent of conservatives condone the power of "spiritual energy" compared to 30 percent of liberals.

Linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky criticizes right-wing media outlets, which he describes as delivering a message of paranoia and economic populism comparable to Nazis during the Weimar Republic. "There were people with real grievances," says Chomsky. "The Nazis gave them an answer."

New evidence about the 2007 Virginia Tech killings shed new light on the arrogance and hypritical stance of University leaders. The murder of 32 students was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history until the Ft. Hood massacre last month and remains the worst school shooting ever on U.S. soil. Virginia Tech is no stranger to violence. They had two shootings in the 2006-2007 school year. A student worried about the possibility of another shooting asked school officials to reconsider their "no guns" policy. School officials not only a href="http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/3669" target="_blank">rebuffed and mocked that request, they also cheered the defeat...

With the exception of Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama continues to supercharge the Conservative movement like no one before him. The nation's first Marxist president has further denegraded the word "Liberal" to new lows. So low in fact, that only 18% of Americans now describe themselves as "Liberals."

There has been no call by the leftists of the world protesting his war. No Code Pink, International ANSWER, Not In Our Name or other similarly reprehensible group calling President Obama a "chickenhawk," "war criminal," or "murderer," as they did President Bush. No, on the contrary, President Obama received a prize for peace. Indeed he received the most famous such distinction - the Nobel Prize. For his part, President Obama refuted ...

BERKELEY -- The city of Berkeley mailed coat hangers to 20 members of Congress today in protest of the anti-abortion amendment in version of the federal health care bill.

onservatives recognize that social order is hard to achieve and easy to destroy, that it is held in place by discipline and sacrifice, and that the indulgence of criminality and vice is not an act of kindness but an injustice for which all of us will pay. Conservatives therefore maintain severe and -- to many people -- unattractive attitudes. They favor retributive punishment in the criminal law; they uphold traditional marriage and the sacrifices that it requires; they believe in discipline in schools and the value of hard work and military service. They believe in the family and think that...

After observing an especially ugly exchange on Twitter between a friend and a leftist troll, I began to wonder why the left is so damn angry. I’m not a doctor, but I believe I can diagnose their condition as, a complete lack of creativity due to reduced cognitive function. For the left, big government is the solution to every problem. People are poor? More big government. Some people don’t have health insurance? More big government. A company is failing? More big government. A financial crisis that is rooted in failed government policy? MORE BIG GOVERNMENT!!!

In a situation that most any conservatives can relate to, a stupid Reporter and his Guide catches an anaconda snake off guard. Well they decide to harass the snake and play with him for a few minutes before tossing him like garbage, away from the camp. Remind you of the way the drive-by media treats conservatives? Well, that's the first thing I thought of when I watched it. Anyway, after a little while the Guide hears the reporter screaming for help. So he rushes to where the Reporter is and finds him under attack from the angry anaconda that tracked...

In a situation that most any conservatives can relate to, a stupid Reporter and his Guide catches an anaconda snake off guard. Well they decide to harass the snake and play with him for a few minutes before tossing him like garbage, away from the camp. Remind you of the way the drive-by media treats conservatives? Well, that's the first thing I thought of when I watched it. Anyway, after a little while the Guide hears the reporter screaming for help. So he rushes to where the Reporter is and finds him under attack from the angry anaconda that tracked...

As an avid follower of and writer on political and legal subjects for almost fifty years, I’ve gotten on many mailing lists from all parts of the political spectrum. This week I received the “2009 Scorecard on Campaign Reform” from an outfit named North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections. Sounds like God, flag, and Mom’s apple pie, doesn’t it? I had never heard of this organization before. But there is a standard process I use to smoke out the bias, if any, in any new organization I hear about. My knowledge was new; the organization is, apparently, ten years old....

Headline at CBS News:Sarah Palin Almost Gets Tomato in Face, but Jeremy Olsen Has Terrible AimLede:NEW YORK (CBS) Maybe Jeremy Olson should have practiced with a target first before attempting to pelt Sarah Palin with tomatoes at a book signing in Minn. Dec. 7.The above was written at the CBS News page CRIMESIDER: The True Crime Destination From the Producers of 48 Hours MysteryThe article was posted by Carlin DeGuerin Miller.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue is a wanted man -- at least according to the liberal activist group that's put a de facto bounty on his head. A network of liberal groups known as Velvet Revolution started an ad campaign offering $200,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man whose trade organization has become a thorn in the side of the Obama administration and congressional Democrats. The group is not leveling any specific charges of criminal behavior. Rather, it is casting a wide net, fishing for any whistleblowers from Donohue's past who might come forward...

Once Praised, Liberals Turn Against European Justice Hillary Clinton says she will confer with Sen. Maria Cantwell,(D- Wash.) about the conviction of American student Amanda Knox, of Seattle, for the murder of her roommate in Perugia, Italy. Cantwell believes the Italian justice system to be substandard. Her ignorance of Italian criminal justice - and that of the American media, incapable of accurately reporting it - is most revealing....

The EPA is about to announce that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, something that has in many ways been inevitable since the boneheaded SCOTUS ruling in Mass. vs EPA (which essentially found that the Clean Air Act was always intended to be Kyoto-on-steroids.) With thanks to my colleague Will Yeatman, here's a brief summary of what this means, and why you should be appalled. Under the Clean Air Act, an “endangerment” finding means that the EPA will have to grant a waiver to those states (such as California) that want to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles. The EPA...

Scott Baker from Breitbart-TV.com and Co-Host of ‘The B-Cast‘ submitted this shocking report today on Obama’s deviant Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings. —-Warning on Content—– I was recently approached by a team of independent researchers that I have known for some time and have come to trust. They prepared this report involving ‘Safe Schools Czar’ Kevin Jennings and the organization he founded, GLSEN, and asked that I find a way to help draw attention to what they uncovered. Knowing that Gateway Pundit has followed Kevin Jennings since his appointment, as we have on The B-Cast (here, here, and here), and...

In the mid-1980s liberals Ronnie Dugger of the Texas Observer and Joe Cuomo produced a biased documentary, "Ronald Reagan and the Prophecy of Armageddon," which was broadcast on 175 public radio stations. Another leftist writer, Rayelan Allan, teamed up with Barbara Honegger, a bit player in the Justice Department who made a public show of attacking President Reagan and quitting her job. While Dugger and Cuomo were concentrating on public radio stations, Allan and Honegger were flooding the pages of newspapers and magazines with their similar propaganda. What was the message these four characters were sending to the nation? It...