Free Republic

With their gift for ruining everything they touch, American progressives have done incalculable damage to the reputation of Alexander Hamilton. Yet and still, the first Secretary of the Treasury remains perhaps the most problematic of the Founding Fathers. Teddy Roosevelt and New Republic founder Herbert Croly wholeheartedly embraced what they saw as Hamilton’s vision for a strong national government. Nevertheless, Hamilton vigorously defended the U. S. Constitution in The Federalist Papers, Heritage Foundation scholar Carson Holloway pointed out in a talk that he gave Tuesday at the Foundation’s headquarters here. “He was not arguing for a national government any stronger...

An Islamist radical recruited to Somalia from Minneapolis inspired the would-be “Texas Terror” killers, who were gunned down in Garland, Texas Sunday night by a sharp-shooting law enforcement officer before they could carry out their mass-murder plot at an art exhibit sponsored by First Amendment heroine Pamela Geller. It’s just the latest example of how and why Minneapolis—and specifically the congressional district of Muslim Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) —has become ground zero for the threat to the United States from Islamist terror groups such as ISIS and Al-Shabaab. ... The terrorist threat emanates from the Minneapolis neighborhood known as...

Exactly two months after the latest Warren Buffett-owned BNSF train derailed near the spot where the Galena river meets the Mississippi, resulting in a huge fire and the evacuation of all homes in a one mile radius, moments ago another of Buffett's BNSF oil trains derailed, this time near the town of Heimdal, North Dakota, resulting in the same outcome. According to the Bismark Tribune, the town in Wells County was evacuated Tuesday morning after a train full of oil tanker cars derailed and burned about a mile and half east of here. ... For those concerned that these countless...

An Auburn woman calling herself an ambassador for God and his son, Jesus Christ, filed a federal lawsuit Friday against all homosexuals. Sylvia Driskell, 66, said in the suit that she is petitioning the U.S. District Court of Omaha to be heard "in the matter of homosexuality. Is homosexuality a sin, or not a sin?" In a seven-page letter framed as a lawsuit, she cited Bible passages that described homosexuality as an abomination and against nature, and she said never before has the nation or the state been "besiege(d) by sin." "Will all the judges of this nation judge God...

Some of the same features that kept the Cinema Center building in business for more than 40 years could help make it a success in its next life as a shooting range, investors say. A group of Omaha businessmen plans to convert the vacant central Omaha movie theater into the Omaha Gun Club, which they describe as an upscale, family-friendly, recreational shooting range and firearms retailer.

Republican Sen. David Vitter’s bid to subpoena details about Congress’s treatment under Obamacare bitterly divided his own party Thursday, with five GOP senators balking at his attempt to force the D.C. health exchange to name who signed off on Capitol Hill’s use of the city’s insurance portal. Mr. Vitter, of Louisiana and chairman of the Small Business Committee, swiftly condemned his colleagues for voting with committee Democrats to reject his maneuver, 5 to 14. He said Congress’s arrangement with the city’s small-business exchange, or “SHOP,” provides lawmakers and staff with financial perks above and beyond what regular Obamacare customers can...

The Supreme Court told the police Tuesday they may not turn routine traffic stops into drug searches using trained dogs. The 6-3 decision ends the increasingly common practice whereby officers stop a car for a traffic violation and then call for a drug-sniffing dog to inspect the vehicle. The justices, both liberal and conservative, agreed that it was an unconstitutional "search and seizure" to hold a motorist in such cases. "Police may not prolong detention of a car and driver beyond the time reasonably required to address the traffic violation," said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking for the court. [snip]...

Two of the country’s most powerful and politically influential labor unions are backing President Obama in the recent court challenge to his 2014 executive action on illegal immigration, saying they support the president’s effort because "undocumented workers" need more workplace protection and their participation helps the U.S. economy. The AFL-CIO and the National Education Association on Monday each filed so-called amicus briefs in a federal appeals court case in which Texas and 26 other states are challenges the president’s 2014 memorandum on illegal immigration. The memorandum essentially expands work authorization and delayed-deportation programs for illegal immigrants. And it provides similar...

This afternoon, Fact Check.org produced a fact-check that ostensibly criticizes U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) for his contention that there has never been an instance of ground water contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing. Of course, this piece isn’t really about Inhofe at all; but before we get into that, we can’t help but wonder why they are fact-checking Inhofe and not former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson … or Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz … or Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell — all of whom have said exactly the same thing. Rather than a “fact-check,” it reads more like an advocacy...

LINCOLN, Neb. — State Sen. Sen. Ernie Chambers isn’t backing down. The state lawmaker from Omaha defiantly stood Thursday on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature and rejected many of his colleagues’ calls for him to apologize — or even resign — for comparing cops to ISIS terrorists and suggesting he’d shoot a cop if he weren’t nonviolent and had a gun. “I meant what I said and I said what I meant,” Chambers said. He said the irony is that lawmakers were discussing freedom of expression on Wednesday, and said it was ignorant and “idle talk” to suggest taking...

LINCOLN, Neb. — State Sen. Sen. Ernie Chambers isn’t backing down. The state lawmaker froma Omaha defiantly stood Thursday on the floor of the Nebraska Legislature and rejected many of his colleagues’ calls for him to apologize — or even resign — for comparing cops to ISIS terrorists and suggesting he’d shoot a cop if he weren’t nonviolent and had a gun. “I meant what I said and I said what I meant,” Chambers said. He said the irony is that lawmakers were discussing freedom of expression on Wednesday, and said it was ignorant and “idle talk” to suggest taking...

LINCOLN — State Sen. Ernie Chambers touched off a firestorm of criticism Wednesday after comments surfaced in which he compared police officers to the terrorist group that has beheaded American journalists and other captives during its violent takeover of parts of Syria and Iraq. During a public hearing Friday about a bill involving concealed handguns, Chambers said residents of his north Omaha district were more in fear of police than of extremist groups such as the Islamic State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “My ISIS is the police. Nobody...

Nebraska state Sen. Ernie Chambers told fellow lawmakers on the floor Wednesday afternoon that he wouldn't apologize for statements he made during a debate over a gun bill last Friday. "I will continue to condemn the police when they are wrong and, in my community they are always wrong," Chambers said. The initial comments came during a hearing on an amendment to a concealed carry law that would allow off-duty officers to bring concealed weapons onto school property. "My ISIS is the police," Chambers said. KFOR radio talk show host Coby Mach broadcast some of Chamber's comments on his show....

The Platte Institute, a non-profit research think tank based in Nebraska, released a report on how to better cater to America’s education needs. Their idea? Use education savings accounts, known as ESAs, or private scholarships to help children of poverty-stricken families to obtain a better quality of education. The report referred to the stark differences between college graduates and high school dropouts, where the unemployment rate is typically 11% for dropouts and 4% for college graduates. The report also pointed out how Nebraska is seeing rising poverty, where 1 out of every 3 Hispanic children under the age of 17...

Please pray for me and my work partner(his name is Tim), we are presently doing a HUGE Multi-Million $ Computer Equipment Inventory at work(USSTRATCOM Offutt AFB, NE) anyway we need to find and account for over 850 Line Items. Who knows where this stuff have been moved to since the last inventory(8 month ago).

Some are calling it one of the biggest construction projects in the country right now — the $400 million expansion of Google’s data center operations in Council Bluffs, a massive undertaking involving roughly 2,000 construction workers with no deadline announced. “We don’t how long it’s going to be going on, we just know that they’re continuing to build,” said Bob Mundt, president and chief executive of the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce. Since 2007, Google has invested more than $1.5 billion in its facilities in the Lake Manawa area and now at a 975-acre site opposite the MidAmerican energy...

Forty-seven Senate Republicans are signaling in an open letter to Iran and the White House that a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program will be at risk once President Obama leaves office. “It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Bloomberg. “Thus, we are writing to bring to your attention two features of our Constitution — the power to make binding international agreements and the different character of federal offices — which you should seriously...

The Talk Shows March 8th, 2015 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. ; former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Lewis.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tim Scott, R-S.C.; Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.; Benjamin Crump, lawyer for the family of Michael Brown, the unarmed black 18-year-old shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson.THIS WEEK (ABC): Mayor James Knowles of Ferguson, Missouri;...

The Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday that the prank device exploded when staff opened a package delivered to Fortenberry’s Lincoln office. Glitter bombs explode in showers of tiny, sparkling confetti that are difficult to clean up. “You can certainly disagree with your member of Congress or any member of Congress, but this is pretty reckless and irresponsible,” said Jennifer Allen, a spokeswoman for Fortenberry. “It’s just a huge waste of everybody’s time and resources.” Allen said the trick seemed motivated by Fortenberry’s stance on abortion. A note accompanying the package criticized his pro-life beliefs, she added. “Congrats, you’ve earned this for...

The Otoe County clerk said she won’t issue marriage licenses to gay couples, even though a federal judge ordered her to start doing so next week. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon on Monday morning ordered county clerks and other state officials to treat same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples when processing marriage licenses or determining the rights, protection or benefits of marriage. Bataillon's order takes effect March 9, but Otoe County Clerk Janene Bennett said she still won’t issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her Catholic beliefs -- no matter what. “It’s God’s law. Marriage was...