Free Republic

I’m assured that, on occasion, learning still happens on college campuses. I have not detected any evidence of this, but I accept it as a matter of faith. People I trust have assured me that universities are not just bastions of cultish indoctrination — there’s a lot of sex and beer pong, too. But sometimes, I’m informed, a rebellious student might endeavor to adsorb an actual fact or piece of knowledge. Again, I cannot independently confirm this shocking claim. These rogue learners aside, it’s obvious that college is often a place where students go to erase from their minds any...

Chelsea Handler said political correctness isn't working for Americans. In a op-ed written for The Daily Beast, the 40-year-old comedian said she sat down with representatives from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, American Indians in Film & Television and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We had an honest discussion about whether or not it's funny, appropriate, helpful, or hurtful to traffic in ethnic, racial, and religious stereotypes," Handler said. Handler said they all "ended up smiling and laughing about examples of politically incorrect humor because they could see...

Harvard University in the US is going to remove the word "master" from academic titles, after protests from students who claimed the title had echoes of slavery. House masters, in charge of residential halls at the university, will become known as "faculty deans". Harvard Law School is also deciding whether to change its official seal, because of links to slavery.

Just how bad colleges have become when it comes to free speech and toleration for anyone who disagrees with those who hold power cannot be underestimated. Many Americans who think back fondly on their college days decades ago are shocked to learn the truth. Toward that end, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has just released its Top Ten list—the worst colleges and universities in the country last year when it came to freedom of speech. Introducing the list, FIRE’s president Greg Lukianoff writes, “The past year will be remembered as the year that freedom of speech (or...

Many of the president's ideas about 'tolerance' are antithetical to the American experience, not something to celebrate.For eight years now, the president has reprimanded the American people for their attitudes about Islam. And Barack Obama's big speech to the Islamic Society of Baltimore -- granted, filled with many harmless platitudes -- was no different, leaving little room for any honest dialogue about ideology or faith. Many of the president's ideas about "tolerance," in fact, are antithetical to the American experience, not something to celebrate. Acceptance of outsiders is an American virtue, yes. Do we have to embrace all ideas, as...

The appeal of Mr. Trump, in its face, is clear. He rips away the scourge of political correctness, a virus that is destroying the country from within. We’re all rightly concerned about terrorism, but that’s a cancer that will only finish off this nation. The tipping point for me was last week’s absurd drama surrounding new attacks by the Trump gang on Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. She’s “unfair” we’re told, and shouldn’t moderate the debate. This stemmed from the first debate when Ms. Kelly asked Mr. Trump to explain his attitude toward women many consider misogynistic. Yes, you can be...

Valentine's Day is the first that will pass without notice at Bruce Vento Elementary. Celebrations of Valentine’s Day and the other “dominant holidays” are ending at one St. Paul elementary school, according to a letter from the principal addressed to families. Principal Scott Masini of Bruce Vento Elementary School, whose student body is overwhelmingly nonwhite, explained in the letter that “my personal feeling is we need to find a way to honor and engage in holidays that are inclusive of our student population.” With Valentine’s Day a little more than two weeks away, Masini noted, “I have come to the...

The University of Ottawa yoga class that was canceled due to concerns of cultural appropriation will be returning with an Indian instructor. In November, the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa informed yoga instructor Jennifer Scharf that her class catering to students with disabilities would be canceled because of the "cultural issues and implications" involved with a white woman teaching a yoga class. [...] Now, CBC News reports the yoga class is returning to the University of Ottawa with an Indian instructor named Priya Shah. Unlike Scharf, who had been teaching the yoga class for seven years, Shah became...

Imagine that in some future presidential election, two Mexican-American candidates are vying for the Dem nomination. The Dem front-runner announces he won't participate in the next debate. And a conservative pundit sneeringly says "who's going to watch a debate between the two Mexican guys?" Now imagine all hell descending on that hapless conservative for his breach of political correctness. Will anything similar befall Chris Matthews? Of course not. But on Hardball this evening, as news was breaking that Donald Trump won't participate in Thursday's debate in protest over Megyn Kelly's presence on the panel, Matthews said "who's going to watch...

Having won an Oscar, I'm safe. Otherwise, I suppose I would have had to get my agent at CAA to write a letter assuring the Academy that even though I haven't produced a film in the past 10 years, there are three scripts on his desk he has not yet been able to set up, thus indicating activity in the past 10 years. That is, unless you can count the short film I directed, which made it into several festivals, or the web series I directed, which was nominated for a Producers Guild Award. Or do the 15 years I've...

Do your Allen Iverson imitation, but instead of "practice," try saying "alleged" in your most disbelieving voice. . . On today's Good Morning America, the normally politically-correct Dan Harris took surprising issue with Ron Claiborne's insistence on calling a caught-on-tape convenience store shooter an "alleged" robber. The show rolled the security video several times, showing the "alleged" robber repeatedly shooting right at the woman at the register. Said an incredulous Harris "I like how you call him an 'alleged' robber. I think we can say, given the video, he did it." Responded Claiborne: "I'm not going there, Dan. Innocent till...

In last year’s roundup of the top stories of the year, I argued that 2014 was the year we were all drafted into the culture wars. “This is the year when we were served noticed that we won’t be allowed to stand on the sidelines, because we will not be allowed to think differently from the left.” The signature story of the year was the comet shirt guy, a mild-mannered scientist caught wearing the wrong shirt on television. That case served notice that “To be targeted by accusations of misogyny, you don’t have to be a beer-chugging ‘bro’ who spends...

A restaurant chain in Houston warns customers the store is "politically incorrect." At least, according to the sign outside the door. It greets guests at five Berryhill owned restaurants in the area. "We say Merry Christmas and salute our flag. Oh, wow!" They first appeared about two weeks ago. "Yeah, I guess the political correctness has gone overboard sometimes."

In a day and age when the campus foolishness quotient never seems to stop increasing (after all, do away with a building named "Lynch" because of the "racial" overtones?), it is time to take a look at a few college-related terms and titles which may shortly be on the chopping block. Obviously, a replacement must be sought for master's degree. (Skeptical? Hah!) A bachelor's degree is overtly and blatantly sexist. What about unmarried females, after all, don't they count? Suitable replacement Unattached (insert preferred pronoun) degree. "Associate degree" - the first three letters could be viewed as denigrating the achievement....

Go, Trump, GO!! Trounce the Marxist/fascist treasonous open borders establishment who are hellbent on destroying our Judeo-Christian society! Securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

Washington (CNN)—The commissioning of the USS Jackson, a littoral combat ship, has angered activists who don't want to see President Andrew Jackson honored. The new ship, also designated LCS 6, was commissioned in Mississippi on Saturday and honors Jackson, Mississippi, which the Navy noted in a news release is named for former President Andrew Jackson. The ship is the Navy's third to bear the seventh president's name. The designation comes amid a nationwide review of Jackson's legacy; activists who have fought having his name celebrated were dismayed to learn of the name the Navy had chosen.

I completely get the fury over political correctness. I completely understand that the aristocratic political, media, and academic establishment have been lying to us about Islam and the Muslim world for more than fourteen years. As I explain at length on the home page, it's simply not the case that Islam is a peaceful, tolerant faith plagued by a tiny few extremists. Rather, Islam has massive problem with hate and bigotry - with hundreds of millions of Muslims supporting the worst kinds of religious intolerance and tens of millions more outright terrorist sympathizers. In the refugee controversy, I've repeated over...

A guide to "inclusive" Christmas decorations created by Cornell University warns that any decorations that remotely evoke religion, which includes stars and mistletoe, are incompatible with the school's commitment to diversity. The guidelines are buried inside a Cornell publication concerning fire safety guidelines for holiday decorations, and were first noticed by the website Campus Reform. The first half of the document concerns certain banned fire hazards, such as candles and metallic Christmas trees. The second half of the document, though, veers off into a discussion of how to make the Christmas season more "inclusive." "University members are reminded to be...

You know what's ticking me off this morning? It's three particular things: 1). The fact that fourteen innocent people were slaughtered at a Christmas party last week in San Bernardino by a Muslim terrorist and his satanic ISIS bride. 2). Obama and "The Media", including some FOX News hosts, tripped over themselves trying to keep from calling this obvious act of terror, an obvious act of terror spawned by the Kings of Killing Unsuspecting Innocent People Around The World. I'm talkin' about BHO's favorite religion the very ones he fawns over the most namely, Islam. Did you see the Islamapologist-In-Chief...

"Combat Effectiveness" Being Degraded by Obama's Military Policies By evaluating an overwhelming amount of evidence that has been building for 6 ½ years, the obvious conclusion personnel with extensive military experience will come to, is that Obama’s military policies have been degrading the finest US military fighting force in history. Over the last 6 ½ years, the US Armed Forces has been hollowed out by Obama, his Social Experiment On Diversity has severely fractured unit cohesiveness, his “Politically Correct Policies” have negatively affected unit morale, and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the US military is being degraded. Tip of the spear...