Free Republic

The Greeks invented philosophy. They gave us Herodotus, the father of history, too. Their philosophy of history was cyclical, meaning they believed history had highs and lows, but lacked purpose. The Christian intellectual tradition first proposed that history moves in a linear fashion, corresponds with progress, and culminates with a utopian end point. Modern day “progressives” have inherited this Christian philosophy, and merely substituted their values. It was the great St. Augustine who initially posited a comprehensive teleological (with an end) philosophy of history. Drawing upon Old Testament conceptions of history, Augustine divided the past into epochs, one following the...

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, was arguably more intelligent and capable than 99.9% of the population. In a 1980 interview Jobs gave his vision for education: 'I am a very big believer in equal opportunity, as opposed to equal outcome….Equal opportunity to me more than anything means a great education….Maybe even more important than a great family life…It pains me because we do know how to provide a great education. We really do. If we got our act together, we could make sure that every young child in this country got a great education. But we fall far short...

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) during President Obama's tenure, went on the Kelly File last night to talk about the possible manipulation of ISIS intelligence. He said the investigation should "start at the top. Where intelligence starts and stops is at the White House." "[M]any of them have been deployed for many years in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere... so I think that the focus of really this investigation, they'll find whoever they're going to find and some of the tactical issues at central command, but the focus of this investigation ought to...

You May Be A Communard If ... Definition of "communard" 1.1 (Communard) historical. A supporter of the Paris Commune. Origin Late 19th century: from French, from commune. #YouMayBeACommunardIf ... * You feel that you have the "right" to not be offended. * You think that you have the "right" to "feel safe" * You feel that you have the "right" to free healthcare * You feel that you have a "right" to a free college education. * You feel that you have the "right" to free housing * You feel that you have the "right" to enslave others * You...

Progressives, who have always claimed to be the authoritative source of progressive attitudes on race, have actually become one of the centers of racist thinking in America over the last quarter century, a period of time in which postwar liberalism/progressivism itself was being reconfigured by the radical Sixties worldview. Progressive racism began in the last years of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, when organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) radicalized the issue of color in America by focusing on legitimate “black rage” and the “institutional racism” they claimed was embedded in the...

Imagine a city where all the major economic planks of the statist or "progressive" platform have been enacted: A "living wage" ordinance, far above the federal minimum wage, for all public employees and private contractors. A school system that spends significantly more per pupil than the national average. A powerful school employee union that militantly defends the exceptional pay, benefits and job security it has won for its members. Other government employee unions that do the same for their members. A tax system that aggressively redistributes income from businesses and the wealthy to the poor and to government bureaucracies. Would...

Comrades, As a collectivist who strives for the greater common good, last weekend (days off from labor provided by our collective brothers) I pondered on our current party name. Like the Confederate Flag, which clearly represents bigotry and past US aggression toward the people of color, and needs to be removed from history - might I submit that the name “Democrat”, which has a past history of Jim Crow laws and dare I say lynchings, be changed? If we can come together as a group and rename our glorious party, I believe we can unite Amerika. Let us focus on...

There are a lot of conservatives in Hollywood, and they’re not very welcome. It’s a big surprise that we’ve come to this juncture where people with patriotic thoughts could not find a home in Hollywood. “I think the word ‘progressive’ is a very devious term. It was created as a substitute for ‘communist.' What they propose is the reverse of progress. It’s some that that does taste of communism and Karl Marx’s pernicious philosophy.”

The “progressive” quote and its implications set the parameters for the next presidential election. Folks who want to define themselves as being further to the left than orthodox liberals now use the term “progressive.” If this were Denmark, they would be calling themselves socialist. But only Bernie has the courage and integrity to do that, so they refer to themselves as progressives. Progressives — and Hillary specifically — very much aim to carry forward the ethos and legacy of President Obama. His aims are theirs. The only difference of any consequence, as Hillary said in the debate, is that the...

The Progressive Movement: A Synopsis All productive discourse must begin on a point of agreement in order to have meaningful results. Conservatives are not in agreement regarding the Progressive Movement. The Progressive Movement arose around the beginning of the 20th century. Socialist support gave the movement a bad name and they began to call themselves Liberals. However, as of late, bolstered by the open Socialist support they have returned to calling themselves Progressives. The socialist support makes it nearly impossible to distinguish between Democrats, Socialist, and Socialist Democrat. I will share my opinion about the origin and agenda of the...

It had to be Denmark, didn’t it? If you are the sort of person who has better things to do — which is to say, a fully functioning adult who is not professionally obliged to follow these things — then you probably missed the exchange between Mrs. Clinton and Senator Sanders at last night’s debate, when she lectured him that the United States isn’t Denmark and he responded with a rousing defense of the Danish model. Never mind, for the moment, that neither of these batty old geezers has the foggiest idea of what’s going on in Denmark, or in...

Stocking Congress with progressive Republicans, who talk a conservative game but act in concert with progressive Democrats, is an excellent, ancient, tried-and-true strategy It’s the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall. It just keeps coming around. So does the Kabuki Theater in congress over the debt ceiling, which will ultimately be raised. The show that accompanies the process will be characterized by the usual irrational plot, appalling acting, extremely competent Democrat propaganda and not much benefit for the nation. Republicans know very well that the Democrat propaganda machine has already revved up and is snorting and pawing at the...

[O]ver the course of his decades-long involvement in American political life, Trump has taken positions on liberal priorities that would put him firmly in the “Elizabeth Warren wing” of the Democratic Party. 1. Government health care for all 2. Legalize all drugs 3. Tax the wealth of the 1% 4. No more foreign wars 5. Defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership and protect American workers [P]rogressives could learn a thing or two from some of the positions “the Donald” has taken over the years. And to combat inequality, incarceration, and war, progressives may want their ideal 2016 candidate to be more like...

Murder, murder, everywhere, but Obama's not to blame Murder rates are skyrocketing in large U.S. cities, but President Obama’s progressive pro-crime policies and endless racial provocations have nothing to do with it, the New York Times predictably declared in a recent article. Nowadays Americans are being killed and maimed explicitly because of their race. Execution-style cop killings are becoming distressingly common. Killings and vicious assaults based on the skin color of the civilian victim are also becoming common. That any of this is happening shouldn’t surprise anyone who follows public events. For years media outlets have acted as uncompensated publicists...

The billionaire Republican front-runner starts getting specific about economic policy proposals. Republican front-runner Donald Trump began to flesh out his economic vision for America, and it includes raising taxes on the wealthy. Trump said during a Wednesday interview on Bloomberg’s With All Due Respect that he would like to change the tax code. “I would change it. I would simplify it,” Trump told hosts Mark Halperin and John Heilemann from the lobby of Trump Tower on New York‘s 5th Ave. Specifically, Trump targeted hedge fund profits, which are currently taxed at a lower rate than regular income. “You’ve seen my...

Alan Colmes Talks to John Bachtell: Alan talks to National Chair of Communist Party USA John Bachtell about American politics: In 1919, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) was created in Chicago as a 5th Column by the U.S.S.R. in order to form “fighting organizations for seizing control of the state, for the overthrow of government and the establishment of the workers’ dictatorship.” With the eventual collapse of Communist Russia the CPUSA needed to form new alliances with groups also hell bent on destroying the United States from within. Luckily for them, they found the Democratic Party. During an interview with...

Social justice warriors believe in an extreme left-wing ideology that combines feminism, progressivism, and political correctness into a totalitarian system that attempts to censor speech and promote fringe lifestyles while actively discriminating against men, particularly white men. They are the internet activist arm of Western progressivism that acts as a vigilante group to ensure compliance and homogeny of far left thought. The true definition of SJW is up for debate, but most generally it has become a catch-all term that describes feminists and liberals who actively try to solve the perceived social injustices of modern society by organizing in online...

I found this online, and to use whiny social justice speak, it triggered something in me. Notice the regression? Not only in age, but scientifically as well. We understand more about life than at any point in human history, by far. That understanding is on a molecular level, and yet liberals want to pretend that a fetus is just a clump of cells (when they're not ignoring the organs they sell) and that it doesn't constitute life. It's willful ignorance for the sake of political expediency, at best, and the last thing you can ascribe to such thinking is "progress."

I thought we’d already reached Peak Trumpmania but if his next speech ends with Trump’s bodyguards going toe to toe with left-wing black activists trying to commandeer his stage to rant against the police, we might yet see him crack 50 percent in the polls. I’m shocked that he ended up saying this off the cuff in a Q&A last night rather than as part of his prepared remarks. It’s so squarely in the wheelhouse of his appeal — offering to fight, literally, against a group that’s politically correct to the point of being sacrosanct among progressives — that a...

Protesters who claimed affiliation with the Black Lives Matter movement stormed the stage during a rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Seattle on Saturday, taking over the microphone and forcing Sanders to leave without ever speaking. Moments after Sanders took the stage at Westlake Park, two women and one man climbed the stage and confronted the Democratic presidential candidate, demanding a chance to speak. After several moments of confusion and confrontation, an event organizer took the microphone and said the protesters would be allowed to speak before Sanders.