Free Republic

Elected officials of every political stripe ought to be shaking down to their Gucci loafers and pumps. History is forming and firming up harder than the proverbial brick wall right outside their congressional glass house. Yet they seem utterly oblivious. Since last April, I've written a few columns on the Tea Parties, but I had never actually attended one in person. I harbored a few misconceptions, formed at a distance through the media's drive-by lens. Being a woman who tends to cower in crowds and who loves the security and solitude of my little office-cloister, I had been content to...

Rep. Steve King calls for reinforcements at Capitol Fri. & Sat. to stop Obama/PelosiCare During the course of our House Calls at the Capitol yesterday afternoon, a group of us spotted Rep. Steve King at one of the entrances of the Cannon Building. He asked us to keep the pressure on by coming back to the Capitol today, Friday and tomorrow, Saturday until the vote occurs at 6:00 PM tomorrow evening. If you were not able to make it to the rally yesterday, or did so and can do more, PLEASE come back to give the representatives that are actually...

In a much publicized rant that sent chills up the legs of millions of liberals, oops, progressives, Janeane Garofalo emphatically exercised her opinion of the millions of 'tea-party' protestors: "This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism, straight up. Its is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks."   Anyone who has read Thomas Sowell's Black Rednecks and White Liberals, knows that Garofalo's statement is either demonstrably false, or just plain racist.   Sowell, a fellow at The Hoover Institution and a prolific author (who happens to be black himself) actually documents the origins...

It was supposed to be a public show of Iranian unity during day marking the 30-year anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Islamic revolutionaries. But not only did anti-government demonstrators, many of them dressed in green scarves and headbands, hijack the state-sponsored event. They also managed to steal the media's attention media, much to the displeasure of the authorities, who blamed the Western media for distorting the facts. On the other hand, Iran's official media, also appeared to play fast and loose with reality. (snip) Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, lashed out...

Michelle Bachman said that their would be days like this. Early reports are that thousands of protesters have shown up at the US Capitol today to push home the point that they do NOT want Obamacare. One Senator, Michael Bennet (D) of Colorado was not to happy to see his constituents. They showed up at his Hart Office building office asking to meet with the Senator in his Hart Senate Office building. Instead of a meeting with the Senator, they got a meeting with the Capitol Police The protesters were arrested about 10 a.m. were charged with unlawful entry, a...

TEHRAN, Iran — The contrasts were vivid: Pro-government supporters chanted "Death to America" and stomped on U.S. flags Wednesday while not far away, hundreds of opposition protesters denounced Iran's leaders and appealed to America's president to choose sides. "Obama, Obama, you are either with them, or with us," the anti-government protesters chanted in Farsi, in an amateur video clip widely circulated on the Internet. The new and startling appeal to President Barack Obama came as Iran's opposition protesters returned to the streets in large numbers for the first time in nearly two months. Authorities were ready with the same sweeping...

ROME – The Vatican has denounced a ruling by the European court of human rights that said the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and educational freedoms. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says the crucifix is a "fundamental sign of the importance of religious values" in Italian history and culture. He says the European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian matter .. .. In Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday ordered Italy to pay a euro5,000 ($7,390) fine to a mother who wanted crucifixes removed from her children's classrooms. The Italian government said it...

912 Denver News Blackout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-26FPN2ov4 Can You Hear Us Now? Denver Rally http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS4Z5aJ1zlQ

[Part 1 of this series.] [Part 2 of this series.] While some are advocating some kind of armed resistance, and others think a second civil war may be inevitable, even necessary, (having forgotten, perhaps, the horrors of the first, from which the South has never totally recovered), a revolution of striking producers has advantages over force that may not be immediately apparent: Historically, creators and producers have opposed war, not as pacifists, but because the nature of war is contrary to production and creativity. With no opposition at all to a truly defensive war, the producers of the world only...

President Obama was greeted by swarms of protesters upon his arrival at Texas A&M University on Friday, October 16. He certainly got an eyeful and earful of how America feels. Or at least he would have had he cared enough to venture to where the protesters were hidden out of sight by A&M officials. Remember the good old days when Americans, even the founders of Texas A&M University held dear those antiquated old-school beliefs of freedom, free speech, the rights of the people, and the stuff scribbled down in the U.S. Constitution? Well, fear not today's leaders of A&M aren't...

912 Pelosi's Denver Nightmare 4,000 Patriots in one spot. The media suppressed the event.

Even the liberal media requires revenue to sustain their operations. Is it time to pressure their advertisers to obtain less biased coverage?

On Thursday, F.B.I. agents descended on a house in Jackson Heights, Queens [New York City], and spent 16 hours searching it. The most likely reason for the raid: a man who lived there had helped coordinate communications among protesters at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. The man, Elliot Madison, 41, a social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, had been arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel...

In response to the lack of media coverage at the massive Taxpayer's March on Washington on September 12th, a new group has been formed to take the next round of tea party protests directly to the liberal mainstream media. "Operation: Can You Hear Us Now?," which was launched on September 15th, will hold rallies in front of 79 (and counting) media outlets across the country on October 17, 2009.

I spent the entire night of September 25-26, 2009 following the g20 protests on Twitter, YouTube, and many related websites that were steaming live information about the event and I drew many important lessons from a night that will go down in infamy in American history. On the 25th, thousands of protesters (possibly millions according to some online accounts) descended upon Pittsburgh, PA to demonstrate for various causes at the G20 Summit. It was the second day of marching. There were socialists, anarchists, and environmentalists; everyone from veteran protesters who were marching in the 60s to wide-eyed college kids drawn...

About 30 protesters turned out for the appearance of controversial TV and radio talk-show host Glenn Beck at Safeco Field at midday today, many expressing their displeasure with Beck calling President Obama a racist.Among Beck's roots in the state lies a South Sound mystery About 30 protesters turned out for the appearance of controversial TV and radio talk-show host Glenn Beck at Safeco Field at midday today, many expressing their displeasure with Beck calling President Obama a racist. Don Sly of Seattle held a huge, tongue-in-cheek sign that said, "Sure he's an idiot bigot, but he's our idiot bigot, Welcome...

A new generation of conservative activists has come forth, and many of the newcomers have never experienced the kind of nastiness to which liberals are inclined, falsely labeling them as racists, even Nazis. Many of the new activists worry that liberals' smears will be effective. But the old-timers among conservative activists have a message for the newcomers: Don't worry. We've heard these smears throughout our political lives. Even in the old days, the smears rarely worked. It is, to paraphrase Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls," the oldest established permanent floating crap game in American politics.

Where is Nancy Pelosi's outrage today? Anarchists and Lunatic Fringe Liberals, some wearing masks have begun demonstrations and the accompanying mindless destruction of property that accompanies these type protests to disrupt the G 20 Summit in Pittsburgh. The first group of would be Rioters gathered in Arsenal Park and and are moving on into the streets. Pittsburgh is the latest city to fall victim to left wing radical Economic Summit protesters and the damage they will undoubtedly cause. Many businesses have already boarded up, and will be closed several days like they do during a winter storm. They will be...

The plan for a series of grass-roots demonstrations Tuesday to promote President Obama's health care agenda calls for tightly scripted events and an "escalation" of efforts against "enemies" of reform. Organizers insist there is no comparison to rowdy summer town hall meetings and recent "tea party" protests that have challenged White House policies. But Health Care for America Now (HCAN), which is backed by a coalition of labor unions and liberal groups including ACORN and MoveOn.org, organized the protests to target insurance companies and drafted the plan, which describes the demonstrations as part of its "insurance enemies project." The document,...

What's wrong with the media? They take sides We've already seen them attacking ordinary Americans that show up at town hall meetings and TEA Party rallies. They go after someone for having a muddled message or for attacking big government while receiving social security. Protesting a a coerced system like social security where you have no choice is hardly hypocritical. And just because that electrician from Wheeling doesn't have a perfectly crafted speech prepared doesn't mean he's ignorant or insincere. Could you imagine if every one of those ordinary citizens had well-prepared talking points? Then the critics would claim they...

WASHINGTON -- If there is any president who might sympathize with the thousands of protesters expected to flood Pittsburgh this week for the G-20 summit, it would be the one who used to be a community organizer. But in an Oval Office interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday, President Barack Obama said he was not an advocate of mass protests, such as the ones planned for this week, while working in the South Side of Chicago in the 1980s. "Probably not," Mr. Obama said when asked if he might have been in the streets with a sign in his...

...Milk dumped on roads and farmland to protest drastically lower prices... European milk farmers have dumped three million litres of fresh milk onto pastures and roads in a massive, organized protest against lowered dairy prices. In Belgium, farmers spread milk across roads near the southern town of Ciney. Elsewhere, about 300 tractors dragged milk containers through plowed fields in southern Belgium, dumping a day's worth of milk production in that region. "It is a scandal to dump this, but we have to realize what the situation is," said Belgian farm leader Erwin Schoepges. "We need a farm revolt." Milk farmers...

Let any conservative in the media have an effect, and a counterattack will come from medial lapdogs of the left. Now the Glenn Beck has drawn political blood, he has a bulls-eye on his forehead. Poltico notices that the hyping of an alleged rivalry between Rush Limbaugh and Beck is underway, ignoring the fact that Rush has appeared on Glenn's Fox News show recently. Not exactly the behavior of someone scared of losing his dominance. Of course, the media has been demonizing Rush ever since he first succeeded in national syndication. Now they have a new game to play with...

Tens of thousands of people marched in Tehran and other major Iranian cities Friday as demonstrators turned an annual anti-Israel event into a new protest against the Islamic government. Witnesses and videos posted on the Internet and broadcast by foreign television showed clashes between security forces and protesters chanting "No Gaza, no Lebanon: my life only for Iran" and "death to the dictator." The demonstrations — the first large street protests since mid-July — had been expected on Friday, when the government celebrates Quds — or Jerusalem Day. The event, held every year on the final Friday in the Muslim...

An Internet list includes names of businesses, government buildings and university structures around Pittsburgh that protesters apparently plan to illegally target during the G-20 summit, Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons reported. Many of the 100 sites are in the East Liberty, Shadyside, Oakland and Lawrenceville neighborhoods, away from the site of the global economic summit, which will be held Sept. 24-25 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center downtown.

TEHRAN — Iranian opposition supporters fought running battles with riot police and hardliners on Friday as tens of thousands mounted the first protest in two months against the re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Protesters defied dire warnings from top officials against demonstrating during the annual mass display of solidarity with the Palestinians that is one of the setpieces of the Islamic regime. As Ahmadinejad himself gave the keynote speech at Tehran University renewing comments about Israel and the "myth" of the Holocaust that have sparked an international outcry, tens of thousands chanted "Death to the dictator" in nearby streets,...

I went to the Tea Party -- or as it was known alternatively, the Taxpayer's Protest Rally -- in Washington, DC on September 12. It was self-evidently an authentic grass roots event, and a rewarding experience. But I was troubled that the large crowd was overwhelmingly white and largely middle aged and above. There were a fair number of blacks, but barely any Asians or Latinos. In addition, most young people were children accompanying parents and grandparents; not too many young adults were in attendance. Now, unlike the bean counters in our government and universities, I am not particularly adept...

Its now official. I'm a racist. No less than a former president of the United States has declared that if I oppose the takeover of 17% of our economy under the guise of health care reform, I hate black people.   According to President Carter, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's objection to a 'misstatement' in President Obama's speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president. And a Rasmussen survey shows that fully 12% of Americans agree with him.

<p>Tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of angry Americans stormed Washington last weekend to oppose ObamaCare and government spending.</p> <p>How'd Democrats react? By redoubling efforts to pass "health-care reform" -- dissent be damned.</p> <p>True, Dems may pay a price if they succeed. But so will the nation -- in terms of a sapped economic recovery, further job losses, lower-quality, rationed health care and, of course, monster taxes.</p>

traveled on the Tea Party Express tour bus as a singer/songwriter, entertainer and spokesperson; 16 states, 34 rallies in two weeks. I experienced vicious racial verbal attacks, not from the tea party protesters. The racial hate expressed against me all came from the left, people who support President Obama's radial socialist agenda. Unfortunately, my deleted email box is littered with numerous messages expressing the following: "You are the dumbest self hating f****** n***** I have ever seen!" These racists are outraged by my opening lines I boldly proclaimed at each rally. "Hello my fellow patriots! I am NOT an African-American!...

As we all know, the Obama controlled media has gone above and beyond the call of duty to downplay the 912 Project Tea Party in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. It’s been completely laughable, to say the least. We wrote about this earlier, and supplied plenty of photos and video. But it seems the Obama controlled media has its orders to cover things up, and they are doing their very best not to disappoint their Dear Leader. All of the evidence points to numbers between 1.5 and 2 million attendees at the event. There are overhead crowd shots that clearly demonstrate...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A southern conservative lawmaker breaks decorum and hollers "You Lie," at the president in Congress. Protesters display guns at venues where the president is speaking. And a movement arises alleging that the president's birth certificate is forged. To some, it is clear that the burgeoning opposition to President Barack Obama is rooted in racism, driven by whites' discomfort with the fact that the United States is now led by an African-American president. A series of Democratic lawmakers and political columnists have pointed to the trends -- the heckling, the gun-toting, the preachers leading congregations in prayers that...

Liberals are having difficulty understanding the grass roots opposition to President Obama's plans for the government takeover of the health care industry, as well as the President's loss of support since his election. Equally disconcerting to liberals was the massive turnout on September 12th to protest a Federal government that is too big, too intrusive, and far too corrupt. As one who attended the September 12th rally at the Capitol, let me offer liberals the following explanation for what is happening. Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards out of all of us." And what are the American...

Just thought I would pass along a couple images that left a lasting impression. The first is actually from a video which I have included. Porta potties.

How do you marginalize a significant protest against a politician or policy you sup port? Lowball the numbers, then dismiss participants as deranged and possibly dangerous kooks. In the case of Saturday's massive 9/12 protest in Washington, done and done. "Small protest," popular lefty blogger Josh Marshall reported from his armchair, as an overflow crowd (at least 100,000, by my rough, unscientific estimate) filled the 1.5 miles between the south White House and the US Capitol, spilling out all over the National Mall and even down the street to Union Station. The Center for American Progress, whose president headed up...

After an August where we were blessed to witness many of our representatives getting their figurative heads handed to them, and the miracle of 9/12, I am still not sure they or the administration really “gets” it.

The local papers where I live (Southwest Virginia) actually ran stories on the protest marches that took place on September 12, 2009, in Washington, DC. The Bristol Herald-Courier picked up the AP screed, headlined “Thousands of downtown DC protesters blast Obama.” Thousands, my Aunt Fannie. I saw the videos and describing that crowd as “thousands” is like describing the Stimulus spending as “pennies.”

If you missed being there, this photo essay is the next best thing. This event had been promoted as a taxpayer “tea party” but the crowd’s concerns wide ranging, from outrage at ACORN and Obama’s socialist cadre known as Czars, to Obama’s untruthfulness. Protesters also displayed signs mocking Nancy Pelosi and others for smearing the grassroots movement as “astroturfers” and as an angry mob. ABC News reports that two million Americans flooded D.C. in what people in the crowd were calling "a conservative Woodstock" Like the liberal Woodstock of the '60s, thousands were rumored stranded on freeways. Some walked in...

Grassroots or astroturf? Real or fake? Those are the questions being asked about the rash of protests taking place all over the country against the president's plans to reform the nation's healthcare. Many Congressional Democrats are facing angry constituents at "town hall" meetings. What is meant to be an opportunity to exchange views and listen has turned into something more like a bar-room fight. At one such meeting, the police were called in to restore order. One Congressman has received death threats, another has faced an effigy hanging by a rope. Placards warn of "health rationing" and "socialised medicine"; chants...

Tomorrow an event of historic proportions will occur in Washington D.C. and around the country. This event is the culmination of the months of outrage, shock, fear, and outright disdain the citizens across this great land are feeling toward reckless government spending, the takeover of corporations, the appointing of extremist, Communist 'czars' to the White House, the proposed government takeover of healthcare that will result in rationing, and the coming massive tax hikes that will be necessary to pay for our trillion-dollar deficit and multi-trillion-dollar national debt.

PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona pastor has triggered protests after preaching a sermon last month titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama." Dozens of demonstrators gathered Sunday outside Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe to protest the message preached by the Rev. Steven Anderson.

It may have taken awhile, but with the advent of The Most Radical President In U.S. History, the Silent - conservative -- Majority is finally Speaking Truth to Power. And Power is listening. Thanks to our activism, "green jobs czar" and Truther nutcase Van Jones has resigned. And thanks to us, the Department of Education has removed the fascistic trappings from the student activities to accompany the president's upcoming "school speech": The original version [of an email to principals] suggested students "write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." The updated version asks students to...

Gee... For some reason the permit information for this event has just been made available. I wonder why it took so long for them to publish this information. Washington, D.C. - On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration...

The revolt keeps growing, from tea parties to angry town hall meetings across the country, an uprising against the attempts of an elite to force on us an all-powerful State, about as welcome as grandma's cod-liver oil. Examples of revolt go beyond irate callers to radio talk shows. Take for instance the incident at a Frankie Valli concert recently posted on American Thinker, and the disgust and anger in Joe Sheffat's article. Sen. Barbara Boxer encountered it, as did Sen. Claire McCaskill, who made the mistake of asking if she was trusted. The elite seem unable to comprehend that anyone...

Is there any pictures of the recent tea party from the Alamo on 9/3/2009?

Looks like the LATimes got the story of a clash between pro- and anti-Obamacare protesters totally backwards. This was the lede in a September 3, 2009 LATimes blog (scroll down to find it under "Man bites off man's finger at Obama healthcare rally"): "A 65-year-old man at a Wednesday night California rally supporting President Obama's embattled reform ideas had a finger bitten off during a scuffle with anti-reform protesters." The democraticunderground.com website jumped on the piece and it provokes a series of comments. The first one was, "1. Why are Right-Wings always ruled by Emotions and Never by Logic" Well,...

Health Care for Americans Now (HCAN) an Acorn affiliated group had scheduled a protest today at St. Anthony's Hospital supporting Obamacare. About ten Tea Party Movement Patriots went to counter protest. The other side never showed up. We spent about an hour and a half waving flags, showing our signs, waving to passerbys, and generally had a great time. We had decided that we have gotten so much bad press and smears from the left about being unruly mobsters that we should wave and smile and show folks we were regular, friendly people standing up for America. Seemed to work...

Group Protests Greensboro Neo-Nazi MeetingNational Socialist Movement Kept Triad Meeting Secret UPDATED: 8:21 pm EDT August 29, 2009 GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The controversial National Socialist Movement group/Party, commonly referred to as neo-Nazis, was in Greensboro Saturday night for a regional business meeting. While civic leaders decided not to respond to the group's presence in the Triad, others said they don't want the meeting in their neighborhood. A group of nearly 100 people gathered at Elm and McGee streets to show their opposition to the neo-Nazis' presence in Greensboro. "I think we need to continue to stand up as a community...

I spoke with a local (northern Illinois) organizer about the Washington DC protest on the 12th. She related that she had heard there may be over 500,000 protesters that day! This is incredible to me, but she sounded for real. Has anyone else heard any figures? BTW, I am going...my nineteen year old daughter wants to go also! We need to do this now...I believe this will be one of our last chances to avoid serious bloodshed. We must prevail now! Let us all know if you are going or protesting elsewhere this day.

I see that former former head of the Democratic National Committee Dr. Howard Dean was a guest speaker at Virginia Congressman Jim Moran's town hall tonight. Seems screaming Howie didn't exactly get a very warm welcome from much of the crowd, too. And this was up in Moran's own district (the 8th), which encompasses all of Alexandria and runs northwest up to Reston. Talk about a liberal paradise. Anyway, the get-together -- which looked to have been completely AstroTurfed by Barack Obama's Organizing for America folks (you could tell who they were were by the professional quality of the signs...