Free Republic

As a journalist covering Chicago politics, verifying information is like climbing a mountain of sand. With each step you take, the deeper you sink. Last week while researching claims from a local Tea Party activist, I found myself asking a family for proof that they had lost an unborn grandchild. The family, Dan and Midge Hough, of Chicago, spoke in favor of health care reform and in support of U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-3rd) at a Nov. 14 town hall meeting in Oak Lawn. Their daughter-in-law, Jenny, and an unborn grandchild died recently due in part, they believe, to a...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Both of Virginia's U.S. senators say they will vote to allow debate on the Senate version of health-care overhaul legislation, but neither has committed to voting for the actual bill. Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., got an earful on the subject from a group of small-business owners in Carytown yesterday while protesters rallied outside Warner and Sen. Jim Webb's Richmond offices. *break* Warner, who said he wants to see more cost containment in the Senate's legislation before he can support it, responded that he hasn't committed to vote for the bill. "If it doesn't improve, chances are...

I may be wrong, but wouldn't Black Friday be a perfect day for "tea parties"? Everyone off work, many going shopping. Also it would be another way to "starve the beast".

The 2008 national election clearly shows our next generation of leaders must possess something that many recent and current elected officials lack: intellectual courage. President Nixon believed all leaders, regardless of their time, needed “brains, guts and heart.” Others have defined those character traits as “the right stuff.” “Given what is likely needed to right our ship of state, I don't think that it will come as a great surprise to many that our current men and women in the military are likely going to be the ‘right’ individuals for the job when they come home,” said Lara Brown, a...

Glenn Beck [...] says he wants to go beyond broadcasting his opinions and start rallying his political base — formerly known as his audience — to take action. To do so, Mr. Beck is styling himself as a political organizer. In an interview, he said he would promote voter registration drives and sponsor a series of seven conventions across the country featuring what he described as libertarian speakers. On Saturday he held a festive campaign-style rally in The Villages in Florida, north of Orlando, in which he promoted his recently released book, “Arguing With Idiots,” and announced another book to...

Via Oprah, Facebook and a bus trip that resembled a campaign swing more than a book tour, Sarah Palin reappeared on the national stage last week, minus her governorship and running-mate status, but with a new role as principled “rogue” to add to her previous credits as plain-spoken patriot and hockey mom. Party leaders weigh the benefits and risks of catering to “tea party” protesters like these, who dislike the House health care bill. Whatever else it said about America, her return brought into focus a big question for Republicans as they watched the intense reactions she generated: To what...

At the Villages in Florida, conservative media superstar Glenn Beck unveiled his hotly-anticipated "Plan" -- a new direction for his program, and for America that he'd been hinting at on the air. On Saturday, Beck told the New York Times that from now on, along with hosting his popular tv and radio shows, he "would promote voter registration drives and sponsor a series of conventions across the country featuring what he described as libertarian speakers." He also said he planned to publish yet another non-fiction book in August 2010. (Beck's five previous books have all been NYT #1 bestsellers.) Already,...

Activists Gather To Read Mayflower Compact, Sing Songs. About 100 people are expected at the Colorado Capitol Saturday afternoon to sing traditional Thanksgiving songs and to read historic documents from the nation's founding. The sing-along and reading are sponsored by Tea Party activists, who decry federal spending and call for a return to more limited government.

As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on ObamaCare Saturday, medical professionals across the country will speak out against the government's takeover of health care. The Million Med March is taking place in state capitols and major cities across the U.S. this weekend. The events are being organized by a group called Doctors U.N.I.T.E.

After emerging out of nowhere over the summer as a seemingly potent and growing political force, the tea party movement has become embroiled in internal feuding over philosophy, strategy and money and is at risk of losing its momentum. The grass-roots activists driving the movement have become increasingly divided on such core questions as whether to focus their efforts on shaping policy debates or elections, work on a local, regional, state or national level or closely align themselves with the Republican Party, POLITICO found in interviews with tea party organizers in Washington and across the country. Many of these differences...

Glenn Beck, the controversial Fox News television host, is planning on becoming more active in the populist conservative movement he spawned, according to sources familiar with his thinking. At a rally Saturday at a massive retirement community in central Florida, Beck is planning to unveil what he has billed as a “big plan” for 2010, which is expected to involve the 9.12 Project, the group he started earlier this year and named for the day after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when he says the nation was unified. “Coming this January, my whole approach changes on this program,” he...

Glenn Beck, the controversial Fox News television host, is planning on becoming more active in the populist conservative movement he spawned, according to sources familiar with his thinking. At a rally Saturday at a massive retirement community in central Florida, Beck is planning to unveil what he has billed as a “big plan” for 2010, which is expected to involve the 9.12 Project, the group he started earlier this year and named for the day after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when he says the nation was unified. “Coming this January, my whole approach changes on this program,” he...

Hundreds of people who believe the government is getting too big and spending too much... gathered tonight at the old Minot Armory. The tea party event, that packed in more than well more than 500 people, is a coordinated protest designed to give individual Americans a chance to come together, share ideas and give them unified voice. Former Governor Ed Schafer spoke at tonight's meeting in Minot. Schafer says many Americans believe the government is becoming too intrusive in our lives and that individual freedom and liberty should stay in place. "A lot of examples of how they're getting taken...

Now that former CNN host Lou Dobbs has been freed of his duties with his former network, he has been making the rounds on other networks - Fox News "The O'Reilly Factor," Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and now with his long-time rival's show CNBC's "The Kudlow Report." One of the issues debated among a panel consisting of Dobbs, host Larry Kudlow, former Clinton Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and CNBC CME Group reporter Rick Santelli on Nov. 19 was the issue of wage stagnation - which Dobbs blamed on outsourcing, immigration policy and technological advancement. "I believe that the...

After emerging out of nowhere over the summer as a seemingly potent and growing political force, the tea party movement has become so rife with internal feuding over philosophy, strategy and money that some supporters fear it will disintegrate before realizing its full potential. The grass-roots activists powering the movement have become increasingly divided on core questions such as whether to focus their efforts on shaping policy debates or elections, work on a local, regional, state or national level or closely align itself with the Republican Party, POLITICO found in interviews with tea party organizers in Washington and across the...

There was an AP article this morning about a ruckus in Moscow between a group labeled “anti-racist” and another group called “neo-NAZI” in one place and “right-wing” at another point. Since NAZI is the acronym for a particularly perverse form of socialism, how did we ever let the mainstream press get away with calling NAZI supporters “right-wing”? The real definition of “right-wing” is “freedom-loving supporter of the Republic form of government”, a precious possession left to us by our Founding Fathers. Left-wing, on the other hand, is a term properly applied to statists, those who want to give up freedom...

Talk about a political rock star. A crowd estimated at more than 1,500 already had lined up by mid-morning at a Grand Rapids, Mich., bookstore in advance of a 6 p.m. book signing by 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whose book "Going Rogue" has already become a runaway bestseller -- one day after its release. Die-hard fans of the former Alaska governor traveled from all over the state and began setting up outside a Barnes & Noble store in the city's Woodland Mall at around 9 p.m. last night, hunkering down in 30-degree overnight temperatures to camp out...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The first national tea party convention is going to be held in Music City with keynote speaker Sarah Palin. The former vice presidential nominee is on a three-week book tour promoting her just-released best seller titled "Going Rogue." Palin will be in Nashville for the tea party convention held Feb. 4-6 at Gaylord Opryland. Tickets are $549 a piece. For more information about the event and tickets, visit http://www.nationalteapartyconvention.com

The Anti-Defamation League started with good intentions, The Anti-Defamation League was founded in 1913 "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all." Now the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency, ADL fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all. But in more recent years it has become a tool of it's leaderships desire to push its Liberal/Progressive agenda. For example in recent years it has released the following position papers supporting the liberal agenda: * Amnasty for illegal immigrants: o ADL Welcomes Bipartisan...

Che Guevara supporters with a radical pro-amnesty coalition viciously attacked and bludgeoned tea party protesters at a Florida anti-illegal immigration rally, including a 62-year-old man who was beaten and kicked in the face. Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, or ALIPAC, called for "Tea Parties Against Amnesty and Illegal Immigration" to form quickly across the nation on Nov. 14. In less than 30 days, protests were scheduled for more than 50 towns and cities. But two Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., tea party protesters were brutally beaten by pro-amnesty activists on the day of the nationwide rally as they attempted to film Florida's...

More than 50 Anti-Amnesty tea party rallies were held across the nation this past weekend. The events were put together by Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC), but NumbersUSA played a role in the events held in Alexandria, Va. and Pasadena, Calif. High unemployment rates, overpopulation, and declining public services motivated grassroots activists to attend one of the many tea parties. In Alexandria, protesters stood outside of Rep. Jim Moran's (D-Va.) district office, fighting against any amnesty plans from Congress. "If the situation continues as it is, we are powerless unless we speak out like this," an attendee said. "Cut off...

Supporters of President Obama's Amnesty plans attacked Tea Party Against Amnesty & Illegal Immigration demonstrators in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Sat. November 14, 2009. One of the men attacked is 62 years old. Dave Caulkett of FLIMEN (Floridians for Immigration Enforcement) is assaulted and then kicked in the face while he is down. The other camera man from the Tea Party is hit with several signs. Those attacking the Americans that oppose Amnesty for illegal aliens were organized by ANSWER Florida.

This news story gets more interesting by the minute. You should be seeing this on the news pretty soon. If not, it may not fit the liberal media’s narrative. What you see in this video is a TEA Party protester holding a video camera on a mono-pod moving in to mingle with the ANSWER amnesty crowd . Within seconds, a bald guy in a black tank-top moves in -- while the guy is leaving -- and starts taking swings to the head. This video is different since it is not at night and the video does not just cover the...

Conservatives are lining up some fine arguments against the strange health care beast being shepherded through Congress this season. Oddly, however, as the public as a whole turns against the Obama Administration on health care and other issues, the critics have neglected the young adult constituency that voted 66 percent for Mr. Obama last fall and are the least engaged now in the health care debate. Move them and you will move the debate substantially. So far, the critics are not making the effort. They attack rationing, Medicate cuts that threaten seniors, lack of controls on tort excesses and much...

We are beginning to see way too many echoes of the 1930s, as national socialist and Marxian socialist thugs try to drive competing political views off the streets. The worst offenders so far have been the Service Employees' International Union, which has repeatedly sent its members out into the streets to beat up anyone who isn't toeing the Obama line on issues like socialized medicine. (Video at link)

This video depicts an attack by ANSWER and the SEIU on tea party protesters in Florida protesting the Amnesty bill and Obamacare.

New Ox-Am Dictionary Names 'Teabagger' Word of the Year Finalist By Noel Sheppard Created 2009-11-16 19:06 The New Oxford American Dictionary on Monday named its 2009 "Word of the Year," and listed as one of the finalists "teabagger." Fortunately, its definition was different than the sexual connotation many media members and liberal bloggers conveyed by using the term. Regardless, its inclusion is still quite offensive to millions of Americans. I guess the good folks at NOAD weren't concerned with that when they wrote the following press release [1]: Facebook fans will undoubtedly recognize the New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 Word...

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Republican voters say former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin shares the values of most GOP voters throughout the nation. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 21% of Republican voters disagree and think the 2008 vice presidential candidate does not share their values. Twenty percent (20%) are undecided. By contrast, 74% of Republicans say their party’s representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over the past several years. Only 18% of Republican voters believe their elected officials have done a good job representing the base.

White voters led defeat of bond issue Mayor-President Kip Holden’s proposed $901 million capital improvement tax package failed Saturday because of a lopsided “no” vote in suburban, predominantly white areas of East Baton Rouge Parish, according to an analysis of precinct vote totals. Voter turnout was substantially higher in predominantly white precincts, and the votes tended to be a reverse of those cast in predominantly African-American precincts, where the tax package enjoyed its strongest support. “The suburban vote was really strong, and really lopsided,” said Wayne Parent, an LSU political science professor. The tax package failed with 64 percent of...

Republicans in 5 state races may find new fights on their right flanks WASHINGTON— Canyon Clowdus thinks Americans “have less freedom and pay more taxes than ever.” “We need more John Wayne and Jesus in Washington,” the Marble Falls rancher and businessman declares. Clowdus is just the kind of grass-roots activist that national Republican leaders sought to fire up in the Tea Party movement that has spread across Texas in energetic rallies and heated town hall confrontations. Now, the 40-year-old Army veteran is seeking to unseat an incumbent congressman whom he calls a profligate spender. Just one problem: Clowdus, an...

Some members of local veterans groups who attended an Every Day is Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 8 in Berwick, Maine, said they were surprised to find it was a kickoff for a new Maine affiliate of the national Oath Keepers organization, which has been described as part of a rebirth of the nation's right-wing militia movement. An August report from the Southern Poverty Law Center describes the parent organization as a "particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival," involving groups with a virulent anti-government sentiment, though organizers of the newly formed Maine affiliate say they are far from being an...

2009 D.C. Convention DVD's Are Finally Here! Just in Time for Christmas! Presented by Free Republic and Zot Productions Couldn't make it to D.C.? Made it to the convention and want a great souvenir? Get the DVD!! Featuring the musical talents of our very own Lloyd Marcus and Lisa Mei Norton! Also featuring: Freep of Walter Reed Army Hospital with the D.C. Chapter to support our troops!9/11 Candlelight Vigil overlooking the Pentagon.Freeper John Manning, winner of WorldNetDaily's Independence Day Tea Party national speech contest!Videos "An American Anthem" by Justin Holcomb, and "The Second American Revolution" by Dr. Bob Basso!A...

Thousands of radical conservatives crowded on to the steps of the Capitol yesterday to voice their anger over Democrat spending plans and yearning for the presence of the one person they really wished was there, but wasn’t: Sarah Palin. The former Governor of Alaska has emerged from Tuesday’s off-year elections as a front runner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and the embodiment of grassroots social conservatism in most of the “lower 48” states, as well as her own. The trouble for her supporters is that, for the time being, she is available only as a disembodied presence on her...

A giant combination of sales and property taxes -almost a billion dollars - is going down in flames tonight in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Our friends at the Baton Rouge Tea Party led the charge to defeat this boondoggle. Congratulations are due. Here is their website. http://www.batonrougeteaparty.net/Default.aspx Here is today's news story about the vote. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/70085962.html

Tea Party Express II Tour: IT'S OVER...for now! By Lloyd Marcus My patience was short with the newspaper reporter. I am Lloyd Marcus, singer/songwriter, black conservative activist and participant on the national Tea Party Express II tour; 19 states; 40 rallies. At our final rally in Orlando, Florida, a reporter approached me. She had a "these people are a bunch of nuts" attitude and smirk on her face. Though annoyed, I was polite and refused to answer her questions from a defensive point of view. Approximately 4000 patriots were in attendance. Despite numerous speakers who expressed valid disagreements with the...

"...[I]t’s equally clear that you can’t be a right-wing party and govern the country." --Newt Gingrich quoted by Jonathan Martin, Politico, November 12, 2009 Dr. Newt Gingrich (Ph.D. History) should know better by now not to use “right-wing” as an adjective to describe the GOP. The GOP is not “right-wing,” but rather a conservative political party. Members of that party responded to Newt Gingrich’s “Contract for America” that was not “right-wing,” but an expression of the conservative philosophy of limited government shared by most Republicans and many Independents. Unfortunately, had Newt Gingrich adhered to political principle he might not have...

If Madame Pelosi really wants to make it illegal to not carry health insurance, what would be wrong with swamping one of the DC police stations at the next major rally? Have about 20 thousand people show up at the PD, and all turn ourselves in. What do you think the complicit progressive media would make of that!

James David Manning says you must be willing to die for the cause . He loves the Tea Baggers but ...Please listen to the entire 9 minutes ...Boom shaka laka !

I want to inform any tea partiers in the San Fernando Valley area (Southern California) about an event this Sunday: Democrat Congressman Brad Sherman, Big spending Liberal, is holding a TOWN HALL Meeting, on SUNDAY. As a fiscal conservative, I plan to protest the event and this Democrat Congressman, spending our grand kids money!!!!! If you could help me spread the word, I'd appreciate it.

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.

Tea Party in Phoenix, AZ. Arizona Republic newspaper online poll asks if Tea Party attendees are; patriots, crazy, or nuts with some good points.

WASHINGTON – California attorney Orly Taitz, who has filed a number of lawsuits demanding proof of Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as president, has released a copy of what purports to be a Kenyan certification of birth and has filed a new motion in U.S. District Court for its authentication. The document lists Obama's parents as Barack Obama II and Stanley Ann Obama, formerly Stanley Ann Dunham, the birth date as Aug. 4, 1961, and the hospital of birth as Coast General Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. No doctor is listed. But the alleged certificate bears the signature of the deputy...

In 1773, when the English won the French-and-Indian War the king of Britain passed taxes on the colonies to make up for the loss of money because of the war. The first tax was called the Sugar Acts. It was meant to protect and secure the colonist. "Military" When in reality it was an attempt to pay for the Kings loss of money during the war. They started taxing all types of items and came up with catchy nicknames for them. Stamp Act ( tax on all licenses, newspapers and business papers ) Mass meetings were held and people tried...

PRESS CONTACT: Levi Russell - levi@FrontLineStrat.com or 509.979.6615 TEA PARTY EXPRESS II GRAND FINALE IN ORLANDO - THURSDAY!National Tour Culminates with Rally in Orlando ORLANDO, FL -- THURSDAY, NOV. 12TH - 6:00 PM - Lake Eola Park (ORLANDO, FLORIDA) - The national, cross-country Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day (www.TeaPartyExpress.org) tour has arrived in Orlando, FL for what will be the exciting culmination of a 40-city tour. The Tea Party Express launched from San Diego on October 25th, and has crossed the country holding Tea Party rallies in support of conservative principles. More than 50,000 people have participated in the tea party rallies during this tour...

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...

The Tea Party Express successfully completes its second cross-country bus tour, tonight, in Orlando, Florida. This second Tea Party Express tour in 2009 included 41 Tea Party rallies in 41 cities covering 17 states in 19 days! Woo hoo! My ears are still ringing and heart still pounding! Thousands of patriotic citizens turned out all across this great land to help us tell Obama & Co that we're fed up and we're not going to take it any longer! We're determined to take our country back from the Marxist usurpers! No more taxes! No more socialism! No more bailouts! No...

Did you get the sense that the House Democratic Leadership was frantic, even desperate, to nail down the vote for the 1,990-page healthcare reform bill? No, not the actual votes from members Democrats were worried might go south on them—though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had good reason to be concerned about that; 39 Democrats opposed their party's bill—but scheduling the actual vote itself. It had to be before the Veterans' Day recess. What was the hurry? The vote was promised before Congress' August recess and didn't happen—what are a few more days to allow...

With the issue he has positioned to be his crowning achievement as president at a crossroads, Barack Obama once again called on his former rival to help him follow through. Former President Bill Clinton told a room full of Democratic senators Tuesday that passing health care reform — which he failed to do 15 years ago — is not only a moral issue but also “an economic imperative.” Clinton argued that even “the most cold-hearted person” ought to support health care reform simply from an economic standpoint. He reminded Democrats of the political momentum their failure to pass reform in...

Former President Bill Clinton told a room full of Democratic senators Tuesday that passing health care reform — which he failed to do 15 years ago — is not only a moral issue but also “an economic imperative.” Clinton argued that even “the most cold-hearted person” ought to support health care reform simply from an economic standpoint. He reminded Democrats of the political momentum their failure to pass reform in 1993 delivered the House of Representatives to the Republicans the following year… Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Clinton described the ongoing tea party protests against the Democratic agenda as a...

The Tea Party Express II came to visit us in the Peach State this evening. Please post your pictures and comments here. Thanks to all who came out to support our Republic!!