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This Thanksgiving, I give thanks for something our forebears gave us: property rights. People associate property rights with greed and selfishness, but they are keys to our prosperity. Things go wrong when resources are held in common. Before the Pilgrims were able to hold the first Thanksgiving, they nearly starved. Although they had inherited ideas about individualism and property from the English and Dutch trading empires, they tried communism when they arrived in the New World. They decreed that each family would get an equal share of food, no matter how much work they did. The results were disastrous. Gov....

If you’re like many in the conservative community, you go to Free Republic to discuss the issues of the day, find out the news and see that you're not alone. Why? Because you know you will receive absolutely the best information, views, strategies and tactics in advancing the cause and nullifying the statist progressive/liberals and their outlandish, un-American plans and actions. And you also know that you’ll be treated like a real person, by other conservatives in a warm, caring, if somewhat challenging environment. Your contributions have helped make Free Republic the leading conservative website that it is. We are...

The modern portrayal of Thanksgiving is filled with historical inaccuracies based on a consumer culture, according to a professor at Portland State University. Speaking at California State University at Fresno last week, Dr. Cornel Pewewardy gave a lecture to students titled “How the Grinch Stole Thanksgiving.” Pewewardy spoke about the historical and cultural implications of the holiday. “Like other holidays, including Christmas and Columbus Day, Thanksgiving is not based on historical accuracy, but rather on the importance and prevalence of maintaining a consumer culture”, Pewewardy, who is a member of both the Comanche and Kiowa tribes, said on Tuesday.

Last week, when "Fox & Friends" highlighted my most recent column, titled "Neutering Religious Holidays," liberals came out of the woodwork to try to defend President Barack Obama's record. So I decided to do a little research and see just how spiritual his past Thanksgiving addresses have been and compare them with the thoughts of our founding president, George Washington. In 2013, Obama's Thanksgiving address didn't give a single mention of the Pilgrims, their Christian devotion or thanks to God. He did, however, share his gratitude for the Native Americans and their "generosity during that first Thanksgiving." He gave a...

It's bound to happen at Thanksgiving tables across America: A progressive liberal Democrat discovers he's sitting next to a conservative Republican. There's no need for mashed potatoes to fly. Harry Stein, an author, columnist and contributing editor to the political magazine City Journal, offers advice on how to navigate the situation. Stein, an erstwhile '60's radical who evolved into a conservative, faced a similar dilemma at a dinner party a few years ago. When the guest next to him discovered his conservative/libertarian thinking, the fellow said loudly, "I can't believe I'm sitting next to a Republican!" "It was," says Stein,...

I vowed to banish from my life the weakness of taking for granted the countless blessings a loving, heavenly Father bestows upon me every day. I vowed to express my love for Him with what matters most: a thankful heart Work had been demanding. I needed the upcoming Thanksgiving break; I needed to sleep late; I needed to enjoy good food; I needed to be with family. But then, what I saw in a hospital parking lot made me realize what I needed most of all: a thankful heart. I watched a family loading a small boy into a van....

Early in our republic, it was considered crass and imperial for a president to issue too many executive orders.  Remember, our political experiment was the first in the world to unite a federal system of states with a central government elected by popular vote—even the title that George Washington would assume was a matter of intense study and debate.  Finally they settled on the unassuming “Mr. President”. President Washington issued a total of eight executive orders in his two terms in office.  And this was a president with a mandate.  His election was unanimous.  Before the Civil War, a total...

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation. Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of...

Each year at this time school children all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating.It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving's real meaning.The official story has the pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620-21. This first winter is hard, and half the...

From our nation’s inception, one of the defining characteristics of the American spirit has been an attitude of gratitude. Leaders throughout our country's history have encouraged and inculcated it.Just a brief moment of reflection cannot help but yield a level of humility that recognizes even what Americans are “owed” in the end is rooted in many gifts. How did we come by the talents, abilities and opportunities that have allowed us to accomplish our dreams, to provide for our families, to learn, live, grow up in a land that is free? It is all grace. Of course, the natural follow-on...

The on-line retailer Amazon recently revealed the most popular verse in the Bible for Americans. No, it’s not the ubiquitous John 3:16 displayed on posters at sporting events everywhere. Instead, Americans are increasingly turning to Philippians 4:6-7 which the apostle Paul begins with these words: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Be anxious for nothing? That’s a lot easier said than done these days. Just read the headlines, and you’ll quickly discover plenty of reasons to worry: “4 Jihad Attacks in 4 Days,” “Ukraine Could...

It's almost Thanksgiving and the Christmas season is upon us. Many of us are already shopping for holiday gifts. So that inspired me to think up a holiday gift list that I hope and pray Obama receives for Christmas! Here are 15 perfect holiday gifts for Obama. *Obama's Secret Service disarmed- since he doesn't think rest of us need guns for protection. *Remove the fence around the White House- since Obama doesn't think we need a fence at our Southern border. *A Christmas dinner at White House prepared and served by illegal immigrants who just arrived from the Ebola Zone-...

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. A chance to be grateful instead of focusing on gift-giving and gift-receiving. Family, friends, bountiful feasts and football are at the forefront of our minds rather than cocktail parties and gifts. Think of it as a time to pause and give thanks before the whirlwind of December. Thanksgiving began in 1621. The pilgrims invited the Wampanoag Native Americans to join them in celebration of the fall harvest. The Native Americans traveled for several days, created their own camp and stayed with the pilgrims for three days of feasting and celebration. This first Thanksgiving...

Folks, our country is heading down a slippery slope. We have to stop it before it is too late. We haven't even hit Thanksgiving, and already the war on Christmas is underway. This time, one of the largest public school systems in the U.S. is eliminating every mention of religious holidays on its official calendar. The Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland has cut Christmas and Easter, as well as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana, from next year's school calendar. No religious holiday will be mentioned by name. NPR reported on the origin of the decision: "The path to...

Ready or not, the holiday shopping season is upon us this year. You can already see the decorations up in many stores. But there's still a lot of debate about when retailers should open their doors to shoppers for the Thanksgiving weekend. Lately, stores have been opening much earlier than the traditional Black Friday. Stores at the Walden Galleria have been told that the mall will be opening at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving day -- that's six hours earlier than last year. And now, some small store managers are worried they could be fined if they choose to stay closed...

Matt Walsh takes on Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving 1, Matt 0.  Here’s the play by play. Matt says that stores like Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Sears and Target (he calls them godless, anti-American) have ruined Thanksgiving by moving their opening times to Thursday afternoon versus the traditional Black Friday midnight madness.  He further sins by mistaking J.C. Penney as J.C. Penny’s, only proving further that in the halls of retail Valhalla, Matt really belongs in Helheim.  The man obviously doesn’t know his cufflinks from his garters. He reserves his special venom for Kmart (who owns Sears), which will keep its...

3rd Great AwakeningJonathan Gruber, MIT economist and a key architect of ObamaCare, has proudly boasted he relied on his perceived “stupidity of the American voter” as his basis for designing ObamaCare. Gruber visited the White House more than 18 times prior to ObamaCare’s passage, met privately with Barack Obama in the Oval Office, was paid more than $400,000 by taxpayers, had his admittedly deceptive “research” prominately published on the White House’s website, and was publicly praised by Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, in 2009 (before she denied even knowing Gruber this week). The democrat party’s coordinated Gruber deceptions,...

Oil prices are plunging. Gasoline is now cheaper than milk. Why doesn't Washington do something already?Since peaking in June, the price of oil has tumbled by 25 percent. Texas light sweet crude futures have fallen to around $77.40 a barrel, a three-year low, while Brent oil, the global benchmark, sank on Monday to its lowest price in four years.With cheaper oil has come cheaper gasoline. The national average price for a gallon of regular is now just $2.926. Drivers haven't seen pump prices this low since December 2010. Nor have they seen such a sustained decline — the price has dropped...

For the first time, the company will open the majority of its stores at 8 a.m. Thursday, and they will remain open until midnight. Last year, most of its doors were closed on Thanksgiving.The company joins the likes of Toys R Us and J.C. Penney, which will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, while Sears, Kohl's, Macy's, Belk and Staples will open at 6 p.m. "Given the customer demand for store hours on Thanksgiving last year, we made the decision to open on Thanksgiving," RadioShack spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said. "It gives us the opportunity to stay competitive." "Given the customer...

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on the Education Committee split along party lines Friday in rejecting the governor’s nomination of conservative blogger Susan Dench of Falmouth to the University of Maine System board of trustees. “I think they value partisanship over diversity of opinion,” Dench said after the 8-6 vote. Democrats on the committee questioned her writings and positions on social and educational issues, and heard testimony from one speaker who accused Dench of plagiarism, an allegation Dench denied. ... One speaker at Friday’s hearing, the chairwoman of the English department at the University of Southern Maine, said Dench had plagiarized long...