Free Republic

I’m not sure how many of you remember Naomi Wolf, author of the once widely touted book The Beauty Myth more than twenty years ago. Thinking back, the last time I recall hearing much about her was during the 2000 election cycle. (She worked for Gore.) But apparently she’s still out and about, staying active in public policy and sharing her various opinions on social media. And some of her most recent theories are certainly… interesting. Author and former Democratic political consultant Naomi Wolf published a series of Facebook posts on Saturday in which she questioned the veracity of...

Ben Affleck, the Oscar-winning actor and director, has launched a ferocious defence of Islam, after becoming involved in a heated argument when he appeared on an American chat show. Affleck, the star of Good Will Hunting and director of Argo, appeared on HBO’s television show Real Time with Bill Maher to promote his latest film, Gone Girl. But instead of talking about the film, the 42-year-old found himself in a furious discussion with both Maher and Sam Harris, the author of a series of books on religion. Maher, an outspoken atheist and critic of Islam, said last week in his...

Can you imagine the reputation of a literary figure surviving the disclosure that he worked (however briefly and ineffectually) for Hitler's Abwehr? Yet Ernest Hemingway worked for Stalin’s KGB and nobody (among the “smart set”) seems to bat an eye. According to KGB defector Alexander Vassiliev "the 42-year-old Hemingway was recruited by the KGB under the cover name "Argo" in 1941, and cooperated with Soviet agents whom he met in Havana and London. This comes from a book published in 2009 by Yale Univ. Press (not exactly a branch of the John Birch Society.)"Castro's revolution," Hemingway wrote in 1960, “is...

In his prime-time speech to the nation on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, President Obama vowed to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq and Syria with airstrikes and 475 U.S. boots on the ground – but he also made a particular point of declaring that the Islamic State terrorists “are not Islamic.” “Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not Islamic,” Obama said, speaking from the state floor of the White House residence. “No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been...

The State Department downplayed comments from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) leaders that they are at war with America, arguing that their violence is not directed at any particular country or race. At a briefing Thursday, a reporter brought up anti-American comments from ISIL leaders: “I mean, even they are announcing, ISIL people in their message, whatever, the recorded message, other messages, that now we are in a war with America.” “This is not about ISIL versus the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf objected. “They are killing anyone who gets in their way:...

Robert Patterson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) gave "aid and comfort to the rioters and the protestors" with his op-ed in Time against the militarization of local police forces. Appearing on Breitbart News Saturday, Patterson said that Paul was "outdoing" President Barack Obama's "attempt to show moral equivalence between the rioters and the police" with a Time op-ed that even Al Sharpton praised. Patterson said that it is "another illustration of out-of-touch Republicans who are looking for love in all the wrong places" by "pandering to liberal and corporate elites instead of...

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Thursday called on President Obama to use executive authority and declare martial law in Ferguson, Mo., where protesters have clashed with police after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager. “My own feeling is right now is President Obama should use the authority of his office to declare martial law,” Lewis said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” “Federalize that Missouri National Guard to protect people as they protest,” Lewis, an icon of the 1960s civil rights movement, said it is “unreal” to see what the police are doing in Ferguson. “People have a right to...

John Lewis, the Democratic congressman from Georgia and civil rights icon, called on President Barack Obama to declare martial law in Ferguson, Missouri, on Thursday as a necessary response to the blunders of local police. Lewis says the police have responded to largely peaceful protests over the slaying of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, with excessive force reminiscent of the 1960s. “My own feeling is right now is that President Obama should use the authority of his office to declare martial law, federalize the Missouri National Guard to protect people as they protest," Lewis said during an interview on...

In his young pontificate, Pope Francis has begun to rehabilitate radical Latin American priests. He invited Liberation Theology founder Gustavo Guttierrez to meet with him in Rome and now has revived the priestly faculties of a priest who called Ronald Reagan a butcher.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that somebody like Jesse Ventura is also a major fan of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara? (Or claims to be for the publicity value among the “hip”?) Recalling his visit to Cuba and meeting with Fidel Castro in 2002 Ventura grew misty-eyed: “Fidel Castro looked into my eyes and told me I was a man of great courage…Maybe he (Castro) saw a little of him in me.” Recall the Cowardly Lion’s reaction when the Wizard grants him “the NERVE.” Well, Jesse Ventura’s moronic gloating outdoes even the lion’s (“Shucks, folks, I’m speechless..ha-ha…Ain’t it the truth!...

Damning evidence has emerged of US President Barack Obama's dismissal of Israel's position in favor of supporting the position of Hamas and its allies during ceasefire talks. A "senior US official" leaked an audio recording of a telephone conversation between Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Channel One. In it the 35-minute conversation, which took place on Sunday, the US President appears downright hostile at points, and even cuts off Netanyahu in the middle of his protestations over a one-sided truce proposal which would have seen Hamas receive all its key demands, but that Israel ultimately rejected. The following...

Bill Donohue comments on President Obama’s remarks last night at the White House honoring Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan: Last night the president said that Eid “reminds us of the many achievements and contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy.” He would have done us a service had he enumerated them. “That is why we stand with people of all faiths,” he continued, “here at home and around the world, to protect and advance their rights to prosper, and we welcome their commitment to giving back to...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Fusion TV´s Jorge Ramos that part of the reason Hamas hides rockets in schools and civilian areas is "Gaza is small." "I´m not a military planner but Hamas puts it´s missiles, it´s rockets in civilian areas, part of it is Gaza is pretty small and its densely populated," she said as neglecting the question of whether or not Hamas should have rockets in area to begin with.

Exploring his family's past for the first time, Richard Roxburgh uncovered a darker history than he anticipated- finding out his forefathers were enthusiastic supporters of the slave trade. The 52 year-old actor says he'd originally hoped the search would find his relatives 'lived good and rich lives, and contributed something.' But participating in the SBS series Who Do You Think You Are turned up a very different history. ..................................................... 'Thomas was the ultimate capitalist,' the actor says. 'To my mind, it’s about the choices that you make in this life, and he made his choice. And they wouldn’t be my...

"'Life' in this 'society' being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of 'society' being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and eliminate the male sex." - Valerie Solanas.Professor Breanne Fahs is a revolutionary. She teaches Women's and Gender Studies at Arizona State University. Recently, she decided to give extra credit to her female students for "defying social norms" by refusing to shave their armpits. In the name of equality, she also gave her male students an opportunity to earn...

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that the gay community freed “decent straight people” from being intimidated to speak out against homophobia at a progressive political convention.“They freed us,” he said. “It used to be that the vast majority of the American people who were not at all homophobic felt intimidated if they spoke up, felt intimidated if they were in a circumstance where someone made fun of, or was demeaning to, someone who was part of the [gay] community… so many decent straight people who were just as afraid to speak out now have been given their voice by...

Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden is enthused by the fruit that came from recent discussions between U.S. bishops and Iran’s religious leaders. “When you build a certain sense of trust and respect, then you can move forward and deal with the issues,” he said. The faith leaders announced June 14 that they oppose actions that endanger the life, health, dignity and welfare of others, including the creation of weapons of mass destruction. That declaration was the result of a March dialogue between a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council of the Seminary Teachers...

“A lot of people are saying that he's actually playing into Barack Obama’s hands, that he's playing by Obama’s handbook,” Scarborough said. “He’s actually playing by another person's handbook, Jesus’ handbook. I mean, this is -- Jesus was very clear. He said the people that are blessed are those that understand I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I needed clothing, and you gave me clothes.” “What Glenn Beck is doing is the most Christ-like thing anybody can do, and so for a lot of people on the right who...

As we celebrate the Fourth of July, who can argue that our democracy is working the way the Founders intended? And who can deny that most of the blame for dysfunction must fall to the Republican Party? George Washington distrusted all political parties. He warned in his farewell address that, as they alternated power, parties would act in “the spirit of revenge” — rather than, presumably, in the best interests of the nation. The “disorders and miseries” that resulted, Washington feared, would inevitably threaten democracy. Whatever the motivation, Republicans have paralyzed our government in a way that would have shocked...

Islamic fundamentalists abducted the freelance reporter in August 2008, and she was released 460 days later. Just months after surviving the ordeal, she established a non-profit to provide education to girls in Somalia. "The fact that they know about the work I'm doing now," she said. "That I have chosen compassion, that they could see that they didn't break me — that's the best justice I could have." A Hollywood production company announced last week that it bought the rights to Lindhout's bestselling memoir, "A House in the Sky."