Free Republic

...[None] other than John Kerry himself who had counseled Soltz on his anti-victory activism. As reported by Fox News Channel and The Riehl World blog, "Soltz ... thanked Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry, who opposed the Vietnam War after returning from combat, for helping him to focus his disillusionment after returning from Iraq." (They have the video to back it up too, which you can watch. .... Yet, left-wing activists have been engaged in a fierce campaign to undermine the war effort. No news there, but what is alarming is the degree to which they are organized, funded, and orchestrated. Jon...

Where politics and politicians are concerned, I believe that cynicism should always be the order of the day. Politics is the world of the possible, not the best possible world. The way I see it, whoever runs against Hillary Clinton deserves to win. So far as I'm concerned, those Republicans who threaten to stay home on Election Day in 2008 if their personal favorite isn't the nominee, just so they can self-righteously claim they didn't violate their principles, are beneath contempt. Cutting off your nose to spite America is not commendable. It's my conviction that anyone who permits this country...

So what's wrong with Democrats in this country? Why are they being so reactionary? Why do they insist on holding out on so many of their constituents? How long will it take them to achieve their stated goals with such a penny ante approach to redistribution of wealth? If heath insurance is, as they insist, a universal right, isn't food? Isn't shelter? Isn't clothing? Why are there no proposals being made to ensure all Americans can get free food, free housing and free clothing among other essentials? If you get a chance – at a town hall meeting or at...

I don't know if this is a precipice from which there is any return for the party of Pelosi and Reid. These are turncoats in the truest form of the word. These are people who are secretly – and, now, not so secretly – praying for, hoping for and acting in the best interests of victory for Osama bin Laden and his cohorts who would chop off their heads just as fast as they would chop off yours and mine. Imagine political power meaning so much to you that you would sell out your own country – perhaps even the...

A Few Favorite Lines From My Own MoviesI'm often asked about my favorite one-liners from my own movies. Here are a few that stand out and still cause me to chuckle. "My kind of trouble doesn't take vacations" ("Lone Wolf McQuade" – 1983) "If I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you" ("Code of Silence" – 1985) "If you come back in here, I'm going to hit you with so many rights, you're going to beg for a left." ("Invasion USA" – 1985) "Sleep tight, sucker." ("The Delta Force" – 1986 – after taking out a terrorist)

The grand finale of this effort will be a giant pro-troop rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007. A coalition of pro-troop organizations will team up to amass a giant crowd of proud, patriotic Americans who will send a message that the American people support our troops and their missions, and we won't stand for surrender to the terrorists. Here's a list of just some of the participating organizations that have pledged their support of this effort: # Move America Forward # Gathering of Eagles # Eagles Up # FreeRepublic.com # Protest Warriors # Victory Caucus # OpposeReid.com...

That's bad news for journalism and bad news for the country. Bad news for journalism because it further undermines the credibility of an already-distrusted media. When one newspaper openly shows its bias, all other newspapers are suspected of having their own bias.

It sounds kind of canned, but there truly is a hero in all of us. We all were designed by God to be a blessing to others – a champion to someone. Don't ever minimize yours or others' position or potential. Everyone has a place on the planet. Contributing to the culture of courage is all of our duty. As my mother has always told me, I also pass on to you: God has a plan for your life. The question is: Will we recognize our potential and offer up the power of our one unique life? I am genuinely...

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, a friend of W, is making the rounds defending every aspect of his case against Ramos and Compean. He's got an answer for every question. The only problem is that when he's finished answering the questions and demeaning the character of these two agents in every way imaginable, his official actions still reek of rank injustice. He doesn't understand that. Bush doesn't get it. But the American people, members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, look at what he did in the case candidly, honestly and objectively and conclude it was wrong – just plain wrong....

Notice: WorldNetDaily is now on the excerpt only list. Per Joseph Farah's request.

Monday night marked the Democrats' most interesting debate to date – which is to say, the audience fell unconscious about halfway through, as opposed to during the opening statements. But amid all of the technological hubbub and political jockeying, there was one question that stood out. The questioner was Rev. Reggie Longcrier, pastor of Exodus Mission and Outreach Church in Hickory, N.C. "Sen. Edwards said his opposition to gay marriage is influenced by his Southern Baptist background," Longcrier stated. "Most Americans agree it was wrong and unconstitutional to use religion to justify slavery, segregation and denying women the right to...

Because I'm convinced that, come November of 2008, Hillary Clinton will be the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, so I think it's particularly important that the Republicans nominate Rudy Giuliani. I will admit that I have been waiting to see if Fred Thompson was going to toss his hat in the ring, but I finally got sick and tired of waiting. The guy's about 6-foot-5 and probably weighs 280; which doesn't hurt when he's portraying a New York City D.A., but he's simply not cut out to play a coquette. There are other attractive candidates in the GOP, but...

"Palestinians never used to do these things to one another." That was the first sentence of a New York Times Magazine story by the newspaper's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Steven Erlanger. What are the things Palestinians are doing to one another today that they didn't do before? * putting bullets in the back of the heads of men on their knees; * shooting up hospitals; * killing patients; * knee-capping doctors; * executing clerics; * throwing handcuffed prisoners to their deaths from Gaza's highest apartment buildings; Is it naivete? Plain ignorance and incompetence? Deliberate disinformation? Partisanship with radical Islamists? Anti-Israeli zealotry?...

On December 27, 1820, Thomas Jefferson wrote William Roscoe about his vision for the University of Virginia (chartered in 1819), "This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error as long as reason is left free to combat it." But what should happen 200 years later when our public universities avoid the testing of truths? Or suppress alternate opinions because they are unpopular or politically incorrect? Or no longer tolerate opinions now considered errors by the elite?...

Fresh from the success of his latest agitprop promoting socialized medicine, "Sicko" filmmaker Michael Moore is considering whether he will use his next movie to teach us all a thing or two about the mind and will of God. That's right, call him the Rev. Michael Moore. Specifically, he intends to share his biblical wisdom regarding the issue of homosexuality and what he sees as irrational hatred of it. "I think it's a very ripe subject for someone like me to make a movie about," he told the homosexual magazine the Advocate. "Simply because we are not there yet and...

Did you hear that high-pitched screeching noise Wednesday morning? That was the sound of thousands of liberal journalists shrieking in agony as Democrats on Capitol Hill failed to force surrender terms upon our troops serving in Iraq. The media were the biggest losers in Wednesday's vote on Iraq. The rest of the country was treated to their true feelings. You saw it on TV, read it in the newspapers, heard it on liberal radio. They were quite simply devastated that their allies in Congress couldn't make their call for "retreat" a reality. Things are about to get even worse for...

The straight talk express may have blown a gasket around the beltway, but it is running redline up and down I-95 in South Florida. Mayor Jim Naugle of Fort Lauderdale is being demeaned by the hedonist press of the region because he made a few claims that, while they are easily supported by data, run counter to the Broward state religion. Here is a list of his sins, as recorded in the Sun-Sentinel's encyclicals. First, Naugle said he does not use the term "gay" because homosexuals are "unhappy." Second, he claims his city has a problem with men using public...

I hope the atheists of America took great comfort from remarks last week by Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who told said: "You'll always find this Muslim standing up for your right to be atheists." Gullibility comes in all shapes, sizes, colors – and apparently religions, judging from the applause that followed. Ellison was in the middle of a brief interlude from one of his frequent tirades against his own country, suggesting, once again, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were staged by President Bush, much like Adolf Hitler burned down the Reichstag in 1933 to expand his control over the...

A "guardian angel" has paid off a disputed claim stemming from an unpaid $1.63 property tax bill, allowing a Louisiana couple to regain ownership of their home. Kermit and Dolores Atwood Kermit and Dolores Atwood of Slidell, La., have been given their home back, after a "guardian angel" paid off a disputed claim over an unpaid $1.63 property tax bill (Courtesy New Orleans Times-Picayune) "I don't even know who to thank," Dolores Atwood told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "But I'm relieved and happy that this is finally over." The couple's attorney, Gary Duplechain, told the newspaper Dolores and her husband,...

For six years, the Bush administration has kept America safe from another terrorist attack, allowing the Democrats to claim that the war on terrorism is a fraud, a "bumper sticker," a sneaky ploy by a power-mad president to create an apocryphal enemy so he could spy on innocent librarians in Wisconsin. And that's the view of the moderate Democrats. The rest of them think Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks. But now with the U.S. government – as well as the British and German governments – warning of major terrorist attacks this summer, the Treason Lobby is facing the possibility...

If you want to stay on the good side of racist David Duke, be sure you don't cross the beloved memory of the godfather of terrorism, Yasser Arafat. That was the lesson WND learned Thursday when Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein reported one of Arafat's confidantes, Ahmed Jibril, confirmed a French medical report on the cause of his death cited AIDS. That was enough to set off the Duke machine, which came to the rescue of Arafat's manhood. "The WND article by Aaron Klein, which came out of the Jerusalem office of WorldNetDaily, couldn't possibly be ZIONIST PROPAGANDA, could it?"...

Having just authored a book called "Stop the Presses! The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution," I could hardly have asked for a more timely plug from BusinessWeek magazine. Its July 24 issue will feature a column titled "When Do You Stop The Presses?" – which, not surprisingly, by the time you read this, has been available online for a solid week. The column by Jon Fine asks the question: "Which major American newspaper should be the first to throw up its hands and stop publishing a print product?" Why is he asking? "This could be the worst year...

The Senate vote on immigration failed. The issue is dead. Or is it? No, it isn't – and Americans better not be complacent about it. The politicians will be back with another version, regardless of which party wins the next election. Locally, the same mentality prevails to circumvent law, logic and morals on the part of politicians, activist groups and churches and the media are cheerleaders. Example: Front page, Contra Costa Times in Northern California, July 11. Complete with intentionally emotional pictures, it described a 1.3-square mile area on one street in Concord with 91 apartment complexes housing some 38,000...

I take a backseat to no one in believing victory in Iraq is essential to America's national security. I would love to see Iraqis all get along. I would love to see Iraq become a free and independent state or states. I would love to see it become a model for self-government in the Muslim Middle East. But more important to Americans is the utter defeat of al-Qaida and Iranian proxies there. That's what constitutes victory for the U.S. However, that's not the way President Bush defines victory. In fact, he's never defined it – which is one of the...

In just one week in July we have been lucidly reminded that the war on terror is alive and well. The question is: Will we turn a blind eye to the evidence or seek to prevent a repeat of summer 2001, when we were given signs of a clear and present danger before Sept. 11? "Reminiscent Of…The Summer Of 2001"The London Telegraph noted that "Britain is a centre of intense plotting and faces a terrorist threat of 'unprecedented scale, ambition and ruthlessness'." The former director general of the United Kingdom's Security System, MI5, Dame Eliza, gave a forthright warning, "It...

The insistence of a Washington state couple that they have a right to build a four-foot concrete wall along 80 feet of the 1,270-mile-long U.S.-Canada boundary in the West has cost a U.S. member of the International Joint Commission his job, according to reports appearing last week in the Canadian news media. If the incident did nothing else, it gave Canadians (prone always to accept the dicta of officialdom) an inkling of how things work on the other side of the border. Apparently, it all started because Herbert and Shirley Ann Leu of Blaine, Wash., couldn't prevent dogs escaping from...

The politicians in Washington are dating impending doom. The vote yesterday by the House of Representatives in surrendering to the jihadists in Iraq spells T-R-A-V-E-S-T-Y in just about any dictionary. Our stolidly sturdy troops in Iraq are beginning to get the idea that we, as a nation, are giving up on them, and it's time to let these honorable men and women in uniform know that the public won't allow the politicians to bail on them. The people of this nation cannot give up on our troops – no matter how tempted the politicians become to do just that. We...

Mitt Romney has one chance to become President of the United States. Because of his wealth and his political machine on the ground in early primary states, he has a chance to win the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, picking up momentum that could ultimately deliver him the Republican nomination. Therefore, consider this an open letter to the good folks of Iowa and New Hampshire: Don't be fooled by this political chameleon, this charlatan, this pretender to the throne. He's as phony as a three-dollar campaign promise. Romney has tried to "re-invent" himself as a presidential candidate following...

A Pennsylvania district attorney who has drawn national attention for his raids on businesses that employ illegal aliens is considering a run for state attorney general to broaden his effort to secure the nation's borders. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, however, has had to scramble to bury a report – from his own camp – that he will make a third bid for state attorney general in 2008. An e-mail from Morganelli's political action committee, Us Securing America, announced the veteran prosecutor's intentions and asked for grassroots and financial support. ''I have decided to seek the office of Attorney...

The New York Times alone has mentioned the Scottsboro Boys case from the 1930s nearly 20 times since 2002 (expanding the "news" part of "newspaper" just a bit), so I think I'm entitled to spend at least one more week luxuriating in the Duke lacrosse players' total vindication and the exposure of a Southern liberal prosecutor as a corrupt hack. Twenty years ago, disbarred Duke prosecutor Mike Nifong would have been Time magazine's Man of the Year. Vanity Fair would have photographed him sitting in a Porsche under the headline: "Speaking Truth to Power." One hundred years ago, he would...

From observing the Middle East for some 40 years, I can say without equivocation that no one is better than the Arabs at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It happened in 1973 when nothing separated Syria's superior armor capability from the heart of Israel but one Israeli tank. The Syrians halted their armored charge into the Jewish state because commanders believed it must be a trap. It was simply too good to be true. That heroic Israel tank commander bought enough time for air and tank reinforcements, and Israel was able to repel the Syrian invasion. It happened...

Whenever there is an armed conflict in the world, someone, somewhere, will propose a U.N. peacekeeping force as the solution. I'm sure you've noticed the way internationalists always suggest the United Nations is the best vehicle for solving global crises. Well, almost always. There is, however, one conflict in the world today about which I have never heard such a proposal offered – and I don't expect I ever will. It also happens to be the most hotly debated conflict in the world today – the war in Iraq. Isn't that interesting? What do you suppose it means? What is...

It's my birthday today. And, if I had one birthday wish, it would be the firing of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. Maybe, though, I should go further. I think I would wish for the elimination of the entire Department of Homeland Security, a boondoggle of almost unimaginable proportions. Take it from someone who knows quite a few Homeland Security employees, this is a do-nothing, paper-shuffling agency. It's full of many well-intended people who would like to make their country safer but are actually prevented from doing so by this monolithic bureaucracy that would make the old Soviet Union look...

Independence: freedom from control or influence of another or othersToday is July 4, 2007. It has been 231 years since the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence by America's Founders. That's why some of us – too few, really – call the holiday we commemorate today "Independence Day." That is, indeed, the actual name of the holiday. It's not just the Fourth of July. It's not just the day we shoot off Chinese-made fireworks. It's not just the day we barbecue burgers. It's not just the day we go to the beach. It's Independence Day – so named...

Just in time for the Fourth of July, John Lott, author of the groundbreaking 1998 book "More Guns, Less Crime," has released another amazing book: "Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't." This book provides studies and analysis proving that your every right-wing instinct is based on sound economic analysis. To wit: * Women shouldn't vote: "What changed ... that explains the growth of government? The answer is women's suffrage." * Fox News Channel isn't conservative: "Even employees of Fox News, which is widely regarded as a conservative channel, donate 81 percent of their contributions to...

Today I would like to discuss the proposed reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine in a way no one else has. First let me say there is another name for government regulating political speech to determine what is fit and proper and ensuring all sides of an issue are heard. It's called censorship. And it is not only anathema to all we hold dear in America, it is unconstitutional, totally at odds with the First Amendment and the founders' idea that there should be no bounds on political speech. Yet, there is a more practical objection to re-instituting the Fairness Doctrine...

With Independence Day fast approaching, I was reflecting upon a Forbes magazine column, in which many of us celebrities and other notables were asked to answer the question, "What is the American Dream?" How would you answer the question? How some others answered Tom Brokaw replied, "To me, the American Dream is the freedom to choose to live how and where you want, to determine how you'll be governed and to provide your children with even more choices than you had." Kurt Russell believes, "…the American Dream has changed – now I believe it's a wish for freedom at no...

The most succinct observation I've come across about the failure of comprehensive immigration reform is that of pollster Scott Rasmussen. The American public simply didn't want the bill. Rasmussen's polling indicated the immigration legislation being pushed had the support of just 22 percent of the American public. Rasmussen goes on further to point out just how far detached from the sentiment of the voting public those pushing the bill were. Not only didn't the American public want the bill, but the focus of the immigration debate in the Senate was the opposite of the public's highest concern. According to Rasmussen,...

This week, I read that Ann Coulter had said some pretty shocking things about Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards. I wondered why she would say such things. Then, as Paul Harvey might say, I read the rest of the story. Here's the gist: On ABC's "Good Morning America" broadcast, Ann Coulter was asked about some critical language she had used about Edwards. In her response, she recalled something that the often-coarse comedian Bill Maher once said about Vice President Dick Cheney. She said, "… you know, Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed...

You've got to hand it to Barack Obama. He used his presidential campaign speech to a church to call for separation of church and state and then divided himself from the "religious right" by labeling the movement "divisive." Not every rhetorician could get away with that kind of sleight of mouth. First off, the very presence of Obama speaking before the United Church of Christ's 50th anniversary national General Synod is somewhat remarkable. He's running for president. And this is the congregation of Barry Lynn, the founder of American United for Separation of Church and State, who runs a personal...

With all the excitement for conservatives (and some liberals) over the decisive smack-down in the United States Senate to kill the amnesty bill, something big was overlooked. This week the news media euphorically cheered on Republican Sens. Dick Lugar and George Voinovich for undercutting our troops in Iraq. Democrat leaders and the media reported Lugar has switched sides and come out against the surge. They certainly got that wrong. NEWS FLASH! Sen. Lugar opposed the surge from the get-go. There was no change in policy for Lugar, and the Senator from Indiana to this day still doesn't have a clue...

President Bush's public approval ratings are at an all-time low. It's difficult to imagine how he could improve them dramatically with just about 18 months left in office. But I do believe there is one speech he could make that would instantly increase his popularity by 50 percent to 100 percent. It's a speech he will never give. Here is a rough draft of the text: "My fellow Americans, I come before you today to admit a mistake and correct our course. "I have made my case for comprehensive immigration reform as the proper way to address concerns over our...

Stop the presses! New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has officially quit the Republican Party! I couldn't believe it. Why am I so shocked? I was surprised to learn he was a member of the Republican Party. I was surprised to learn the party of Ronald Reagan would permit him to join. I was surprised to learn that, having made such as mistake in associating with the likes of Michael Bloomberg, the Republican Party didn't have enough discretion to quit him first! This guy's record is remarkable only in its extremist divergence from any principle ever held – in word and...

Why am I not surprised? While Washington is roiled in the divisiveness of the immigration/amnesty bill, the pencil pushers are working on the building of "THE FENCE"! I'm talking about the fence that's supposed to be built along the Mexican border to cut down the number of illegal aliens sneaking into this country every day. Well, it's not really a fence, as any normal person would imagine. This is a new-fangled one. It's a high-tech "fence" that depends on towers, radar, cameras, video terminals, detectors and all kinds of technology – so much in fact, that Border Patrol agents will...

Where have all the cowboys gone?Roughly 60 million people (20 percent of Americans) live in 80 percent of America's landmass – classified as "rural." While much has been done in past years to save this precious domain, many rural areas remain on the brink of economic bankruptcy. Tragically, because of globalization, outbidding, outsourcing and youth migration, some have already turned into pastoral wastelands and ghost towns. There is a light of hope in the rural tunnel, as Calvin Beale, senior demographer with the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, notes, "The number of declining non-metro counties was...

This has been a hectic week for me. My husband fueled up his Tiger Grumman airplane with aviation gas and soared off into the skies for his first cross-country solo flight. He landed in Kitty Hawk, S.C., and spent a couple of days re-acquainting himself with the Wright Brothers and their dazzling accomplishment of first-ever flight and American can-do spirit. Simultaneously, my teenage son, his best friend and my niece left for Nicaragua on a mission by our church to help build a youth center in the mosquito-infested town of San Ramon. So I was minding my own business when...

I'm going to make a little prediction. In a few days, Michael Moore's latest mockumentary, "Sicko," will release nationally. It is an indictment of health care in the U.S. and a paean to systems in worker paradises like Cuba. But given the notoriety and box-office success of some of Michael Moore's other agitprop fare, I predict it will be rapidly followed by the introduction of major federal legislation that will, in effect, attempt to nationalize and socialize medicine in the U.S. In my own meager effort to pre-empt this well-orchestrated plot, I would like to bust a few of the...

Many years ago, there was a popular radio quiz show called "20 Questions." The challenge faced by the panelists was to come up with the identity of a person, place or object. All they were told in advance was whether that something was animal, vegetable or mineral. I have my own list of questions that I suspect would have stumped even the resident experts, Fred Van De Venter, Florence Rinard, Johnnie McPhee and Herb Polesie. To begin with, why do basketball fans go berserk whenever a player dunks a basketball? Considering that the height of the basket has remained 10...

We're in the middle of a domestic immigration war, and it's a classic. The blind are leading the blind. The selectively deaf are leading the selectively deaf. Their enemy is the electorate. They march onto the Washington congressional battlefield with the banner of their leader, George W. Bush, flapping in the wind. The coat of arms is golden yellow, emblazoned with a cross on the shield, supported by two bold figures – a fruitcake and a skunk – all on a field of mockingbirds.Golden yellow is for cowardice in the face of pressure groups – everything from big business and...

I was genuinely flattered to hear of the worldwide enjoyment of my parody and hyperbolic WND article this last week, "If I am elected President." It is often said that the most powerful position in the world is the U.S. Presidency. But I believe it hits much closer to home than the White House and is a role, quite frankly, that I'm much more eager to fulfill. Before I reveal that commanding position, I'd like to discuss the power utilized in it. The purpose of powerCalvin Coolidge, America's 30th President, once confessed, "I suppose I am the most powerful man...