Free Republic

U.S. Democratic Party moderates are warning that presidential nominee Barack Obama needs to gain more support from white voters to win in November. A draft report from the Democratic Leadership Council, leaked to the Washington Web site Politico Wednesday, contends that while Obama, a freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, will likely increase turnout from blacks, self-described liberals and young voters, it may not be enough to offset weaknesses among middle-class white voters, particularly men. Those votes will be necessary for Obama to defeat Republican opponent Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the study says. It contends that Obama hasn't done enough...

Scott Michael Turner, 29, charged with felony animal cruelty for throwing a kitten against a wall, is sentenced to seven months in the Ramsey County Workhouse. He's also banned from possessing animals during a four-year probationary period. Turner is also required to undergo anger management treatment and must abstain from using drugs or alcohol as part of his sentence, as part of a stayed 15-month prison sentence. Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner was pleased with the sentence, saying that animal cruelty crimes are often a red flag for abuse to children or adults. The St. Paul man was convicted by...

Does the Constitution have any role in the intense debate and blowback surrounding Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout proposal? There is nothing in our founding document that prohibits taxing Peter (us) to pay Paul (Wall Street). There are constitutional principles, however, that speak to values such as oversight and transparency. Our system of checks and balances abhors a blank check. And yet Secretary Paulson's proposal contains a sweeping provision that utterly strips the courts of any power to review his decisions. Section 8 of the Paulson proposal reads: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act...

Co-redemption and Queenship in Ad Caeli Reginam The brilliant light of a new Marian Encyclical, the Ad Caeli Reginam, illumined the closing days of the Marian Year. This Encyclical is important because it proclaims the new liturgical feast of the Queenship of Mary. But it also has special doctrinal significance, for in it, in the course of his explanation of the titles on which Mary's Queenship rests, the Pope has devoted several lengthy paragraphs to the subject of Mary's Co-redemption. This is the first time that a Pope has treated that subject at such length. By way of providing a...

NEW YORK (CNN) – Sarah Palin and the foreign leaders she has met with in New York have said very little to reporters over the last two days, but the press happened to be in the room on Wednesday for one eyebrow-raising exchange, as the new president of Pakistan lavished praise on Palin's looks.

The proposed federal rescue of the nation's financial system has investors breathing easier, but one Tampa financial executive is steaming about the unfairness of it all. He's right. Every honest participant in the system should be outraged. Longtime president of GTE Federal Credit Union, Wendell "Bucky" Sebastian, makes local mortgages and looks after the investments of savers. Most of his mortgages are sound and all the money on deposit is safe. But the normally jovial Sebastian isn't happy. "We were the ones not taking stupid risks," he explains of his and similar credit unions and banks. "The bad guys made...

Colorado is turning purple because of migration. There have been other, longer explanations for why traditionally Republican Colorado is in play this election. Real Clear Politics has all the numbers. Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker has a good article on the ascendance of Democratic politicians in the state. Christopher Beam does the same fine job of parsing the politics of the state on Slate. But migration tells a better story. Colorado hasn't become what Stuart Rothenberg calls the most important state in November because of what politicians have or have not done or because of a new array of...

Economist Wesbury is saying that if we change that one rule and don't force them to mark down to market value and just let them hold on to all the stuff, and say just on sub-primes for this period of time you can change that rule -- a temporary change -- that'll free the market up. It's seized right now; it's frozen. This will thaw it out and get it going again. He says that'll solve 60% of the problem ... and I think he's right.

<p>A founding member of the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois met in New York City tonight with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.</p> <p>Jodie Evans, who co-hosted Obama's first major fundraiser in Hollywood in February 2007 just after Obama announced his candidacy and is a top fundraiser and donor to Obama's campaign, led a delegation of leftist anti-American groups that held a private meeting near the United Nations. The stated purpose of the meeting was to "serve as an opening for diplomatic resolution" to prevent war between Iran and the United States.</p>

Sarah Palin admittedly hasn’t had much of a track record when it comes to acknowledging let alone promoting diversity during her short tenure as Alaska governor. She’s on record with a terse utterance on hate crimes legislation and another one on cultural diversity. During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign she told the Eagle Forum that she opposed expanded hate crime legislation. In her gubernatorial campaign booklet in 2006, Palin gave her equally terse view of discrimination. She simply said that she and her gubernatorial running mate would provide opportunities for all Alaskans. There is no record that Palin has made any...

Through Mary to Jesus by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. When we say through Mary, to Jesus, we mean that: Through Mary’s voluntary consent we have received Jesus. Through Mary’s example we are better able to imitate Jesus. Through Mary’s intercession we obtain graces from Jesus. To better understand what these phrases mean, is to more deeply appreciate what it means to be a Catholic. We are so accustomed to thinking that what God wants, He also does, that we have to tell ourselves this must be qualified. There are two kinds of creatures in this world: There are those...

What You Need to Know: Tradition There is a great deal of concern about Catholic tradition these days because, since the 1960’s, the Church herself has been heavily impacted by a secular culture which disdains tradition. As a result, many traditions have fallen by the wayside and, clearly, the Catholic sense of identity has been weakened. In assessing this problem, it is important to understand the difference between traditions (usually written with a small “t”) and Tradition itself (often capitalized for clarity), for Tradition has a very specific meaning in Catholicism. It does not include all the customs, art, liturgical...

Last week, Barack Obama challenged a crowd of supporters to approach Republicans and Independents and to “argue with them and get in their face.” And then do what? Lie? He immediately asked his supporters to talk about what a gun-toting, anti-tax nut he is. Let’s take a moment to note the irony of having the biggest liberal in the Senate tell a liberal crowd to argue non-liberal positions on his behalf. Obama asked that when his supporters get in their friends faces and argue to tell them that he just loves the 2nd Amendment. The NRA, which I hear knows...

Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly have been maliciously hacked by democrat party operatives in the last few days. Free Republic has been acting wierdly for the past week, now with a major system failure today. Given the democrat party and the Obama campaign's ferocious hostility to free speech and the open expression of opinion, has FR suffered the same fate?

Got a proposal to all you in FReeperland. The campaign has been suspended as you all know. This is a huge gamble on McCain's part, but one that both sets an example (imagine that - leadership coming from Washington, lol), and puts the Dems on the defensive. But there is something we at the grassroots can do to cheer this one - show our support and our commitment to country over cheap politics. Here is a small idea with big implications: Take any McCain merchandise you have - yard signs, bumper stickers, etc. Paint or tape over the "McCAIN/PALIN"! Then...

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. This is an extraordinary period for America's economy. Over the past few weeks, many Americans have felt anxiety about their finances and their future. I understand their worry and their frustration. We've seen triple-digit swings in the stock market. Major financial institutions have teetered on the edge of collapse, and some have failed. As uncertainty has grown, many banks have restricted lending. Credit markets have frozen. And families and businesses have found it harder to borrow money.

Definitions of "moral hazard" on the Web: Arises when people behave recklessly because they know they will be saved if things go wrong.enbv.narod.ru/text/Econom/ib/str/261.html (links to a Russian site of all things)

Way back in May, when I was thinking about Sarah Palin as a possible running mate for McCain, I wondered about how the electorate, the media, etc., would respond to A) a woman on the Republican ticket, B) a relatively young woman (by politician standards) on the ticket and C) a (let's be honest) strikingly attractive relatively young woman on the ticket. I don't think every joke and jab at Sarah Palin is ipso facto sexism. I laughed at Tina Fey's impression on SNL. But I think women do get judged on their appearance and attractiveness more than men do,...

As most people know, the Jewish day does not run from midnight to midnight (which is all screwed up now thanks to Daylight Savings Time anyway) but from nightfall to sunset. Tonight, 9/24/'08, and tomorrow, 9/25/'08 (up until sunset) corresponds to 25 'Elul--which is in the Jewish tradition the day when G-d said "Yehi 'or!" ("Let there be light!"). It is the anniversary of the First Day of Creation. You will note that I said this is the anniversary "in Jewish tradition." If I had merely said "this is the anniversary of the first day of creation" I would have...

What would you pay, sight unseen, for a house that nobody wants, on a hard-luck street where no houses are selling? That question is easy compared to the one confronting the Treasury Department as Washington works toward a vast bailout of financial institutions. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is proposing to spend up to $700 billion to buy troubled investments that even Wall Street is struggling to put a price on. A big concern in Washington — and among many ordinary Americans — is that the difficulty in valuing these assets could result in the government’s buying them for...