Free Republic

Andrew McCarthy makes a great point in his post at NRO a few days ago: If only the fantasy were true: If only there actually were a dominant, pro-American, echt moderate Islam, an ideology so dedicated to human rights, so sternly set against savagery, that acts of terrorism were, by definition, “un-Islamic activity.” Imagine an Islam that, far from a liability, proved an asset (indeed, an indispensable asset) in combating the threat against us. Imagine that we could accurately call the threat mere “extremism” — no “Islamic” (or even “Islamist”) modifier being necessary because the “extremists” truly were a tiny,...

The financial collapse occurred because housing lenders wrote paper to people who couldn’t afford the houses they bought, often getting a no-down arrangement, while lenders sold the paper to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which securitized them and spread the bubble throughout the financial markets in order to provide even more capital for even more bad loans. After nearly watching the Western world’s financial structure melt down, one would hope that we would have learned a lesson from the catastrophe. Apparently not, as CNBC’s Diana Olick reports (via Instapundit): "At around the same time this program went into effect, the...

A man who was convicted in the stabbing of a Hasidic scholar in racial unrest that engulfed Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 1991 was stabbed early Sunday in Upper Manhattan, the police said. The man, Lemrick Nelson Jr., 35, was found unconscious on an exit ramp of the George Washington Bridge about 2 a.m., according to the Fire Department. He had a stab wound behind his ear, and an ice pick was found nearby. He was taken to Harlem Hospital Center in stable condition. Investigators were looking into whether Mr. Nelson had been attacked after a traffic dispute, the police said....

Today's Mad Lib of the Day is Justice Stephen Breyer, a guy who has written things like this in McDonald vs. City of Chicago: In sum, the Framers did not write the Second Amendment in order to protect a private right of armed self-defense. There has been, and is, no consensus that the right is, or was, “fundamental.” No broader constitutional interest or principle supports legal treatment of that right as fundamental. To the contrary, broader constitutional concerns of an institutional nature argue strongly against that treatment. Breyer now seems to equate burning the Koran with shouting fire in a...

You see, this is how you make headlines and draw attention to yourself if your John Hinderaker, the Frick of Frick and Frack over at Powerline. He entitled his post -- "The Mark Levin Controversy." http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/09/027219.php I'd say Dan Riehl hit a nerve when he exposed Paul Mirengoff's half-truth as a complete fraud. Mirengoff claimed that I had told a half-truth when I said that he had supported the Harriet Miers nomination. He said that he had changed his position. But Dan Riehl, who dug into it for about 3 minutes, found that Mirengoff actually changed his position the day...

Obama cites 'legitimate fears' about debt The president says conservatives are 'right to be concerned' about deficit spending, but he says that extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would only exacerbate the problem. President Obama acknowledged Monday that the government's response to the financial crisis created "legitimate fears" about the nation's growing debt, but argued that extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would only exacerbate the problem. Speaking in the backyard of a Northern Virginia family before an audience that included small-business owners, Obama renewed his debate with Republicans over the best course to jump-start a sluggish economy,...

17-year-old teenager from Bedfordshire has found himself with a lifetime ban from the US, after it was found that he sent a threatening email to President Barack Obama. Luke Angel from Silsoe, sent the email while drunk and called the president abusive names after watching a documentary on the 9/11 attacks. After the email was sent, the FBI intercepted the message and contacted police in the UK about the incident. Teenage kicks Speaking about what happened, Angel explained: "My parents aren't very happy about it. "The police who came round took my picture and told me I was banned from...

Hispanics and Blacks were made poorer under president Barry Hussein Soetoro’s economic policies according to census demographers and poverty is making record historic gains under Soetoro as well. (see article) Michael Savage calls it trickle up poverty. president Barry Hussein Soetoro says we’re on the right track. However demographers who track poverty trends say that poverty in the United States is on the increase like no other time since 1959. Is that really the right track Mr. president?

Last night over at the city hall in the city of Hartford, CT, USA, in protest over the revoking by the Hartford City Council of the offering of prayers to open up the City Council meeting. Imam Kashiff Abdul-Karim offered outside in front of the City, prayers in both Arabic and in English. From NBC Tv Connecticut’s website:”The Hartford City Council had invited imams to start its two September meetings with prayer, including the meeting on Monday. It was meant to show solidarity with Muslims at a time of controversy over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero and the possible...

<p>A federal bill mandating proper care and management for concussions suffered by youth athletes took an important legislative step today.</p> <p>Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), who co-authored the Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act, and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) today held the first of two hearings before the health subcommittee for the ConTACT Act at the Prudential Center.</p>

Prime Minister Netanyahu has called upon Palestinian leaders to recognize the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination – "two states for two nations." But are Palestinian Arabs a nation, or a people? What is "Palestinian national identity" based on? Although taken for granted today, Palestinianism has neither a long, nor distinguished history, which may explain why the peace process between Israel and the Arabs has failed and will continue to fail. Palestinianism, inherently meant only one thing: the rejection of a Jewish state in any form. A few elite Arab intellectuals did talk about Palestinianism, but it was...

| " The Palestinian Authority will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state … Such a declaration would directly threaten the Muslims and Christians in Israel and prevent Palestinian refugees, who left their homes and villages a number of decades ago, from being granted the right to return to them." — Senior Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath, shortly after the start of US sponsored peace talks This rather shocking comment made at a Ramallah press conference last week by one of the supposedly more "moderate" members of the Palestinian leadership produced headlines throughout both the Arab world and Israel. Amazingly it...

Practitioner Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter, Killed Woman in Failed Abortion Hyannis, MA -- Massachusetts-based abortion practitioner Rapin Osathanondh pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter on Monday in relation to his killing 22-year-old Laura Smith in a failed abortion. The plea in court from Osathanondh came on the third anniversary of Smith's death. http://LifeNews.com/state5453.html

The most closely watched legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s health care plan is set to go before a federal judge in Florida on Tuesday, as 20 states and an influential small-business group argue that the bill amounts to a sweeping constitutional overreach. The states argue that the federal government cannot impose a requirement on individuals to purchase insurance, the so-called individual mandate, and then force them to pay a fine if they don’t. The mandate takes effect in 2014. The National Federation of Independent Business is also part of the states’ lawsuit, arguing that the mandate will force higher...

2010 Is ‘Gone,’ Says Big-Time Dem “He cannot save 2010,” the big-time Democrat is saying of Barack Obama. “It is gone. He must now concentrate on saving 2012. But the biggest fear of some of those close to him is that he might not really want to go on in 2012, that he might not really care.” In my experience, the big-time Democrat has hardly ever been wrong. He does not dislike President Obama. On the contrary, like most big-time Democrats, he worked hard for his election in 2008 and would much rather see Democrats hold onto Congress this Nov....

<p>The attached photo is of a female National Guard soldier working near El Paso, Texas, along the U.S./Mexican border.</p> <p>Take a close look at the soldier’s M-16…There is no magazine in the rifle!</p> <p>If anyone still needed proof that President Obama has no intention of defending this country, this should do it.</p>

IMO this test should be brought back and not only for 8th graders, but should be mandatory for anyone to pass prior to being registered to vote! Nevertheless, this definitely answers the question why so many of our children are clueless, and so many of us seasoned citizens actually do have a functioning knowledge of how our govt is supposed to work.

Kingmaker, powerbroker, digital celebrity – by whatever name, and there have been many – Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin herald the dawn of a rising phenomenon. Their ability to use virtually every form of new and old media, from television to Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, to reach large audiences in the service of personal yet political messages is something new on the political landscape, say many political strategists and historians. This power to persuade by personal conviction without apparent elective ambition was on display yet again Saturday night. In a joint rally in Anchorage, Alaska, the two flirted with one...

On Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds celebrated the 25th anniversary of Pete Rose's 4,192d hit, which broke Ty Cobb's career hits record. Later that night, at a roast of Rose at a casino in Indiana, Rose broke down and cried as he made a heartfelt apology for his involvement in betting on baseball. "I disrespected the game of baseball," Rose said. "When you do that, you disrespect your teammates, the game and your family."

A Republican rout in November would usher in a class of Senate freshmen who ran on pledges of no amnesty for illegal immigrants — a changing of the guard that could doom President Barack Obama’s already faint chances of passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill in his first term. Immigration reform advocates could see turnover in 17 seats held by Democrats and Republicans who, at one point, voted for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, according to a POLITICO analysis of the Senate campaign field. In all cases, the Republicans running for those seats have vowed to never support...