Free Republic

Kevin Walsh of the University of Richmond School of Law writes:The twitterverse is alive with tweets about Justice Scalia’s headgear for today’s inauguration. At the risk of putting all the fun speculation to an end . . . The hat is a custom-made replica of the hat depicted in Holbein’s famous portrait of St. Thomas More. It was a gift from the St. Thomas More Society of Richmond, Virginia. We presented it to him in November 2010 as a memento of his participation in our 27th annual Red Mass and dinner.Wearing the cap of a statesman who defended liberty...

“The Club for Growth will not oppose tomorrow’s vote on the debt ceiling,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in the statement. “The Club for Growth will, on the other hand, strongly oppose any efforts during the upcoming debate over the continuing resolution and sequester that fail to arrest out-of-control spending and put sensible limits on the growth of government.” That's a major reversal for an organization whose primary mission is to force lawmakers to curb government spending. Until now, Club for Growth has demanded that any vote to increase the debt limit include a balanced budget amendment. The...

The State Department has refused to cancel or delay the delivery of several American-made F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, claiming that the arms deal serves America’s “regional security interests,” according to an official State Department document obtained by the Free Beacon. The news that the Obama administration would uphold an aid package to Egypt that included the military hardware prompted concern on Capitol Hill from lawmakers who said the deal was not prudent given the political situation in Egypt, where Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi has clashed with democratic protestors. “Sixteen F-16s and 200 Abrams tanks are to be given...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: This Tom Brokaw and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington, and this is yesterday on the Today show. They're on there with Matt Lauer and they are celebrating. They're celebrating because they think the Republicans have given up, and they're right. Everybody's giving up. My impression is that everybody is giving up and they're waiting for events that nobody can predict to maybe change the direction that we're headed; events that nobody can predict that will stop Obama in his tracks; events that'll happen that will wake people up. The sense I get is that there's no point...

As the gun debate heats up, one idea seems particularly suited for Connecticut to consider: liability insurance for gun owners. This is the kind of mandatory insurance you have to get to drive a car — and the kind of protection that costs more if you want to take what the industry knows is a calculated risk. Letting your teenager get behind the wheel is a good example.

PARIS (Reuters) - Two leading Lutheran clerics have rejected suggestions from the Vatican that it could create a subdivision for converted Lutherans similar to its structures for Anglicans who join the Roman Catholic Church.The dispute, concerning tiny numbers of believers but major issues in ecumenical relations, comes as the churches mark the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this week.Rev Martin Junge, the Chilean-born secretary general of the World Lutheran Federation (WLF), said in a statement that the suggestion caused great concern and would "send wrong signals to LWF member churches around the world."Bishop Friedrich Weber, the German Lutheran...

WASHINGTON — A new Associated Press-GfK poll has found that more than 60 percent of Americans now favor allowing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. That's a significantly higher number than last time the AP polled on the question, in 2010, when just 50 percent supported the idea. The turnaround has been driven by Republicans changing their views. A majority in the GOP — 53 percent — now favor allowing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. That's up 22 percentage points from 2010.

Sen. Barbara Boxer said she had a one word answer for why President Obama promised to act on climate change in his second inaugural address: “Sandy.” Boxer called Hurricane Sandy a turning point in public opinion on global warming, and said Washington will act to curb CO2 emissions not via legislation but through the Environmental Protection Agency. “My view is they have no choice but to act,” Boxer said, referring to a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed that greenhouse gasses are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. “The EPA has huge authority here.” ... “There may be a way to...

When people say that Barack Obama is the worst president since Jimmy Carter, they’re not kidding; a new Gallup Poll taken between January 7-10 shows that when Americans were asked whether they had a positive view of the country, only 39% agreed. This is the lowest percentage since August 1979, when Carter was president, inflation was out of control and the economy was hurtling toward the abyss. The percentage of those who believe that things will be better in five years is only 48%, the lowest since that same time period under Carter. Another 40% said things will be worse....

It was a bad Sunday for sponsors of an meeting to create a grassroots chapter of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence at the Glenview, IL Police Station Auditorium failed miserably as supporters of the Constitution and civil rights took part in the event. In the end, unsubstantiated assertions by the gun control advocates were challenged by a boisterous audience. The local newspaper had this to say: Gun Ownership Advocates Intentionally Pack Panel (Glenview Patch) – Gun ownership advocates intentionally packed Sunday’s gun control panel by the New Trier Democrats, as pro-gun advocates — who were encouraged to come from...

"There was no evidence that the chain set out to deceive customers." So why the $700,000 payout? Pamela Geller asks: "So meat producers in the US who are selling unlabeled meat that is halal should be the target of a multi-million dollar lawsuit, no?" And David Wood observes:"Some Dearborn Muslims may have been given non-halal chicken at McDonalds. It could have been worse, however. They could have been thrown in jail for answering questions, as we were at the 2010 Arab Festival. But apparently what happens to Christians doesn't matter in Dearborn." "McDonald's settles Mich. suit over Islamic diet," by...

Footage from a "Guns and Public Safety Forum" hosted by the New Trier (IL) Democrats on January 20, 2013. A veteran rose to address speakers and defend First and Second Amendments.

While the move to make English the official language in the United States grows throughout the U. S., some academics regret that it is the first one in America. “Multiculturalism and multilingualism are becoming the new default,” Nancy Bou Ayash of the University of Louisville said at the 2013 meeting of the Modern Language Association (MLA) in Boston. She recommends “A translingual approach” and regrets the “dominance of monolingualism.” “U. S. monolingualism remains the statutory law but not the cultural norm,” she avers. The pair of students who offered anonymous reviews of her pedagogy on Rate My Professors.com might have...

At the Modern Language Association (MLA) 2013 meeting in Boston, a professor claimed the existence of a “textbook describing slavery as a TransAtlantic trade triangle.” Yet when asked to provide a title, she offered none. Cynthia Franklin of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who made the claim, suggested googling the phrases “TransAtlantic trade triangle” and “Texas textbook guidelines.” This yields many articles which also make that assertion but fail to link to the original primary source—the Texas Education Agency (TEA). This correspondent did not recall that phrase from the TEA guidelines. Indeed, typing the phrase “TransAtlantic trade triangle” onto...

Whoops. I'm sure the President just made a mistake and the words "under God" just happened to be missing in the pledge of allegiance. During the pledge of allegiance during the inauguration yesterday, the words "under God" were removed by the President. Introducing the President, Myrlie Evers-Williams read a flowery version of the pledge: “We now stand beneath the shadow of the nation’s capital, who’s golden dome reflects the unity and democracy of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all...” Of course this isn't the first time that the Democratic party has removed God from their speeches. During...

It looks more and more like Flo from Progressive Insurance will be watching the Bloomberg Network on Comcast by herself at the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show. This comes after Reed Exhibitions, a UK based company, prohibited the display and sale of certain tactical weapons, high-cap magazines and would not allow vendors to display logos of some American manufacturers that vendors sell. A boycott of the show by conservative sportsmen and businesses throughout the country continues to gain momentum. The show originally had Cabelas, The Outdoors Channel as sponsors, now the sole remaining sponsors are Progressive Insurance and Comcast -...

The campus of the University of Notre Dame. January 21, 2013 (CNS) - Fr. John Jenkins C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, will march in the March for Life along with about 600 students and more than a hundred faculty, according to students with the University’s pro-life student group. Fr. Jenkins has walked in the March for Life since the 2010 event. This year, however, is a little different as Notre Dame students were asked to lead the March for Life. “In addition to the faculty and students attending the March, alumni and friends of ND will also...

Dozens of people lined up outside a South Austin gun shop Monday. They fear this new presidential term will mean tougher gun laws. Monday morning dozens of people lined up outside Central Texas Gun Works in South Austin. Some waited as long as five hours to get the chance to purchase a part to make an AR-15. "Lower receivers seem to be sold out throughout the nation so as soon as you find out one's in stock like the line shows, everybody rushes for them," gun owner Jeremy Paul said.

Las Vegas police were searching for answers Tuesday after one of their own killed his wife and son, called 911 to confess, then set his house on fire and committed suicide as rifle-toting cops moved in. "I can't think of a reason for this, where something can get so bad that you'd do this," one veteran supervisor told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the Monday murder-suicide. Police have not released the name of the shooter but said he was a 52-year-old lieutenant with more than 20 years on the force. His wife was a retired officer, the newspaper said. Their...

(Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the bruised winner of Israel's election on Tuesday, with his hawkish bloc unexpectedly losing ground to resurgent center-left challengers, exit polls showed. They suggested the Israeli leader's Likud party, yoked with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, would still be the biggest bloc in the 120-member assembly with 31 seats, 11 fewer than the 42 they held in the previous parliament. If the exit polls compiled by three Israeli television channels prove correct, Netanyahu would be on course to secure a third term in office, perhaps leading a hardline coalition that would promote Jewish...