Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- It has happened again. Sam Tanenhaus, the editor of the New York Times Book Review referred to by Paul Krugman the other day as "a long-time conservative," has essayed in the New Republic the modern conservative movement, and traced us all back to John C. Calhoun. I suppose our point of origin could have been more sinister. Sam could have traced us back to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the former Confederate General who went on to be an early member of the Ku Klux Klan, but John C. Calhoun is bad enough. Of course, Calhoun is no kind of...

The verb "to rove" has a lot to do with Karl Rove and with what he is trying -- successfully -- to do for to the Republican Party.A short history of Carl Rove is provided here. I won't repeat it beyond saying that he is screwing what's left of the Republican Party and trying to turn it into the Republican-Lite Party with as few conservatives as possible and none without his blessing. Big tent? Like the circus? Maybe, but first we should get rid of the clowns and send in strong, intelligent and articulate elephants and capable donkey tamers instead....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate panel

A 71 year old man with a headful of uncombed steel grey hair entered the Chicago Bank of the Commenwealth. The elderly man sported a weathered tan tweed wool jacket, with no buttons or elbow pads, and gripped a scuffed -up heavily varnished cheerywood cane as he walked slowly toward the teller. The man raised his head up to directly face her. She could see her inverted reflections in his brown bloodshot eyes, eyes that appeared flat, glazed and methodical. She has yet to forget those eyes, set just below a bushy nest of eyebrows, also untrimmed, unfettered. His name...

Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, held a briefing for reporters on February 14, providing more information about plans for the retirement of Pope Benedict and the election of his successor. He revealed: Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who has served for years as the private secretary to Benedict XVI, will continue to live with the Pontiff after his retirement. However the archbishop, who was recently appointed as prefect of the pontifical household, will continue to serve in that role as well. The new Pontiff could, if he wished, select a replacement.The Vatican will continue to provide security...

Reid To Hold Cloture Vote On Hagel At 4:15 EST IGOR BOBIC 3:16 PM EST, THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2013 The Senate will hold a cloture vote on the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense at 4:15pm ET on Thursday, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced. The move would end debate and move to a final vote on confirmation. Several Republican senators, including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), said they plan to vote against cloture this week in order to allow more time to review Hagel's record. They indicated that they would move to end debate, even...

In 2008 Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich paid $33.6 million for Lucien Freud's "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping." The price established a record for a living artist. Lucien Freud was grandson of Sigmund Freud, who to this day remains the most famous neurologist and father of psychoanalysis. Although as years go by greater pieces of Freud's theories are chipped away, his influence hasn't waned in the minds of the general public. It all began with his book "Interpretation of Dreams" which introduced among other ideas the Oedipus complex. It's the day after the State of the Union address when the nation was sold...

TO THE EDITOR: Republicans and “so-called” conservatives are at it again. They are claiming that the Constitution gives people the right to have guns without the permission of the government. If that were true, then how could New York and Chicago have laws against it? We Democrats are sick and tired of Republicans constantly using the Constitution to cover up their true plans, which are to make us all afraid of everyone else. Our great president came from a civilized part of the country where there is strict gun control, and he is only trying to bring the benefits of...

In 2010, Kimberly Munley sat next to Michelle Obama as President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address. Munley was invited as a hero of the 2009 Fort Hood shootings. As a civilian police officer, Munley fired back after Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly opened fire in an attack that killed 13 adults and wounded 32. Munley was shot three times. Her partner, Mark Todd, fired the shots that brought down Hasan and ended the carnage. Three years later, Munley told ABC News reporter Brian Ross, she feels "betrayed," as Obama broke his promise to care for the Fort...

Guns And Ammo Production Maxed Out: “This Is A Society Preparing For War” Mac Slavo February 14th, 2013 President Barack Obama is, arguably, the best gun salesman ever. Over 65 million guns have been purchased since the President took office in 2009. FBI background check statistics indicate that, over the last twelve months, Americans purchased a new gun every 1.5 seconds, a figure which suggests there is much more to the recent panic buying than people just stocking up to go hunting or sports shooting. The following guns and ammo industry report indicates that every major gun and ammunition manufacturer...

The word is impossible to miss in thick black letters on the cover of the “Critique of the Freeh Report” and the 57 mentions that follow. Injustice. Not for the boy who Jerry Sandusky raped in a locker-room shower at Penn State. Not for the boy who testified to being sexually abused by Sandusky as often as three times per week. Not for the boy Sandusky molested at the former assistant coach’s home. No, the ‘injustice’ railed against in the 238-page report released Saturday revolves around none other than the late Joseph Vincent Paterno. Bankrolled by the Paterno family, the...

For two days Rush Limbaugh has been explaining a recent epiphany of his. His epiphany is that he now understands BO’s Modus Operandi. To summarize that revelation, Rush is making the point that BO does not lead, he does not govern, that all he does is campaign. As he campaigns, he attacks those who oppose him ideologically, typically Republicans but now the TEA Party and any other group (such as the NRA) that opposes any of his many radically leftist pet projects. I’m surprised it took Rush this long to make that observation, and it surprises me even more that...

ERIE, Colo. (CBS4) – A Colorado company is threatening to leave the state if a bill to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines becomes law. CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger toured the company in Erie. They said they would certainly prefer to stay. The company is called Magpul. Among other products, they make ammunition magazines which can hold up to 30 rounds. Tuesday night a state House committee took the first step towards banning them. Magpul is one of the largest producers of the high-capacity magazines in the country. “Actually, every product you see here being made today on these magazine assembly lines...

Q: Some Jewish people in my city complained to the local Catholic hospital, saying they were afraid to bring their sick children to the emergency room, because the hospital staff might baptize them. The hospital staff publicly agreed never to do this. I had always assumed that you can’t baptize a baby without at least one parent’s consent, so I thought the hospital would simply say, “Don’t worry, we’re not allowed to do that anyway!” But the wording of the hospital administrators’ response seemed to suggest that they really could baptize a sick baby if they wanted to. Can a...

I have closely followed the gun control debate in the US from the outside and, as a European, I am trying to make sense of it because I know that at stake is not just the gun legislation but also the American Constitution, with what it represents as the most historically important declaration of human rights and liberties to be safeguarded against the power of the state; the thorny issues of broken families and of how to treat the mentally ill; and even the always controversal question of race and gang violence. I have never seen a gun in my...

Two off-duty law enforcement officers involved in a deadly shooting in Hernando County have been honored by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. In October, Tampa police officer William Mechler and Hernando sheriff's deputy Rocky Howard were off-duty when they shot and killed a naked 42-year-old woman. The officers said Inga Marie Swanson was threatening a group of people. On Wednesday, both men received the Medal of Valor, which is the highest honor given by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. Two months after the shooting, the State Attorney's Office cleared the two men of wrongdoing in the shooting. Sheriff Al Nienhuis...

In the wake of the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he will step down as of the end of this month, numerous hate-filled messages have been posted on the social media site Twitter, as reposted by conservative writer Michelle Malkin's Twitter watchdog site Twitchy on Feb. 11, 2013. The man born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927 Germany was falsely accused on-line of being a Nazi during the Second World War. Like all German children at the time, Ratzinger was enrolled by law in the Hitler Youth when he was 14, but reportedly refused to attend meetings. He was also drafted...

Missouri Democrats Introduce Legislation to Confiscate Firearms - Gives Gun Owners 90 Days to Turn in Weapons Missouri Democrats introduced an anti-gun bill which would turn law-abiding firearm owners into criminals. They will have 90 days to turn in their guns if the legislation is passed. Here’s part of the Democratic proposal in Missouri: 4. Any person who, prior to the effective date of this law, was legally in possession of an assault weapon or large capacity magazine shall have ninety days from such effective date to do any of the following without being subject to prosecution: (1) Remove the...

In an apparent planning snafu, President Obama today will visit an early learning school in Decatur, Georgia that happens to be in recess this week. But no problem: According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, staff and bus drivers will be summoned back to work for the day to accomodate Obama’s appearance. College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center Principle Suzanne Kennedy alerted parents that the staff will interrupt their vacations for the “amazing opportunity” for students to “expand their worlds” by seeing the president: President Obama’s visit is an honor for College Heights and the City Schools of Decatur. Since the school...