Free Republic

Two op-eds in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal and one on this website brilliantly call attention to aspects of the vast political and cultural change, still in its early stages, that is gathering force in this country as inexorably as the spring thaw breaks up a frozen river, first as a trickle and then a torrent. Donald Trump figures in all three stories. He is at once a cause and an effect of the change—the Tea Party movement embodied and in power, and as much a rejection of the existing order of things as the mob that swarmed onto British...

We know that resentment is driving much of Donald Trump’s success — resentment of elites, of the political class, of illegal immigrants, of protesters, of the media — and perhaps most particularly of changes in the demographic makeup of the country that Trump and his followers find unwelcome. Part of the explanation for the triumph of resentment is political and economic, but one question has nagged at me. What is the psychological mechanism underpinning this resentment? Six months ago, I wrote that Donald Trump’s “presidential campaign was following the path of right-wing working class parties in Europe.” In the United...

A soul-crushing society, led by a click-happy media and finger-wagging president, that has demanded our country and culture change everything from its football-team names to its campus speech policies, has gone largely unchecked for the past seven or so years. Today, the shirt a scientist wears is more important than his first-in-human-history accomplishments, and the jokes we tell on Twitter lead to angry mobs waiting for us at the airport. Random YouTube comments are held up as paramount examples of our society as savagely sexist, racist, or whatever other kind of "ist" the shame media can think of. The Gawkerization...

TRUMP’S TRUMPERY I’m feeling better about Trump mania. It’s obviously too soon to tell for sure, but I think we’ve reached Peak Trump. Still, vigilance is required. And on that note, I’d like to raise a gripe about what is supposed to be Donald Trump’s greatest strength: his vaunted un-PCness. There’s a consensus out there — among friends and foes alike — that Donald Trump’s success stems from his willingness not to abide by political correctness (that and his willingness to build a wall the Mexicans will pay for). This alleged bravery has managed to convince a great many people...

There is one main criteria on which to judge a culture and it is very simple: Any culture in which the older generation doesn't push the younger generation to better themselves intellectually and pushes them to suceeed more than themselves is by defintion a degenerate culture. That is all, simple effective and infuriating to all liberals and their PC bullshit crap.

Firestorm: Allied Airpower and the Destruction of Dresden By Marshall De Bruhl Random House, $27.95.One of my favorite talk radio hosts recently interviewed a member of the evangelical Christian left who expressed sentiments -- to call them arguments would be an overstatement -- against the war in Iraq. The conversation, fairly typical of such exchanges, went something like this: “When have you been in favor of the United States actually using military force?” “Well, I guess you would have to say World War II was what you would call a good war." “What about Dresden? You bring up Abu Ghraib...

With one of the largest retail weekends immediately behind us, and a huge season of shopping upon us, I have a bone to pick with some Christmas retailers and reductionists. Shop until 'Christmas' dropsThe National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association, is projecting only a 5 percent increase in Christmas season sales over last year, to the tune of $457.4 billion. That compares with last year's 6.1 percent increase. It appears as well that the majority of that increase (61 million people) will do their shopping on the Internet (up from 51.7 million last year). What alarms me most,...

This Week, Newman On-line looks at the campaign against political correctness Last month in Britain, a poll was conducted by polling company ICM on whether the Blair-led Labour Government is introducing too much legislation that infringes personal liberty. The poll of 1,000 people aged 18 years and over asked whether the Government is proposing too many infringements on matters that should be for individuals to decide for themselves. The poll stated: “Recently the Government has introduced legislation on things like hunting, smoking and parents ability to smack their children. Thinking about such issues generally, which of the following comes close...

In 2004, punk rock fans don't have to all be the same. Sheep are the same. Lemmings are the same. But punk rock fans should never demand sameness, be it from the left or the right. A healthy democracy depends on a free thinking, engaged citizenry -- and a healthy punk rock scene should be the FIRST to welcome ideological diversity. I call punk rock conservatives gonzo conservatives. This is not your father's conservatism. Gonzo conservatives have done and seen things their fathers never could have imagined, and right alongside punks on the left. Gonzos are inked and scarred and...

George W Bush: Punk icon? By Damian Fowler BBC reporter in New York It sounds unlikely, but there is a surprising new subculture emerging in the United States: Republican punk rockers. In his knee-high Dr Martens and with his head shaved, Michale Graves is the Bush-friendly face of punk rock. He is the front man for the band Gotham Road, which has just kicked off its US tour. On stage he belts out angry, obscure lyrics, but offstage he is also known for his conservative rants and raves. "The leftist radical agenda seems to be resonating loudly from within pop...