Free Republic

Discussing the violent anti-American demonstrations erupting across the Middle East outside U.S. embassies in Arab capitals, MSNBC contributor Michael Eric Dyson put a share of the blame on, well, "horrible" Americans. It was the "demonization of a predictable minority," in this case Muslims, that was the spark that light the conflagration, Dyson argued on the September 14 edition of the noon Eastern program Now with Alex Wagner. "It's not as if, oh in America, we've resolved this with equanimity and grace," he added, seeking to conflate isolated incidents of hate speech against Muslims inside the United States with the violent...

While the Daily Kos first reacted with horror like everyone else to the Aurora shooting, it didn’t take too long for the America-bashing to begin. The blogger known as “Killer of Sacred Cows” grew angry that Rep. Louie Gohmert would suggest the madness could have been stopped sooner if someone else in the theater was packing heat. That apparently put him in “Idiotsville.” But KoSC really wanted to blame the American Culture of Violence for the shooting, that our screwed-up social system doesn’t tolerate diminished mental capacity, it creates it: ..we keep seeing the MSM talking heads endlessly speculating on...

They always get the benefit of the doubt, these America haters -- from our enemies, of course. But also from our celebrities, our "mainstream" press and other organs of liberal opinion. The case of Julian Assange, would-be scourge of America, is depressingly typical -- if slightly surprising because the administration he sought to embarrass and discredit was Obama's. There's discomfiting news about Assange this week, which we'll get to, but first, a review. Remember the respectful treatment the Wikileaks founder received? After publishing 250,000 confidential documents obtained by an Army private -- some of which provided names and addresses of...

And by "we," he means "Bush," natch.  Mindless blame-America-firstism at its hyper-partisan worst:   Biden On Iran: The United States Was The ProblemWe were the problem." It's sometimes tempting to shrug off virtually anything this clown says -- there goes crazy Uncle Joe again! -- but we cannot lose sight of the fact that Barack Obama's hand-selected running mate is just one heartbeat away from the presidency.  His outrageous and idiotic pronouncements on foreign policy matters should be distressing, not chuckle-worthy punchlines.  This latest item is especially offensive.  The Vice President simultaneously lets Iran's repressive, theocratic authoritarians off the hook...

Vice President Joe Biden offered a sharp defense of President Barack Obama's friendship to Israel and leadership in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in remarks to a Jewish group in Atlanta today. And Biden blamed the Bush Administration for the foreign policy challenges Obama inherited — specifically the lack of international pressure on Iran. "When we took office... we were the problem," referring to the way America was viewed in the world at the time. "We were diplomatically isolated in the world, in the region, in Europe.” Shouting at times, Biden said voices in the Jewish community who say...

With Representative Ron Paul performing solidly in Republican presidential polls – and near the top in Iowa – a recurring question nags at political wise-guys: Will the Texas libertarian’s corps of loyal and energized supporters be an asset to an eventual Republican nominee? Or will they be a liability if that nominee is not named Ron Paul — meaning, they will vote only for Mr. Paul as a third-party or write-in candidate, or stay home altogether, which would probably help the prospective Democratic nominee, President Obama? Based on discussion with a dozen supporters at candidate events across the state —...

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday evening that Bush administration officials were gleeful after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because it gave them a pretext to invade Iraq. "Just think of what happened after 9/11. Immediately before there was any assessment there was glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq," the Texas Republican told a group of mostly young backers in Iowa. He went on to suggest officials are now setting the stage for an invasion of Iran. Paul, who was tied for second in this week's CBS News/New York Times poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers,...

On Dec. 8, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt took the rostrum before a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war on Japan. A day earlier, at dawn, carrier-based Japanese aircraft had launched a sneak attack devastating the U.S. battle fleet at Pearl Harbor. Said ex-President Herbert Hoover, Republican statesman of the day, “We have only one job to do now, and that is to defeat Japan.” But to friends, “the Chief” sent another message: “You and I know that this continuous putting pins in rattlesnakes finally got this country bit.” Today, 70 years after Pearl Harbor, a remarkable...

“You’ve got to give it to Ron Paul," Palin said. "Whether you agree with everything he says or not, at least he is one there in Congress trying to make our President stick to the law and understand that Congress does have a role to play in these foreign policy decisions that are made and Ron Paul, I think hit the nail on the head, when he came out and said Obama had better be careful when he interjects himself and our country in other nations’ business.”

Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the now freed American hikers who were held in an Iranian prison after being convicted for espionage, appeared before cameras and reporters in New York on Sunday and gave prepared statements about their detentions in Iran. Bauer, a freelance journalist, along with Sarah Shourd, a teacher and women’s rights activist, and Fattal, an environmentalist, were arrested July 31, 2009 while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan. Shourd was released last year. Bauer's and Fattal's remarks were critical of American foreign policy towards Iran as well as the Iranian government's treatment of it's own people. "The only explanation...

American icon Tony Bennett took to the airwaves at Sirius Radio to promote his new album, “Duets II,” but it’s what he said about war, peace, terrorism, and who was to blame for the Sept. 11 terror attacks that could get people talking. Sitting down with Howard Stern on Monday, the 85-year-old singer dodged questions about his sex life and prior drug use. He did so with a laugh, but matters about the U.S. military and 9/11 were fair game, and on these topics the Grammy winner held little back... “I’m anti-war,” he said. “It’s the lowest form of human...

Ron Paul was roundly booed at the GOP debate after very unpopular comments about US foreign policies in the Arab world.

Ron Paul says we brought 911 on ourselves, again. He is a disgrace. http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/08/27/paul-says-u-s-intervention-motivated-911-attacks/

Just a brief exposure to an image of the American flag shifts voters, even Democrats, to Republican beliefs, attitudes and voting behavior even though most don't believe it will impact their politics, according to a new two-year study just published in the scholarly Psychological Science. What's more, according to three authors from the University Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, the impact had staying power. "A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting 8 months," the study found....

Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day. "Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard. "The political right has been more successful in appropriating American patriotism and its symbols during the 20th century. Survey evidence also confirms that Republicans consider themselves more patriotic than Democrats....

He has flirted with blame America firstism before, and even with Truthers a couple of times, but tends to leave himself enough wiggle room so that he doesn’t come off as totally off his nut. That’s gone now. Asked by WHO Radio’s Simon Conway whether he would have given the go-ahead to kill bin Laden if it meant entering another country, Paul shot back that it “absolutely was not necessary.” “I don’t think it was necessary, no. It absolutely was not necessary,” Paul said during his Tuesday comments. “I think respect for the rule of law and world law and...

Mainstream media has become defeatist, abandoning the notion that Americans are uniquely able to accomplish great things. Worse yet, members of congress, mostly Democrats but some Republicans too, have become similarly defeatist. How sad. When confronted with challenges, danger, or catastrophe, their common response is to shirk. These defeatists seem to think that Americans lack the grit, ingenuity, and raw courage to tackle complicated problems. Consider the typical Democrat response to some recent crises. When there was an oil spill in the Gulf—Democrat leaders recommended that all off-shore drilling be abandoned. When there was an accident in a West Virginia...

Long before the tea party movement grabbed half a dozen Senate seats, before its early proponents ever even dreamed of wearing Colonial-era garb in public, there was longtime Texas Republican Ron Paul, the one guy in Congress trying to abolish the Federal Reserve and shrink the government into near nonexistence. Paul won a devoted-bordering-on-cultish following during his 2008 presidential run, one which, obviously, didn't work out. But now Paul is telling the Times that "it’s at least 50-50" that he'll try again in 2012, and this time, with the movement built largely on his libertarian philosophy now a real force...

Join the largest U.S. veteran-led civil resistance to war December 16. Rally at Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C., at 10 am March to the White House for civil disobedience

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) Tuesday rejected the assertion by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that calls for cuts in defense spending represent the rise of "protectionism and isolationism" within the Republican party.....