Free Republic

While Charles de Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws was an oft-cited source during the federal convention of 1787, his observations weren’t limited to the balance of powers in government. He also touched on the nature of educational systems in republics and despotisms. Parents and educators form our first impressions. They prepare people for civil life in republics and for servitude in despotisms. From previous chapters, Montesquieu had explained the springs, the forces which propel nations. Public Virtue is the propellant in republics, while the bayonet of fear prods despotisms. Education in despotic countries debases the mind. The mind of...

Was Eugene Daniels trying to top Kamala Harris in the Worst July 4th Take Stakes? Harris posted on X: “This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better." On Sunday's edition of MSNBC's The Weekend, Daniels wondered out loud: "I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think. You know, those slave-owning ones, about us [Daniels and Jonathan Capehart] on this show. But we're going to move on from that." Too late to "move on," Eugene. You already made your bid to outdo...

VIDEOI wasn't at all prepared for how incredibly YUUUUUUGE the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon would be. At least two full city blocks in length. So big that a single photo can't capture all of it. Even using my cell phone camera video to show you a panoramic hview of it fell short. The good news is that if you don't have the patience to wait several hours on line, the view from the outside is more impressive than the view on the inside where the building is divided into segments which permit only a smaller view. Therefore the BEST view...

This week, former Presidents Obama and Bush took turns condemning President Trump for eliminating the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a separate government agency. "Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it's a tragedy," Obama said. "Now instead of doing what they deem is best, USAID workers will be closely scrutinized by the Secretary of State and forced to do what he requires them to do." Bush tried to console reassigned USAID staffers by telling them "you've showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart. Is it in our national...

The woman speaking is Sade Perkins. Sade Perkins is the Market Manager of Freedmen's Town Farmers Market and a Non-Resident Fellow at Princeton University. She serves on the Board of Directors for Houston Food Insecurity in Houston, TX. (Receipts in the thread.)

State Senator Scott Wiener, a progressive representing San Francisco who is likely too radical for most moderate Democrats, has decided to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives. This could be a gift to President Donald Trump. He was already handed a halfway-to-Christmas present when self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor, helping the chief executive frame the opposition as dangerous fringe radicals. Now, Wiener’s announcement will probably help the president solidify his argument and seal the deal. On June 27, Wiener filed paperwork to run for Congress in 2028,...

You may have read about the report that the Deputy Director of the CIA for Analysis recently submitted to CIA Director John Ratcliffe on the CIA’s anti-Trump effort at the end of 2016. The report is dated June 26, 2025, and is embedded below. I am not sure who wrote it. Google’s AI says that the Deputy Director for Analysis position is currently open. Maybe Michael Ellis, the Agency’s Deputy Director, was responsible. Ellis is a friend of Paul Mirengoff, and we wrote about him here and elsewhere as he rose in the intelligence world. It is safe to say...

Few Tesla investors or fund managers doubt Musk's skills, but his lack of attention over their investments is prompting questions privately and occasionally publicly. Will Musk be forced to make a choice between Tesla and America Party? <<>> Elon has gone too far. My investment firm (Invest Azoria) has decided to postpone next week's public listing of our Azoria Tesla Convexity ETF. Our decision comes in direct response to Elon Musk’s announcement that he is launching a new national political party. This creates a conflict with his full-time responsibilities as CEO of Tesla. It diverts his focus and energy away...

Newsdump Alert: Ukraine War... Newsdump Alert: Gaza War In the midst of mainstream media reports of US military contractors and the Israeli military opening fire on people seeking food at US-Israeli aid centers in Gaza, Turkish President... The controversial "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" speaking of two of its 'workers' being hurt... Newsdump Alert: Five Israel Military Bases Hit During Israel-Iran War... Newsdump Update: Tucker Carlson Reveals Interview With Iranian President... Musk speaking of this party being focused on a handful of House and Senate races in 2026...I have questions but I also... Congressman Thomas Massie Of Kentucky Spoke With Online Influencer...

On Tuesday a more than two-hour phone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iran and Ukraine figuring prominently in their conversation... The case of two French nationals held by Iran now accused of bring spies for Israel drawing the threat of French sanctions on Iran... The UK is providing France with 500 million pounds (682.6 million US dollars) a year to control migration across the English Channel. This week a sign that French authorities are taking a more aggressive stance to help with the migration problem. With the BBC present... On Saturday afternoon in Paris...

The recent analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget regarding the 2025 Medicare Trustees’ Report highlights the looming challenges with Medicare and Social Security, but it only scratches the surface of the deeper fiscal issues our country faces. To understand the full financial reality, we must go beyond trust fund “solvency” and examine the actual commitments the federal government has made—and continues to make—without fully accounting for them. As the Congressional Budget Office has noted: “In the public debate, ‘solvency’ means keeping the trust funds from exhausting their balances and ensuring the ability of the funds to finance...

A slow-moving storm that dumped more than a foot of rain in the Texas Hill Country has killed 27 people, with dozens more missing, and officials are saying they weren’t prepared because the National Weather Service got the forecast wrong. Wonder if Donald Trump and Elon Musk laying off 600 National Weather Service staffers earlier this year could have had anything to do with that? …Deadly flash floods are, unfortunately, not uncommon – 10 teens at a summer camp died during a flash-flood event from a storm that dumped 11 inches of rain in Kerrville in 1987, and 13 people...

merica’s kids are anxious, depressed, and falling behind academically. The problem isn’t just lackluster test scores or TikTok addiction. Public education is a system designed to crush kids’ instincts for curiosity and independence, molding them into compliant and uncreative future adults. In this fifth installment of “The Poisoning of the American Mind,” I break down how our public schools have become factory farms for children. From worsening mental health to replacing academic rigor with woke indoctrination, today’s schools don’t just fail to educate — they actively harm kids.

President Trump held an impromptu presser aboard Air Force One traveling to New Jersey after July 4th celebrations. Interesting comments about Ukraine and Russia as President Trump took several questions.At 07:51, “Mr President, are you confident you will be able to find a way to end the fighting in Ukraine?” President Trump responds, “That’s an interesting question”…. WATCH:.

The enactment of President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill (BBB) earned sharp criticism from former President Joe Biden who lamented "all the damn hard work I did will be undone. Trump and his congressional lackeys have doomed the future I had envisioned for America. This is not only reckless — it's cruel." "First and worst, it funds an effort to deport the millions of folks I invited to come to America during my presidency," Biden complained. "We need more immigrants to produce the children that natural born citizens refuse to birth. As we saw when I was president these newcomers stimulated...

VIDEOPoor Liberals. They are claiming that President Donald Trump and MAGA have RUINED their Fourth of July. How? Well, just listen to the MISINFORMATION they are spreading and you can see why they are now prisoners in their own tiny minds wracked with fantasy fear. Meanwhile the rest of the country CELEBRATED this Fourth of July chock full of a new HOPE and OPTIMISM as hasn't been felt in years.

Jonathan Capehart was filled with virtue signaling -- um, we mean righteous indignation! -- as he opened Saturday's edition of MSNBC's The Weekend. [snip] apehart then shifted his outrage to Trump's immigration policies: "The first immigrant detainees have arrived at the crudely named Alligator Alcatraz, human beings who are being kept in cages."What kind of heartless SOB could detain not just adults, but children, in these pictured conditions, and even defend it, saying he was "proud," adding: "If they’re good enough for our military, they’re good enough for these young people."Truly, Trump is the most despicable, callous, cold-hearted villain ever...

The Blue Book, the voter information booklet sent to voters prior to the narrow passage of Proposition 114, which began the release of gray wolves into western Colorado, indicated the wolf program would cost taxpayers $800,000 annually. Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis told legislators the cost of the program in FY 2024 is over $3 million, about $2.2 million over budget. In a hearing of the joint Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee this week, Sen. Dylan Roberts, D–Frisco, who represents the areas most impacted by wolf releases, said he understands much of that figure represents prevention and...

Before I wrote about Second Amendment stuff most of the time, I wrote a lot about education. From Title IX abuse to woke administrators and teachers, I covered a lot. AdvertisementThen I came here and started writing about this, which is at least as important as reforming our educational system.Yet I always knew there would be some opportunities to return to talking about colleges. After all, they're notoriously anti-gun, too, as we see from a situation in Maine.A Christian student in a class apparently talked previously about finding Jesus. So far, so good, apparently.Yet the student wanted to talk about...

Self-proclaimed socialist Zohran Mamdani expressed "surprise and relief that the socialist takeover of the government of New York City was so easy. Lenin and Mao had to fight years of bloody warfare before they achieved complete control of their countries. Last week, the plurality of votes I got in a low-turnout primary election opened the way for a true socialist revolution in the most important city of America. Hitler had a similarly easy ascension to power when a plurality of voters enabled him to become Chancellor of Germany in 1933. Hitler used his victory for evil purposes. I will use...