Free Republic

Blame START for the Ukraine Invasion – “Putin Hails Extension of New Start Treaty” proclaims a Moscow headline weeks after Joe Biden was sworn in as president. A sceptic of Putin should wonder, why does he like extending the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty? He benefits from the reduction of American long-range nuclear missiles because this makes it more difficult for the United States to react to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. If Russia seeks territorial expansion against its neighbors (and she does), and the United States does not seek to swallow up her neighbors (and she does not), then limiting...

Years before becoming senior editor of National Review, James Burnham wrote a book titled The Machiavellians (1943). Consistent with Machiavelli, the work studies not how things should be, but how they really are: Burnham reduced all political relationships to power. Governments — without exception — exert power against those whom they rule. Seeming humanitarian words disguise the real intent of the rulers. Only by resisting can the people exert power against the government. This must be done in order to protect freedom.

National and local leaders have been and will continue to be scrutinized, and justly so. But global institutions deserve the same scrutiny, because COVID-19 isn't a national issue; it's a global one. As the virus began to leave China, the world looked to the World Health Organization for guidance. The WHO made some relevant health recommendations, but its inability to see the advantage of closing borders proved essential. Fears of promoting xenophobia may have prevented the WHO from doing the right thing.

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Pierce College student Tuesday filed suit against the school and the Los Angeles Community College District, alleging policies that restrict student free speech rights to tiny zones are unconstitutional and infringe on First Amendment rights. Kevin Shaw, 27, contends the Woodland Hills community college violated his civil rights when he was barred from passing out copies of the U.S. Constitution because he wasn't in the free speech zone -- an outdoor area roughly the size of three parking spaces -- and because he hadn't applied in advance to use it.

The end of Obama presidency and Martin Luther King Day day provide an opportunity to analyze race relations after eight years of the first (half) black president. From one perspective, it hasn’t been successful. That racial tension has increased since 2008 is undeniable. One poll finds that 55% of Americans believe race relations have deteriorated under Obama, while only 8% feel they have improved. The New York Times writes 60% of Americans (including the majority of blacks and whites) feel that race relations are generally bad, much higher than 2008. Riots have recently rocked communities like Ferguson, Milwaukee and Charlotte....

Can one man -- a man who died in 1831 -- be blamed for Nazism, Communism and even the uprisings in places like Milwaukee and Ferguson? Karl Popper, Leo Strauss and Ayn Rand all suggested G.W.F Hegel, the greatest philosopher of the nineteenth century, contributed to the most malignant totalitarian systems in history. But his ideas shaped how many interpret recent events in Milwaukee and Ferguson, too. By describing the world as a conflict between two competing concepts, Hegel created a paradigm used by Marx, Hitler and even African-American protesters.

The Greeks invented philosophy. They gave us Herodotus, the father of history, too. Their philosophy of history was cyclical, meaning they believed history had highs and lows, but lacked purpose. The Christian intellectual tradition first proposed that history moves in a linear fashion, corresponds with progress, and culminates with a utopian end point. Modern day “progressives” have inherited this Christian philosophy, and merely substituted their values. It was the great St. Augustine who initially posited a comprehensive teleological (with an end) philosophy of history. Drawing upon Old Testament conceptions of history, Augustine divided the past into epochs, one following the...

Last November Pope Francis issued his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) and it immediately met resistance from some conservatives who charged Francis with Marxism. Francis denied the accusations, insisting there was nothing in the exhortation that contradicted the Church’s teaching on social doctrine. The attention brought to Marxism in the Catholic world provides an opportunity to explain what Marxism is before determining if Francis adopted Marxist positions. The term has become pejorative, but I want to be as fair as possible when describing the most powerful intellectual system since Christianity. Marxism as an Economic System Marx’s...

Every few years a Christian preacher predicts imminent Armageddon, gains some followers and is thrust into the national headlines. Most recently, Harold Camping, the iterant Oakland preacher, announced the world would end on May 22, 2011. Camping prophesized this will be accompanied by massive earthquakes, chaos, death and destruction, just as described in the Book of Revelation. A new heaven and new earth will appear, with the righteous joining God and non-believers perishing. USA Today wrote incredulously, “some people really panicked.” Camping’s ideas were not particularly popular in Catholic and other Christian circles (Mathew 24:36 states that no one can...

The linear conception of history is so seductive, even antagonistic groups like Enlightenment philosophers and Marxists adopt it. It pervades their attitude toward religion. Both believe society matures as it sheds its religious heritage. Infantile societies practice religion, but progressive societies are secular, they maintain.

Should we be concerned that Democrats are showing more enthusiasm in these primaries? Was it like this in 2000 and 2004?

Didn't Reagan sign his tax relief bill into law twenty five years ago this summer? Are there any commemorations in Washington?

Lets remind the American Left that Nixon's corruption never led to the deaths of Americans and Israelis.

Randi Rhodes: "We was robbed." Rhodes contends computer hackers stole the election for Bush.

I seriously overheard the following conversation on election day: Girl 1: Who did you vote for? Girl 2: I voted for Bush Girl 1: You voted for Bush!? Do you want to get drafted?!

1. Allow convicted fellons to vote (current laws are racist) 2. Lower the voting age to 16 (if you are old enough to drive, you are old enough to vote) 3. Allow illegal immigrants to vote (They are being disenfranchised) If you can't win by the rules, try to change them.

I wonder if the Left was denying Clinton a mandate when he took control of both houses of Congress in 1992?

Whats the latest in WI?

Because "liberal" has become a dirty word in American politics. Thank you, Ronald Reagan.

Randi Rhodes, Air-America radio show host asks: Why are there so many born-again Christians in America today? Because Bush keeps killing people off, creating a need for new, born-again Christians.