Free Republic

The United Methodist Church (UMC), with 8.4 million members, is sometimes called the mainline of the Protestant mainline. The recent General Conference, which is the church's highest decision-making body, gave evidence of mainly heartening redirections. Perhaps most significant was a 70 percent vote putting the UMC on record as opposing partial-birth abortion. Before this, UM agencies have relentlessly and without exception opposed any limits on the abortion license.Reaffirmed was the position that homosexual acts are incompatible with Christian ethics and admission to Christian ministry.Overwhelmingly passed was an addition to the church's Social Principles stating that "the state should not prohibit ...

John Leo of U.S. News & World Report says that forty students at the State University of New York, Albany, protested the use of the word "picnic" to describe an event honoring baseball's great Jackie Robinson. The students charged racism, claiming that "picnic" originally referred to lynchings of blacks. Leo points out that it is a seventeenth-century French word for a gathering in which people bring their own food. The university's affirmative action director, Zaheer Mustafa, agreed with the students, and the posters for the event were changed to call it an "outing." After homosexual students objected to that, the ...

Forecasts for the weekend were dire and fraught with severe thunderstorm alerts on our part of the Eastern Seaboard, but once again, what has become part of Freeper mythology held true: terrific storms before the fact and a humdinger after, but for the Hour(s) of The Freep, blue skies and mild weather for the DC Stalwarts. Son of D28Man and I arrived on station early for us (about 9:30)because we had left home so early in anticipation of foul weather and slow going on I-95. There were no lines of WH visitors as we made our way up from the ...

Second Amendment Sisters, TRT, NRA Members, Gun Owners of America: On Flag Day, Wednesday, June 14, the PA Federation of Sportsmen and The American Gun Owners Association will sponsor the FIFTH Annual Rally for our Bill of Rights, in Harrisburg, PA.Join with us in continuing the fight to preserve our right to self-defense. The rally starts at 10:00 AM on the steps of the Capitol Building in Harrisburg. Bring your signs and banners and American flags and all that information we boned up on for the Million Mom March. (Even if you aren't a resident of Pennsylvania, come join us. ...

Got a call late last night to fill in for an SAS member who was invited to appear on Mike Fleming's Radio Show out of Memphis (WREC) 600AM. Been cramming ever since, and am suffering excessive adrenalin rush. WREC doesn't "stream" so we can't get it online, but if you're in his tri-state market, I'd sure appreciate your support. Thanks.

I got me my sign, I got me my walkin' shoes, what I need is an arsenal of concise bumper-sticker arguments for the MMM dimwits and/or any stray media types who might stick a microphone in my face. Can y'all help a girl out, here? I've found the nifty Lott monograph and the Kleck figures and some good NRA material, but they all require more than ten or twenty seconds to explain - and that's about the maximum attention-span for the Rosie O types.What are the points (and facts) y'all think would be most effective for Sunday's showdown? And, assuming ...

It seems to me that we need to fight this battle the same way the elites do - with pictures. If the media were on Elian's side, we would see The Picture on every major magazine cover again and again, until the whole known world was up in arms about the gestapo raid in Little Havana.They're not going to do that, of course. So I think it's up to us to do freedom's work for them. D28Man downloaded the raid picture and made up several fliers with various messages on them. I had copies made of the colored versions -(we ...

Today's WH freep was a mixed bag of classic Clinton supporter reactions - from the hit-and-run one-liner types ("Get a job!") to a couple of brave souls who were determined to defend him at any cost. But today was the first time (I think - DC regulars, correct me if I'm wrong here)that we had an attempt to infiltrate the ranks. More on this in a minute.The day's festivities were inaugurated by Ironman, who was already deeply involved with a large group of school kids when I rounded the corner at about 10:15. It was another dazzling clear DC day ...

It was a gorgeous day for freeping at the White House - sunny and clear, a tad windy, Old Glory flying against a crystaline sky everywhere you looked. So I was nothing daunted when I rounded the corner at 1600 at about 10am and discovered I had the honor of starting the festivities.It might not have been the best day, though, to exchange my smaller signs ("SHAME" and "Filegate, Chinagate, Fumigate")for the new full-size one which read: "Al Gore was 'disappointed' in Bill Clinton, WERE YOU? Waco, Travelgate, Filegate, Chinagate, Wag-the-Dog Bombing, Joycelyn Elders, Hillarcare, etc., etc." on one side, ...

The primary debates - both sides - have been surprisingly lively and interesting this election cycle, and I got to thinking about who I'd love to see debating whom once we get down to brass tacks. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that the debates - even more than the election itself - could be the turning point for this nation. The slate I think would be revolutionary would be Bradley/Feinstein vs. Forbes/Keyes.Consider: Bradley debating Forbes would pit the socialist agenda against free enterprise and minimal government. And both men are too "flat" (charismatically speaking) for ...

So there we are - much too early on a Saturday morning - tooling along the Wash-Balt. Parkway to our self-appointed date with the DC Chapter but REALLY wishing we could still be snug and warm in our beds, when we tune in to C-Span radio to keep us going. The guest is Don (Dom?) Batiste (Baptiste?) talking about his website, usademocracy. com, which focuses on legislation and Congressional vote tallies (!). The discussion turns to other political websites and the phone lines are open, and lo and behold, on the conservative line comes a familiar rich and calm voice: ...

There was a fine turnout of freepers at today's action at the White House- look for a detailed account from the pros, to follow. At one point, during a lull in the action, we were exchanging stock hit-and-run one-liners we've dealt with (e.g. Get a life! Get a job! Everybody does it!) and BMWcycle threw out one I hadn't heard before: "Who pays you to do this?"We joked around about various wisecrack retorts and moved on to other topics.But on the long drive back home, I thought more seriously about that line, "Who pays you?" Last night, as I was ...

At the tribute dinner for Don and Terry Adams, Mr. Gene Giacumbo, one-time vice president of the international Teamsters union, mentioned that Charles Ruff, erstwhile White House Counsel, had a connection to corrupt elements in the union. I believe he told us that Ruff had done 'consulting' for Jackie Presser - prior to Presser's indictment - and then passed a big chunk of change through to White House functionaries. Ruff is a graduate of Swarthmore College as am I. Down there they think he rolls on water. If anyone has a chance to freep Charles Ruff, I do. I'd like ...

Kristinn, Angelwood, Ironman, Mr. ConfettiMan - the silence from your quarter is deafening! Please reassure the troops that you have upheld the pledge to stand the weekly WH vigil. WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?Is everybody OK?Loyal freepers and other assorted fans from all over the country want to know. You don't have to write one of your wonderful and-you-were-there reports if you're short on time(we understand that you have real lives of your own to attend to). Just a postcard - "Had a great time, wish you were here" or "Mission accomplished" would do. Possibly you don't realize what a shot in ...

Our local paper ran a guest editorial by Joan Ryan, a feminist who writes for the San Francisco Chronicle. She was defending abortion with some arguments that were strangely familiar. I suddenly realized the awful extent of the Clinton Legacy and fired off a letter to the editor, which they will be running in the next couple of days. Here is the original column and my response: ABORTION: A SILENT FREEDOM Joan Ryan Six of us were having lunch the other day, all women in our late 30s and 40s. The discussion turned to a radio story one woman had ...

D28Man is hard at work editing the footage of the anniversary WH Freep 9/25/99. The first rough version will be shown at the Don Adams dinner 10/1/99 and will be available for previewing on a special Anniversary web page at the following address: http://www.cyberconnection.net/cyberskunk/freep The final, complete version should be available at the same site shortly thereafter.

Meterologically speaking, it was the perfect day for activism at the White House - glorious clear blue sky, brilliant sunshine but cool in the shade, no humidity to sap the energy - altogether a gorgeous day. Son of D28Man and I rounded the corner at 1600 Pa Ave. at 10:30 this morning to find that we had the honor of setting up shop. (This happened to us once before, about 6 or 8 months ago, and we were panic-stricken. But after a few freeps under the inspirational tutelage of the DC Chapter luminaries, this was a piece of cake.) We ...

It has been with a heavy and envious heart that D28 Man has sent Son and Wife for various WH freeps this past year. Only once since last October has he been able to join us. But, for those who keep facts and arguments current and ready to roll and are alert to opportunity, they who stay home and work can also forward the cause.This time, while we joined the DC chapter stalwarts, D28 Man was cooped up in an editing shop, working on a folk music documentary. After a long, tedious day he was heading out the door when ...

The roster for today's WH freep was classic: Kristinn, Dr. Raoul, Angelwood, CAL, Force Ten, A GreatPer, Ironman and - all the way from Colorado - A Real Saxophonist. (And reporting in by phone, Fred Mertz.) If, like our contingent, you can't get to DC often, this was the day to do it. The new lurker who joined up (whose online moniker I have forgotten, but who goes by "Jason")was initiated by the best!It was hot and muggy and so IMHO we were a little more subdued than usual, but of course, very effective nonetheless. Kristinn kept up a steady ...

Liberty Forum is sponsoring the second in a three-meeting series of speakers at the Family Heritage Restaurant in Souderton PA. Thursday, Aug. 5. Topics will be The Media, Money Control, the Disappearing Farm, Gun Control and Foreign Policy. This seems like a good opportunity to tell like-minded people about FreeRepublic and see how we can work together to strengthen our base.I wasn't able to attend the first in this series, but I did attend a political ad hoc meeting sponsored by this restaurant a couple of years ago to address problems we were facing with local taxation, and the turnout ...