Free Republic

Two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they want their member of Congress to “keep their promises and stick to principles” as opposed to “compromise in a bipartisan way to get things done.” “From Obamacare on down, sticking to principle is where the Republican base is today,” said David Kirby, vice president of opinion research at FreedomWorks. “It’s an example of how off the Republican establishment is from their base.” Social issues have become less salient to GOP voters: 41 percent said gay marriage is not one of their top 10 issues. Asked about abortion, about one-third said it is...

Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, and other conservative members of Congress say they will attempt to introduce in the coming days a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Following the Supreme Court's ruling deeming the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, several Republicans expressed their disappointment with the decision and vowed to take action. Apparently, this means an amendment to the Constitution. "This Court has taken it upon itself the radical attempt to redefine marriage," Huelskamp said, standing outside the Supreme Court. "I think what gets lost in this judicial attempt to short-circuit the democratic process is the needs of our children…. Every...

That was quick. Moments After DOMA Ruling today by the Supreme Court- Plaintiff Sandy Stier in the Prop 8 case promised to keep pushing until gay marriage is legal in all states. “We want to thank the justices for overturning DOMA. It is so, so important for us and all families. And, we thank the justices for letting us get married in California. But that’s not enough. It’s gotta go nationwide. And we can’t wait for that day.“(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

CINCINNATI — No one heckled Senator Rob Portman during his first appearance before thousands of Ohioans since becoming the most prominent elected Republican in the country to endorse same-sex marriage. “Wouldn’t you say,” he said, turning to his wife, Jane, after marching in an opening day parade for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, “that most of the comments were thank yous and thumbs up and ‘You did the right thing’?” True, but for some of the Ohioans who acknowledged Mr. Portman, doubts flickered below the surface. “Senator!” said one spectator, Pete Kidnocker, reaching out to shake Mr. Portman’s hand. But...

You know our political discourse has lost its moorings when it’s the Republicans who play that famous race card in defending one of their own. The person in need of defense is Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned Johns Hopkins surgeon. Carson happens to be black, Yale-educated — and conservative. After his impassioned criticism of President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast, many in the GOP thought they’d found their 2016 standard-bearer. But however brilliant, Carson has raised eyebrows since coming into the spotlight. Last week, he told Sean Hannity, “Marriage is between a man and a woman. No group, be...

<p>The Associated Press on Thursday updated its stylebook so that married individuals will be referred to as husband and wife, regardless of whether they are in a same-sex marriage. The change comes a week after the AP received criticism for an internal memo designating the word "partners" for individuals in same-sex marriages.</p>

Arizona, as with many states, has numerous definitions of what is legally considered a firearm. The definition of “firearm” is found in several different places in the Arizona legal code. This makes it difficult for citizens and lawyers to determine what is legal and what is not. People have faced prosecution for possessing items that most would not consider to be firearms, such as BB guns, airsoft replicas, squirt guns, or antique guns that are not legally firearms under federal law. One man was prosecuted for possession of a firearm for a collection of parts that experts testified could not...

**SNIP** “Under current law, on January 2, 2013, there’s going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases,” said Bernanke, in testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on February 29, 2012. **SNIP** What’s likely, is that as members on the Hill grew concerned with the stalemate over the automatic spending cuts and tax increases, the communications apparatus went to work and settled on “fiscal cliff,” members started using, Bernanke used it, and suddenly it explodes in the media and becomes codified as short hand for a complex issue. There you go. From early films...

Last month, the grossly exaggerated testimony of a 30-year-old Georgetown law student delivered before an ad hoc congressional committee quite blatantly attempted to expand the legal definition of the term, “denial of services.” When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held that all employers, even religious institutions, must provide health insurance coverage for contraceptive services, including those aiding abortions, to its employees, it set off a firestorm within the Roman Catholic community. The department’s mandate directly conflicts with the church’s 2,000-year history celebrating the sanctity of life. When health officials issued their decision, U.S. Rep. Darrell E. Issa,...

FBI to change definition of ‘rape’ for the first time since 1929BY Rheana Murray NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: 11:04 am The FBI’s definition of “rape” is about to get a long-awaited update, for the first time since 1929. The revamped description will be broader, pleasing activists who say the current definition leads to the low-balling of sexual assault cases, and also discourages victims to come forward. An agency panel voted on Tuesday to change the narrow definition that’s currently in use: “Carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” The new definition, which will more closely match...

AG Eric Holder attempts to avoid question about lying to congress. Saying that lying depends on one's state of mind. (December 8, 2011)

Evidently, the newspeak definition of ‘misinformation’ is actually ‘opinions with which I don’t agree’. According to Media Matters for America that is, as The Right Sphere points out. They use an example given in Howard Kurtz’s article “Partisan Organizations Use Sound Bite Warfare” wherein Kurtz describes the “bat signal” given out by MMFA. This coordinated attack sprung from Governor Mike Huckabee making a remark on a radio show about Natalie Portman’s pregnancy and how he thought she was “boasting” about unwed motherhood: Media Matters mission, and what presumably allows them the tax exempt 501(c)(3) status, is as follows: Media Matters...

Last week, Steve Clemons organized a contingent of foreign-policy officials and commentators to send a letter to President Obama urging the U.S. to support the anti-settlement resolution at the UN. It included many prominent critics of the Israel — Peter Beinart, Chas Freeman, and Andrew Sullivan, to name just a few. Based on their well-documented eagerness to condemn Israel whenever possible, the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin referred to the group as “Israel-bashers” – prompting an angry response from Clemons and setting off a debate about the meaning of “pro-Israel,” according to Ben Smith: The group J Street has been waging,...

Meg Whitman says she lives by the principle of doing the right thing. It's there in the very first line of her autobiography. "What is the right thing to do here?" she recalls challenging her underlings at EBay, where she was chief executive, .. I've been trying to reconcile that principle with her actions in what's become known as her "spinning" scandal. Eight years ago, it came out that Whitman was among an elite group of favored executives who had accepted preferential stock deals from Goldman Sachs while it was seeking business from their companies. In spinning, executives would typically...

Koh recently said "modern right-protecting democracy" according to answers.com. "Right" can be defined as -In accordance with fact, reason, or truth. -Fitting, proper, or appropriate. -Most favorable, desirable, or convenient. With this definition, it seems that the right can be anything as long as it is most favorable, desirable, or convenient. Maybe, this isn't what the founding father meant. I think the explicit definition is required.. almost bordering the legalism. can someone define what the "right" is and de-construct the "modern right-protecting democracy"? Thank you

Client Alert - December 4, 2008 Brought to you by California Peace Officers' Association To All Members: From: Paul R. Coble, Esq., The Law Firm of Jones & Mayer CITIZEN CARRYING FIREARM IN PLAIN VIEW It has recently come to our attention from a variety of points around the State that officers are with increasing frequency encountering individuals carrying holstered pistols in plain view on a gun belt, but with ammunition close at hand either in bandolier fashion or a loaded magazine affixed to the gun belt. It is believed that these individuals are attempting to provoke a law enforcement...

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted an appeal from a religion that you probably never heard of until it hit the news yesterday. Summum is rooted in gnostic Christianity (or, at least modern understandings of gnosticism) and ancient Egyptian religion (or, at least contemporary understandings of ancient Egyptian religion). It was founded in 1975 and has its headquarters in (of all places) Utah. You can get more information at the official Summum web site. The case before the Supreme Court is based on the fact that the small town in Utah has a large, stone monument in the city park...

OMAHA, Neb. -- A unique case in an Omaha courtroom involved U.S. attorneys trying to use an unusual method to convict a man. KETV in Omaha reported that attorneys had a conundrum on their hands -- they had the evidence to prove the convicted felon was in possession of a gun, but they couldn’t prove the gun was a gun. What attorney’s had on their hands was an American double-action revolver that was manufactured between 1880 and 1941. The problem is that federal code states that the weapon is not a firearm unless it was manufactured after 1896. Without a...

It's been a tough November... Sometimes, to understand a concept, it is useful to break the word down and trace its etymological roots. Let's take the word "Politics" Politics: A word formed from two distinct words. Poli, Greek for many, and tics, the Latin derivative of the blood sucking insect common to North America. So, from this we get the true definition of Politics: Many bloodsuckers. I know, it's an old joke, but I thought it was time to dust it off and bring it back. :)

The president's nomination of generals David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno to take command of U.S. Central Command and Multinational Force-Iraq, respectively, was obviously the right decision. By experience and temperament and demonstrated success, both men are perfectly suited to these jobs. Given the political climate in Washington, however, their nominations are likely to be attacked with the same tired arguments war critics used to try to drown out reports of progress in Iraq during the recent Petraeus-Crocker hearings. So before the shouting begins again, let us consider in detail one of the most important of these arguments: that no one...