Free Republic

A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honor has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life. The gala classical concert on Saturday was scheduled before his election in March. But the white papal armchair set up in the presumption that he would be there remained empty. Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis...

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has revealed that he never wanted to be pope and that he's living in the Vatican hotel for his "psychiatric" health. Francis got very personal Friday as he met with thousands of children from Jesuit schools across Italy and Albania. Francis is the first pope from the Jesuit order, which is known for its missionary zeal.Answering their questions one by one, Francis told them the decision to become a priest had been difficult for him and that he had suffered "moments of interior darkness" when "you feel dry, without interior joy." But he said he went...

Well, if it is Thursday there must be a new Obama scandal. But one thing is for damn sure, whatever that scandal is, you can bet the American mainstream media will be playing catch up and not carrying the glory of breaking a story about a major White House scandal. Fact: Over the past few weeks, four major scandals have broken over the Obama administration, and it is a very sad (and frightening) truth that our pathetic, American, lapdog mainstream media is not responsible for breaking even a single one. Verizon? Nope, not our guys. That was the Brits over...

The Vatican has just announced that, despite what Pope Francis said in his homily earlier this week, atheists are still going to hell. What a relief. For a brief moment there it was possible to imagine a brave new world of compassion, generosity and acceptance, not qualities we have come to associate with the Holy See. Said Pope Francis this week: 'The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!' That seemed like a pretty clear admission that people of...

Mitt Romney didn’t just beat Obama on Wednesday night. He also beat the liberal media. So great was his performance that liberal journalists simply had to concede the President’s defeat – a humiliation for an industry that has spent several years setting Obama up as the wisest, most eloquent, most popular politician since FDR. No longer can Romney be dismissed with a gag about a dog strapped to the roof of his car. This uptight rich guy could be the next President of the United States. Evidence of liberal panic is everywhere. In the hours after the debate, the mood...

Imagine a Republican president was in the White House and the White House Military Network was hacked by the Chinese. Oh the Hew and the Cry of the Mainstream Media would be deafening. But because it's a Democrat - nary a peep. Imagine a Republican president when the countries credit rating was downgraded again during his term. The media would call for his immediate resignation. But because it's a Democrat, it's buried on the back pages if it is mentioned at all. Imagine a Republican president being caught covering up for Al Queda's murder of the Libyan Ambassador. And that...

I think we’re at the most dangerous time in our political history in terms of the balance of power in the role that the media plays in whether or not we maintain a free democracy or not. You know, when I first started in politics – and for a long time before that – everyone on both sides, Democrats and Republicans, despised the press commonly, because they were SOBs to everybody. Which is exactly what they should be. They were unrelenting. Whatever the biases were, they were essentially equal-opportunity people. That changed in 1980. There are a lot of reasons...

Has anyone noticed the number of unpopular causes the Mainstream Media is pursuing to it's detriment. It used to be that the media made money by attracting as many viewers as possible to it's advertisers. But lately, it seems the media is doing just the opposite. It seems to repel and disgust its viewers rather than attract them to its advertisers (and profits). Gay rights is popular with the Left, but not with mainstream America. Increasing Taxes, also a meme which the media promotes, is also grossly unpopular in the United States. This July 4th, the media was rampant with...

Well, I mostly agree with Brent Bozell: Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell [says] The broadcast networks “all but spiked the largest legal action in history to defend our constitutionally protected religious freedom,” [he cited] CBS, ABC and NBC for skimming over news that 43 Catholic dioceses and organizations filed a lawsuit Monday against the Obama administration.CBS managed to air 19 seconds on the subject. But that was it, between all three networks.“This is the worst bias by omission I have seen in the quarter-century history of the Media Research Center,” he says, insisting that the networks fear the lawsuit...

The modern encyclopedia Wikipedia says, "the term 'mainstream' media denotes those generally reflective of the prevailing currents of thought, influence or activity." But the opinions expressed by the media are neither widespread nor accepted by the majority of Americans. To call today's national media "mainstream" is inaccurate. They are better described as the "liberal" national media. Regardless, the term "mainstream" should be dropped. According to a Gallup poll, 55% of Americans have little or no confidence in the national media to report fully, accurately and fairly. Americans are right to be skeptical about the news they receive. How can something...

Journalism must break the chains of objectivity and report truth -- and the Occupy movement led me to do just thatI was in complete agreement when, last month, the triumvirate of right-wing firebrands Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart all condemned me for being more than just a journalist. They are correct, and I agree with every pundit who argues that I have no place in the mainstream media. On Oct. 14, I appeared on a panel at the radical, feminist Blue Stockings bookstore in New York’s Lower East Side. Hosted by Jacobin Magazine, the discussion addressed left-wing politics...