Free Republic

Liberté! Égalité! Fraternité! is the national motto of France. Liberty, equality and brotherhood were first employed as watchwords for the French Revolution, during which very little of these virtuous ideals were employed by the revolutionaries toward any group but themselves. Here in the U.S., our Revolution used similarly noble words to express our national identity: 'Live Free or Die,' 'No Taxation Without Representation,' 'Don't Tread on Me' and later, 'All men are created Equal.' And to be sure, for most of its history, America has embodied those sentiments, when unrestrained by a government originally instituted to support them. Sadly, it...

The strange and sad case of Michael Vick got a bit stranger this week when the newly-signed Eagles quarterback appeared on 60 Minutes -- complete with a spokesman from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) -- to deliver his obligatory mea culpa to a waiting world. What makes this incident stranger than most is that America's love of animals, specifically dogs, has trumped the heretofore indestructible use of racism as a defense for wrongdoing and so has not saved Mr. Vick from the wrath of millions. Accusations of racism have long been employed to excuse the behavior of...

Friends, Americans, conservatives; lend me your ears. I come to praise George W. Bush, not to bury him; I'll leave that to our famously unbiased media. *snip* We can also be pretty certain that his departure will not feature the ransacking of the Oval Office and Air Force One, or the sophomoric removal of the "O's" from White House keyboards. If, as has been the case for his entire presidency, he is true to his word, he will be as magnanimous to his successor as he was to his predecessor; notwithstanding the disrespect he received at the hands of both.

Now that the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are here, things are usually slowing down. But as temperatures in the Northeast crept toward the century mark this week, things were heating up in certain quarters. One of them is the Democrat party where, since the presidential candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton has been effectively snuffed by forces beyond her control, there is a sense of urgency. And why not? Time is decidedly not on its side. There are approximately 150 days left until the November elections and they can't come too soon. In case you haven't noticed, especially if...

The way things work in this country never ceases to amaze me. Just last week in Israel, President Bush committed what much of our media and all of our leading Democrats considered a great offense; comparing people who seek a rational dialog with irrational Islamists to Neville Chamberlain and others who sought concilliation with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. To liberals, this is the insult and one that cannot be taken lying down.

Liberals get really testy when some folks, devout Christians for example, choose to live their lives under God’s laws; but have no compunction in compelling others to live under the tender mercies of the Nanny State where they make the rules. Five years ago, when the smoking ban in restaurants first went into effect in my home state of Connecticut, I told a few folks who were happy about it, that it was only a matter of time before the government came after their private property rights or other issues that were near and dear to their hearts. Most people...

Back in the early days of the 2000 presidential campaign, right after John McCain beat George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary, there were many dire media predictions along the lines of, "If Bush doesn't turn things around quickly it could turn into a McCain rout." I thought: what in heaven's name is going on here? Bush has all the endorsements, a terrific organization and wads of money. Could his candidacy be blasted out of contention by the machinations of the mainstream media? Unfortunately for the media, the answer was no. Despite their best efforts, Bush regained his momentum...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES - The Republican Party must temper its emphasis on moral issues like abortion and same-sex "marriage" if the party is to regain seats lost during the 2006 congressional elections, a new poll says. Fifty-three percent of Republicans say the party "has spent too much time focusing on moral issues such as abortion and gay marriage and should instead be spending time focusing on economic issues such as taxes and government spending." "The results of this poll confirm what we have long believed — that what holds the GOP together is a belief in core economic principles," said...

“McCain is being capped in the center of the party by Giuliani, who no question is the favorite of the moderate and liberal elements of the party,” Fabrizio said. “On the right, McCain is getting huge competition from [former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt] Romney, Thompson … and Giuliani. “He’s not finding a home in either place.”

The GOP is a lot more liberal than you might think, according to a surprising new poll that finds fully 60% would vote for a pro-choice candidate - great news for front-running Rudy Giuliani. Republican pollsters Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates found Giuliani leading the field with all segments of the party - even among the 24% of so-called "moralists" who are most focused on social issues. Giuliani's campaign rationale has always been that his reassuring leadership amid the trauma of 9/11 would trump his pro-choice, pro-gay, anti-gun record. The sweeping survey, a bid to paint an in-depth portrait of the...

A large nationwide poll of Republican voters shows that an increasing number consider themselves conservative, that about half favor universal healthcare and allowing gays in the military, and that the vast majority say spreading democracy shouldn’t be the United States’ top foreign policy goal. The poll, conducted by GOP consultant Tony Fabrizio 10 years after he conducted a similar study, also casts some doubts on the conventional wisdom about moral-issues voters, thought to be the key constituency for President Bush in 2004. It showed that the group hasn’t grown significantly in recent years and is surprisingly willing to vote for...

   Ahmadinejad, Hamas, and SaddamBy Lisa Fabrizio Published 2/1/2006 12:05:17 AM The news from the Middle East this week has, with the exception of the wounding of two members of the media, moved away from Iraq. Attention is now focused on the two growing threats to peace in the region; the electoral victory of Hamas in Palestine and the nuclear rantings of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad has said that Israel needs to be wiped off the map and the boys at Hamas totally concur. Some, including Jimmy Carter who, if possible, is more annoying in his dotage than he was...

Sometimes it’s hard to find a ray of light in the American judicial system but once in a while the sun comes shining through. In a shocking display of clarity and common sense, a federal appeals court judge ruled last month that the Ten Commandments may remain on a wall in a Mercer County, Kentucky courthouse. The case concerned a display entitled, “Foundations of American Law and Government,” which, in addition to the Commandments, also includes; the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, the Magna Carta, the Star-Spangled Banner, Lady...

Sometimes it's hard to find a ray of light in the American judicial system, but once in a while the sun comes shining through. In a shocking display of clarity and common sense, a federal appeals court judge ruled last month that the Ten Commandments may remain on a wall in a Mercer County, Kentucky courthouse. The case concerned a display entitled, "Foundations of American Law and Government," which, in addition to the Commandments, also includes; the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, the Magna Carta, the Star-Spangled Banner, Lady...

One of the liberal favorites for this treatment is Rudy Giuliani who, when actually in office, constantly bedeviled the left. Up until 9/11, he was portrayed as a bull-headed, dictatorial, tin god who was insensitive to minorities and in general, a detestable bully. Sure, he’s a pro-abortion, gun-grabbing, gay rights advocate, but what good was that when he was merely a mayor? Now that they see him as a national figure, he is the epitome of all that secular liberals love; a divorced Catholic at odds with the Church over some of its most sacred public stances. But despite the...

Now that the holiday that dare not speak its name is in our collective rear-view mirror, it's that time of year when the political punditry turns their weary eyes to the future. And those who dominate the media are out of the gate early, chirping optimistically about liberal prospects in 2006 and beyond. Their talking points are already out and the main message is this: Conservatives are stupid. Not only stupid, but dense, knuckle-dragging, thick-legged sheep who will submissively go wherever liberals want to lead them. So inept are they, that they are incapable of choosing their own presidential candidates....

If the polling data is accurate, why are most Democratic candidates for the presidency in support of the war? Can it be that they know that their precious polls aren’t really representative of the people who really count; that is, those who vote? Even some left-wing pundits agree. Try this from liberal doyenne Helen Thomas, wringing her hands over Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats who distance themselves from the Murtha mantra: "Clinton is a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, which might explain why she's busy pandering to conservatives instead of staking out a leadership role on more...

    Sliding Down the Polls By Lisa Fabrizio Published 12/14/2005 12:06:18 AM Armed with their latest polling statistics, liberal Democrats frequently take to the talk shows and editorial pages to proclaim this or that anti-Bushism with steely confidence. In an effort to discredit them, many on the right then try to point out the questionable methodology used in producing such polls. But rather than list the various ways pollsters frame their questions and over-sample Democrats to produce the results desired by those who hire them, the surest proof of the charge that mainstream media polls are phony is to watch...

Hurricane Roberts Sweeps DC By Lisa Fabrizio September 15, 2005 Now that the victims of Hurricane Katrina have served their purpose for those on the left, Senate Democrats happily turned their attention to their favorite weapon of mass destruction: judicial assassination. With the scalp of FEMA Director Michael Brown dangling from its belt, the Democratic Party brought out the long knives for Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominee John Roberts. After failing to bring down Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and President Bush himself, Brown is small potatoes in the vast, right-wing food-chain. Still, there was plenty of lip-smacking across liberal land....

They've done it again. It used to be a shadowy penumbra, an ethereal emanation or simply the notion of a living, breathing document that enabled the Supreme Court of the United States to conform our Constitution to their schemes of social engineering. Now it is also to foreign jurisprudence that we must look. Though they claim that other countries should not dictate their findings, they said, "the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty ... does provide respected and significant confirmation for [its] own conclusions." In once again usurping the rights of the states to determine their...