Free Republic

In a line many on the right love to quote, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates accused Joe Biden of being “wrong on nearly every major foreign-policy and national-security issue over the past four decades.” Gates isn’t wrong, though he, too, has been wrong on foreign policy questions, and has anyone who’s made enough tough decisions over that many decades (see Churchill, Winston).What conservatives omit is that Gates dedicates most of the passage to praising Biden’s character: Joe is simply impossible not to like. He’s down to earth, funny, profane, and humorously self-aware of his motormouth. Not too many meetings had...

The body of the man suspected of murdering 18 people and injuring over a dozen others was found by law enforcement Friday night. But instead of bringing closure, just about every aspect of the story prompts more questions because none of it seems to jibe. Let’s explore the inconsistencies and odd circumstances being relayed to us as the official narrative. Before we begin, it’s important to note that I generally do NOT go down the “false flag” or “psyop” route on mass murder stories. It’s not because I dismiss the possibility of these incidents being manufactured. On the contrary, I...

We are losing the identity wars because we are afraid to speak into them directly. Just as Daniel and his friends were bombarded and faced a programme designed to reshape and reform their worldview and sense of self and identity so do we. It’s in everything we read, hear, watch, as well as in the things we are taught. This isn’t new. It has always been the war that we are on the frontlines of. But perhaps we have never been so fearful of speaking in to this war because of the dangers of getting cancelled or no platformed. But...

I find the left to be just annoying,” Carville told Maher. “The western far left is habitually the most stupid, naive people you can imagine. They come up with these really goofy constructs and it’s all about feeling good about yourself.” Maher agreed and criticized progressives for demanding society cater to their feelings. “If your feelings are hurt, that’s more important than free speech,” he argued. Carville revisited his criticisms of progressive Democrats later in the program, arguing they were a burden to the party.Carville said he found them “annoying and silly” after Maher mocked the notion of “pregnant men.”

Democrats run the state government of Michigan, with majorities in the House and Senate of the state Legislature and Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer with the ability to sign bills into law. That's why a bill already passed by the state Legislature's House and assigned to committee in the state Senate is so dangerous. Can you believe five years in prison for speech based on someone's feelings about it? H.B. 4474 (official summary of text here, revised language of the bill here) has a good chance of becoming law, despite its obvious unconstitutionality.Michigan State Capitol in Lansing.Wade Vellky of the Michigan...

Make Orwell Fiction Again. The Washington state Department of Health recently released a five-part curriculum, and it transcends the typical bounds of the woke agenda so characteristic of the political regressives driving public "education" into the ground. Frank Bergman's headline caught my eye, because the locations of the quotations were quite surreal: "Public School 'Climate' Curriculum: 'Emotions' Should Outweigh 'Rational Thinking.'" From the article: The health department claims the new curriculum aims to help students learn the 'intersections of biological, societal, and environmental issues.' ... In the second phase of the curriculum, 'Climate Change & Pregnancy.' educators and students are...

First, the old values of social engagement are being overthrown. In an expressive world, where authenticity is found in performance, those things once considered virtues—modesty, reserve, respect for authority, etc.—start to look more like signs of repression. Second, given the central role of sex to modern identity, sexual exhibitionism and the destruction of traditional sexual mores becomes a central part of the modern program of cultural transformation. For the progressive, this must reach ever earlier into childhood. Children will be taught to express themselves sexually because that, according to modern cultural assumptions, is actually who they are. Anyone puzzled by...

Pennsylvania Republican candidate for U.S. Senate David McCormick said he has no hard feelings against former President Trump after the president verbally attacked him during Friday night’s rally, and vowed to continue to fight for American First policies and give Trump all the credit he deserves for pointing America in the right direction.

According to a member of the FDA’s vaccine-advisory panel who voted in favor of the plan, the FDA approved the introduction of Moderna mRNA booster shots based on “a gut feeling” rather than “really truly serious data,”From The Wall Street Journal, “Moderna Booster Shot Backed by FDA Advisory Panel”: Vaccine experts advising the Food and Drug Administration voted 19 to 0 Thursday to recommend authorization of an extra dose of Moderna Inc.’s MRNA Covid-19 shot, a key step in making booster doses available to millions more people.A vaccine-advisory panel voted in favor of giving a Moderna booster shot at least...

Moscow, November 5, Interfax - A ban on insulting the feelings of the faithful should be enshrined in international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. At his meeting with representatives from religious organizations on the National Unity Day on Wednesday, one attendee, Ismail Berdiyev, head of the North Caucasus Muslims' Coordinating Center, suggested that the president present to the UN Security Council an idea that all countries introduce a law making it unacceptable to offend religious feelings. "It is a good proposal. I don't understand, who could be against a ban on insulting the feelings of the faithful in any...

Rep. AOC on Sen. Mitch McConnell: "This is a man who does not care about a dying woman's final wish." Video...

Just like he did with far-left CNN, President Trump has just forced the phony, left-wing fact check site Snopes to throw out every standard of professional journalism. In a stunning admission (of what we already knew), Snopes announced Thursday that Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are such a unique threat to world that “experts must find new ways to reach people.” Which means that — get this — Trump and Johnson must be “countered by the shared stories, experiences and emotions of real people and how they are affected by the big global issues.” “Public austerity measures, for...

Among the fascinating phenomena of America’s most prominent Muslim activist organizations is how they decide which Muslims to lift up and which to ignore. Compare two recent comedy specials. One, Dave Chappelle’s newest Netflix special “Sticks & Stones,” which is generating intense reactions given its choice of material — including abortion, #MeToo, Transgenderism, “the alphabet people” (referring to the expanding acronym LGBTQIA+), and the implications of the “cancel culture,” which seeks to silence all who do not adhere to the “woke” doctrines of political correctness. Thinking about this hilariously offensive special brought to mind another recent comedy special that challenged...

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Black rag dolls that came with instructions to "find a wall" and slam the toy against it have been pulled from three stores after customers and a lawmaker said they were offensive...The dolls were made of black fabric with yarn hair of red, green, black and yellow in the style of dreadlocks, and featured large white eyes and a white smile.

A group of champion female squash players slammed the Spanish tournament they won as sexist after being given vibrators as a prize. The incident took place after the winner of the Asturias Squash Championship 2019, Elisabet Sado Garriga, received her prize along with runner-up Olaya Fernandez Lence. Third-place winner Marina Arraiza Mier and fourth-place winner Cristina Barandica Fernandez also were given gifts. The prizes for the four included a “Pure Fantasy” vibrator from Durex, a waxing set and an electronic exfoliator for their feet. The vibrator is sold as an “elegant personal stimulator designed to give you sensual pleasure.” The...

For a vast percentage of those on the left, all the rhetoric comes down to one basic and very emotional platform: they are the good guys, facts be damned. And despite the tendency of the rational to dismiss it, this is not a platform to be trifled with. When asked what their political beliefs are, liberals all repeat the same chant: the right is evil, corporate, racist, intolerant, and homophobic, and the left is “humane,” “tolerant,” and “nice.” They don’t even use the word “good” because that lexicon is fraught with the implication of a moral code that does not...

Toxic masculinity—and the persistent idea that feelings are a "female thing"—has left a generation of straight men stranded on emotionally-stunted island, unable to forge intimate relationships with other men. It's women who are paying the price.

Mike Daisey, creator of THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF STEVE JOBS, talks with Bill Maher about Apple's human rights violations in China, where thousands toil making iPhones and iPads in miserable working conditions while Apple realizes record-shattering profits. Learn more at http://mikedaisey.com/ VIDEO

At over a million digital listens, “Mr. Daisey Goes To The Apple Factory” is This American Life’s most popular episode in history. That’s no small feat for one of the world’s most well-known radio shows. When it aired, it set off yet another firestorm of controversy regarding the ethics of Apple (and other large tech companies) using cheap Chinese labor through major manufacturers like Foxconn. Mr Daisey, who has been touring for years with a monologue about his visit to the factories there and the moral implications thereof, provided details to This American Life to put together what was really...

This American Life is airing a new episode today titled "Retraction." The title and show are a direct response to the January 6th edition of the popular public radio program titled "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory," an adaptation of a one-man show that helped put Cupertino's involvement with Foxconn back in the public spotlight. "Regrettably," the show's producers write in the description of this week's episode, "we have discovered that one of our most popular episodes was partially fabricated." The hour-long show has been dedicated to clearing up some of the misconceptions, including an interview with Mike Daisey to...