Free Republic

"And the Northern girls with the way they kiss. They keep their boyfriends warm at night. I wish they all could be California. I wish they all could be California. I wish they all could be California Girls"- (And guy Cali delegates, too.) A big WOW from Cali! Dude, the candidate chooses his/her own delegates!!! LOYALTY matters. Whether it be in business, politics, or friendships, we all desire and respect loyalty. Let's consider the 172 member California Republican Delegation that will be seated in Cleveland for the RNC: "The selection of Presidential Nominating Convention Delegates to the Republican National Convention...

My late friend and colleague Hilton Kramer used to tell the story about how Time magazine (remember Time?) would prep its photographers before sending them off to snap the likeness of someone they were profiling. The magazine didn't just want a portrait. It was always "Good guy" or "Bad guy." This was well known. So when Time sent someone to photograph Norman Podhoretz, the former editor of Commentary who had lately shed his left-wing opinions and emerged as a powerful voice on the Right, Norman had the wit to ask "Good guy or bad guy?" The photographer shook his head...

The deputy director of the ACLU of Michigan said in an op-ed Monday that she refuses to condemn radical Islamic terrorism in order to prove her allegiance to the United States. Rana Elmir wrote that she’s “consistently and aggressively asked” to condemn Islamic terrorism, and is tired of having her religious views linked to atrocities like the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and in Paris and San Bernardino this year. “I emphatically refuse,” she wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post. The op-ed was titled: “Stop asking me to condemn terrorists just because I’m Muslim.”

We're taking Larry deer hunting this weekend. After 35 years in the woods with Larry, sadly, this will be our last together. After 40 years at the same job, he finally had enough and retired this past spring. He's a mere 62 years old. He left his job on a Friday and started his new job the next Monday. Working at a local golf course. Cutting grass, doing maintenance, free lunch everyday and free golf on Mondays. He was in heaven. About three months ago, his eyesight was suddenly failing him. The eye doctor said that there was something affecting...

I have seen some nice statues. I have seen the Abraham Lincoln statue in Washington, D.C. I have seen the "Follow Me!" statue at Fort Benning, Georgia. My favorite statue of all is much smaller than these two statues. My favorite statue is "Old Shep" at Fort Benton, Montana. It is a bronze statue of a dog. Old Shep wasn't a champion show dog. I guess you could call him a "Heinz 57" breed. He was a bigger dog as was common for a shepherd's dog on the high-plains desert of Montana in the 1930s. His job was helping his...

Marriage can be a long and difficult journey, full of obstacles trying to keep you from being happy in your relationship. But don't be discouraged or distracted. If you want to keep your marriage and family together, learn to recognize and avoid these six pitfalls: < excerpted questions: >1. Your heartbeat speeds up but not because of your spouse.2. Your spouse is a little worse for wear.3. Someone else is a more preferable option. 4. You deserve better.5. There is no physical romance. 6. The honeymoon stage is over. < snip > We are constantly told how divorce and infidelity...

In the wake of a deadly tornado that destroyed parts of Van, Texas, a week ago, a dog was found curled up with her dead owner David Tapley, a retired police officer, and nearby his wife, Brenda. The Great Pyrenees, thought to be about 8 years old (solid information about her previous life, including her name, is hard to come by), is banged up, emotionally and physically. She's showing signs of shock; her skin is raw and bruised. She has some head trauma, and is now deaf in one ear from a burst eardrum. But, rather miraculously, she's alive. She...

May DayDate When Celebrated: Always May 1st May Day, the first of May is celebrated around the world. It has a number of meanings. In many other countries it is a celebration of spring and the coming of summer. It is celebrated with many spring flowers, many of them blooming right in your own backyard. To communist and socialist countries, it is a celebration for the workers. In many countries it is celebrated as part of a one to three day holiday. Of particular note, it is not a national holiday in the United States, except in Hawaii where...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) suggested her Democratic colleague and close friend, Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings, had a right to call the Lone Star State a “crazy state” in which he will never live. “In debate, our speeches are colorful, and I know he likes Texans because he likes me,” Jackson Lee said during a brief interview. “I’m not going to comment on members’ oratorical expressions on the floor — they are protected and privileged,” she continued. “And I’m going to leave it at that.”

If Sam Brownback wins re-election as Kansas governor, the world will not end. If Pat Roberts wins re-election to the U.S. Senate, for sure the world will not end. If independent candidate Greg Orman upsets Roberts for the U.S. Senate, again the world will not end. If Kris Kobach wins re-election as Kansas secretary of state…well, that’s another story. Kobach would fill the secretary of state’s seat for four more years, where he will continue to ignore his duties and spend his time in courts fighting one thing after another. But that’s only the beginning of the havoc he would...

Video at link.

The Clinton-Obama Benghazi Rule is as follows: “1.) ALWAYS STAND DOWN WHEN MUSLIMS ATTACK, 2.) WAIT FOR THE MUSLIMS TO FINISH THEIR BLOOD SPORT KILLING, AND 3.) THEN DO NOTHING.” Since September 11, 2014, Obama has: * Invoked the field-tested, Clinton-Obama Benghazi Rule for the US in order to allow the ongoing genocide of Christians, and Yazidis in current US Ally Iraq; * Refused to keep his Word on his Redline in Syria; * Released the GITMO FIVE to supervise the rapid growth of ISIS; * Repeatedly proclaimed that HIS "American People" are war weary; * Ordered the dismissing of...

Democratic Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said Tuesday that at the current time, the only reason she would vote in favor of an attack on Syria was out of loyalty to Barack Obama. Appearing on radio's Bill Press Show, the non-voting delegate from the District of Columbia also said if the President actually gets the votes he needs, "it’ll be because of loyalty of Democrats. They just don’t want to see him shamed and humiliated on the national stage" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

PHOENIX -- Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would give Arizona high school seniors the option to recite a loyalty oath before they graduate. Originally, House Bill 2467 would have made the oath a prerequisite for graduation from any public high school in the state. The Arizona Capitol Times reported the change Tuesday. "To me it's not a Republican bill, it's not a Democrat bill, it's an American bill," said Rep. Steve Smith of Maricopa, one of the bill's sponsors. "People feel that our high school kids that will be adults should understand their role as an American citizen."

A Rock Hill, South Carolina, a middle school teacher was placed on administrative leave after her school received a complaint about remarks she posted on her personal Facebook page. The remarks criticized the Food Stamp program. Rawlinson Road Middle School spokesperson Elaine Baker said the suspension was initiated after the school heard from a local Democratic Party official. “In our view, the teacher used poor judgment,” Baker said. “It is inappropriate for a person employed by a public school to be observed criticizing any duly authorized public policy, especially right now. The country has been through a contentious election campaign....

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States...

After Manzano finished his race and secured his medal, he did what athletes typically do at the Olympics. He held up his country's flag -- the Stars and Stripes. The 27-year-old was born in Mexico, but the United States is his country now. His father migrated here illegally from the city of Dolores Hidalgo. Manzano was brought here when he was 4. Like most immigrants, they came in search of greater opportunity. And they found it -- for themselves, and their children. You can't help but be proud of Manzano and the country that allowed him the opportunity to fulfill...

Presidential Proclamation -- Loyalty Day, 2012 LOYALTY DAY, 2012 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION More than two centuries ago, our Founders laid out a charter that assured the rule of law and the rights of man. Through times of tranquility and the throes of change, the Constitution has always guided our course toward fulfilling that most noble promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve the chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. America has carried on not only for the skill or vision of history's celebrated figures, but...

If the dust up at the GOP meeting in Arizona is any indication, if one isn’t ready to pledge 100% loyalty to Mitt Romney, he’s not interested in seeing or hearing from you. It’s long been worried that Mitt would blow off the base of the party if elected, incidents like this do nothing to set these fears aside. Mitt Romney held a meeting in Scottsdale with top Republicans, hoping to convince the undecideds to throw their support behind him, as …. let’s face it …. his nomination is all but a fait accompli. Mitt offered attendees a chance to...

This new ad from the Gingrich campaign is making the rounds: If you don't feel like watching, it compares Romney to previous Massachusetts wusses Michael Dukakis and John Kerry and ends with the narrator snarking, "Just like John Kerry, he speaks French, too" before showing a clip from the now infamous Olympic committee video. BOOM! Mr. "we look to the cities and small towns of America not the capitals of Europe" just got served a dose of his own xenophobic pandering. But wait, does Gingrich really want to go down this route. He has his own dark Francophone past as...