Free Republic

President Barack Obama says years of knee-jerk GOP hostility toward him has fueled Donald Trump’s rise, arguing Thursday that Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. Trump’s GOP rivals headed into their final debate before next week’s key primaries wondering if it was already too late to stop him from claiming their party’s nomination. Relishing the opportunity to ridicule what he called the GOP “circus,” Obama sought to tie Trump to his primary election opponents by claiming they see eye to eye on the issues — even if the flamboyant billionaire puts on a more provocative act. The president...

>As Christmas shoppers flock to stores, the familiar sights and sounds of Salvation Army bell-ringers with red kettles will prompt many to toss in their coins and remember the less fortunate. But not everyone is in a giving mood. MSNBC.com reported last week that some LGBT activists are urging people to ignore the bell-ringers because the Salvation Army holds Biblical views that the activists claim are bigoted. The Salvation Army adamantly denies that it discriminates against anyone, including LGBT, who seeks its services or programs. Gay leaders are not satisfied. Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network, said, “We...

Lady Gaga appeared at an Obama fundraiser last weekend demanding attention legislation aimed at protecting gay bullying victims from their tormenters. But what about all of the other kids around the country who get picked on, beaten up or ostracized for being smart, overweight, or just well looking different than the other kids? As someone who was relegated to the nerdy side of the cafeteria when I was in high school, what about us, Miss Germanotta – to use Lady Gaga’s proper name? I do not mean to diminish or condone bullying against anyone on account of who individuals have...

A lesbian actress who starred in "The L-Word" said she kissed a girl — and got escorted off of a Southwest Airlines flight on Monday for doing it. Leisha Hailey took to Twitter to call for a boycott of the carrier after a flight attendant told them other passengers had complained after witnessing the affection. Her first tweet said: "I have been discriminated against." She later added, "Since when is showing affection to someone you love illegal?" Southwest Airlines Co. responded on its website that Hailey was approached "based solely on behavior and not gender." The airline's four-sentence response said...

Performance artist Lady Gaga is calling on the government to make bullying a federal offense. Reacting to the recent suicide of bullied gay Buffalo teen Jamey Rodemeyer, the 25-year-old New Yorker tweeted Wednesday, “Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be [sic] illegal. It is a hate crime.” Linking to the late boy’s “It Gets Better” YouTube video, which encourages viewers to love themselves and ignore the haters, Lady Gaga said she’s been sobbing, musing, and shouting since the tormented 14-year-old’s Sunday death. “The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling,” Lady...

"Flt. attendant said that it was a 'family' airline and kissing was not ok," she wrote. The L Word actress Leisha Hailey says she was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight after kissing her girlfriend. In a series of tweets Monday, Hailey wrote that she and fashion designer Nina Garduno, who have been together since 2006, "were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue." "I have been discriminated against by @SouthwestAir," she tweeted. "Flt. attendant said that it was a 'family' airline and kissing was not ok."

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — When John McCain and Barack Obama appear on the same stage today, they will vividly demonstrate the reach that has made the Rev. Rick Warren among the most significant evangelists of his generation. He's a megastar who leads the nation's fourth-largest church and reaches thousands of ministers through the Internet and crusades against poverty and AIDS. That globe-trotting work and his successful book — "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?" — puts him at the vanguard of a movement that inspires young, socially conscious Christians. But his willingness to soft-pedal political issues...

WASHINGTON, July 28 — They were high school friends from Park Ridge, Ill., both high achievers headed East to college. John Peavoy was a bookish film buff bound for Princeton, Hillary Rodham a driven, civic-minded Republican going off to Wellesley. They were not especially close, but they found each other smart and “interesting” and said they would try to keep in touch. Which they did, prodigiously, exchanging dozens of letters between the late summer of 1965 and the spring of 1969. Ms. Rodham’s 30 dispatches are by turns angst-ridden and prosaic, glib and brooding, anguished and ebullient — a rare...