Free Republic

In our May feature, we addressed the typical Leftist tactic of misdirecting public focus away from the actual causation of perceived "problems," to fantasized targets; a practice that prevents either solution or mitigation of any "problem." [Misdirection: Dangerous Leftist Tactic] Here we challenge the single most significant & egregious example of such misdiretion, the Collectivist/Humanist "politically correct" answer to problems that flow from a failure to respect others, by suppressing focus on, or even awareness of, the vast differences in human aptitudes, motivations, priorities & the varied cultural achievements of each community or nation--reflected in all we once celebrated under...

Have you heard the term “international Terrorism” yet? It’s the new phrase that seems to have been simultaneously adopted around the world by all Western governments and the MSM. You can read it in NBC, Reuters, Washington Post. You can hear it from police forces, politicians and even the British Prime Minister. Yet a short time ago, this phrase was only used in legal circles to define something very specific. Why is it just gaining prominence now, why is replacing the term Islamic terrorism, and how and why did “The World” get this coordinated? International Terrorism is defined as “terrorism...

Federal auditors are questioning more than $500,000 in Hurricane Sandy debris removal costs in Belmar, saying the town awarded two contracts that did not comply with federal rules and lacked paperwork to support other expenses. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General today released its findings about the hard-hit Monmouth County borough, marking the third time a federal audit of a Jersey Shore town’s debris removal work following the storm has been made public. The way two contractors charged for cleanup work accounted for more than half of the expenses flagged in Belmar’s audit. Federal auditors said Belmar...

Are you confused about the claim that Ted Cruz is not a natural-born citizen, with all its attendant disinformation? Well, here is your answer. We have gathered together the top arguments of those who challenge Senator Cruz’s eligibility to serve as president, along with exhaustive research and links to original sources, and condensed it all into one, bite-sized yet authoritative piece. We have done all the work for you, assembling a definitive reference you can use any time you hear someone say that Ted Cruz is ineligible to run for and serve as president. So without any further ado, here...

Barack Hussein Obama has never won a fair election in his life. He wins elections by clearing the field and stuffing ballot boxes. In his 2004 Senate election, he defeated Republican Jack Ryan by having his divorce records unsealed for no good reason other than his own political benefit. The question is, how did he know that those records were so embarrassing? Knowing what we know of the NSA at this point in time, I suspect that they gave him the information.

On first appraisal, the amnesty/immigration bill before the Senate looks pretty bad. On a more careful comb-through, clause by clause, it looks much worse - like a complete disaster. It also looks like a massive venture in deception. Consider the oft-repeated claim that, under the bill, 11 million plus illegal immigrants now in the U.S. won't get legal status unless and until the border with Mexico is secure. This claim has been incessantly made by backers of the measure who call it "tough, conservative" legislation. Thus, a former official in the second Bush administration flatly tells us, "The bill's path...

A universal birth-control mandate is a curious priority for a dying republic.Have you seen the official White House version of what the New York Times headline writers call “A Responsible Budget”? My favorite bit is Chart 5-1 on page 58 of their 500-page appendix on “Analytical Perspectives.” This is entitled “Publicly Held Debt Under 2013 Budget Policy Projections.” It’s a straight line going straight up before disappearing off the top right-hand corner of the graph in the year 2084 ...

Recuperation from the storms. Nine month saga with the county. major cleanup with branches hauled off house and garage. The trees I planted long ago and had to take down and cut up because otherwise they would disturb the road, pedestrians, parked cars, overhead lines during the storms. Noone told me to do this. It was my responsibilty. So I had some stacks, small stacks on a small parcel of a small house in Arlington as we are into winter and those very storms. The adjoining property has huge trees which rain hell upon me with branches laden with snow...

When he released his long-form birth certificate on Wednesday morning, President Barack Obama gave into pressure put on him by potential 2012 presidential candidate Donald Trump, seemingly playing right into the real estate mogul’s hand by addressing an issue he had so steadfastly avoided. But, indirectly, Obama is benefiting from giving in to Trump as the mainstream media’s focus isn’t on the major storylines that would usually dominate the headlines, like the Federal Reserve press conference, unfavorable economic numbers and all-time-lows for Obama in polling results. Obama’s rapid shift on the issue raises some questions. Even the day before the...

The House Energy and Commerce Committee cancelled a scheduled "mark up" today. A key House committee on Tuesday indefinitely postponed voting on health care reform legislation, after Democratic leaders were unable to line up enough votes from moderate members of their own party.

You don't have to look far to find someone impacted by this recession - whether it's the loss of a job, a reduction in workplace benefits or the evaporation of their retirement, college and personal savings. It could be your neighbor. It could be a family member. It could be you. All across our country, millions of families and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet during this downturn, and they're looking to our leaders for real solutions to help turn around this situation. They don't care if they're Democratic solutions or Republican solutions. They just want the men...

When President Obama announced his new budget a few weeks ago involving record spending, tax increases, deficits and debt, he did so with soaring rhetoric about spending cuts (non-existent), tax cuts for 95% of workers (misleading), and cutting the deficit in half in 5 years (good luck). This misdirection rhetoric is now a common Obama pattern. For example, when the Administration leaked out word over the weekend of a plan to convert TARP loans into common stock in the banks, it did so with rhetoric that this was a way to rescue banks without asking for any more taxpayer bailouts....

President Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, where he will order members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days, according to a senior administration official. The budget cuts, while they would account to a minuscule portion of federal spending, are intended to signal the president's determination to cut spending and reform government, the official said. Obama's order comes as he is under increasing pressure to show momentum toward his goal of eventually reducing the federal deficit, even as he goes about increasing spending in the short run to...

... President Obama is the master of misdirection. His skill in using this tactic is a key to his success as a candidate and to his popularity as president. He is a great salesman, marketing his product--the liberal agenda, plus a few add-ons--in a manner that disguises what he's really up to. ... Misdirection is different. It is meant to deceive. When Obama intervened last week to prop up General Motors, he said he was merely helping the company get through a rough patch. "Let me be clear," he said. "The United States government has no interest or intention of...

The swift boats are coming. They'll go by different names this year, but the largely unregulated interest groups like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - which in 2004 torpedoed Democrat John Kerry with allegations he'd inflated his war record - are gearing up for the 2008 White House race like never before. So far this year, so-called 527 groups - named for a section of the IRS tax code - have raised a staggering $210 million, up from $182 million at this point in 2004. But here's the ideological bottom line - roughly two-thirds of that $210 million has been...

Chavez ends support of Farc rebels By Jeremy McDermott in Medellin Last Updated: 10:29PM BST 09/06/2008 Hugo Chavez said he was ending his support for Colombia's Marxist guerillas, robbing them of their most public and powerful ally. Farc rebels on patrol. Such displays of strength may be a thing of the past after their main ally, Hugo Chavez, withdrew his support The Venezuelan president said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia were "history", and called on them to release their hostages and end a decades-long war with the government. "Enough of so much war, it is time to sit down...

With just five months to go before the midterm elections, President Bush, whose once-faithful base has abandoned him in droves, is turning to the same conservative hot-button issues that won him re-election in 2004 -- homosexual "marriage" and judicial nominees. The president, now fully aware that his plummeting approval ratings could cost the Republicans control of one or both congressional chambers in November, will use his radio address today and a speech Monday to push a constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage," just as the Senate prepares to vote on the issue. The crux of his argument is simple: A majority...

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe insisted on Sunday that President Bush "never served in the military," and said that Democrats would make reports that the president went "AWOL" from the Alabama National Guard in the early 1970s a central focus of the presidential campaign. "George Bush never served in our military in our country," McAuliffe told ABC's "This Week," apparently discounting Bush's stint in the National Guard from 1968 through 1973. "He didn't show up when he should have showed up." McAuliffe then echoed the charge by discredited filmmaker Michael Moore, who said three weeks ago that he wanted...

Political sleight of hand -- it's no magic "People have been wondering whether a word from my discipline — ''misdirection'' — can be applied to another world altogether: the world of politics." By PENN JILLETTE I've been a professional magician for 28 years. I'm not the best magician in the world or even the best magician in Penn & Teller. Those "bests" are the same guy, my partner, Teller. He knows his magic -- he can lie, cheat and steal on stage better than anyone I've ever known or heard about. But I'm the theoretician. So I'm going to try...

Sen. Hillary Clinton talks to Queen Rania of Jordan. Clinton loyalists were startled yesterday to hear former President Bill Clinton suggest that his wife hasn't made up her mind yet about running for the White House. Asked in Monterey, Calif., on Tuesday about chatter that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) might join the crowded Democratic field, the former President hinted that it remained an open question. "That's really a decision for her to make," he said, according to The Californian newspaper. Clinton said his wife was being urged to run by supporters in spite of her commitment to serve out...