Free Republic

I’ve written before about preference cascades — where large portions of the public, often a majority, conceal their views for fear of punishment, only to reveal those views when some precipitating event takes place. Classic examples include the fall of Communist regimes, like Ceausescu’s Romania, where even Ceausescu himself thought everyone loved him until shortly before he was stood in front of a wall and shot. Usually those happen in one direction. But in contemporary America, they’re happening in two. The murder of Charlie Kirk at the hands of a leftist gunman has revealed that many, many more Americans —...

(Warning: long rant) My liberal friends are completely oblivious about how radicalizing the last week has been for tens of millions of normal Americans. Zero clue. I’m not talking about people who are “online”; I mean regular, everyday Americans. “Normies.” People who scroll through Facebook posts and Instagram reels from the Dutch Bros drive thru line. Political moderates who have water cooler chats about Mahomes touchdowns and Bon Jovi concerts, not Twitter threads or Rachel Maddow monologues. Millions of them. Tens of millions. They’re logging on, they’re engaging, and they’re furious. And I’ll be candid: They blame you guys. They...

Before Trump took office, conventional wisdom was that American blacks would never vote Republican. As Lyndon Johnson reputedly said after passing the Civil Rights Act, “I’ll have those n****** voting Democratic for the next 200 years.” It didn’t matter that Democrats broke their promises or that their policies worsened the plight of inner-city blacks. Black voters remained loyal. This year, though, after Trump spent four years making a positive difference for black America, blacks are breaking ranks and openly supporting President Trump. Thomas Sowell wrote in 2016, shortly before Trump was elected, “Black votes matter. If Republicans could get...

A dam has broken and our media are desperate to avert our eyes from it.  I am stunned at the succession of positive developments that has followed the announcement almost a month ago that the United Arab Emirates is normalizing relations with Israel. Momentum is accelerating toward the long dreamed-of goal of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. I have to pinch myself after writing such a thing to remind myself that decade after decade of strenuous effort has failed, frustrating presidents of both parties and stymieing plan after plan put forth by diplomats and NGOs. Yet, improbable...