Free Republic

President Biden called into the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, calling on Americans to “come together” and put unity above politics over the holiday weekend — and beyond. “On this Thanksgiving, Al, we have to come together,” the president told NBC’s Al Roker. “We can have different political views, but we have one view. The one view is that we’re the finest, greatest nation in the world. We should focus on that.” …

As ratings collapse, stadiums echo with boos, and lifelong fans burn merchandise, it appears as though a brand new set of talking points went out to the sports world, a talking point that is a bald-faced, provable lie. As the backlash grows against these spoiled millionaires, we are now being told by their defenders that the NFL protests are “not about disrespecting” America and the flag. Here is a sample: Lebron James: It’s not about the disrespect of our flag and the military that’s made this world free. Sports CEO Scott O’Neill: I’m not sure we should make this about...

If you haven't seen it, a design company in Portland has created a video called 4 Rules to Make Star Wars Great Again. They've also set up a website and a petition which they are hoping 1 million people will sign.(VIDEO-AT-LINK)I like the video. It's very well produced and I'm sure the creators will get a lot of traffic. That said, I think you can boil all of these rules down to one underlying concept. The Star Wars universe was driven by a realistic sense of capitalist enterprise, specifically the idea of secondary and black markets that exist outside the...

Even the traditionally liberal Washington Post has figured it out. Yesterday’s headline read: “Ohio, Wisconsin shine spotlight on new union battle: Government workers vs. taxpayers.” Not “middle-class vs. wealthy” or “struggling school teachers vs. billionaire Koch brothers.” No, the real fight is between public servants and the public they allegedly serve. The sentimental story line that unions are “friends of the workin’ man” is unraveling. Typical Americans, including the blue-collar brand, aren’t fans of threats and violence coming from government union mobs. In Wisconsin, it’s Democratic state Rep. Gordon Hintz telling GOP Rep. Michelle Litjens, “You are [expletive] dead” after...

MANAMA, Bahrain - A U.S.-backed Mideast democracy and development summit ended in rancor Saturday despite adoption of two initiatives that are part of President Bush's push to expand political freedom in a region dominated by monarchies and effective single-party rule. A draft declaration on democratic and economic principles was scuttled after Egypt insisted on language that would have given Arab governments greater control over charitable and good-government organizations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not speak at the close of the conference, which was hosted by the Group of Eight economic giants and Arab nations but which was largely a...

SPRINGFIELD - Senate Democrats on the Executive Committee hastily approved four gun-control measures Wednesday amid partisan rancor. Another Senate panel already had rejected much of the legislation, and some Republican senators repeatedly expressed disapproval at the work-around tactic. Senate Bills 1330, 1331 and 1332 were approved Wednesday even though the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected identical legislation earlier this session. Two of the Judiciary Committee's six Democrats are from downstate - Sens. James Clayborne of Belleville and Bill Haine of Alton - and both tend to vote against gun-control legislation. On the other hand, seven of the Executive Committee's eight Democrats...

CALIFORNIA's election system -- with its exclusionary primaries and gerrymandered districts -- has become the great enabler that sends to Sacramento the most extreme lawmakers on the right and left. If you want a legislator who works for all of California, you don't elect the likes of Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia, and expect them to compromise and work together. You do elect them if you want rancor and gridlock. And silly bills that focus on narrow issues, while the state's budget festers. What to do? In 1996, moderate GOP Congressman Tom Campbell and others...