Free Republic

Can Trumpism outlast Donald Trump? The selection of Senator JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate suggests that the answer is yes.Even the most successful political parties are coalitions of odd bedfellows and competing interests. But parties risk decline if they cannot attract new voters or if they suppress internal debates. The Republican Party Mr. Trump inherited in 2016 had been defined by free market ideology and neoconservative foreign policy for a generation: From Ronald Reagan through both Bushes to Mitt Romney, mainstream conservatism pursued a narrow agenda of tax and entitlement cuts at home and wars of regime...

Adva Biton, the mother of Hilda Adelle, who was murdered in a stone-throwing attack in Samaria, gave birth Sunday to a seventh child. Following the birth, Biton wrote, "By the grace of God, thanks to Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, I gave birth to our seventh daughter on the same date of her sister, Adele, of blessed memory! A mixture of emotions! Only happy occasions!" Adelle was the family's fourth child. After her injury, Adva Biton gave birth to the family's first boy in 2014, and to another son in 2016. The new baby is Adelle's first younger sister. In 2013,...

To borrow a phrase from President Barack Obama, "let's be clear" on a couple of things: First, it's not an exaggeration to say Obamacare is socialized medicine; in fact, it doesn't go far enough simply to say it represents the government takeover of our entire health care system. It is also a major step (begun long ago) in the complete dismantling of the unique American constitutional experiment and of the social compact between Americans and their government. Obama's now-realized goal of fundamental change is to make the government the people's master instead of their servant. Secondly, we should not suffer...

My gestation period for my children has come to an end , So now I shall reveal myself in groups that call me friend , Even the souls that feel helpless and alone , Those on the streets without any home , For though the nights are cold as their days are long , I shall walk with them as they sing this song ' " How much longer must we wait " , "For your grace please open the gate " , For truly they shall soon reside with me , In the heavenly Jerusalem standing in front for...

...I don't know about you but I have had it with the legions of hustlers, grifters, drunks, junkies, pathics and drooling layabouts that keep waddling and teetering up to the public trough from that swamp of puke called New Orleans...

99 years apart, disasters that devastated both cities share strange similarities. The old New Orleans is dead, drowned in the worst natural disaster in an American city since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. There is an eerie sense of parallel between the two catastrophes 99 years apart. Both cities were destroyed. Both cities had to face an uncertain future. San Francisco recovered and became the city it is today. The story of New Orleans is yet to be written. New Orleans in 2005 was about the same size as San Francisco in 1906 -- 484,000 people lived in...

<p>The holiday we call Easter, historians agree, has roots in both Christians' heralding of Jesus' resurrection and pagan celebrations of the vernal equinox -- but regardless of its origins, it marks the season of renewal and rebirth.</p> <p>Trees and plants blossom as snowdrifts melt, many species instinctively produce their offspring, and even the most civilized humans feel subconscious relief that they have survived another winter.</p>

Lost No More: An Etruscan Rebirth By JOHN NOBLE WILFORDNY Times, 4-15-2003 HILADELPHIA — The Romans relished their founding myths. Aeneas, a fugitive from fallen Troy, anchored in the mouth of the Tiber River and there in the hills of Latium rekindled the flame of Trojan greatness. Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars and a sleeping beauty, were suckled by a she-wolf and grew up to establish the city destined for grandeur. In reality, though, the Romans owed more than they ever admitted to their accomplished predecessors and former enemies on the Italian peninsula, the Etruscans. They were known...

IF I KNEW If I knew it would be the last time That I'd see you fall asleep, I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord, your soul to keep. If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door, I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more. If I knew it would be the last time I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise, I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day. If...

I witnessed something extraordinary at last month’s Theology on Tap. Picture it if you can – a jam-packed upstairs room at the Temple Bar in Stamford, Connecticut. Nighttime. Loud rock music from the Thursday night bar scene down below is drifting in through the closed door at the top of the stairs. The Upper Room Inside the room where we are, though, a different atmosphere prevails. Fr. Benedict Groeschel, a worn-out jacket over his Franciscan robe, is bowed over a microphone in prayer at a makeshift podium, invoking the Holy Spirit upon our assembly. There must be close to 250...