Free Republic

The difference between negative vs positive rights is that one requires action while the other requires inaction. Negative rights are the requirements of someone else not to interfere in your ability to obtain something. Positive rights are a requirement of someone else to provide you with something. You may hear negative rights referred to as “liberties,” and that’s because they are basic human and civil rights stating that no one can interfere with our right to obtain something through trade or bartering. Positive rights are often called “entitlements” because they are things that someone must provide to us, whether we’ve...

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney Monday said they will vote for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be confirmed to the Supreme Court, bringing the total expected GGOP votes for Jackson's confirmation up to three. "After reviewing Judge Jackson’s record and testimony, I have concluded that she is a well-qualified jurist and a person of honor," Romney, R-Utah, said. "While I do not expect to agree with every decision she may make on the Court, I believe that she more than meets the standard of excellence and integrity."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Supreme Court decisions put Americans on the cusp of losing "fundamental rights" Sunday on "Life, Liberty & Levin." Over and over again, the big landmark cases are 5-4," he told host Mark Levin. "We're one vote away on issue after issue after issue from losing our fundamental rights."

The Taliban have barred women from flying alone on domestic and international airlines operating in Afghanistan. The change in flight policy was announced on Monday as the latest move by the militant group to hinder women's rights within Afghanistan. ... The policy specifically told airlines that women could not board a flight without a male relative or chaperone, two sources told Reuters. The policy change barred dozens of women who arrived at Kabul's international airport from transferring flights, officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Local women and dual nationals were equally affected by the policy and were...

The people of Ukraine have a chance because they are armed. Imagine if they had been training with these weapons their whole lives.The world is captivated by Ukraine’s resistance to Russian invasion, especially since much of Ukraine’s resistance comes from ordinary citizens taking up arms in defense of their homeland.Ukraine has a fighting chance in part because it has taken dramatic steps to provide its people firearms. More than 25,000 automatic rifles and 10 million rounds of ammunition have been distributed to volunteers in Kyiv.In the United States, even supporters of draconian gun control are announcing they “stand with the...

Paraphrased: Emergency Measures take precedence over the "Rule of Law"?

The Washington City Council passed a resolution “regarding rights and liberty” Wednesday, making the council’s stance against mask and vaccination mandates official. Introduced by Councilwoman Kim Casperson, the resolution states that the City Council “supports individual choice in health care decisions” and that “as it pertains to the health decisions of Washington City’s citizens, employees, or officers, the Washington City Council does not support mask or vaccination mandates.” According to the language of the resolution, it is to serve as a clarifying statement that the council is committed to “liberty and individual rights.” Washington City Manager Jeremy Redd said this...

President Joe Biden told an audience of black students on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University on Tuesday that he was arrested during the civil rights struggle, though there is no evidence that such an arrest ever happened. Biden was speaking in support of Democrats’ so-called “voting rights” legislation, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Act Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which are one-sided bills currently struggling to pass a Senate filibuster.

MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough on Monday railed against his former party for blocking the vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Scarborough said he was “shocked” the GOP would block the bill but added the effort was “an indictment on the Republican Party.”

The State of Indiana can no longer afford to have the civically ignorant elect the civically ignorant. It is time for every Indiana resident and candidate for public office to demonstrate a basic knowledge of civics before they run for public office or vote. Just as every driver is required to have a basic knowledge and competence in driving before they are allowed to drive on public roads, voters should be required to demonstrate a basic knowledge and competence in honoring and supporting the constitutional republic in which they participate. To this end, the undersigned request legislation to require the...

Amendment I1. The government cannot make you believe in a religion.2. The government cannot keep you from practicing any religion you choose.3. The government cannot keep you from saying what you wish.4. The government cannot keep you from writing what you want.5. The government cannot stop you from publishing what you want.6. The government cannot keep you from joining together peacefully with others to express your views.7. The government cannot prevent you from complaining about what the government or others are doing to you.Amendment II8. The government cannot take away your right to own and keep guns.Amendment III9. The government...

The Fairness For All Act (FFAA), an all-Republican bill that would make sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) a federally protected class in return for certain “right to discriminate” carve-outs for dissenting religious institutions, was originally introduced in 2019 by Representative Chris Stewart of Utah. Stewart, whose district went for Donald Trump by 16 points in 2020 — up two from 14 points in 2016 — reintroduced the bill at the outset of the 2021 congressional session with the backing of such well-known Republicans as Elise Stefanik, Nancy Mace, and Burgess Owens. This is the full list of the FFAA’s...

Late last week, three colleagues and I launched the Free North Declaration , a call to defend civil liberties in this country, which lawyers and members of the public are invited to endorse. So far more than 6,000 have done so, including over 100 lawyers. The declaration outlines the ways in which legal authorities — legislatures, governments, public health officials, professional regulators, administrative bodies and public institutions — have restricted Canadians’ liberties during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have done so shrewdly, to attempt to remain inside the strict letter of the law and to avoid triggering protections in the Charter...

Stacey Abrams on Monday did not directly respond to a question about a potential presidential bid, instead saying that she is focused on getting voting rights legislation passed. During an appearance on CNN, host Erin Burnett asked the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate if she would consider running for the White House if President Biden decides against running for reelection. "Is that something you would consider?" Burnett asked, referencing a Politico article that noted Democratic operatives expect her to consider a run for the White House if she is successful with another possible Democratic campaign for Georgia governor.

Representative Karen Bass (D-CA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the two white men killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest were like white Civil Rights activists killed in the 1960s. When asked about the trial on the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, Bass said, “I think that particular trial is off to a bad start just like the trial of Rittenhouse is off to a bad start as well. A year ago, we were talking about racial reckoning, and it seemed to be an enlightened period, and now we’ve had major setbacks. I think that people understand...

The Biden administration signaled today that they are going to continue to push the envelope when it comes to vaccine mandates. That came from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who spoke to CNN’s Martha Raddatz this morning.According to Murthy, the administration is not ruling out the possibility of expanding the current vaccine mandate to cover small businesses as well, i.e. those with less than 100 employees.Biden’s Surgeon General Vivek Murthy doesn’t rule out EXTENDING the vaccine mandate to businesses with fewer than 100 employees. pic.twitter.com/0nhwLWSr5V— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 7, 2021RADDATZ: And, Dr. Murthy, if the law survives legal challenges,...

After white supremacists spilled blood in defense of keeping up Confederate statues in 2017, the GOP candidate for governor of Virginia, Ed Gillespie, said the monuments should stay up as a matter of heritage and history. His TV advertising featured threatening images of Latino gangs, labeled illegal immigrants, involved in murder and rape. The racially loaded ‘Culture Wars’ campaign, straight from then-President Trump’s playbook, gave Gillespie a push but he ultimately lost the race to Democrat Ralph Northam.

“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like–minded friends and family. These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs.” That opinion, issued in fall 2019 by the Arizona State Supreme Court, assumed an art form all its own – it was music in the ears of the...

UT-Battelle manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) UT-Battelle requires all their employees to submit their vaccination status as a condition of continued employment. This choice, to get vaccinated, is a private choice that should be made between an individual and their doctor. UT-Battelle did offer employees the option to submit for an exemption on medical or religious grounds; many employees chose to do this. UT-Battelle apparently approved all exemptions (religious or medical) and subsequently used these approved exemptions to identify employees that did not fit within their business decisions. These employees are being put on unpaid leave for an undefined...

The fact that 24-year-old Jonathan Isaac can speak more cogently about COVID and freedom of conscience than the entire corporate press is an astonishing development.One of the most remarkable twists in the pandemic is that a handful of NBA players have emerged as the most cogent and principled defenders of liberty, common sense, and basic civic decency in America.It’s a bit unexpected. In recent years, the NBA has most often landed in the political news cycle thanks to LeBron James’ disgusting habit of bowing and scraping before the Chinese Communist Party, or Steve Kerr’s refusal to breathe a word about...