Free Republic

For example, while the LP no longer thinks Ron Paul lives up to its standard of someone who should speak to its national convention, it chose in 2016 to nominate as its party’s vice-presidential candidate former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, long known as a liberal Republican. During a debate in 2016 with another Libertarian presidential hopeful, Austin Petersen, Petersen offered the analogy that a Jewish baker should not be forced to bake a Nazi cake. Johnson, however, took the position that the government should compel a baker to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples, and dodged a question as to...

The University of Missouri-Columbia is expecting at least a 14-percent decline in incoming freshmen this fall, resulting in its smallest class in nearly two decades. Administrators project that about 4,000 freshmen will enroll in August. That’s down by about 700 students from 2016 and significantly lower than in 2015, when more than 6,000 enrolled. The shrinking numbers have been tied at least partly to the protests on campus in 2015 that followed reports of racism on and near campus. The school issued a news release Friday afternoon that mentions the enrollment decline only indirectly. “A class of this size gives...

A panic is sweeping the land -- or at least something like it has unnerved CNN, Vox and other precincts of progressive sensibility. They are alarmed that millions of Americans are being misled by "fake news."

WELCOME TO THE TRUMP FAMILY TRAIN- TRANSITION. We are in second weeks since the election until the Inauguration SEVERALpicks so far. LOTS of speculation and misinformation along the way>P>

S MOINES, IA (KTRK) -- Two police officers were ambushed and killed overnight in Des Moines, Iowa. A search is underway for the person who fatally shot them.

Early Voters in WI, MI, MN, NY and PA can revote on election day Fox news just showed a map of states where people who early vote can "revote" on or before Election Day. Louisiana is also a state where this is true. 15mm have already voted. If they are having indigestion for having voted for a potential felon and live in one of these states, there is a cure available to them.

On Sept. 6, 2016, Neal B. Freeman of the National Review published an interview with Angelo Codevilla, the author of “The Ruling Class.” The bottom line was that Dr. Codevilla has concluded that what he has estimated to be two-thirds of the country’s citizens are increasingly falling in with the increasing number of those who intend to vote for Donald J. Trump as president, despite having an opinion that he has significant shortcomings and that they are doing so because of their dissatisfaction, as the “country class,” with the ruling class. ****People have been able, with regard to one candidate,...

There had also been an eye-opening moment on the streets of Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, when [Johnson and I had] been walking behind a cigarette-wielding Ohioan. As the smoker’s exhaust wafted in our faces, I remarked offhand that—with the advent of e-cigarettes—I thought there was a good libertarian case for banning regular cigarettes. “I do too,” replied the health-obsessed triathlete, recounting his support for anti-smoking efforts in New Mexico.

I had my internet service upgraded today. The Frontier Communications tech was here to make some changes. After he was all set, while he was still here and his company truck still in my driveway, he asked my to connect to my network to see if all was well. I opened my iPad and as usual it listed a few local networks whose signal it was reading. It listed the usual few neighbors' networks that come up every time. It also listed: "NSA mobile surveillance unit 981" I've never seen this before, and since his truck left an hour ago,...

On immigration, Rand Paul is much less libertarian and moreso paleoconservative. He supports deploying more patrol agents on the southern border and building a border fence. He also has challenged the notion of birth-right citizenship and wishes to eliminate so-called “sanctuary cities.” He supported SB1070 in Arizona, which allowed for easier deportations of undocumented immigrants. During the Syrian refugee crisis, Paul staunchly opposed their immigration. He also at one point supported “pausing” immigration from countries in the Middle East. To his credit, he does support an expansion of work visas. Also, his rhetoric is much less draconian than Donald Trump...

Military troops favor Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson for president over Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, according to a new survey. Johnson garnered 38.7 percent of the active duty vote, versus 30.9 for Trump, and 14.1 for Clinton, according to the survey, which was conducted via the popular military personality Doctrine Man. Although the survey was not a scientific poll with a margin of error, it provides a snapshot of the preferences of about 3,500 active duty, reservists, retired and former members of the military and their family members, 95.7 percent of which were registered voters. Among all services except for...

Opportunities for producing and assembling products and their components have spread worldwide, making it is easier for countries to climb the production value ladder. States at the bottom, extracting raw materials, can gradually move up, first making low-value components and then progressing to higher-value ones or basic assembly. But just as technology spurred globalization and the shifts in international trade that followed, so, too, will it revolutionize how countries again do business with one another. Compounded by the economic and demographic changes taking place today, automation, advanced robotics and software-driven technologies are ushering in a new era — one of...

Interesting, I am 77 years old, born and raised without parents. All my adult life I have been trying to get a birth certificate. Finally, 4 years ago I managed to get my delayed birth certificate. When I tried to get a passport card to go on a short cruise to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary I was told I cannot get one unless I have someone who can attest to my birth that was there. At my age, good luck on someone who is still alive. This is what is happening to our freedom. Paperwork upon paperwork just to...

Andrew Cash, a former student at Missouri State University, is suing the institution over his dismissal from a graduate program in counseling. Cash has retained counsel from the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm, and has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Governors of Missouri State University. Cash and his lawyers contend that he was dismissed from the university’s Master’s program in counseling because he expressed concern over counseling same-sex couples due to his religious convictions. In an exclusive interview, Spero News interviewed attorney Tom Olp of the Thomas More Society, which is representing Cash....

One of the predominant themes of the 2016 presidential campaign thus far — and one that is unlikely to lose significance once the primaries give way to the general election — is the American people’s exasperation with a political system they see as corrupt, self-serving, disingenuous and out of touch. Advertisement Advertisement It is not an especially partisan or ideological sentiment; you can just as easily find it among supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders as among fans of Donald Trump. You can even find those who support paragons of the status quo, like Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush, making similar...

Ted Cruz is continuing to consolidate support from among many of his primary rivals. Recently, as leader Ben Carson has seen a virtual implosion within his campaign, and with his poll numbers in a freefall, Cruz has surged into the lead in Iowa, and is in a solid second place nationally as well as in South Carolina, Florida, Nevada and Georgia. Cruz's surge is largely based on picking up the support of Carson voters, especially evangelical voters who are leaving Carson for Cruz in large numbers. But Cruz is also seeing support come his way from the "Liberty" movement. Steve...

"Chatting" with a FB friend and discussing the 2nd. Send me to wikipedia for a quick view and noticed the following: "There are actually two different versions: As passed by the Congress and preserved in the National Archives, with the rest of the original hand-written copy of the Bill of Rights prepared by scribe William Lambert:[29] (p) A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, then-Secretary of State:[30] A well regulated...

In 35 years time -- time enough for several presidents, more than a few changes in the control of Congress, and a few dozen new seasons of "House of Cards" -- America will look different. Not entirely different of course, but, as we've noted in the past, its demographics will have shifted enough to be noticeable. And with the release of new projections from Pew Research tracking how religious beliefs are expected to evolve, we now have a fuller picture of how America will have changed by the time today's toddlers are stalking Capitol Hill. Even if we don't necessarily...

Did you listen to Jeb Bush make his announcement yesterday? Did you hear loud cheers from a crowd that seemed excited at the prospect that there could be another Bush as President? Was I the only one confused? I don’t know one person who doesn’t threaten to leave the Country if it’s Bush vs Clinton for President again. Can’t imagine folks actually excited and cheering for Jeb. It got me wondering, would someone like Jeb, or another candidate that’s been struggling like he has, hire a crowd? Pay people to attend their rallies to make them seem like their gaining...

A white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting an unarmed black man in the back while he was trying to run away, reports the Charleston Post and Courier. The two had been involved in a scuffle. The man, 50-year-old Walter Scott, died Saturday after Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager, 33, shot at him eight times, though it is not immediately clear how many shots hit him. Scott had been stopped for a broken tail light, and he ran from police “because he owed child support,” said his family,...