Free Republic

 All that's necessary to assure our compliance is shaming us into silence.  Our best hope for substantial political change in the past generation was Sarah Palin. When she self-imploded during her Iowa Freedom Summit address last January, what we saw was, not just a personal failure of nerve, but the sure-thing, efficient result, the calculated application of ridicule as one of the key techniques of thought reform. The more one examines this field of study, the more pessimistic one becomes about the prospect for any meaningful resurgence of American democratic republicanism. When Sarah jumped the shark, she was showing understandable...

President Barack Obama got four mayors to fully endorse his nationwide program to “build welcoming communities” for millions of “new Americans” and roll out the red carpet. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed — who recently made headlines for terminating his city’s fire chief over a Christian book that described homosexual behavior as sin — signed on late last month to join three other mayors of major American cities: Los Angeles’ Eric Garcetti, Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel and Nashville’s Karl Dean. Reed’s message to the millions of refugees and immigrants entering the country: Come to Atlanta. “Reed became the nation’s fourth mayor to...

Hunger Games’ actress Amandla Stenberg is upset with Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and other celebrities for their (mis)appropriation of black culture. Click inside to WATCH. Amandla Stenberg, 16, recorded a video for her friends, classmates, and the world that sends a powerful message about how black culture has gone mainstream without actually being accepted by others. In the video, she calls out Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry for being white musicians who adopting parts of black culture to be “edgy” and “gain attention.” Amandla Stenberg Slams Miley Cyrus For Using Black Women As ‘Props’ You might remember Amandla...

In Seattle, wasting food will now earn you a scarlet letter — well, a scarlet tag, to be more accurate. The bright red tag, posted on a garbage bin, tells everyone who sees it that you've violated a new city law that makes it illegal to put food into trash cans. "I'm sure neighbors are going to see these on their other neighbors' cans," says Rodney Watkins, a lead driver for Recology CleanScapes, a waste contractor for the city. He's on the front lines of enforcing these rules. Seattle is the first city in the nation to fine homeowners for...

Sure, the incentive to compost is the putative reason for this regulation, but exactly how is it enforced? In order for city officials and trash collectors to know you have committed the civic sin of disposing of leftover food in your trashcan, they have to examine the contents of your trashcan. Let’s hope the citizens of Seattle and trash collectors can come to some kind of silent truce over this. Do they collectors really want to examine every load they dump into the truck for transgressions? (Lord help us, the city probably offers a bonus of taxpayer money for tagging...

It has become taboo to “shame” anybody for violating basic norms—including sexual deviance, poor manners, or even violent behavior. (Of course, that has not prohibited shaming that is deemed politically correct. It’s perfectly fine to make a public display of spurning racists or people who think men and women are, in fact, different. That’s called “enlightened” humiliation.) In short, progressivism has won the PR war. So why the constant yammering on social justice? My only guess is that leftism’s bitter warriors will not halt until all advantages are vanquished from society. Screeds decrying racism, prejudice, sexism, ableism, and all of...

GRANITE STATERS are rightly frustrated and fed up with the current gridlock in Washington that has resulted in a government shutdown that is hurting families and small businesses. We share that frustration - and we know that our country deserves better from their elected representatives. That's why we're calling on Republicans and Democrats to come to the table now, work out a plan to reopen the government, and develop a long-term deficit reduction plan that will move us beyond this impasse. Too many in Washington are wasting time and energy finger-pointing and playing the blame game instead of working together...

A seaside town in Australia is in uproar over the punishment a mother has handed out to her young son, making him wear a sign in public saying he's a thief. 'Do not trust me. I will steal from you as I am a thief,' the sign around his neck read as he stood in a park in the Queensland town of Townsville. He remained standing with his head lowered in shame while his family ate lunch nearby. But his humiliation did not end there - he was made to wear Shrek ears and was also seen writing lines, believed...

"When they cut off my nose and ears, I passed out," 19-year-old Bibi Aisha of Afghanistan says with chilling candor. Her beauty is still stunning and her confidence inspiring. It takes a moment for the barbaric act committed against her to register in your mind and sight. "When you have ... 50 percent of a population on their knees, it's very easy for extremists, tyrants to take over a country," she adds. "They have a ready-made enslaved population."