Free Republic

To understand television host Mike Rowe, consider his grandfather. In the undated photo of Carl Milton Knobel, he is standing in what appears to be his backyard. Dressed in a dapper suit and wool overcoat, he is looking at whoever is holding the camera with affection. Everything about him emotes dignity and grace but also joy and anticipation, as if someone knew this was the moment to capture all of who he was, for posterity's sake. Knobel was a father of two daughters, the grandfather of five grandsons, and the great-grandfather of four when he passed in 2003 at the...

What words can one use that could possibly describe the way so many felt that day 21 years ago. We all remember where we were, unless you were too young to remember. Me? I was taking a shower when my phone rang. My coworker asked if I saw what happened. Well, I never finished my shower. I rinsed off and sat on the edge of the bed with my wife watching in quiet anger and disbelief and hurt all at the same time. Well, this is my tribute, I took it from my profile page. I edited it somewhat to...

The fondness that former President Barack Obama had for Queen Elizabeth II, and vice versa, was the stuff of political legend. The former president and the late monarch first met in 2009. According to royal author, Tom Quinn, the encounter resulted in the queen developing "a soft spot for Americans ... she completely fell in love with [him], so much so that she has frequently asked her courtiers if they could arrange for him to come to Britain now he is no longer president," per Insider. Following the heartbreaking news of Queen Elizabeth's death, the former president penned an eloquent...

President Biden will join a star-studded group of entertainers to honor Betty White as part of a prime-time TV special. The commander in chief will appear on NBC’s “Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl,” on Monday at 10 p.m., the network announced Thursday.

President Biden on Friday paid tribute to Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier after news of his death, recognizing him as a trailblazer who “changed the way America saw itself.” “With unflinching grandeur and poise — his singular warmth, depth, and stature on-screen — Sidney helped open the hearts of millions and changed the way America saw itself,” Biden said in a statement. “The son of tomato farmers in the Bahamas, Sidney became the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor — but the trail he blazed extended leaps and bounds beyond his background or profession. He blazed...

President Biden on Thursday laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and commemorated Veterans Day with a speech hailing the “unrelenting bravery and dedication” of America’s service members, including his late son Beau and the recently deceased Colin Powell and former Sen. Max Cleland. On the 100th anniversary of the tomb’s dedication, Biden spoke of his friendships with Powell and Cleland and how his own family understood the experience of veterans through his late son’s deployments.

President Biden remembered former Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who died Thursday, as “one of the most honorable and decent people” the president said he has ever known. Biden called Levin “brilliant, humble, and principled” in a statement Friday. The two served in the Senate together for 30 years. Levin died Thursday at the age of 87. He retired in 2015 after more than three decades in the Senate and was the longest-serving senator in Michigan history.

Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama paid tribute to George Floyd on the one-year anniversary of his death, urging Americans to turn action into “meaningful reform” and concluding that the last year — which saw a wave of violent protests and riots resulting in injured police officers and damaged businesses — has “given us reasons to hope.” “George Floyd was murdered one year ago today. Since then, hundreds more Americans have died in encounters with police—parents, sons, daughters, friends taken from us far too soon,” the former president said Tuesday. “But the last year has also...

Hour long tribute to Rush Limbaugh.A Tribute to Radio's Greatest of All Time - Rush Hudson Limbaugh III

CPAC 2021 Rush Limbaugh tribute

Jacksonville Jaguars player Tyler Eifert will reportedly honor former St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn, who was murdered during riots a little over a week after George Floyd’s death. Eifert will pay tribute to Dorn by displaying his name on his helmet, according to Hamilton County, Ohio, Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou. “Got some very good news from former @Bengals player/current @Jaguars player @tylereifert that he will honor fallen police officer David Dorn on his helmet,” Triantafilou tweeted. “Always been a fan of Tyler’s and God bless him!”

FRANK GAFFNEY, Executive Chairman of the Center for Security Policy, host of Secure Freedom Radio: Remembering the legacy of Philip Haney Philip's lasting impact on the national security community JOHN GUANDOLO, President and Founder of Understandingthethreat.com, Veteran of Desert Storm, Former commanding officer of an FBI SWAT team, Designated “Subject Matter Expert” by FBI Headquarters and created and implemented the FBI’s first Counterterrorism Training program focused on the Muslim Brotherhood and the global Islamic movement, Author of new book, Islam’s Deception: The Truth About Sharia: John and Philip's discovery of a Jihadist network within the United States How Philip was...

I am uniquely blessed to be Rush Limbaugh's brother in ways too numerous to count, and I am blessed to be in the special position of witnessing firsthand the outpouring of love and prayers from his, family, friends and fans. His wife, Kathryn, has been amazing and a rock throughout. I could fill a book with the well-wishes I've received. I sent Rush a link to my "mentions" column on Twitter so he could scroll through it and see for himself what he means to so many people. These tender expressions of goodwill are uplifting and spiritually affirming. God...

When President Donald Trump bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on ailing right-wing, talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh at the State of the Union, it wasn’t just a feel-good moment for his conservative base. It was also a gesture of thanks to a (fellow) media personality who helped set the stage for Trump’s astonishing political success. Limbaugh’s brash and boorish persona, and his belief that white, male cultural centrality is, to quote the title of Limbaugh's first book, “the way things ought to be," paved the way for the political rise of the bombastic media performer currently sitting in the...

Washington -- This past Sunday brought the news to the front pages of our leading newspapers of the passing of shock jock Don Imus. Comparatively speaking, it was happy news. At least, it was happy news compared with the news that otherwise adorns the front pages of The Washington Post and The New York Times and is then repeated and repeated in the newspapers' interior pages. Most of the stories these dolorous journalists cover are stories of squalor, grief, travail and out-and-out evil. Do you doubt me? See how many cheerful stories you can find either on the front pages...

Great dedicated USMC song and video.Happy Birthday U.S. Marines!Semper Fi!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIVTZ5JQaR8&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0d0GWu9_2XAWPbaBWYk7YmiDwnjWs8iay9DrP5p9g120dtkX39Dr9ep_o  

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will formally unveil a statue of former President Reagan in Berlin, 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell in the city. During his visit in Germany, Pompeo will reveal the statue of Reagan at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, according to a Facebook post from the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The statue will overlook the location where the president gave his speech calling for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall. Pompeo will inaugurate the statue on Friday, the day before the 30th anniversary of the momentous...

My brother Kirk Randolph Elder died suddenly and unexpectedly 16 days before his 70th birthday. He and Tresta, his wife of 41 years, had planned a trip to Hawaii, where they were going to celebrate Kirk’s birthday. Kirk was a retired supervisor at an oil refinery, and we were extremely close. He started coming on my radio show about four years ago, reluctantly at first. We’d discuss politics, culture and sports. A registered Democrat, he and I often disagreed. Yet, week after week, I received letters from listeners who called him their “favorite Democrat.” Kirk always showed respect for Republicans...

WASHINGTON -- David Koch, one of the two celebrated Koch brothers known to millions of Americans who follow the news, passed away last Friday. He was 79. Now there is only one Koch brother to appear in the news. Yet the name Koch will be around for years. One sees the name frequently when business is being discussed, in discussions of the arts, in discussions of politics, particularly libertarian politics. Does anyone stop to wonder why the name Koch appears so frequently in the news? Well, I have had some experience with the Kochs, and I have an insight into...

Most people plod through life, having an impact on their family and friends, but not much on the rest of humanity. Rulers and despots can impact most everyone’s life, as can those who are responsible for great scientific or engineering breakthroughs. Some musicians and athletes bring pleasure to millions. In other fields, such as economics, it is hard to identify individuals who created much in the way of pleasure or pain, or even directly useful knowledge for his or her fellow man. President Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to economist Arthur B. Laffer, the...