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There are a few movie scenes guaranteed to put a lump in my throat every time. Near the top of the list is the end of "Saving Private Ryan," Steven Spielberg's World War II masterpiece. Earlier, in a climactic battle scene, a dying Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) tells Pvt. Ryan (Matt Damon) to "earn this, earn it." Translation: Live a life worthy of the sacrifice so many made for you. In the final scene, decades later, an elderly Ryan visits Miller's grave in Normandy, France, and tells the headstone that he's remembered Miller's plea every day since. "I hope that...

Alan Simpson will speak today at George H. Bush’s tribute. His speech will be likely heart felt and perhaps sometimes light-hearted. Here are some of his funnier lines from the past._____________ “I watch Republicans, they give each other the saliva test of purity, and then they lose and they bitch for four years.” — — On the need for a socially tolerant, big tent Republican Party, in a Feb. 2012 interview with CBS’s Bob Schieffer. “[Social Security is] a milk cow with 310 million tits.” — in an August 2010 email, which he later apologized for. “If this had happened...

I first met the man who would become America's 41st president in 1968. He was a Houston congressman and I was a young reporter for a local TV and radio station. My first impression was how kind he was to this "kid," who had just moved to Texas from the Washington, D.C., area and was just starting to learn the "language," like "fixing to go" and "y'all." Everyone who worked for George H.W. Bush, or knew him, has a story to tell. I have several. Mr. Bush was a letter writer like none other. I think I have an almost...

Never forget

Carter also said an additional statement Trump issued under fire is “still not as enthusiastic as it should be.” Jimmy Carter remains unimpressed with President Donald Trump’s belated effort to take note of and honor the late Sen. John McCain’s service to the U.S. In fact, the 93-year-old former president characterized it as “at best adequate.” Carter spoke with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday about Trump’s responses after McCain ― who endured torture as a POW during the Vietnam war, served more than 45 years in Congress and was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee ― died at his home in...

Since the news broke of Sen. John McCain’s passing on Saturday night, tributes to the man, and his full life of public service, have been rolling in from all corners of the political spectrum. In testament to the respect he commanded even from his political opponents, two former rivals in presidential contests—Barack Obama and George W. Bush—will be among those to eulogize the senator at a service in his honor.While those who knew him better and shared the heavy burdens of leadership with him will speak for the country, I feel compelled to add this small token of gratitude for...

America loses its greatest scholar of Russia and communism. The most respected academic authority on the Russian Revolution, 20thcentury communism, and the Cold War has died. He was Richard Pipes, longtime professor of Russian history at Harvard, and a remarkable man. Where to start with an adequate tribute to Professor Pipes? I’ll start with some biographical observations and then finish with personal reflections. Richard Pipes was born in Poland on July 11, 1923. As a 16-year-old Jew at the time of Hitler’s invasion, Pipes mercifully escaped, thanks to a clever and shrewd father. He credited not only his father but...

At long last, have they left no sense of decency? White House official Kelly Sadler, during a meeting Thursday, had this to say about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for opposing President Trump’s CIA nominee over her failure to condemn torture: “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.”

Billy Graham has often said, “Whether the story of Christ is told in a huge stadium, across the desk of a powerful leader, or shared with a golfing companion, it satisfies a common hunger. All over the world, whenever I meet people face-to-face, I am made aware of this personal need among the famous and successful, as well as the lonely and obscure.” Every U.S. President since World War II has met with Billy Graham. Both Johnson and Nixon, the two who probably sought him the most, offered him high positions in government — which he quickly and politely refused....

President Donald Trump paid tribute to iconic Christian evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, who passed away Wednesday at age 99 at his home in Montreat, N.C. Trump took to Twitter to call Graham a great and very special man who will be missed by people of all faiths. The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018 Graham, whose worldwide crusades and role as adviser to decades of U.S. presidents made him one of the best known religious...

Fifty years ago, in the wake of the hard-fought 1968 presidential election, the nation faced what many assumed would be a turbulent transition. But it did not turn out that way. Whatever happened later, the country moved from what had been one of the most divisive campaigns in our history, to a comparatively calm and remarkably orderly (considering the times) transfer of power. This was due, in large part, to the combined and concerted efforts of two savvy politicians and a preacher. His name is Billy Graham, and he was born just four days before the guns fell silent ending...

I have an important announcement of interest to long-time FReepers: FReeper GladesGuru, ecologist, and private property advocate, has died from complications due to prostate cancer. He was 75. Jan (pronounced “Yan”) Jacobson was a man of acerbic wit who could cut to the bottom line with a merciless precision. Pity the bureaucrat or academic peddling questionable “facts” under his scrutiny. His passion was wildlife biology and its relation to habitat. For over thirty years, he was Director of the Everglades Institute, a private parcel within the Big Cypress National Preserve, immediately adjacent to Everglades National Park. The parcel is unusual...

WASHINGTON -- My friend and colleague Donald Rieck, president of The American Spectator Foundation, died late last week in an automobile accident. He leaves two charming and very young children. He also leaves many friends throughout the conservative movement and shocked colleagues at The American Spectator. He was 50 years old. Don was, as Roger Kaplan chronicled in his Spectator obituary: "A force to be reckoned with. Burly, direct, always busy, he was the kind of man who let you know he wanted whatever he asked for yesterday, even if he had not mentioned it to you yet, and yet...

The greatest command, said Jesus, is that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Sometimes missing today among many professing Christians is the emphasis on the mind.A great evangelical theologian died December 14, 2017, R. C. Sproul (rhymes with role), the founder of Ligonier Ministries. And I think he exemplifies the notion of loving God with our mind, as well as our other faculties. Even his radio program was called “Renewing Your Mind with R. C. Sproul.”Sometimes one gets the impression that the more religious you are, the less likely you are to be educated. But...

Fans booed New Orleans Saints players who knelt before the presentation of the American flag and the singing of the national anthem Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The boos rang down during a moment of silence for fallen NOPD officer Marcus McNeil, who was killed in the line of duty Friday. The fans cheered when the players stood before the anthem, which was performed by former Saintsation Deri Tucker. Sunday's game vs. the Lions was the Saints' first at the Dome since President Trump weighed in on protesting NFL players during a campaign rally in Alabama last month. Officer Marcus...

An emotional Eric Church broke down in tears while preforming a brand new song at the Grand Ole Opry, in honor of the victims of the Las Vegas massacre this past weekend.Church preformed last Friday night at the same Harvest Music Festival that deranged gunman Stephen Paddock targeted on Sunday night, killing 59 people and wounding hundreds. “That night something broke in me,” said Church, “And the only way I’ve ever fixed anything that’s been broken in me is with music.” Church describes in detail his concert on Friday night. Towards the end of the concert, he walked around the...

Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton says he will not participate in a moment of silence on the House floor after 50 people were killed in Las Vegas and more than 400 others were sent to area hospitals in the deadliest mass shooting in American history. The Democratic congressman, along with his Bay State colleague Katherine Clark, also did not participate in a moment of silence after a mass shooting in Orlando claimed the lives of 49 people in June 2016. The two joined other Democratic representatives to walk out on the moment of silence in a protest over a lack...

When the Classic West and East, two two-day concerts in Los Angeles and New York headlined by the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, were announced earlier this year, comparisons to last year’s wildly successful Desert Trip were immediate and inevitable. Like that once in a lifetime bill bringing together six iconic acts of one era, Classic West and East featured six bands from one era, in this case the ‘70s, joining together for a special bill. That is really where the comparisons end though. Unlike Desert Trip, which was much more about the event, night one of Classic West, held at...

At precisely 7:30PM Eastern time on Wednesday, January 12, 1966, “Commissioner Gordon” (onetime Saturday matinee idol Neil Hamilton)—surrounded by uniformed Gotham City police and elected officials—carefully lifted the plexiglass cover off a glowing red telephone in his office. Looking around the room, he solemnly declared: “I don’t know who he is behind that mask of his. But I do know when we need him. And we need him…now!” Of course the person on the other end of that call on the Batphone was actor Adam West, about to step into television history as star of the iconic 1960’s series Batman....

Facebook users around the UK - and the world - are showing their solidarity with the people of Manchester by updating their profile picture. The site is encouraging users of the social media site to add a Union flag in the shape of a heart with the word 'Manchester' on the bottom.