Free Republic

Much of the criticism of Education Secretary Arne Duncan's recent remarks -- that "white suburban moms" dislike Common Core because the new standards are revealing their kids as academic laggards -- has focused on the "white suburban moms" part. It's true that, if a Republican uttered anything along those lines about any group of females, the words would be lumped into the faux "war on women" Democrats dreamed up last year. And Duncan's non-apology apology simply indicated he wished he'd found a less controversial way to ding the same group of people. But I've not seen anyone point out that,...

There’s a neat trick the Left has. When you do something stupid and vile, make it so stupid and vile that it makes people uncomfortable to even repeat what you’ve done in order to call you on it. Ted Kennedy is a perfect example. It’s so horrible to leave a woman to drown in a car you drunkenly wrecked while you stagger home to save your political career that even repeating the charge gives everyone an icky feeling. Opposition to born alive infant protection laws is another one. It’s so horrible to oppose a law that would require treatment for...

<p>"Go to the dictionary, & look up the 'C' word, … next 2 the definition … you’ll see a pic of Sarah Palin! No … wait … she’s under dumb C word," the singer tweeted.</p> <p>Cher was taking heat from right-wing media on Monday after she presumably called Sarah Palin a "dumb c---" and members of the Tea Party "jihadists."</p>

There’s something about strong, powerful women advocating for better gun laws that really brings out the misogyny in the pro-gun movement. And with the emergence of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, pro-gunners are frothing at the mouth like never before. In a matter of weeks, Moms Demand Action blossomed into a national grassroots organization with chapters in all 50 states. That has earned Shannon and her group the enmity of pro-gun activists everywhere, as the following emails will attest to… “Have you ever heard of the 2nd amendment? what the hell is the matter with you people?...

MSNBC’s Martin Bashir on Friday closed his show with likely the most disgraceful rant against former Alaska governor Sarah Palin you’ve ever heard. Besides calling her “America’s resident dunce” and claiming she has a “deceased mind,” Bashir suggested that someone should defecate in her mouth and urinate in her eyes (video follows with transcript and commentary, vulgarity warning): MARTIN BASHIR: It's time now to clear the air. And we end this week in the way it began - with America’s resident dunce, Sarah Palin, scraping the barrel of her long deceased mind, and using her all-time favorite analogy in an...

<p>A sexually suggestive advertising campaign in support of Colorado's health insurance exchange is taking heat, after the latest ad featured a woman boasting about her birth control while wondering how to get her man "between the covers."</p> <p>The ad, by ProgressNow Colorado and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, is being hammered as demeaning to women. It follows a prior ad from the same campaign featuring young men doing keg stands, under the banner "Got Insurance?"</p>

Americans prefer to work for male bosses instead of female bosses, according to Gallup, whose survey also showed that at least 40% of women prefer a male boss. In the survey, which Gallup has conducted since 1953, adults 18 and older were asked, “Suppose you were taking a new job and had your choice of a boss. Would you prefer to work for a man or a woman?” The results showed that 35% prefer a male boss while only 23% prefer a female boss. Another 41% were indifferent. But both men and women prefer to work for a man. …

The situation for women has worsened in Egypt since the 2011 revolution, while Iraqi women now suffer greater violence and discrimination than under Saddam Hussein. Egypt is the worst country in the Arab world to be a woman, according to a poll of gender experts which found high levels of sexual harassment and female genital mutilation as well as an increase in violence and Islamist sentiment following the 2011 revolution. Hopes that the Arab Spring would improve the lot of women in Egypt have not only been confounded, their situation has in fact worsened ... Syria has in the past...

Virginia Republicans may have a strong candidate for the 2014 US Senate seat in Ken Cuccinelli. As reported in the Daily Caller, conservative writer and Congressional candidate Quin Hillyer gives voice to a movement to draft Ken to run against incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Mark Warner. Yet it would be a problem for the 2013 campaigner Ken Cuccinelli to run for U.S. Senate, from what we saw in Ken's unsuccessful campaign for governor. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ken Cuccinelli as a potential senator. Yet Ken will fail badly unless he fires his 2013 campaign strategists, consultants, and leaders,...

Hardly a commercial break went by in October when Virginia voters weren’t reminded of Ken Cuccinelli’s far-right views on abortion and other social issues. How much of a difference the deluge ultimately made after Cuccinelli’s surprisingly narrow loss against Democrat Terry McAuliffe is open for debate. What isn’t in dispute is that Democrats and women’s groups believe their “war on women” playbook worked. And they have every intention of using it again in 2014,

American women participating in the nation’s labor force hit a new low at a rate of 56.9 percent in October, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Additionally, the number of women holding jobs declined by 357,000 from September to October, and the unemployment rate increased for women from 6.7 percent to 6.9 percent. …

The office of the Colorado Governor’s office, headed by Democrat John Hickenlooper, may be on the brink of a major scandal involving attempts to release a Saudi prisoner. Homaidan al-Turki was convicted in 2006 for keeping a sex slave locked up in his residence. He repeatedly molested her over a period of years. You might remember that earlier this year, the Executive Director for Colorado’s prisons, Tom Clements, denied a request to release al-Turki and have him sent back to Saudi Arabia. Eight days later, Clements was shot dead shortly after opening his front door on March 19, 2013. ......

How does a Democratic fund-raiser from the Clinton era manage to turn scandal into triumph? How does a former head of the Democratic Party whose character is more than a little questionable manage to turn his background into a stint living in the Governor's Mansion in Virginia? That's easy. All you have to do is accuse your opponent of waging a war on women. Never mind if it's the truth. Just spend millions of money telling the lie and it becomes the truth for a lot of people. Just ask Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli. Even though Cuccinelli closed the...

“My rights have been taken away, and I want my constitutional rights restored.” Marni Evans and her fiancé John Lockhart give a startling interview to Texas Tribune, which you can watch below, in which they assert that the enforcement of the Texas pro-life law which requires doctors to have hospital admitting privileges in order to perform an abortion a violation of their rights as citizens. Marni explains in the video how they discovered they were pregnant and examined their position to have a baby: their income which wasn’t always steady, their ability to provide a loving home and committed family,...

BOSTON (CBS) – An easy method of family planning, with no big surgery or pills to remember, is becoming a concern for a growing number of women. They say Essure, tiny coils implanted in the fallopian tubes, are causing horrific side effects. “Basically every single day it felt like my ovaries were getting stabbed,” said Jessica LaVallie of Palmer. Kendra Kilroy of Quincy said she had severe pains that were debilitating, and Marie Larsen of Holliston said she suffered with back pain, hip pain, and memory loss. Melanie Goshgarian of Burlington now believes she suffers from an allergy to nickel...

For nearly three years after I had an abortion at 6 weeks gestation in February 2009, I had a strong desire to return to the abortion clinic to obtain my records. I hoped to find out something, anything, I could about my first baby, though I honestly don’t know what I thought I would find. I just knew I needed to go. At times, it felt as if this child didn’t really exist because I had nothing tangible declaring he did. What I hoped more than anything else was that they would have an ultrasound photo on record. I remember...

Ellmers: But men are required to purchase maternity coverage. Sebelius: Well, an insurance policy has a series of benefits whether you use them or not… Ellmers: And that is why health care premiums are increasing, because we are forcing them to buy things that they will never need. Thank you. Sebelius: The individual policies cover families. Men often do need maternity care for their spouses and for their families, yes. Ellmers: A single male, aged 32, does need maternity coverage. To the best of your knowledge, has a man ever delivered a baby?

Authorities warn women against joining a driving campaign on Saturday. ... the scholars from Saudi Arabia said they were vehemently opposed to any decision to permit women to drive cars amidst intense female campaigns to have a permanent ban on their driving lifted. The statement was issued just before the Ministry of Interior announced that it would not allow women to take to the streets and drive ... “There is no doubt that a decision to allow women to drive is the shortest way for them to take off their face veil so they can see the road more clearly...

(CNSNews.com) - American women participated in the nation’s labor force in September at a rate that matched the lowest level in 24 years, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the number of women actually holding jobs declined by 154,000 from August to September. Because the number of women participating in the labor force declined in September, the drop in the number of women who were actually employed did not cause an increase in the unemployment rate for women. In fact, even though 154,000 fewer women worked in August than September, the...

The nomination of Janet Yellen to become head of the Federal Reserve System has set off a flurry of media stories. Since she will be the first woman to occupy that position, we can only hope that this will not mean that any criticism of what she does will be attributed to sex bias or to a "war on women." The Federal Reserve has become such a major player in the American economy that it needs far more scrutiny and criticism than it has received, regardless of who heads it. Ms. Yellen, a former professor of economics at Berkeley, has...