Free Republic

President Obama didn’t change anybody’s mind on the state of the economy during his 2016 State of the Union speech. But he did clarify who the winners and losers are. And whether you’re an economic winner or loser determines whether you’re upbeat or gloomy about the nation’s future. Obama flatly rejected doomsayers such as Donald Trump when he declared that “America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world…. Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction.” Is Obama right? Yes and no. On a statistical basis, yes, the U.S. economy is growing faster...

On March 15, 1994, a virtual tsunami struck the Liturgy of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Antonio Ortas wrote a document to the Episcopal conferences announcing that the Vatican had, for the first time, permitted altar girls. Over 20 years later, many question the impact of this decision as the Church continues to reap a desperately meager harvest of young men responding to God’s call to the Priesthood.Born in 1997, I was blissfully unaware of the damage being wrought in the Eternal City. By the grace of God I was destined to remain ignorant of the fact for many years. Thinking...

After reading this howler from the Conference for Women’s Ordination or COW … no… that’s not it… the Women’s Ordination Conference or WOC…. whatever… take note (below) of our WDTPRS ACTION ALERT!I’ll bet this comes from WOC’s Ministry of Irritation. I am not making that up. Really. Ministry of Irritation. Women’s Ordination Conference [WOC!] Decries Ban on Altar Girls in Phoenix DioceseFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 22, 2011Contact: Erin Saiz Hanna, 202 675-1006, woc@womensordination.orgWomen’s Ordination Conference Decries [A high dudgeon word if ever there was one.] Ban on Altar Girls in Pheonix Diocese [No... really. Pheonix, who was, I believe both...

When staffers at the National Endowment for Democracy opened a letter asking about their programs in Venezuela last year, they never expected their response to trigger the persecution of democratic activists in that troubled country. Yet that's exactly what has happened, as Latin America's most ambitious strongman, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, has joined forces with American leftists to crack down on grassroots organizations that merely seek to promote free elections. The story begins with Jeremy Bigwood, a self-described journalist with a history of left-wing activism in Central America. He wanted to take a look at just about every scrap of...