Free Republic

To Celebrate Black History Month, Congressman West took to the House Floor with a remarkable speech on the relationship between African-Americans and the Republican party...

Founding fathers rolling over in their graves in 3..2..1..

Americans seem to have become accustomed to the casual use of the “F” word, with celebrities tracking, proudly, the number of times they “drop the “f” bomb” in public. The frequent use of the “f” word has coarsened our public discourse. But, many of our most emblematic American values, the very characteristics that shape our national character and contribute to American exceptionalism, have been given a bad rep by liberals because they, too, are “F” words. Freedom from an overly intrusive government that thinks that only government knows what is best for Americans. Democrats prefer to support over-expansive government intrusiveness...

Some blacks insist: 'I'm not African-American'By JESSE WASHINGTON | Associated Press – 21 hrs ago The labels used to describe Americans of African descent mark the movement of a people from the slave house to the White House. Today, many are resisting this progression by holding on to a name from the past: "black." For this group — some descended from U.S. slaves, some immigrants with a separate history — "African-American" is not the sign of progress hailed when the term was popularized in the late 1980s. Instead, it's a misleading connection to a distant culture. The debate has waxed...

Last night, Barack Obama distracted the nation's attention with a rousing, campaign speech dressed up as a State of the Union address. On domestic affairs, the President's Animal Farm-like attempts at saying black is white and night is day were wasted. The true nature of the Archangel Barack's politics and his vision for America have been clear for some time. As Hugh Hewitt blogged recently, "[t]he country knows." No one's fooled -- except, perhaps, for some of Mr. Obama's own partisans. But what is the Obama Administration's actual foreign policy? Well, as with President's "stealth" Marxism, he's not coming clean...

The Senate confirmed McFaul as ambassador on December 17, 2011. Transcript below. NPR: Let's say Vladimir Putin wins the election in March and remains in power in Russia. Where are we in these countries, I mean in this evolution towards democracy you describe? MCFAUL: We're, you know, two decades in. I'm not going to give grades about, oh, how democratic or not it is, but most certainly this system is not the totalitarian dictatorship of the Soviet Union. Let's be very clear about that. Individual rights have progressed far. Choice is greater than it was before. And maybe not as...

Abortion is now one of America’s most common surgical procedures performed on adults. As many as one out of three women will have at least one abortion. In some American neighborhoods, the number of abortions far exceeds the number of live births. Most Americans will pay little attention to the 39th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision. In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to arrange the killing of the unborn life within her. Since that decision was handed down, more than 50 million babies have been aborted,...

January 17, 2012 The case for American exceptionalism Mark Levin defends constitutionalism in new book

January is the birthday month of War Between the States Generals; James Longstreet born on January 8, 1821, Thomas Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson born on January 21, 1824, George Pickett born on January 28, 1825 and Thursday, January 19, 2012, is the 205th birthday of General Robert E. Lee.

Seattle, WA—Finding a panel dissecting the idea of American Exceptionalism at the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual gathering of English professors is not akin to locating a needle in a haystack. What made this one special, or, if you will, exceptional, was the fact that it was presided over by an instructor from the United States Air Force Academy. Led or cheer-led would probably be a better verb. “American exceptionalism is a form of cultural narcissism,” Wilson N. Brissett, who teaches at the academy, told an appreciative crowd at the MLA. “Belief in grandiosity, paranoia and focus on self are...

American exceptionalism is not just something that Americans claim for themselves. Historically, Americans have been seen as different, even peculiar, to people around the world.1 I am thinking of qualities such as American industriousness—not just hard work, but the way that Americans have treated their work and their efforts to get ahead in life as a central expression of who they are. There is American neighborliness. Many cultures have traditions of generous hospitality to guests, but widespread voluntary mutual assistance among unrelated people who happen to live alongside each other has been rare. In the United States, it has been...

China REQUIRES all foreign investors to give up their technology to them for the "right" to build goods there. Obama-seized GM can deny it till the cows come home, but it's still a lie. Dismantling America, chunk by chunk, piece by piece. Anybody see the tyrant-in-chief's body language, facial expressions and hand gestures, not to mention his words, at his Ohio press conference today? He simply can't hide his hatred for America. The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America -- read it. GM deal moves electric car development to China -- a 'shakedown'? USA Today (hat tip Van)...

Thursday, January 19, 2012, is the 205th birthday of General Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of people everywhere.

Tucson's Mexican American studies program violates state law, an Arizona administrative law judge ruled Tuesday, paving the way for the program's possible demise. Judge Lewis D. Kowal affirmed a prior decision by the state's schools chief that the Tucson Unified School District's program violates a new law prohibiting divisive ethnic-studies classes. John Huppenthal, the state superintendent of public instruction, had deemed the program in violation in June. Among other things, the law bans classes primarily designed for a particular ethnic group or that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people."

Iran to Family of American 'Spy': Keep QuietBy LEE FERRAN Dec. 20, 2011 The family of Amir Hekmati, the Arizona-born ex-Marine currently held in Iran accused of being a CIA spy, said today the Iranian government told them to "remain silent" about Hekmati's arrest should they want him released. "The Iranian government detained Amir on Aug. 29, 2011 without any charges, and urged our family to remain silent with the promise of an eventual release," the family of the U.S.-raised veteran said in a statement. "Amir has never had any affiliation with the CIA, and these allegations are untrue. Amir's...

The US Embassy in Cairo is refusing to assist a detained American journalist according to the journalist's website. The American Embassy in Cairo, in communication with detained American journalist and Bikya Masr Editor-in-Chief Joseph Mayton, reported that they cannot help in retrieving Mayton from Egyptian military detention, citing security and diplomatic concerns.

^Check out the link if you're interested in buying Patriotic Items, personally I found this guy after searching for God Bless Our Troops bumper stickers that I couldn't find anywhere. Happy searching :)

American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., announced Tuesday that it has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The decision comes as the airline tries to "achieve a cost and debt structure that is industry competitive and thereby assure its long-term viability and ability to continue delivering a world-class travel experience for its customers," the company said in a statement Tuesday.

"HOW IT WORKS...According to ABC News (2011), "economists say that if every one of us spent an extra $3.33 on U.S.-made goods every year, it would create nearly 10,000 new jobs in this country." This statement can only be realized if there is a concentrated effort to increase Made In USA purchases, which is the primary driver beind the vision of ChooseMadeInUSA.com. CHOOSEMADEINUSA.COM is an open ecommerce marketplace allowing sellers to offer their products to buyers that are searching for Made in USA products. Click here for more information. Sellers agree to terms of sale then will upload products with...

Anita Perry, the 59-year-old wife of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, has been very actively campaigning for him on her own all fall. Now, she's taken on a new assignment. Mrs. Perry has launched an online drive to recruit hundreds of volunteers for what she calls the Perry Strike Force. This would consist of Perry fans who would travel to Iowa and work across the state Jan. 2-4, getting out Perry caucus-goers to the hundreds of meeting sites on the evening of Jan. 3. (Don't worry, the BCS Championship Game is not until Jan. 9 this time.) "With over 1,700...

They say that politics stops at the water’s edge, but apparently, that doesn’t apply to President Obama, as so many things apparently don’t. The president, jaunting around the world as America’s economy crumbles and Congress lumbers along, leaderless, dropped into a high school in Australia. Talking to the Aussie kids, he said America’s public school students have ''fallen behind'' them in math and science.(snip) While the Nobel Prize winner courts the world, looking for lost love, he holds a special disdain for the working American. Now, mind you, this from a guy who has never held down a real job:

When wearing a U.S. flag T-shirt is wrongBy Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN Contributor updated 11:16 AM EST, Fri November 18, 2011 San Diego, California (CNN) -- When is wearing a T-shirt with the American flag on it considered provocative? Answer: When you wear it to a high school with a dress code that explicitly prohibits "any clothing or decoration which detracts from the learning environment." And when the high school, where 20% of the 1,300 students are English-language learners and 18% come from low-income families, has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as having "an ethnically charged atmosphere." And...

More than one in four American women took at least one drug for conditions like anxiety and depression last year, according to an analysis of prescription data. The report, by pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc, found the use of drugs for psychiatric and behavioral disorders in all adults rose 22per cent from 2001. The medications are most often prescribed to women aged 45 and older, but their use among men and in younger adults climbed sharply. In total, more than 20per cent of American adults were found to be on at least one drug for mental health disorders....

KIEV, Ukraine — The former write-in candidate for Arizona governor traveled to Ukraine looking for love. He ended up hungry and sick in a homeless shelter — the victim of an Internet dating scam. Social workers were stunned to find Cary Dolego, 53, sitting on a city street last Wednesday, behaving strangely and suffering from pneumonia. Dolego, who ran for Arizona governor just last year, had traveled to Ukraine this spring to do research for an engineering project and look for a wife. He says he met a woman named Yulia online and, hoping to marry her, went to her...

> Source: VOA China (video stream HERE.Candidate Huntsman's (I would add, a bit easy on the eyes) daughter talking about her father's personality orientation (more Chinese than American), Huntsman droning on in Chinese bragging about his closeness to the Red Chinese, and other fun stuff, all in Chinese from VOA China (a personal profile on the guy).

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A team of suicide bombers and gunmen disguised as soldiers assaulted an African Union base in the Somali capital on Saturday, sparking a two-hour gunfight that left at least 10 people dead, security officials said. The al-Qaida-linked Islamist militant group that claimed the attack said one of the bombers was Somali-American. The attack underscored the militants' ability to carry out complex and deadly operations even after AU troops forced them from most of Mogadishu and a famine in their strongholds weakened their forces. Earlier this month, Kenya sent troops into Somalia following a string of cross-border...

I saw the grisly footage of Qaddafi’s murder on television. I had first to turn off the sound. Then, ashamed, I turned off the television. I have nothing more to say than that I am appalled that my country had anything to do with this grotesque caricature of justice. Actually, to call it a grotesque caricature of justice is to trivialize it. I have no words for it. I’m not naive and I realize that the U.S. has taken part in assassinations, killings, etc., but there is something about this that simply takes my breath away. I want nothing to...

Not since at least 1960 has the US standard of living fallen so fast for so long. The average American has $1,315 less in annual disposable income now than at the onset of the Great Recession. Think life is not as good as it used to be, at least in terms of your wallet? You'd be right about that. The standard of living for Americans has fallen longer and more steeply over the past three years than at any time since the US government began recording it five decades ago. Economic Issues Economic Crisis Financial Markets Cost of Living Recessions...

Strippers with sob stories or hookers with hearts of gold are often the way that Hollywood glamorizes the career paths of exotic dancers. One combination that you don't hear about often is the stripper turned Wall Street trader. Niki Marx, 27, is that case.

Moses J. Ezekiel was born on October 28, 1844, in Richmond, Va. He was one of fourteen children born to Jacob and Catherine de Castro Ezekiel.

Caroline Glick reports that American Jews cannot tell their friends from their enemies. According to a Gallup poll released last month, 80% of American Jews have favorable views of American Muslims. Seventy percent believe that they are not supportive of al-Qaida. These data indicate that American Jews are second only to American Muslims in their support for Muslim Americans. Indeed 6% more American Jews than American Muslims believe that American Muslims face prejudice due to their religion. American Jewish championing of American Muslims is disconcerting when compared with American Jewish treatment of the philo-Semitic Evangelical Christians. Matthew Knee discussed this...

General Lee died at his home at Lexington, Virginia at 9:30 AM on Wednesday, October 12, 1870.

Young adults are the recession's lost generation. In record numbers, they're struggling to find work, shunning long-distance moves to live with mom and dad, delaying marriage and raising kids out of wedlock, if they're becoming parents at all. The unemployment rate for them is the highest since World War II, and they risk living in poverty more than others - nearly 1 in 5. New 2010 census data released Thursday show the wrenching impact of a recession that officially ended in mid-2009. There are missed opportunities and dim prospects for a generation of mostly 20-somethings and 30-somethings coming of age...

Speaking On The Record with Greta Van Susteren last night, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio sounded none-too-pleased with the prospect of President Obama‘s American Jobs Act. “Really, the only job it’s designed to protect is his, and that’s why he’s put it out,” he surmised. According to the freshman senator, the plan is more a political move than a serious effort to create jobs. ”What the president is saying he wants to do to help create jobs in America is not going to work,” he said. As Rubio sees it, Obama’s plan goes about things mostly wrong:

“America is not broken. Washington DC is broken” – Rick Perry CHARLESTON, SC – Today in Charleston, South Carolina, before an overflowing Red State gathering of conservatives, and amid numerous interruptions for applause, Texas Governor Rick Perry made his candidacy for President of the United States official. Perry began his address by asking for a moment of silence to acknowledge the sacrifice of the Navy SEALS and Special Forces members who lost their lives in the past few weeks in Afghanistan. Perry spoke to America’s exceptionalism and place on the world stage and his belief that America’s best days are...

Few Americans needed Standard & Poor to confirm the mismanagement of the United States government and its finances. The downgrading of American credit will raise interest rates on America’s huge debt and ultimately on all Americans. Popular polls say that most Americans blame Congress—but that’s too simplistic. As much as Barack Obama would like to shift that blame onto Congress, the fault lies squarely on the shoulders of President. It is first and foremost a leadership problem that is crippling America—and the leader is President Barack Obama—not the many members of Congress. No matter how many speeches he makes, the...

God Bless this Patriot. Make her president!

Ever since CNBC’s Rick Santelli inspired the Tea Party movement’s creation in early 2009, the left has been looking for a similar spark on their own side. The earliest liberal alternative, the so-called Coffee Party, was a flop. But former Vice President Al Gore insists such a movement still needs to be invented. On Tuesday’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” Gore made an appearance on his own network, Current TV, for the second night in a row. This time it was to respond to the debt ceiling legislation agreed upon by Congress and signed into

To help American carmakers stay in business, autoworkers grudgingly gave up pay raises and some benefits four years ago. Now that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are making money again, workers want compensation for their sacrifice. Just how much they get is the central question hanging over contract talks that start this week between Detroit and one of the nation's largest and most powerful unions. The negotiations, the first since Chrysler and GM took government aid and emerged from bankruptcy, will set wages and benefits for 111,000 members of the United Auto Workers, including those at Ford, which avoided bankruptcy...

Obama's response to attack on US embassy in Damascus: He's going to file a lawsuit In an earlier post, I reported on attacks on the American and French embassies in Damascus by pro-Assad 'demonstrators.' I now have some updates on that post. The US State Department on Monday formally condemned Syria for failing to protect the US embassy complex in Damascus from a violent assault it said was encouraged by a pro-government Syrian television station. "A television station that is heavily influenced by Syrian authorities encouraged this violent demonstration," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement." So what does...

Chesterton’s Stars & Stripes June 27th, 2011 by Dr. Paul KengorG. K. Chesterton is a treasure trove of wit and wisdom. Among those unearthing all sorts of gems from Chesterton’s writings is Joseph Pearce, the brilliant British scholar at Ave Maria University in Florida. (Another who continues to do outstanding work on Chesterton is Dale Ahlquist.) Pearce recently came to Grove City College in Western Pennsylvania, where he offered an intriguing European perspective on America (click here for video). Among the Europeans that Pearce was sure to include was Chesterton—and what he said is fascinating. In my view, it’s as...

NOTE: In addition to the alarming results of the survey, Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques– where 81% of mosques in this country contained texts that advocate violent jihad– the survey presents a standard that can give law enforcement a way to monitor or potentially to predict where violent jihad may take root. The mosques surveyed contained a variety of texts, ranging from contemporary printed pamphlets and handouts to classic texts of the Islamic canon. Of these, seven Islamic texts were selected that either ‘moderately’ or ’severely’ advocated violent jihad. Nearly a decade after 9/11, Americans need more than ever...

It’s hard not to see the signs all around us that America has begun a cataclysmic downward spiral in finances and morality. It’s like watching a slow motion murderous wreck, all the while denying that it is actually occurring. I assure you, what is unfolding in the US now is all too real. It’s a reality that is about to smack Americans full frontal in the face and many will never even see it coming until it is way too late. It is hard for me to imagine how people cannot see what is happening in finances and in politics...

... Among the behaviors observed at the mosques and scored as Shari'a-adherent were: (a) women wearing the hijab (head covering) or niqab (full-length shift covering the entire female form except for the eyes); (b) gender segregation during mosque prayers; and (c) enforcement of straight prayer lines. Behaviors that were not scored as Shari'a-adherent included: (a) women wearing just a modern hijab, a scarf-like covering that does not cover all of the hair, or no covering; (b) men and women praying together in the same room; and (c) no enforcement by the imam, lay leader, or worshipers of straight prayer lines....

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- U.S. and British diplomats discussed exerting pressure on Pope Pius XII to be silent about the Nazi deportations of Hungarian Jews, according to newly discovered documentation. The British feared that the wartime pope might make a "radio appeal on behalf of the Jews in Hungary" and that in the course of his broadcast would "also criticize what the Russians are doing in occupied territory." Sir Francis D'Arcy Osborne, the British ambassador to the Vatican, told an American diplomat that "something should be done to prevail upon the pope not to do this as it will have...

Oh, this is rich. Apparently my recent debates with Muslim leaders have left the Islamic establishment in the U.S. so embarrassed that Sheila Musaji, whose lies I have exposed in the past, is now throwing under the bus some of the Muslim spokesmen whom I have debated recently, and pleading with Muslims to stop debating me. The truth stings, eh, Sheila? "The American Muslim Communities’ “Useful Idiots,”" by Sheila Musaji in The American Muslim, May 19 (thanks to James): A Muslim “useful idiot” is an individual who may believe that they are being a force for good, but who are...

This paper uses variation across states to estimate the number of jobs created/saved as a result of the spending component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The key sources of identi cation are ARRA highway funding and the intensity of state sales tax usage. We estimate the Act created/saved 450 thousand government-sector jobs and destroyed/forestalled one million private sector jobs. State and local government jobs were saved because ARRA funds were largely used to oset state revenue shortfalls and Medicaid increases (Fig. A) rather than boost private sector employment (e.g. Fig. B). The majority of destroyed/forestalled jobs were...

One of the city's most prominent Muslim leaders claims he was prevented from boarding two American Airlines flights en route to a conference on Islamophobia last week because of his appearance. Imam Al-Amin Abdul-Latif — who heads the Majlis Ash-Shura, or Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, a representative body that includes dozens of area mosques — said he was twice denied by officials when he tried to board an American Airlines flight from La Guardia to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday to attend a conference on Islamophobia.

Top Ten Reasons why liberals hate America 1) liberals hate God 2) liberals hate the Constitution 3) liberals hate American Exceptionalism 4) liberals hate morality 5) liberals hate justice (and have an extremely distorted view of it) 6) liberals hate human progress and advancement 7) liberals hate personal achievement 8) liberals hate oppostition 9) liberals hate truth 10) liberals hate themselves