Free Republic

MSNBC’s new golden girl was in a pickle: If someone sees a black person committing rape or domestic violence, should he report it if it makes black people look bad?

a new citizen appreciates our 2nd amendment and the opportunity to shoot

House Dems trained to make race the issue byJoel Gehrke House Democrats received training this week on how to address the issue of race to defend government programs, according to training materials obtained by The Washington Examiner. The prepared content of a Tuesday presentation to the House Democratic Caucus and staff indicates that Democrats will seek to portray apparently neutral free-market rhetoric as being charged with racial bias, conscious or unconscious. In her distributed remarks, Maya Wiley of the Center for Social Inclusion criticized "conservative messages [that are] racially 'coded' and had images of people of color that we commonly...

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/pelosi-her-catholic-faith-compels-her-support-same-sex-marriage (CNSNews.com) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that her Catholic faith "compels" her to "be against discrimination of any kind" and thus for same-sex marriage. A reporter asked Pelosi: “Many of the people that are opposed to gay marriage cite their religion as the reason why they're opposed. You're a Catholic that supports gay marriage. Do you believe that religion and the idea that you can support gay marriage can be separated? And how do you grapple with the idea that you support gay marriage as a Catholic?”

FLORA, Ind. (WLFI) — 12-year-old Cody Green has always admired the strength and courage of the marines. At 12:35 Saturday afternoon, it was the Marines admiring the strength and courage of Cody. Cody had leukemia since he was 22 months old, but beat the disease three times. Although he was cancer-free, the chemotherapy lowered his immune system and Saturday afternoon, he died from a fungus that attacked his brain. Members of the Marines decided to step in and do something. “They decided Cody, with the strength and honor and courage he showed through the whole thing, he should be a...

Despite the constant, incessant, pervasive portrayal by the media, schools, and cultural and political elites, that blacks are the eternal victims and white people are unregenerate racist oppressors, there is evidence that the indoctrination and brainwashing have failed. More and more Americans, including young Americans, are just not buying the victimology fairy-tale — not any more.

Virginia’s new law sends mixed messages to state employees, especially law enforcement officials. Imagine a state trooper pulling over a speeder and finding out through an ID check that the FBI has an alert for the driver as a suspected al-Qaeda operative. What should the trooper do if he knows or suspects the driver is a U.S. citizen? Do his duty and detain the suspect, which violates Virginia law? Or simply write the speeding ticket and send the driver on his way, not telling the FBI or the military, consequences be damned? Although the federal government has no inherent constitutional...

Since the Supreme Court's historic three-day ObamaCare hearings in late March, the president and his supporters have tried to pressure the Justices into upholding that law, asserting that any other decision would overstep the court's constitutional bounds. Ruling against ObamaCare would not be what the president called illegitimate "judicial activism," but an appropriate exercise of the Supreme Court's core constitutional role. "Judicial activism" is one of those agreeably ambiguous terms that can support almost any criticism of the courts. Under our constitutional system, judicial activism entails judges rewriting rather than interpreting the laws, exercising "will instead of judgment," in Alexander...

Glenn Beck is asking his listeners now on his radio program the question: "Except for the military. What has the government done to make you proud?" My answer: NOTHING. Any thoughts? Your answers?

I'm not a fan or Mitt Romney and, as the campaign has dragged on, I have become increasingly disenchnted with him. It has become more clear that Mitt Romney is NOT a viable alternative to Obama and, in fact, is more like Obama than he is different. But, we have known from the outset that Romney was the choice of the establishment Republicans - Michael Steele and the like. As staunch conservatives who believe in the principles of government laid down by the Founding Fathers and memorialized in the Constitution, we believe in the democratic process of selecting our leaders...

With Santorum suspending his campaign and reality staring us in the face... With the voters of the remaining primaries given fewer choices.... With Newt not able to gain traction (sadly).... What is left for us? Sitting home is not an option for me. Perhaps if FReepers nation-wide were to contact and pester the slate of delegates in their respective states to break away from their "commitment" and deny Romney a first ballot victory. Of course, the remaining states could still vote for Newt or Ron Paul and deny Romney the magic number. But barring that, the only alternative I see...

On March 28, 2012, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Fla. v. Dept. of Health and Human Services and Nat'l Fed. of Ind. Business v. Sebelius, two of the three cases before the Court involving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, sometimes referred to as Obamacare or the Healthcare Act. Both cases raise the question whether, if the individual mandate requiring Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty is deemed unconstitutional, the remainder of the Healthcare Act still survives. This is commonly referred to as a question of severability. Both cases further raise the...

Dennis Prager, Gov Sarah Palin and Hugh Hewitt at a televised forum, at University of Denver, on "The Greatest Threat To America". Prager's answer isn't what you'd expect. Apparently Gov Palin and Mr Hewitt have already spoken. It's a very good 8:54 clip, which a Conservative friend sent to me. Here's another YouTube clip of Prager and Hewitt discussing their UofD forum with Gov Palin, where she speaks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxnv4JTuKxE

The constitutional questions the Affordable Care Act poses are great, novel and grave, as much today as they were when they were first posed in an op-ed on these pages by the Washington lawyers David Rivkin and Lee Casey on September 18, 2009. The appellate circuits are split, as are legal experts of all interpretative persuasions. The Obama Administration and its allies are already planning to attack the Court's credibility and legitimacy if it overturns the Affordable Care Act. They will claim it is a purely political decision, but this should not sway the Justices any more than should the...

The argument against the individual mandate—the requirement that everyone buy health insurance or pay a penalty—is carefully anchored in constitutional precedent and American history. The Commerce Clause that the government invokes to defend such regulation has always applied to commercial and economic transactions, not to individuals as members of society. This distinction is crucial. The health-care and health-insurance markets are classic interstate commerce. The federal government can regulate broadly—though not without limit—and it has. It could even mandate that people use insurance to purchase the services of doctors and hospitals, because then it would be regulating market participation. But with...

Anyone else addicted to Sons of Guns?

While we hold the military’s honor sacred, the government cannot penalize speech, whether true or false, simply because it might harm this honor. Any law that seeks to protect the government’s reputation runs afoul of the most basic bargain of sovereignty, reflected in our Constitution. James Madison said, “The censorial power is in the people over the Government, and not in the Government over the people.” In this context, it is doubtful that the government can ever be libeled by a citizen, any more than a citizen can libel himself. We don’t let the government sue for libel — only...

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/03/14/EXCLUSIVE-Chris-Rock-Attacks-Conservative-Author-Over-Tea-Party-Question

When Margaret Doyle’s temper exploded inside the Virginia General Assembly a few weeks ago, a photograph of her being ejected from the state Capitol became a symbol of front-line resistance to legislative assaults on women’s reproductive rights. Doyle, who is 53 and weighs 115 pounds, was so fired up that it took four police officers to restrain her. Other protesters also were subjected to the strong arm of the law.  A debate over the role of religion in political life has shaped recent clashes over contraception and abortion. Curiously to me, nearly all of the women were white.

I got a lot of reaction to my recent article for EfficientGov about how small contractors are competing for their first government contracts. Right away everyone figured out the secret sauce: Funds administration. And the universal reaction was “Whoa!.” Followed by, “How do we do that?” There’s nothing to it. The Big Secret is called Funds Administration. Hundreds of local, state and federal agencies are doing it around the country. And it is keeping a lot of small business owners in business

RIP, Andrew Breitbart.At a press conference today, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, said, "Based on all of the evidence, I cannot in good faith report to you these documents are authentic." He was speaking about Obama's long-form birth certificate.A bomb squad has responded to a report of a suspicious package at Rush Limbaugh's home.

This Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases that should interest every U.S. company doing business overseas, and especially those operating in the developing world. Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. and Mohamed v. Palestinian Authority raise the issue of whether corporations can be sued for violations of international law under U.S. statutes, including the Alien Tort Statute. The ATS was adopted in 1789 by the first U.S. Congress. The statute permits suits by aliens in federal courts for certain alleged international-law violations, but it was moribund for nearly 200 years and its purpose remains opaque. The...

“Organized labor” brings to mind railroads, factories, and government offices, but the labor movement’s biggest recent gains have been in the home. Led by SEIU, unions and their political allies have pushed through executive orders and legislation in a dozen states to “organize” home-care workers, such as personal assistants and sitters, by deeming them state employees for collective-bargaining purposes alone. California was the trailblazer in this campaign, with SEIU first trying to convince the state courts to designate Los Angeles County home-care workers as county employees. Having lost the battle in the courtroom, SEIU commenced lobbying the California legislature to...

Obama’s State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to the Russians. Yes, to the Putin regime in the Kremlin. … The seven endangered islands in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea include one the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The Russians are also to get the tens of thousands of square miles of oil-rich seabeds surrounding the islands. The Department of Interior estimates billions of barrels of oil are at stake. The State Department has undertaken the giveaway in the guise of a maritime boundary agreement between Alaska and Siberia. Astoundingly, our federal government itself...

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center announced that it has appealed a controversial decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. The appeal was filed in the case of Bradley Johnson v. Poway Unified School District late last week. For the past twenty-five years, Bradley Johnson, a high school math teacher at the Poway School District located in California had been displaying red, white and blue banners in his classroom that contained patriotic phrases such as: “In God We Trust,” “One Nation Under God,” and “God Bless America.” He displayed the banners...

A funny thing. Now the biggest anti-americans from the western world are actually from america. The video I linked is perhaps the strongest anti-americanism from Europe. Doesn't hold the candle to the hate from inside.

Tuesday at AEI, four distinguished lawyers aggressively debated the constitutionality of the president’s recent "recess" appointments during the Senate's 2011-2012 pro forma sessions. First, Morton Rosenberg asserted that the president was explicitly violating the Constitution by making recess appointments when the Senate was in pro forma sessions, thereby avoiding recess by its own constitutional authority to develop its own rules. Douglas Kmiec countered that the Senate's creation of pro forma sessions simply to inhibit the executive branch violated the honest interface that the framers intended between the branches of government. David Rivkin Jr. concurred with Rosenberg's conclusion about the unconstitutionality...

Caterpillar: Goodbye Illinois, Hello Indiana’s Right To Work February 17, 2012 Caterpillar digging into Indiana Caterpillar has been a mainstay Illinois-based company for generations but no longer. The power and influence of big labor has impacted the company for too long, damaging its bottom-line and hurting workers. Now that Illinois’ neighbor, Indiana, has become a Right to Work state, Caterpillar is exploring their options, according to The Detroit News’ Robert Laurie: Back in 2009, Barack Obama announced that Caterpillar had promised to rehire some of its laid-off workforce if his stimulus proposal passed. This week, the nation’s largest manufacturer of...

The publisher of Mark Levin's new #1 book Ameritopia has made the Epilogue publicly available. It is one of the most compelling 8 pages I've ever read in a book. Here it is.

Mr. Obama is claiming an open-ended authority to determine that the Senate is in recess, despite that body's own judgment and the factual realities. That is an astonishing and, so far as we can tell, unprecedented power grab. It is not up to the president to decide whether the Senate is organized properly or working hard enough. However much the supposedly power-hungry President George W. Bush may have resented the Senate's practice of staying "in session" to defeat his recess-appointment power, he nevertheless respected the Senate's judgment on the point. The president has done his new appointees and the public...

if people would listen to what moderate mitt has said,they would realize the only side he is on, is mitt romney"s side.he will say anything to get elected,his only plan for the country is for him to be president,he reminds me of a snake oil salesman that wants people to drink his magic elixer.just like the media got the people to drink the kool-aid in 08.why is the liberal media pushing romney,and trying to discredit everyone else.

Remember those cartoons with the feisty Confederate snarling, “Lee surrendered. I didn’t.” Well, Dixie has risen, but it seems more “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Southern Hospitality now welcomes corporations as it once did travelers. There is little respite from the national economic doldrums Americans endure due to debased dollars, tax and regulatory uncertainty plus a popular culture increasingly resentful of success. But internal shifts signal that the South beats the North in more than just SEC football dominance. The South long disdained Yankee capitalism, but now in many respects she exhibits freer markets than her historic rival....

“If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.” — Mark Twain “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” ― Patrick Henry

A good story about the rise of a new genre of Rock 'n Roll.Something for the rockers on FR. The Blaze article at the link kind of high-lights Madison Rising, but quite a number of other bands and singers are mentioned.

I've been seeing a series of ads on USA network today, including one with Chris Matthews, talking about "unfair" the current tax situation is. Does anyone know anything about this?

Please take a moment to vote in the following poll: "Do you agree with the judge who ruled in favor of the school district in the case in which two administrators sent four students home for wearing American-themed clothing in Cinco de Mayo?" This stems from a 2009 incident where 5 boys in our community wore US flag shirts to school on Cinco de Mayo, and were sent home by the principal and VP for doing so. Students wearing the colors of the Mexican flag were allowed to remain in school. The following day, about 200 hispanic kids marched out...

Listen to John Derbyshire's interview with Seth Forman, author of American Obsession: Race and Conflict in the Age of Obama.

As an eighteen year old infantryman who knew everything, our unit was once assigned to the S-4 Logistics shop for a “working party.” A welcome sign admonished, “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” We snickered, handled the office “pogues’” heavy lifting and left. “Every marine is a rifleman,” and Napoleon affirmed, “An army marches on its stomach,” but surely it was the “grunts” who won wars. Friday, 11/11/11, America will honor her veterans, particularly those who paid the supreme price protecting our cherished principles. We should solemnly reflect on this, holding those most heavily engaged in the highest esteem. Tales...

Is Newt Gingrich the Best Candidate for President in the Republican Primary? The Contract with America didn't change much because it didn't pull up the 'un-constitutional weeds' by their roots. It just mowed them back a little bit! And we all know what happens after you mow the weeds. They just grow back again!

Hi everyone-- I'm a longtime lurker of FR and just signed up to get your feedback about a question I am sure many of us are asking ourselves. As a lifelong conservative, I am concerned about the possibility (probability?) of Mitt Romney receiving the GOP nomination for president next year. Many of my friends are convinced Romney will win the nomination, but I am very concerned that if he were to get into office, he would not stand up for the conservative policies we desperately need after the past four years. I want Obama out of office more than anything,...

Not to worry: The recent beating of a white football coach by 30 black people in Georgia was not a race riot. The Associated Press called it an “ambush.” A local TV station said a “fight broke out:” Maybe the coach attacked the mob, instead of the other way around. Whatever. The attack left the coach with several broken bones in his face. We know it was not a race riot because we would have read about that in the newspapers.

We trust our newspapers, who have a profit interest in reporting things we like to read, to interpret that interest as a mandate for telling the truth as they see it. However, as we find out with each generation, newspapers often filter “truth” through two sieves to withdraw upsetting information: first, what is politically de rigeur at the time, and second, what their advertisers and vocal interest groups want to hear.

We hear a lot these days about the need for “shovel ready jobs” and the lack of them, as well as the “do-nothing Congress”. For those who want answers, not excuses, let’s visit some of the places where job preventers work.

When I told my friends I was working on a magazine article, then a book, about a tsunami of racial violence in America over the last two years, they said, “I haven’t heard about that.” When my Tennessee friend told me about a horrific racial crime in Knoxville, Tennessee, I told him: “I haven’t heard about that.” Outside of Tennessee, most did not.

Mar 10, 2010: This bill passed in the Senate by Unanimous Consent. A record of each senator’s position was not kept. May 12, 2010: This bill passed in the House of Representatives by voice vote. A record of each representative’s position was not kept.

A video about the occupy wall street bums. CAUTION! SCARY PHOTOS w/Nudity and violence! Viewer discretion advised!

I had signed up on FR after my overnight subzero wait to meet Sarah for her booksigning (I still have 3 extra signed books). I did not view her possible candidacy as destiny or anything so dramatic, but I had sincerely hoped for it as Sarah is a Godly, wise and brave woman and seems to be so much the opposite of Obama. One of the things that truly impressed me was her advocacy for Israel. I wish Sarah and her family well. The reason I had hoped for a Palin candidacy was that I had believed that she may...

People don’t hitchhike anymore. At least not like the glory days of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s when hitchhiking was a popular, fun and even a safe thing to do. But it went away. Colin Flaherty wondered where it went. So this San Diego writer set out on three-month adventure with a pack and an extended thumb to try and find out.

Roger Williams, the virtuoso pianist who topped the Billboard pop charts in the 1950s and played for nine U.S. presidents during a long career, died Saturday. He was 87. [snip] "Roger was one of the greatest pianists in the world, and could play anything to classical music to jazz. He was one of the greatest personalities I've ever known," said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a longtime friend of Williams and himself a musician. "He could touch any audience, from teenagers to senior citizens." Williams' 1955 hit "Autumn Leaves" was the first instrumental song to reach number one on the...

My pre-ordered copy of Sarah's Undefeated DVD just got shipped (got my notice about 11:30am Eastern time).