Free Republic

Thorough exploration of the Olympic Peninsula. Best of 51 Days & 32 Videos. Come along on the adventure!

Starts slow. Hyjinx prevails. Keep looking

Sparks fly. Power lines dance. Danger all around.

Time for a break in your day? This peaceful moment is brought to you by Mother Nature.

Thank you for your prayers.

Time for a little relaxation.

Freep this poll on gun registration in the Seattle Times.

It was naughty of Winston Churchill to say, if he really did, that “the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” Nevertheless, many voters’ paucity of information about politics and government, although arguably rational, raises awkward questions about concepts central to democratic theory, including consent, representation, public opinion, electoral mandates and officials’ accountability.

Government needs a basis to exercise authority over people. Citizens must accept government authority. A government lacking acceptance of the people over whom it exercises authority will not endure.

The overnight ratings are in for Duck Dynasty. One week ago, DD topped all of cable’s ratings with 8.885 million viewers. Last night, they free fell down the list to 2.521 million viewers. That is a drop of 6.364 million viewers, or 71.6%. Congratulations to everyone for restraint! http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/category/overnight-tv-ratings/tv-ratings-nielsen-overnight-cable-tv-show-ratings/

William A. "Bill" Whittle (born April 7, 1959 is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, director, screenwriter, editor, pilot, and author. He is best known for his PJ Media internet videos and short films, one of which, "Three and a Half Days", has been watched by over 2.4 million viewers on YouTube as of November 2012. He is currently the presenter of Afterburner and The Firewall, and co-hosts Trifecta with Stephen Green and Scott Ott. He is a former National Review Online contributor and has been a guest on the Fox News Channel, The Dennis Miller Show, Sun TV, and...

William A. "Bill" Whittle (born April 7, 1959 is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, director, screenwriter, editor, pilot, and author. He is best known for his PJ Media internet videos and short films, one of which, "Three and a Half Days", has been watched by over 2.4 million viewers on YouTube as of November 2012. He is currently the presenter of Afterburner and The Firewall, and co-hosts Trifecta with Stephen Green and Scott Ott. He is a former National Review Online contributor and has been a guest on the Fox News Channel, The Dennis Miller Show, Sun TV, and...

Tax the rich: An animated fairy tale, is narrated by Ed Asner, with animation by Mike Konopacki. Written and directed by Fred Glass for the California Federation of Teachers. An 8 minute video about how we arrived at this moment of poorly funded public services and widening economic inequality. Things go downhill in a happy and prosperous land after the rich decide they don't want to pay taxes anymore. They tell the people that there is no alternative, but the people aren't so sure. This land bears a startling resemblance to our land. For more info, www.cft.org.

During debates on the Banker Bailout Bill on the floor of Congress in 2008, Congressman Brad Sherman made a startling revelation "Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday that the sky would fall, the market would drop 2 or 3000 points the first day and another couple of thousand points the second day and a few members were even told that there would be MARTIAL LAW IN AMERICA if we voted no." Plans to suspend the Constitution have been taking place behind the scenes under cover of 'Continuity of Government...

<p>The last 45 of my 66 years I’ve spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska . I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here’s the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it. It’s not about persona, style, rhetoric, it’s about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I’m about to mention here.</p>

Exerpts from a radio interview... There is a lack of respect among the GOP elite for competition in elections, government, business anything. I don't think the priorty should be capitulating or compromising on our principles. Americans aren't interested in compromise but in drawing some lines in the sand... today! These new representatives should listen to the people. We put them into office We can take them out of office. We want a line drawn in the sand. We keep giving the GOP chance after chance. Well for me this is their last chance. The GOP elite have blown it. Don't...

For all of those who want to believe Sarah Palin can't win here is more proof. For the last 18 months of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary season the favorite, Hillary Clinton led, by double digits, the man who could not win, Barack Obama, for 13 months and every month from December 2006 to December 2007. Since 1 or 2 years out is the most important time period in election cycles we needn't even discuss what happened with the polls or the actual elections between January 3, and June 22, 2008. So while we ready ourselves to listen to President...

America waits with bated breath while Washington struggles to bring the U.S. economy back from the brink of disaster. But many of those same politicians caused the crisis, and if left to their own devices will do so again. Despite the mass media news blackout, a series of books, talk radio and the blogosphere have managed to expose Barack Obama's connections to his radical mentors -- Weather Underground bombers William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, Communist Party member Frank Marshall Davis and others. David Horowitz and his Discover the Networks.org have also contributed a wealth of information and have noted Obama's...

Re: FCC Opens Door Wide to New Federal Control over the Internet With our moribund economy in such desperate need of breakthroughs and bustling new industries, why is the political class so determined to turn the Internet into a publicly-controlled utility? And in the process, make it a forbidding place for potentially $2 trillion in available investment money to fuel innovation and growth? A shocking regulatory Christmas Surprise has been issued by extremists at the Federal Communications Commission – a naked federal assertion of power over the Internet using a pretense that there is a "problem" of phone and cable...