Free Republic

Donald Trump vs. Personal Integrity: The Ongoing Battle for CoexistenceThere are countless powerful resume-related arguments to be made as to why Donald Trump should not be President of the United States. Yet, setting aside all of those admittedly weighty considerations, I believe that the essential part of the puzzle that should preclude his election to the presidency is his character. A reverence for truth, and personal integrity, are two of the qualities that any good leader of a free republic must possess. Without them, the society over which he/she presides is in jeopardy of relying on a leader with an...

Debate Performance Cannot Overshadow Decades of Personal HistoryOne of the aspects of the current campaign climate that I find deeply discouraging is the fact that the majority of the American electorate spends little or no time learning about the candidates in the weeks and months leading up to the primaries, and they apparently spend little or no time during non-election years paying attention to the roles that American politicians, and would-be candidates, play in events and policymaking that are happening both in America and elsewhere around the globe. One of the shocking and disturbing ramifications of that sad state of...

If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide" ... Abraham Lincoln One of the most powerful results of the radical sixties was the determination by American leftists to incrementally take over decision-making positions in American public and higher education, the mainstream media, and, as a result, the three branches of government. That particularly incendiary goal had been alive and well in America since the turn of the twentieth century, but it received a major shot in the arm with the...

One of the incidental, and not often discussed, aspects of the presidential and vice presidential debates is the candidates' change in demeanor and content from one debate to the next. Those sometimes dramatic changes offer us a powerful glimpse into the real character of the candidate. Many pundits have been theorizing that Barack Obama will come out swinging in tonight's debate because he appeared so subdued and reticent in the last one. The public reacted badly to his subdued nature and reticence, and if there's anything that drives Barack Obama's personality and purported policy it is the public's perception of...

Mitt Sees the Emperor Without His Clothes. Will the Rest of America Listen? There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what ... there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing ... Mitt Romney In our relatively short 200+ year history, America has experienced a handful of watershed events. The Civil War was probably chief among them,...

Obama Versus Ryan (Not Paul, but Saving Private) My husband and I watched 'Saving Private Ryan' on DVD again last night. Of course we had seen it before. When we first saw the movie on the big screen back in 1998, it goes without saying that we were moved and deeply touched by the portrayal of what has been called America's 'greatest generation.' What American wouldn't be? Yet last night's viewing was entirely different for us. I am not generally a tearful person, but I was brought to tears more than once during the watching. And my husband had a...

Think back on the way the early Americans lived. Consider the quality of life, if you will, of the early pioneers who crossed the country in small covered wagons, who staked a claim to a small piece of land somewhere in the midwest or west, and who spent the next many years living off the land, growing their own food, hunting for meat, caring for sick family members, often without the aid of doctors or other medical practitioners. These were our forebears. They didn't have the luxury of concerning themselves with those things that today's Americans place at the top...

Many Americans, conservatives among them, have been voicing the opinion that social issues have no part in campaign debates, are criticizing Rick Santorum for placing them in the forefront of his campaign, and are branding him as unelectable as a result. I take issue with those points of view for two reasons: Firstly, social issues, when considered in their broadest sense, should play a major role in any campaign and none other than our Founders cautioned us to demand that they do. Secondly, it is not Rick Santorum who is declaring that social issues are the entire focus of his...

Today, January 19, 2010, has the potential to be a watershed event in the history of our republic. The Massachusetts senate seat that has been occupied, with an iron-fisted grip, by ultra-leftist Ted Kennedy for nearly a half century is now presenting the very real possibility of being occupied by a Republican. And the government-controlled healthcare system for which Ted Kennedy crusaded for decades is in real danger of extinction as a result. Don’t allow the mainstream media pundits to tell you that this election is anything short of a national referendum, in mocrocosm, on the first 365 days...

Apologies to all of my FReeper friends for an extended absence from the forum. I have checked in now and then, and did not want to answer some pings and not others, so have merely participated in 'spectator mode' these past few months. I am offering the following as a Christmas wish for all of you -- some of whom I have known here for longer than ten years. Despite long silences over that time (often on both ends), I believe we all share a timeless common bond, formed by a love of country that will not die ... and...

One of the loudest, and most oft-repeated, reasons given by our elitists in Washington for the need to dramatically overhaul the most effective and efficient healthcare system in the history of mankind is that healthcare in America is too expensive. I have read countless analyses of the bill by those who have at least attempted to read it. And nowhere in H.R. 3200 -- at least to my knowledge -- is tort reform addressed. Tort reform should sit on the top of the list of remedies for our high healthcare costs. Reducing jury awards would reduce malpractice insurance premiums....

Many conservatives, myself included, have backed away from the political fray since November 4, 2008. Each of us has his or her own reasons for doing so, but I suspect that those reasons fall into two broad categories for most: (1) A sense of hopelessness and futility, even as regards the pen and the ballot box, to make a difference in the direction in which our republic is being steamrolled. Rampant ignorance and apathy brought us to the brink, and evil men in leadership positions are gleefully providing the final push. (2) Where to begin even attempting to bring...

When I was a very young child, maybe two or three years old, my Dad hung the painting pictured above on the wall at the head of my bed. Through the years as I grew, I decorated my room with many photos, pennants, pictures, and the like, but that small painting always remained in place. Many years later, for our tenth anniversary, my husband, Rick, had it re-framed for me (the frame had come to know its share of bumps and bruises over the years), and now, thirty-one years hence, it still hangs on the wall at the head...

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, in ‘Democracy in America’: [The principle of equality prepares men for government that] covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic character cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent and guided … Such a power … stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd ... One week and one day...

Let’s boil this ‘new and improved’ bailout bill that just passed the Senate down to its bare bones. Then, if you’re moved to do so, it might just be time to pick up the phone and call your congressman, urging him to really ‘stand up for the American taxpayer’ (not to mention do what is right). Admittedly, the do what is right aspect of this whole thing would represent a complete aberration where any decision-making in Washington is concerned, but you may just sleep better tonight, having at least engaged in a personal effort to revive that archaic concept....

America is facing the most dangerous crisis in the history of our nation. It is not simply an economic crisis. It is a crisis whose outcome may well determine whether America continues to survive as a representative republic ... and whether America remains strong enough to face the massing, determined enemy outside of her borders. The ‘economic’ portion of this crisis did not occur by accident. It occurred, in large part, as a result of leftist ‘social engineers’ who are intent on circumventing the Constitution to use pretended altruism in order to expand their power and further implement their...

<p>I urge every reader here to take ten minutes out of your day sometime soon and watch this video. Then, if you believe as I do, that it is the most powerful, most truthful exposé available as to the criminal government/Wall Street elements that are behind our current economic meltdown, please send it to as many people as you can.</p>

<p>Perhaps more than any presidential candidate in recent history, Barack Obama’s pious rhetoric has focused on his concern for ‘the little people’ and his disdain for the big money represented by corporate America.</p> <p>I’d like to take a brief look at the words/deeds comparison of this man, and then pose a few crucial questions regarding not only Senator Obama’s honesty, but also his personal and professional affiliation with an organization that bears much of the responsibility for the sub-prime mortgage crisis and subsequent financial meltdown, and his fitness to hold office of any kind.</p>

Most conservatives decry the ‘bread and circuses’ atmosphere of modern politics, principally because the consistent focus on meaningless pursuits takes the citizens’ focus away from the important issues … even crises … that must be considered, and faced, if we are to remain a free society. Our Founders continually warned that liberty, and the republican form of government that is best suited to ensure it, can only be maintained through an informed citizenry. Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, are necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties.Many of...

I have made no bones about the fact that the addition of Governor Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket this November has transformed me from a reluctant voter into an enthusiastic campaign volunteer. My son, Dan, and I attended the McCain-Palin rally which was held this afternoon at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Being very familiar with Franklin and Marshall, and knowing full well that it takes no more than a half hour to drive there from our home, we left home at 1:00 PM. The doors were scheduled to open at 1:30, and the rally was scheduled...