Free Republic

A friend sent me a recent news article showing that Planned Parenthood had decided to join in the protest of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He was curious to know why Planned Parenthood was interested in the case. After all, they provide abortions. What is their interest in preventing the death of people like Michael Brown? Before I answered his question, I told him to take a couple of hours to watch Maafa 21 – a documentary on the roots of Planned Parenthood in the eugenics movement. Some interesting statistics are revealed in the film. For example:...

Few things upset progressives like a terrorist attack by Islamo-fascists. Not the act of terror itself, mind you, but the perceived “backlash” against Muslims that follows. The progressive activist site Huffington Post was quick to cite an increase in “hate crimes” against Muslims in September “linked” to a public transit ad campaign it deemed “Islamophobic.” It wrote, “The rise of the Islamic State this summer, as well as the conflict in Gaza, Sarsour said, have contributed to the recent spate of violence against Muslims in New York City. Since July 1, there have been at least 14 hate crimes against...

This is my second Christmas season without my mother, and so far it's been harder than the first. I had known that the first year would be hard, and all I really cared about was surviving it. Activity was my friend: My sister Kathy and I spent the fall wrapping up her estate, selling her house, sharing her prized possessions with family and friends. We talked every day. Much of our connection was activity-based: Was her account closed? Were the papers signed? It was hard, but I had known that it was going to be hard -- so I accepted...

resident Obama announced plans to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba today, including opening an embassy in Cuba."We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests," Obama claimed, "And instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries."Specifically, the White House took three major steps today as part of their "New Course on Cuba": Initiating discussions to reestablish diplomatic relations, including a U.S. embassy in Havana, and a Cuban embassy in the United States.A review, by the State Department, of Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.Relaxing of regulations to facilitate the...

10-year-old Elizabeth Blaine dropped the mic at a Montclair, New Jersey, school board meeting Monday night, sharing her support for a policy that lets parents opt out their children from taking the Common Core test, also known as PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers). "I love to read. I love to write. I love to do math. But I don’t love the PARCC. Why? Because it stinks," Elizabeth said. "This is crazy!" she continued. "I am one of the most gifted students in my grade (or so my mom says) and I have not...

<p>The holidays are my favorite time of year. As my home fills with the joy and laughter of my six children and four grandchildren, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to have the most wonderful job in the world – being a mother and grandmother.</p>

In an interview on Sunday, NBC's Chuck Todd asked former Vice President Dick Cheney whether he is "OK" with the fact that a quarter of the suspected terrorists held in secret CIA prisons during the Bush administration "turned out to be innocent." Todd noted that one of those mistakenly detained men died of hypothermia after being doused with water and left chained to a concrete wall, naked from the waist down, in a cell as cold as a meat locker. Cheney replied that the end -- to "get the guys who did 9/11" and "avoid another attack against the United...

The liberal news media has gleefully been reporting the GOP's political quarrels for many years. But that exaggerated story line all but vanished last week in the aftermath of the Democrats' humiliating defeat in the midterm elections. Democratic leaders and their rank and file were deeply divided over the budget that was worked out in a deal with House Republicans. Not only among themselves but with President Obama, too, whom they bitterly blamed for their deep losses in Congress. Democratic Party discipline has been eroding fast as a result of Obama's growing unpopularity, but last week the Democrats were deserting...

Several senators returning in 2015, among them Diane Feinstein, John McCain and Joe Manchin, have already announced that they support President Barack Obama's nomination of Dr. Ashton Carter for secretary of defense. Sen. Feinstein welcomed "Dr. Ash Carter's nomination" and urged her colleagues to "move his nomination" expeditiously. Sen. Manchin, noting he "enjoys credibility" with Congress, added a caveat: Carter "will face hard questions ... about the military and security policies our government should pursue." "Should pursue" suggests to me that Manchin may harbor doubts regarding the wisdom of current Obama administration policies. Sen. McCain, who in January becomes chairman...

On Monday, Australian police stormed the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney, where an Islamist terrorist named Man Haron Monis had taken dozens of hostages and held them for 17 hours. Three people were killed, including Monis, and several others were wounded. Monis, an Iranian immigrant, had a long criminal record, including 40 charges for indecent and sexual assault, as well as an outstanding charge for accessory to murder in the killing of his ex-wife. Before his death, Monis requested an ISIS flag, and forced hostages to hold up the so-called Shahada flag, which proclaims in Arabic, "There Is No God...

There are lots of hypocrisies surrounding the recently released executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program. But they pale in comparison to the current Democratic silence about President Barack Obama's policy of targeted drone assassinations. Since 2004, drones have killed an estimated 2,400 to 3,888 individuals in Pakistan alone, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London. An estimated 345 to 553 individuals in Yemen have been killed in drone strikes over the same period. The BIJ reports that the Obama administration has "markedly stepped up the use of drones. Since...

After days of brow-furrowed, self-righteousness analysis from much of the national media over Senate Democrats' tendentious and dishonest "torture report," poll after poll has shown that the American people aren't eager to join the anti-CIA mob. The latest, from NBC/WSJ: Fewer than three in ten Americans are willing to second-guess the intelligence community's use of harsh techniques in questioning captured terrorists in the wake of 9/11's deadly attacks.  Most people's memories of the fear and chaos of that time are fresh enough to give the CIA the benefit of the doubt.  Plus, Dianne Feinstein's squad did themselves no favors by refusing to interview a single person...

Michelle Obama wants you to feel bad for her, and for Barack, because they are black. “I think people forget that we’ve lived in the White House for six years,” Michelle says in People Magazine. “Before that, Barack Obama was a black man that lived on the South Side of Chicago, who had his share of troubles catching cabs.” Oh, the horror. Why didn’t the emperor clean up Chicago neighborhoods with his pen and his phone while he was there? Cabs likely would have stopped more frequently if the city, especially the South and West Sides, wasn't infested by crime....

Martha McSally (R) has been officially declared the winner in Arizona's second congressional district by a razor-thin 167-vote margin over incumbent Rep. Ron Barber (D). This was the final race of the 2014 election that was yet to be decided, as Arizona law mandates a recount if an election is decided by fewer than 200 votes.Member-elect McSally released the following statement thanking everyone who worked on her campaign and the people of southern Arizona: "We're grateful to everyone who devoted their time and resources, especially during the extended vote and recount processes, to get us over the finish line," said...

Blacks didn't begin rioting in America until white Communist taught them how. In fact, the Watts riots were the first urban race riots driven by blacks. Acting a fool has never affected change for the better. Eric Garner is dead, due in part, to excessive liberal regulations. Michael Brown is dead because he beat down a cop, attempted to take his gun and then charged the officer like he was trying out for the NFL. Berkeley students burdened and trained in the art of "white privilege" are incensed because their professors tell them they should be, and though Al Sharpton...

Jonathan Gruber should have been Time's Person of the Year. The magazine gave it to the "Ebola Fighters" instead. Good for them; they're doing God's work. Still, Gruber would have been better. Time's Person of the Year designation has lost a lot of its stature over recent years. Part of its decline can probably be attributed to the fact that it's come to be seen as an honorific. It was originally conceived to recognize the person who, "for better or for worse ... has done the most to influence the events of the year." So Adolf Hitler (1938) and Josef...

Editor's note: This piece was co-authored by Tim Graham.Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are polar opposites, a Tea Party conservative and an Occupy Wall Street socialist. Then there are the similarities: Both were elected in 2012, both have Harvard on their resume and both are mentioned as presidential material. But the media's read of the two demonstrates an unquestionable slant. Both senators have shaken up the Senate over heavy spending and regulation. When Warren does it, she's promoted as a profile in courage, standing up for fairness. When Cruz does it, he's a selfish brat causing meltdowns. On...

The recent release of a Senate report commissioned by Democrats regarding torture of terrorism suspects in order to obtain vital information was a waste of $40 million of taxpayer money. It already had been documented extensively that three suspects were waterboarded and that sleep deprivation and other such techniques were used to extract vital information from terrorists. Though the report says otherwise, that information played a part in the apprehension or annihilation of many upper-echelon terrorist leaders, including Osama bin Laden. The high-profile release of this information at a time when we are engaged in war with various terrorist groups...

It's the season for giving. That doesn't mean it's the season for government. Government creates loyalty in the minds of citizens by pretending to be Santa Claus, doling out gifts and favors. Politicians claim they help those unfortunates who aren't helped by coldhearted capitalism. The truth is, government gets in the way of charity, making it harder for people to help others and for the poor to help themselves. It also gets in the way of commerce, which is what really makes people better off. When I was in college, President Lyndon Johnson declared "an all-out war on human poverty....

Via WaPo, it’s now officially a mixed-blessings news day for Jeb Bush fans. Two issues here. One: Does Obama enjoy more power to craft policy if Congress is deadlocked between the two parties? Ezra Klein says yes, I say no. Two: How far can Obama go in crafting policy in the name of “prosecutorial discretion”? No one disputes that he can prioritize one illegal immigrant’s deportation case over another’s. If he can do that for one person, why can’t he do it systematically for five million? At what point does “prosecutorial discretion” become unconstitutional legislation by presidential diktat?Judge Arthur Schwab’s...