Free Republic

We would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols on Independence Day -- its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed. Is not nationalism -- that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder -- one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?

Taking a look at the futures market at tradesports.com, it appears that Nevada, Florida, Ohio, West Virginia and Missouri are now solid Bush. The states currently in play are Pennsylvania, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Iowa. I say GWB needs to adjust his strategy, take a strong defensive posture in NV, FL, OH, WV and MO and make an all out offensive assault on PA, OR, NM, NH, MN and IA. http://tradesports.com/jsp/intrade/contractSearch/ Kerry is dizzy and stumbling. Time to deliver the knockout punch.

Political intrigue, presidential campaign dirty tricks and carrying the DNC’s water are nothing new to CBS, Dan Rather and 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes. In 1999, during the build-up to the 2000 presidential campaign, Mapes, Rather and 60 Minutes produced an interview with Shawn Allen Berry, the white supremacist, who along with two others was convicted of chaining James Byrd Jr. to a pickup truck and dragging him along a remote road until his body was torn apart. Rather‘s clear purpose was to paint Berry as a crazed, right-wing fanatic who had been influenced by fundamentalist Christians into believing in...

On ABC News Sunday With George Stephanopolis: PETER JENNINGS: You are Pro Abortion... ARNOLD: Yes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) will announce on Tuesday a decision to impose tariffs of up to 30 percent on most imported steel, sources said, in a decision that could spark a trade war with major European and Asian trading partners. The decision could also affect U.S. mid-term elections in November and possibly Bush's re-election chances in 2004, when major steel-making states Pennsylvania and Ohio may prove crucial. Another steel state, West Virginia, was pivotal for Bush in 2000. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) would not confirm the 30 percent figure, but ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) rejected on Monday Indiana's appeal that it should be allowed to erect a limestone monument with the Ten Commandments on the statehouse lawn in Indianapolis. Without any comment or dissent, the justices let stand a federal appeals court ruling that placing the monument on government property would violate church-state separation under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Indiana argued in its appeal that the First Amendment permitted the government's display to "memorialize the role the Commandments have played in the development of the rule of law and of the American ...

As I lurk about the various topics here on Free Republic I have noticed a paradox that I think I can explain, but I'm not sure. The paradox is this. Currently, there are two mainstream movies out about magic and sorcery: Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I have noticed that Freepers of the right wing Christian persuasion have lambasted Harry Potter for causing young folks to believe in sorcery and witchcraft; and also possibly causing hair to grow on one's palms. On the other hand, the praise for Lord of the Rings seems to be universal, in spite ...

Rather than lamenting the obvious public relations ploy we will likely witness tonight, why don't we do something positive? Perhaps Connie Chung secretly lurks in the deep, dark shadows of FR. So let's help her out. What questions do you want her to ask? At the very least, we can send her an e-mail of the thread. I'll start: Congressman, where exactly were you on the day of May 1st between noon and 5PM? Have you ever had sex with a member of your taxpayer-supported staff? Do you consider this a violation of your public trust? Did you instruct your ...

The Lear jets are parked wing-to-wing at the Austin airport. The Pioneers descended on the governor's mansion this weekend for an emergency top-secret meeting to go over the books of the cash-starved Bush campaign. The Pioneers, the very wealthy and usually jovial Bush bagmen, are dyspeptic over the Prodigal Son. They don't understand how their Boy could have gone through $60 million of the nest egg they built. It was supposed to buy the White House, not one measly caucus and one lousy primary. How on earth did Junior hemorrhage more than a million dollars per delegate? Did he think ...

The following letter is being circulated throughout the academic community. I decided to post it here because I know of no forum more interested in justice than FR. Dear Dickinson College Community: I write to ask urgently and sincerely for your help in joining with me to secure the release from imprisonment of Yongyi Song, a Dickinson College librarian. I ask that you consider both sending a personal letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the United States and urging others to address this issue. As you probably know or may have read in the national press, Yongyi has been held ...

As I write this, they haven't found the Kennedy plane, but the media has already set us up for another "Princess Di" weekend. ABC cancelled its third round coverage of the British Open to bring us old footage of JFK jr. being interviewed by Barbara Walters. On CNN there he is being interviewed by Larry King. Over at Fox, some guy is asking me to try to feel what the Kennedy family is feeling right now, and Dan Rather -- well, Dan Rather has a perpetual mist in his eyes to show us that he is already weeping because, being ...

CHICAGO - The white supremacist suspect in the deadly two-state shooting spree got his guns last month from an illegal gun dealer, a federal agent said Tuesday. Benjamin Nathaniel Smith bought the guns from an unlicensed gun dealer in the Peoria, Ill., area, said Jerry Singer, a special agent for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The rampage, which included shootings of minorities in several Illinois cities and in Bloomington, Ind., ended Sunday with Smith, 21, committing suicide as police tried to arrest him. Singer said Smith bought a Bryco .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun on June 26, days after ...