Free Republic

"Those that give up an essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty not safety" - Ben Franklin IÂ’ve waited to comment on the Sandy Hook atrocity for quite a few days because I have been doing some serious soul searching and thinking. IÂ’ve tried to wait for all the facts to come out, for all the pundits to get their BS out, for all the politicians to declare their holy crusades and for every dimwit lobbyist to voice their opinion. Now itÂ’s my turn. WeÂ’ve heard every manner of excuse in the last week. Guns kill people!...

The 21st century will be remembered for many things: the Arab Spring, the Kyoto Protocol implementation, the Iraq war or another of the countless influential events. However, the Western World’s legacy for the century may be one based on history’s best-intended yet most misguided movements, foreign development advocacy. Foreign development advocacy, the term sounds pleasant enough on the surface. However, development advocacy does not ask for individual citizens to donate money to help build up poor countries, but rather these advocacy groups, such as Bono’s ONE Campaign, ask for developed nations worldwide to increase government funding for international aid programs....

During lunchtime today, I ventured to the closest Chick-fil-A to grab lunch and to show my support. It became evident pretty quickly that everyone else in the state of North Carolina decided to do the same. It took me nearly 45 minutes to even get close enough to the restaurant to park, and then another 30 minutes to get my food. I don’t regret a single minute of it, though. As I was standing around waiting for my lunch, an elderly lady standing near me began to strike up a conversation. She asked me how old I was, where I...

I'm not sure if it's truly appropriate to post this here, but I've been trying to get the word out everywhere. The blog I helped co-found is looking for more writers, so if you know any youngsters willing and able to write well, give them this link please: http://thebandofpatriots.com/apply/ Thanks

I was watching this video last night, and I was wondering if anyone knew who exactly these people are. I know Kevin Jackson, Zo and of course Cain. I don't know who the rest are, it's a shame the liberals try to hide all of the black conservatives. If there's any chance someone could identify these people in order of appearance for me, that'd be great. I want to look into their opinions on race today for a paper I'm writing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GizNwzKo3n8

On this forum there have been some interesting conversations about the current youth being unable to think morally and critically. I constructed this survey to see how the oldest living generations think about morals and certain subjects in comparison to the younger generations. if you could please take this, and share it around with your liberal and conservative friends, that'd be appreciated. if posting this link is against forum rules, I apologize profusely.

Standard and Poor downgraded the credit rating of the USA from AAA to AA+. Add in the fact that they downgraded the credit of institutions such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for being too reliant on government (shocker!), are mulling downgrades of Britain and France, and said they might downgrade the USA again in a few months if the situation doesn't improve, and we're looking at financial free-falls worldwide. This of course has prompted a renewed interest in American debt, since the S&P said that was the main factor in this downgrade. In fact this morning John Chambers, Managing...

Watching the last few GOP debates will have had one of two effects on you. Either 1) your love and admiration for Newt Gingrich has been cemented, or 2) you now despise him. I personally fall into the second category. As Peggy Noonan's article title says, "Gingrich Is Inspiring—and Disturbing." While at times his ideas seem brilliant, it's the other times that are problematic. As Noonan later said, "Ethically dubious? True. Intelligent and accomplished? True. Has he known breathtaking success and contributed to real reforms in government? Yes. Presided over disasters? Absolutely. Can he lead? Yes. Is he erratic and...

I would just like to get opinions on sovereignty. How do we reconcile sovereignty with the threat of terrorism. How do we deal with terrorists not in our how country? Is the argument that the if a nation doesn't allow people to combat terrorists, they are essentially harboring terrorists which is a crime? I'm just curious how to formulate an argument around this. My class is having a Model UN Security Council simulation. I hate the UN, and I want to defund it, but I've found that these Model UN debates have helped me formulate coherent arguments and practice public...

After watching the last two debates and watching his recent interview on “The View”, I've come to realize who I want to represent me as the candidate for the Republican nomination. While his chances are a bit shot due to the establishment’s choice Mitt Romney, I think Herman Cain has a lot to offer to the American people. I believe that Cain's experience as a businessman, his stance on social issues, and his 9-9-9 plan make him a formidable and truly Conservative candidate. Not to mention, this guy is incredibly humorous and let's face it, we are in dire need...

We live in an age of babies. It's official. And I HATE it. Today, as I was fundraising for the YAF 9/11 Never Forget Project, I was pulled into the office of my head of school. I was told to take down the posters we had up, that read "Never Forget" with pictures of various attacks on Americans, such as 9/11, the bombing of the Marine barracks, and a picture of Daniel Pearl with a gun to his head. Now, my head of school said that the picture with the gun was inappropriate. Granted, I do go to a school...

Today, as irrelevant as my opinion may be in the scheme of things, I'd like to STATE my endorsement of a Presidential Candidate for 2012. Barack Obama!...just kidding! I'm here to state my full support for Rick Perry's 2012 Presidential run. I can already hear the mental screams at me, "neo-con!" "RINO!" "sellout!" "globalist!" and so on. I gladly accept your insults, and I'd like to now refute some claims about Rick Perry, and lay out the undeniable case for his presidency. First issues first. I hear this whine constantly about Perry, "he served on Al Gore's presidential campaign!" Whine,...

As I sat in a conservative chat room during the debate, I heard many complaints about how it wasn't focusing on the economy, how Fox News was trying to set the nominees against each other etc. I personally found it exhilarating, and quite telling. T-Paw's smacks on Bachmann said a lot, and quite frankly we need them to go after each other, because we need to narrow this field. Anyways, my opinions: Newt Gingrich: As he is in every debate, Newt was superb. Based on his history as a politician, Newt is always articulate at times, even humorous. I'd say...

If you've been watching the news today, you know the stock markets are plunging. The markets have only been open about four hours, but the DOW has already plunged over 300 points, update, make that over 600 points.. Everyone knows this is because Standard and Poor downgraded the credit rating of the USA from AAA to AA+. Add in the fact that they downgraded the credit of institutions such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for being too reliant on government (shocker!), are mulling downgrades of Britain and France, and said they might downgrade the USA again in a few...

For those of you who don’t know, Nigel Farage is a British politician, member of the EU parliament, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), plane crash survivor, and professional unintentional singer. He is a “European Libertarian” and leader of, what he calls, the, “British Tea Party.” Now you may ask how does this British politician relate to the politics of America? I would have to answer that question with a quote from Daniel Hannan, “Europe is America in ten years.” Daniel Hannan couldn’t be more right. In countries that adhere to the European Union a.k.a. the EU (France,...

After the Washingtonian drama of the past few weeks, the nation is now reflecting, and seeing the tangible proof of the damage which our politicians have once again done to our economy. As I have perused various conservative blogs, forums and Twitter accounts, the reaction of choice seems to be anger. This anger stems from feeling betrayed, and again lied to (I imagine the liberals may feel the same anger). Many of the conservative feel that many of our "hardline" conservatives pulled "Scott Browns" on us. Without thinking too deeply, this makes sense. We, the American people, got more rubbish...

During the past few years, the American people have witnessed the strikingly meteoric rise of two politicians on both sides of the political aisles. These two burst onto the political scene during the '08 Presidential Race, and have impassioned individuals in a manner not seen in recent memory. The Liberals got Barack Obama. We all know how that turned out. The Conservatives got stuck with Ron Paul, a deadweight if there ever was one. Now, as we enter into the full swing mayhem of the next presidential race, it's interesting to note the similarities between "Paul-ites" and the '08 "Obama-ites"....