Free Republic

One of the great hopes of many in the political arena has been that the Internet might provide an easy way to reach that most precious element of the political public, the undecided voter. A new book by two political-science professors, Campaigning Online from Oxford University Press, refutes that, contending that while the Internet is an excellent way to stay in touch with supporters, it does not help substantially as an outreach tool. Summing up the findings, Richard Davis of Brigham Young University said "there was a presumption that the Internet would activate the inactive, interest the less-interested and convert...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2003 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: BOB ADAMS (202) 742-8516 WASHINGTON, DC --- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) offers Governor–elect Schwarzenegger and California’s state legislature ‘five suggestions as a beginning step toward’ restoring the stability and vitality of the state’s budget and economy. "It’s time for Democratic and Republican state legislators to work with California’s new governor," said Duane Parde, ALEC Executive Director. "ALEC offers these five suggestions as a beginning step toward piecing-back-together the vitality of California’s shattered economy." The five suggestions include: 1. Reject the usual gimmicks The borrowing and short-term fixes...

What do you do when your seventh grader tells you that he has to dress up like a Bedouin nomad to get an A in his Islamic Studies class? If you are Alicia Rodriguez, you just say no."From the beginning, you and your classmates will become Muslims," the simulation directions that went with the course promised. "During your journey, you will travel in caravans, enact generosity and hospitality, engage in trade, dress up as a desert nomad or Bedouin, eat authentic food from the Islamic world, build Islamic structures, produce poetry, create works of art, and race to be the...

NARAL is beginning its search for a new president to replace Kate Michelman, who has announced she is stepping down next spring to work to defeat President George. W. Bush and care for her ailing husband. Michelman says she wants to stay on board in order to lead the organization's effort to put on a national march for abortion in April 2004. An exclusive LifeNews.com report in August revealed that the AFSCME labor union is lending support to the pro-abortion march organizers.However, the fact that Michelman will not step down from the position until late April is due in part...

A Christian teachers group is decrying a sex education bill signed into law recently by California's Governor Gray Davis.California Senate Bill 71 establishes a new system of "comprehensive sexual health education" for the state's public school children in kindergarten through the 12th grade. Comprehensive sex education is a program of instruction that generally advocates contraceptive use and affirms various kinds of sexual behavior, including homosexuality and cohabitation, while also affirming abstinence.According to the Pasadena-based Christian Educators Association International, under this law California sexual education curriculum promotes homosexuality and trans-sexuality as traditional lifestyles, while new public school policies undercut parental consent.CEAI's...

A recent CBS poll revealed that three out of four women described the word feminist as an insult. Another study found that the number of working women who believe that a career is as important as being a wife and mother has fallen 23 percent since the 1970s. What has caused such a dramatic change in women's attitudes? Cindy Crawford, the supermodel, dislikes the word "feminist." An interview in the September 2000 issue of George magazine explains, "The word feminist has such negative connotations to me." Cindy is not alone. Experts agree that women are growing more and more uncomfortable...

Whether it is "No Child Left Behind" or any other buzz-word, do people really understand what education is? I don't think they do! Many people think if you have a high school diploma or a GED, you are somehow "educated". Others consider a Bachelor's Degree necessary for completing an education. Actually, you can be very well educated without any of those things, if you know what education means! The first time I ever thought about this was in an Art History class, when the professor told us that all education amounts to is knowing how to find out what you...

In my new book I list a number of ways the federal government, which operates courtesy of your tax dollars, is simply not looking out for you. And by far, the largest failure on the part of the feds is the charade of immigration. Here's the truth: Presidents Bush, Clinton, Bush the elder and Reagan all avoided cracking down on the porous borders for political and economic reasons. Businesses like the cheap labor illegals provide, and ethnic pressure groups will brand you an "anti" if you scrutinize undocumented aliens. As a result, the feds estimate that eight million persons are...

If you want to know why nothing ever changes for the better in Washington, look at the man in the White House, then look at the rest of the political cadre, and try to find a difference.You will find a difference in degree, not a difference in kind. And what is their kind? They are central planners, and those who do not share their love for the State are outside the "mainstream." Politicians who do not paddle in the "mainstream" are not heard, and to the degree they are heard, they are ignored.Education an ExampleEducation may be the best example...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Forty-five percent of Americans believe the news media in this country are too liberal, while only 14% say the news media are too conservative. These perceptions of liberal inclination have not changed over the last three years. A majority of Americans who describe their political views as conservative perceive liberal leanings in the media, while only about a third of self-described liberals perceive conservative leanings. More generally, the Sept. 8-10 Gallup Poll finds that a little more than half of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the news media when it comes...

Despite the Enlightenment’s concerted project of doing away with the Bible as the basis of political and social order in favor of Reason (Robert C. Bartlett, JOP 63, Feb. 2001, pp.1ff), religion continues to condition politics as an undergirding belief foundation: Men always have God or idols, as Luther said. Our present war on terrorism with its religious dimensions apparent to even the most blinkered secularist is evidence on the point. This phenomenon can be seen in the context of a global revival of traditional religiosity, including Christianity, as a major event of the present sometimes called "the revenge of...

Marriage is a sacred institution, and its protection is essential to the continued strength of our society. Marriage Protection Week provides an opportunity to focus our efforts on preserving the sanctity of marriage and on building strong and healthy marriages in America.Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and my Administration is working to support the institution of marriage by helping couples build successful marriages and be good parents.To encourage marriage and promote the well-being of children, I have proposed a healthy marriage initiative to help couples develop the skills and knowledge to form and sustain healthy...

A Southern Baptist preacher says America has developed an addiction to entertainment -- and that addiction has even found its way into churches.Kelly Boggs says there is little in American society that has not been tainted by what he calls "the insatiable desire to be amused." Besides television and the Internet, the demand to be entertained has also found its way into political campaigns, the presentation of professional sports -- and now the church.Boggs, a pastor in Oregon, tells Baptist Press there was a time when a church was evaluated by its commitment to biblical truth, but not anymore. Now,...

Capital punishment is an emotionally charged topic. It’s also muddied by rhetoric of both the uninformed and the dogmatic. Usually occasioned by a murder conviction, the death penalty stirs people to dizzying emotional heights as they argue for either the commutation of supposedly barbaric method of punishment or for the just execution of a deserving criminal. It’s a painful subject for many. Yet capital punishment is a subject that needs to be discussed, and be exposed to the light of God’s Word. Simply put, God authorizes governments to rightly administer capital punishment to the vilest offenders in society. Although many...

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned the Texas state law against homosexual sodomy in the landmark case Lawrence v. Texas. In the years to come we will look back on this ruling as a major sea change in our culture. This is perhaps the largest single victory ever achieved by the homosexual community. For many years, homosexual activists have fought to overturn state laws condemning homosexual activity. In 1986, 25 states had laws similar to the one in Texas. When the Supreme Court took up this case earlier this year the number had been cut to 13. The decision...

<p>Finding little support in the courts, some Ohio lawmakers want to make a statement about the link between the Ten Commandments and America's system of government.</p> <p>Rep. Mike Gilb, R-Findlay, has sponsored a resolution recognizing the Ten Commandments as "the moral underpinning of state government" and urges all lawmakers to "craft each law with the intent of upholding the Ten Commandments." He said the issue is about history, not religion.</p>

For centuries, men of other races have tried to deprive black men of their manhood. Sometimes, members of an African tribe have tried to deprive men of another tribe of their manhood. Then, in the 1960s, just as it appeared that black men might achieve a rational equality under the law in America, the left accomplished what others could not: It destroyed the manhood of most black men in America. "That's exactly right," said William Keyes, president of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship (IRC). "I don't know that the left was clever enough to plan it this way, but that...

<p>Thomas Jefferson is generally recognized by most historians as the principle author of the Declaration of Independence. Our Founding Fathers created a federal system of three branches, Executive, Legislative and Judicial.</p> <p>"The federal judiciary is ?working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief over the field of jurisdiction until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one (i.e., federalization)."</p>

The Seventeenth Amendment and the Death of Federalism Ralph A. Rossum Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism Claremont McKenna College Claremont, California Prepared for Delivery at the Panel on "Republicanism, Federalism, and the Constitution" of the 2003 Fall Regional Meeting of the Philadelphia Society Williamsburg Woodlands Williamsburg, Virginia October 3-4, 2003 My comments today are based largely on a book I recently completed for Lexington Books that explores the Seventeenth Amendment and the death of federalism.[i] Entitled Federalism, the Supreme Court and the Seventeenth Amendment: The Irony of Constitutional Democracy, it is also a critical commentary on the spate of controversial...

Evolutionists generally feel secure even in the face of compelling creationist arguments today because of their utter confidence in the geological time scale. Even if they cannot provide a naturalistic mechanism, they appeal to the "fact of evolution," by which they mean an interpretation of earth history with a succession of different types of plants and animals in a drama spanning hundreds of millions of years. The Bible, by contrast, paints a radically different picture of our planet's history. In particular, it describes a time when God catastrophically destroyed the earth and essentially all its life. The only consistent way...