Free Republic

Written in an age in which minutemen rose to dress and fight at a moment’s notice, the Second Amendment was no doubt motivated by a young nation’s concern for its own safety and stability. But now, when the United States is protected by the most powerful security forces on the globe, the Second Amendment is neither relevant nor useful. Rather, it has become an impediment to vital public policy, and it should be repealed and replaced with nuanced federal legislation. Despite the controversy surrounding the Second Amendment, arguments about its relevancy have not surfaced in the Supreme Court since 1939,...

KABUL, Afghanistan — A teenage boy who was teaching English at a local school was dragged into the street and executed by Taliban militants, the provincial police chief reported. The brutal killing sparked a clash that left two suspected Islamist fighters and two policemen dead, an official said. "The boy, who was teaching English to other students after school hours, had been warned by the militants to stop teaching," provincial police chief Esmatuallh Alizai said. Taliban militants have killed several teachers and students in the past for attending the government-run schools, which they regard as un-Islamic. -snip-

A UNC-Chapel Hill professor says John Edwards' presidential campaign tried to kill a student's video story about the campaign's headquarters. In an interview with State Government Radio, Associate Professor C.A. Tuggle said that he received phone calls from two top staffers for the former North Carolina senator. The journalism professor said the staffers threatened to cut off access to Edwards to all UNC student groups if the student-run television program aired a segment critical of the location of the Chapel Hill headquarters. "I'm dumbfounded by it," Tuggle told the radio station. "I can't imagine that a national campaign would spend...

Abstract: "The Irony of Populism: The Republican Shift and the Inevitability of American Aristocracy" analyzes the shift in the role of the Supreme Court following the movement towards a democratic Senate which culminated in the Seventeenth Amendment. The Supreme Court's shift is presented as the inevitable result of the system of mixed government that underlies the constitutional order, which orders American Government into democratic, aristocratic, and monarchical parts. While in the original conception of the constitution the Senate was the aristocratic part, the Senate would become part of the democratic part with the Seventeenth Amendment and prior procedural changes. Into...

<p>FLASH: Rush Limbaugh to auction off Harry Reid's letter to CLEAR CHANNEL on EBAY; Money goes to Marine Charity.... Developing...</p>

DUMP RUSH We can't let Rush Limbaugh call our troops "phony soldiers" - email Congress and urge them to take Rush off Armed Forces Radio! October 2, 2007 We're far from giving up. Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled any American soldier who supports an end to the war in Iraq as "phony."1. We challenged Limbaugh through an email campaign to invite VoteVets.org's Jon Soltz to his show and repeat these same insults to an Iraq war veteran's face. Over 10,000 of you responded and emailed Rush -- but to our disappointment, he has refused to respond to our request....

I want to talk about an online slime machine known as Media Matters for America. It is a tax-exempt organization which states its purpose as countering conservatives in the media. I have said before that Media Matters was started with help from Hillary Clinton and took George Soros' money. Media Matters has written to me and all my bosses saying my charge is a lie, that it is an independent organization which plays no political favorites and has never received slime machine cash from Soros-funded Democracy Alliance. Here are the facts: Media Matters was started in offices provided by the...

In a blog to the Huffington Post, former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark called for Congress to immediately take steps to remove conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio. Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled any American soldier who supports an end to the war in Iraq as "phony," noted Clark. "We challenged Limbaugh through an email campaign to invite VoteVets.org's Jon Soltz to his show and repeat these same insults to an Iraq war veteran's face. Over 10,000 people responded and emailed Rush -- but to our disappointment, he has refused to respond to our request. "It's time...

Washington, DC—Senate Democrats today sent the following letter to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, calling on him to publicly repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s characterization of troops who speak out against the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.” Despite recent Republican comments condemning verbal attacks on our troops, when given the opportunity to join us in signing this letter, not a single one did so. The text of the letter is below and attached: October 2, 2007 Mr. Mark P. Mays CEO, Clear Channel Communications Inc. 200 East Basse Road San Antonio, TX 78209 Dear Mr. Mays, At the time...

110TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. Honoring all Americans serving in the Armed Forces of the United States and condemning the attack by broadcaster Rush Limbaugh on the integrity and professionalism of some of those Americans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. UDALL of Colorado submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Honoring all Americans serving in the Armed Forces of the United States and condemning the attack by broadcaster Rush Limbaugh on the integrity and professionalism of some of those Americans. Whereas on September 26, 2007, the broadcaster Rush Limbaugh told...

It looks as if the media will have to find another pretentious intellectual to refer to as “the conscience of the American theater” (according to The Boston Globe), “the moralist of the American theater” (The New York Times), and, most gratuitously, “the moralist of the past American century” (The Denver Post). In fact, given their track record, elitist intellectuals should probably refrain from using the word “moralist” altogether. Those words were written about Arthur Miller, the playwright who became famous by penning dreary plays about America’s alleged failures. Miller’s pompous liberalism has been forced upon high school and college students...

Oh, if we all just disappeared. According to The World Without Us, Alan Weisman's strangely comforting vision of human annihilation, the Earth would be a lot better off. In his doomsday scenario, freshwater floods would course through the New York subway system, ailanthus roots would heave up sidewalks, and a parade of coyotes, bears, and deer would eventually trot across the George Washington Bridge and repopulate Manhattan. Nature lovers can take solace in the idea that the planet will thrive once we've finally destroyed ourselves with global warming. But Weisman takes the fantasy one step further: Let's not wait for...

Last Friday, I inadvertently found myself in the midst of the opening salvo of a battle to turn the Twin Cities upside down next year. I was driving home at rush hour from downtown Minneapolis, when several hundred bicyclists blocked the street leading to Interstate 394. My fellow motorists and I sat obligingly for several minutes, missing green light after green light. Finally, folks began angrily honking their horns. If two police cars hadn't moved the riders along, people might have leaped from their cars to take on the bicyclists themselves. Later, the protest ride turned ugly. Two officers tried...

Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, headlined Al Gore's Live Earth concert in Hamburg July 7. This is a man who advocated author Salman Rushdie's death. In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the execution of Rushdie. Yusuf, who converted to Islam in the 1970s, was asked about the fatwa during a UK TV program on April 15, 1989. Geoffrey Robinson: “You don't think that this man deserves to die?” Yusuf: “Who, Salman Rushdie?... Yes, Yes.” After all of the denials and obfuscations by Yusuf, the smoking gun is now available on YouTube where Yusuf can be seen and...

Last week, I bemoaned New York Times columnist David Brooks's eagerness to have government impose force on others. He was promoting programs like "National Service." Why are many conservatives so eager to wield force? Conservatives used to complain when so-called liberals did that. That same week I happened to interview filmmaker Michael Moore for "20/20." Moore wants government to monopolize health care. His new film, "Sicko," argues that Canada and France approach paradise because their governments provide health care and more. This brought him standing ovations in Cannes. "But government is force," I said to him. He was incredulous. Michael...

.....the liberal argument will be: how can anyone object to protecting people from “hate speech?” The liberal success in the Imus case shows the potent political impact of such a charge. It guarantees that the liberal media will not rally to the defense of freedom of speech by conservative broadcasters. The reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine will likely follow the Congress passing¯and a Democratic president signing¯a bill outlawing “hate crimes.” Bush has promised a veto of a “hate crimes” bill if it passes the U.S. Senate (it has already passed the House). ...... USNewswire/ -- In a column and special...

ABC's "World News Now," a news program that airs at 3:30 am Eastern, when most people in the U.S. are fast asleep, replayed Jake Tapper's earlier "World News" report on the war of words between Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards, and Ann Coulter during its broadcast on Thursday.At the conclusion of the report, hosts Taina Hernandez and Ryan Owens had a brief exchange, in which Owens proposed an "Ann Coulter blackout," similar to a "Paris Hilton blackout" that the program apparently has, and Hernandez, as a counterproposal, joked, "Or we can pit them together in...

Virginia motorists convicted of minor traffic violations will face a new, multi-year tax beginning July 1. Led by state Delegate David B. Albo (R-Springfield), lawmakers slipped a driver responsibility tax into a larger transportation funding bill signed by Governor Tim Kaine (D) in April. Albo, a senior partner in the Albo & Oblon, LLP traffic law firm, can expect to see a significant increase in business as motorists seek to protect their wallet from traffic tickets that come with assessments of up to $3000 in addition to an annual point tax that tops out at $700 a year for as...

CEI's 'Send Your Underwear to the Undersecretary' Campaign Goes *Virtual* Faster Relief for People Tired of 'Regulatory Wedgie' by CEI Staff June 18, 2007 Washington, D.C., June 18, 2007— CEI’s campaign against the U.S. Department of Energy’s disastrous washing machine efficiency rules has gone virtual. Rather than physically mailing underwear to the Undersecretary of Energy, the public can now email “virtual underwear” from CEI’s website with a few mouse clicks. This makes it far easier for those fed up with poor-performing washers to register their protests with the agency. This is the latest salvo in CEI’s campaign against the DoE...

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-abortion Kansas state lawmaker who received only a slap on the wrist for attacking a pro-life advocate at a campaign rally for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is now the subject of a lawsuit. Rep. Vaughn Flora, a Democrat, was found guilty of battery and fined $100 but the pro-life protester says that was a light punishment. Flora attacked pro-life advocate Troy Newman at the rally while Newman poked fun at Sebelius over the issue of abortion. During the September 9 rally, Newman dressed up in a cockroach outfit and donned a Sebelius mask and pretended to...