Free Republic

. . . We have devised a foolproof means of guaranteeing that tax increases will be approved on the ballot. Here’s how . . . Only allow people to vote who are willing to pay the tax, and of course they must vote “Yes.” In other words, a new tax or a higher tax can be approved, but only if those voting Yes are the only ones to pay it. If you want higher taxes, you can vote Yes and pay the higher taxes. . .

Carroll Quigley, in the course of his examination of the failure of most Latin American / South American nations-states, delivered an astonishing analysis of what he believed to be the root cause of these failures in the first edition (1966) of his renowned Tragedy and Hope. Here, in almost an aside, he defines what he calls the "Pakistani-Peruvian axis" - a combination of Asian despotism and Arabic outlook (key word, that - outlook), both of which have their roots in Bronze Age antiquity, that pervade what Quigley calls the shattered cultures that dwell on its axis from Pakistan to the...

interesting and comprehensive

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--

Is it just me, or is the way this whole cult of personality thing going on with our current President beginning to really take on the characteristics of a type of benevolent despotism on the part of our federal government? ObamaCare -- and this creepy new gag, where Barack Obama will be beamed September 8th into the classrooms of all our children -- seems to be the latest manifestation of this phenomenon. First, there was a 787 billion dollar stimulus that doesn't seem to be stimulating much other than a ton of equally-creepy "Your Obama Stimulus Dollars at Work" road...

It is incredible that in American an Administration has created a Public Enemies List. Please write your representatives, the Whitehouse and the MSM showing your distrust of this government the Media that is silent.

April 28, 2009 Truth is the new hate speech. And homosexual activists are laying the groundwork for their own demise. No kidding. The "hate crimes" bill, H.R. 1913, which passed out of the House Judiciary Committee last week, is aimed at silencing speech. This thought crimes bill is scheduled for a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives tomorrow, and when you pair it with existing law (found in Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code), it will unmistakably criminalize speech. It specifically targets anyone who dissents to the homosexual agenda as aiding in the commission of...

It gives a nice little overview of Communism, Fascism, Anarchy, and Democracy and why our Founding Fathers tried as hard as they could to avoid all of them, including, most importantly, Democracy, when setting up our Republic. By the end, the slippery slope of Dictatorship of the Elite, on which we stand, seems to be getting steeper and more slippery. H/T to FReeper wombtotomb

Barack Obama's America A timeless critique from Tocqueville. by Alexis de Tocqueville 03/09/2009, Volume 014, Issue 24 It seems that if despotism came to be established in the democratic nations of our day, it would have other characteristics: it would be more extensive and milder, and it would degrade men without tormenting them. .  .  . When I think of the small passions of men of our day, the softness of their mores, the extent of their enlightenment, the purity of their religion, the mildness of their morality, their laborious and steady habits, the restraint that almost all preserve in vice...

It seems that if despotism came to be established in the democratic nations of our day, it would have other characteristics: it would be more extensive and milder, and it would degrade men without tormenting them. When I think of the small passions of men of our day, the softness of their mores, the extent of their enlightenment, the purity of their religion, the mildness of their morality, their laborious and steady habits, the restraint that almost all preserve in vice as in virtue, I do not fear that in their chiefs they will find tyrants, but rather schoolmasters. I...

“It is seldom,” David Hume wrote, “that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” That admonitory sentence furnishes one of the epigraphs for Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, first published in 1943. How is freedom faring in the United States today? Peter Robinson, a scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, provided a melancholy précis in “The Loss of Individual Liberty,” a column that appeared in Forbes last month. Mr. Robinson recalled a dinner he shared with Milton Friedman several years ago. He complimented the venerable economist on his role in transforming the intellectual landscape, especially in...

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- She's only 12 years old, but Ashleigh Jones is feeling the heat of this election year. That’s because the seventh grader at New Smyrna Beach Middle School was called a racist by classmates (Video: MyFoxOrlando) for wearing a T-shirt in support of VP candidate Sarah Palin, Orlando FOX affiliate WOFL reported. Jones is volunteering at the Republican Headquarters in New Smyrna Beach. The Palin t-shirt was a gift from her fellow volunteers. But when she wore it to school she learned just how tough politics can be. "Some of the students were calling me racist because...

By now everyone who follows politics has heard of Joe Wurzelbacher, a guy from Toledo known now as 'Joe the Plumber,' who asked a question of Barack Obama in a campaign rope line, and was referenced numerous times in last night's debate. Like many of us, Mr. Wurzelbacher has questions about Barack Obama's tax policy, among other things. So what happens to Mr. Wurzelbacher for expressing his views? Reports in the mainstream media appear claiming that he is unlicensed (even though he doesn't need one as an employee of a business or as a contractor working on a residence), and...

<p>The problem in this story is twofold. Without wanting to provide details, the story really needs a second source.</p> <p>Tom Maguire? Buddy? Please answer my emails.</p> <p>The second problem is that anonymity -- no names, no pictures-- is requested. He fears retaliation and harassment. And who knows -- perhaps more.</p>

Janine Giambalvo wants people to know she supports John McCain as this country's next president, so she placed a McCain sign in her yard. But someone who apparently thinks McCain should lose has taken matter into his own hands. Giambalvo's sign was stolen sometime last Wednesday from her home in York Township's Marlborough West neighborhood. And police said hers is not the only one. Police from three local departments said residents have reported a number of McCain sign thefts from the York area, numbering about 17 at this point. Giambalvo said she is disgusted that someone would stifle her rights...

I have a BA in journalism, and over time have kept in touch with a number of people who are still working in that profession. So when one of them emailed me the following about the atmosphere in today's newsrooms, I wasn't surprised at all. This person does offer some hints at the end on how to push for more fairness in your local coverage: .... It's unbelievable here. I've been through a few election cycles and have gotten pretty used to the open sneering every time a Republican candidate appears on the television, but this year is unlike anything...

Jerome Corsi, author of the anti-Obama book titled The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality was deported back to America not because of a hitch in his travel documents as reported earlier but due to the nature of his mission in the country. According to Foreign affairs minister Moses Wetangula, Corsi displayed inconsistent conduct with the expected norms of good behaviour in the country. Corsi was on Tuesday night deported back to America after he attempted to launch the book blasting White House hopeful Barrack Obama at a Nairobi hotel. The initial explanation offered by the authorities...

From Hillary Clinton Forum Yesterday, 09:44 PM Maddie Kaddison New Member = <100 Posts Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 99 Poster Rank: #454 Obama's supporters scare me. Here is a comment I just read from this story (the story that Dean Reynolds of CBS wrote about Obama's "stinky" plane etc): Quote: I support Obama, but I disagree on some major issues. One is that we need to use major authoritarian measures against wingnuts and theocrats to save this country. That in particular includes deprogramming institutions and a Gitmo like camp to deal with the worst wingnuts. These people should be...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In the face of an economy in crisis and a deeply unpopular president, some analysts believe the situation is ripe to give Democrats a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in November. Analysts say Democrats may control the Senate after the November election. Analysts say Democrats may control the Senate after the November election. It's "the perfect storm," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report.

British authorities arrested three Muslims in London on Saturday after fires broke out in the offices of the publishing house Gibson Square and at the home of the publisher, Martin Rynja. Gibson Square had been planning to publish The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones, a trashy novel sensationalizing the marriage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad to the child Aisha (Muhammad was in his fifties, and Aisha was nine, when the happy union was consummated).