Free Republic

"Propaganda is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If the means achieves the end then the means is good.........the new Ministry has no other aim than to unite the nation behind the ideal of the national revolution." Joseph Goebbels President Obama is a bully, he doesn't like being questioned or crossed. Like most of the bullying kind, if you disagree with him he will go after you with personal attacks full guns blaring. Just look at some examples of the people who have crossed the President and got smack down by the Bully-in-Chief or his...

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas on Monday advised the Obama administration to stand down and avoid fighting with Fox News and its correspondents. In an interview with MSNBC, the columnist -- who is promoting her new book on presidents and their campaigns -- also stressed the White House ought to "stay out of these fights." "They can only take you down. You can't kill the messenger," said Thomas, who has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Whether the White House takes her advice, however, is another story. Just this weekend, Senior Adviser David Axelrod charged...

Veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas on Monday advised the Obama administration to stand down and avoid fighting with Fox News and its correspondents. In an interview with MSNBC, the columnist -- who is promoting her new book on presidents and their campaigns -- also stressed the White House ought to "stay out of these fights." "They can only take you down. You can't kill the messenger," said Thomas, who has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Whether the White House takes her advice, however, is another story. Just this weekend, Senior Adviser David Axelrod charged...

The White House’s effort to target a news organization like Fox is vaguely Nixonian. The case put forward by the pro-Mao political theorist Anita Dunn is filled with errors and erroneous statements. (See Chris Wallace’s comments during this segment.) And the willingness of liberal commentators like Jacob Weisberg to act as an attack poodle on behalf of the Obama White House is both predictable and discrediting. Frankly, we’re seeing “progressives” explode in outrage at Fox not only because their previous media monopoly has ended but also because Fox is so enormously popular (it’s home to the top-10-rated cable-news programs in...

Late last week, the Canadian Bishops posted a news item on their website entitled “Professor Richard R. Gaillardetz responds to attacks“. The source of these “attacks” was a collection of credible critiques which I posted on Socon or Bust of Dr. Gaillardetz’s theological and moral positions at variance with Catholic teaching and pastoral practice. This theologian has been asked by the Cdn. Conf. of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to speak at its plenary session this Oct.19-23. You can read the CCCB communication and Dr. Gaillardetz’s letter in response here: http://www.cccb.ca/site/content/view/2717/1217/lang,eng/ ...

Race and politics are a combustible combo that explodes into headlines when an ex-president lights the fuse, as Jimmy Carter did recently. President Obama during the 2008 campaign faced questions over race and politics. "When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat told students at Emory University on Wednesday. "I think people who...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A southern conservative lawmaker breaks decorum and hollers "You Lie," at the president in Congress. Protesters display guns at venues where the president is speaking. And a movement arises alleging that the president's birth certificate is forged. To some, it is clear that the burgeoning opposition to President Barack Obama is rooted in racism, driven by whites' discomfort with the fact that the United States is now led by an African-American president. A series of Democratic lawmakers and political columnists have pointed to the trends -- the heckling, the gun-toting, the preachers leading congregations in prayers that...

Perhaps we need to institute a timeout. Back in elementary school, when things got a little out of hand, the teacher would say we needed to take a timeout. Usually this followed a fight on the playground, an argument in homeroom or an unusually nasty prank. Kids need to learn the boundaries. It feels a lot like elementary school right now in our political arena. The players have expanded the boundaries way past what had been defined as acceptable. In just over a month we have seen the following: • Town-hall meetings being disrupted by yelling and shouting. Story continues...

NLPC has uncovered a plan by the White House New Media operation to hire a technology vendor to conduct a massive, secret effort to harvest personal information on millions of Americans from social networking websites. The information to be captured includes comments, tag lines, emails, audio, and video. The targeted sites include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr and others – any space where the White House “maintains a presence.” In the course of investigating procurement by the White House New Media office, NLPC discovered a 51-page solicitation of bids that was filed on Friday, August 21, 2009. Filed as Solicitation...

Regardless of the outcome of ObamaCare, if past behavior signals the future, the Obama administration's next big push will be to mute its most successful critics. It will come as no surprise when ObamaCare proponents invoke the name of Ted Kennedy to promote passage of a healthcare reform bill when Congress reconvenes. "Let's win one for the Gipper" will become "Let's win one for ol' Teddy." But will that alone tip the balance in favor of healthcare reform as represented in the House's version? Not likely. Nor is it likely that the Obama administration will declare defeat and retreat from...

Legislation that would grant President Obama the authority to selectively shutdown Internet sites is advancing in the senate. The “Cybersecurity Act of 2009” would allow the President to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” relating to “non-governmental” computer networks and do whatever he feels is necessary to respond to the threat. Author of the bill, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), declared that “recent events surrounding ‘town hall’ meetings on the President’s health care plan emphasize the need for this legislation. As we saw, access to the Internet enabled rightwing fanatics to quickly and inexpensively alert cadres of sympathizers who turned out to disrupt...

Latest dispatch from the "dissent is patriotic" front: if you oppose Pres. Obama in his health care initiative, you're "undermining the country." None less than the great Howard Dean said so on this evening's Rachel Maddow show. Alison Stewart was filling in for the eponymous host. View video here.

When it comes to health care reform, Obama doesn't believe reasonable people can disagreeIt's funny—I don't feel like a fearmongering naysayer. And I haven't gotten a check from a health insurance lobbyist in ages. Actually, come to think of it, I've never gotten a check from the insurance lobby. But Obama says that I am, along with (pick your poll) 30 to 60 percent of Americans who are not on board with massive government intervention in one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors of our economy. So it must be true. I do have all the hallmarks of the...

TO listen to the White House and its supporters in and out of the media, you'd think that opposition to "ObamaCare" is the hobgoblin of a few small minds on the right. Racists, fascists, Neanderthals, the whole "Star Wars" cantina of bogeymen and cranks stand opposed to much-needed reform. Left out of this fairly naked effort to demonize many with the actions of a few is the simple fact that ObamaCare -- however defined -- has been tanking in the polls for weeks. President Obama's handling of health care is unpopular with a majority of Americans and a majority of...

Quick game of What-Am-I? * A crowd of about 1,000 reciting the Pledge of Allegiance * Chants of “U.S.A! U.S.A!” * No posters depicting the president as (1) Hitler / a Nazi, (2) an imperialist, or (3) a terrorist * No posters bashing the U.S. troops by (1) calling them stupid and racist, (2) accusing them of raping and pillaging, or (3) suggesting soldiers frag their superior officers * No posters containing profanity or sexually or violently graphic pictures * No T-shirts, literature, or paraphernalia worshiping Che, Castro, or Chavez * No speakers making speeches laced with obscenities * No...

The face-off between the ruling party and the people continues to unfold, as Democrat politicians hold town hall meetings across the country to build support for the Obama administration's latest power grab, misleadingly labeled 'health care reform.' The faux outrage politicians manufacture on demand has been replaced by real outrage. Outrage at the American people for failing to understand the nuances, the broad outline of a 1,000 page plus bill that most politicians haven't even read. Hey, that's what staff is for, explained new Democrat, Arlen Spector. Peons from fly-over country are daring to challenge the carefully scripted and (deliberately?)...

The Audacity of Dissent  By: Gregory Gethard FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, August 14, 2009   Call them community organizers. All across the country, Americans alarmed by the Obama administration’s proposed overhaul of health care have been coming together to vent their concerns in town-hall meetings and protests. Some are worried about the possible effects of ObamaCare on health care services, the cost of insurance, and the recovery of the economy; others are troubled by the intrusion of government into their lives. Given his background, one might expect President Obama to take seriously this vigorous grassroots reaction to his policies. Instead, aided...

Americans are finally getting a good look at the man in the White House. They've been thrilled by his speeches, love his kids, and almost desperately want to believe he was who they hoped he was when they elected him. It turns out, however, that he simply can't tolerate disagreement. In his view, those who disagree with him really ought to just shut up. His critics, after all, are the people responsible for the problems he was elected to solve, dupes and hirelings of those responsible, or dangerous kooks. The administration has moved to discredit those who oppose his health...

See this stunning video.

Living in liberal Los Angeles, I am surrounded by people -- and bumper stickers -- I do not agree with. One of the more popular liberal bumper stickers of the last decade tells us "Dissent is Patriotic." Now, as it happens, it is impossible to truly disagree with that phrase, not because it is self-evidently true, but because it is self-evidently meaningless. As are most left-wing bumper stickers. For example, another popular liberal bumper sticker proclaims, "War Is not the Answer." It, too, is completely meaningless. If the question is, "What is the square root of 8?" war is not...

“Fishing” for an Appropriate Response by Norma Zager “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.” Edward R. Murrow Richard Nixon had an enemies list. Joe McCarthy gave a pass to those who turned in their communist neighbors and friends. The Nazis had the Hitler Youth who happily turned their traitorous family into the Gestapo for a new pair of black boots. In 2009 we have the “fishy” Chicago version of turn them in and we’ll take them out. In my last article, many responded they were...

The distributed denial-of-service attack that hampered access to social networking and blogging sites all went after one pro-Georgia blogger, according to security company reports. According to a post from F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen, the attacks focused on Cyxymu's accounts at Twitter, Youtube, Facebook and Livejournal, and also included a "Joe Job" spam campaign that was designed to look as if the unwanted messages had been sent by Cyxymu. McAfee offers a similar analysis with a post that ties the spam campaign to the same botnet that launched the DDoS attack, and says that a cyxymu account at Fotki.com was also targeted....

Obama should love Town Hall Protesters since he was one in Chicago, looks like their efforts to discredit people showing up at town halls are falling flat... (Video)

See Video at link. Barbara Boxer complains that protestors at the Town Hall meetings, etc. aren't well dressed!

Democrats: An Affront to FreedomLike many of the rest of you, I have watched with glee as thousands of American citizens are giving their elected representatives the what for over this health care debacle being considered in Washington. It actually gives me the much fabled hope that folks are finally starting to wake up and take back OUR government. But in the midst of my glee, I also feel a sudden remorse at the characterization of these protesters coming from the White House and their bought and paid for media mouthpiece. Any student of history would rightfully revel in what...

LOS ANGELES -- A poster showing President Barack Obama as Heath Ledger's "Joker" character from "The Dark Knight" is creating a stir on the streets of Los Angeles where the image began appearing over the weekend. The Obama-Joker poster shows President Obama with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick and also has the word "socialism" printed in bold, dark letters under the image of his face. It's unclear who created the image and who is posting it across the city. No one has taken credit so far. Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson...

...There is so much good news which we need to proclaim about the Catholic Church. We need to raise our voices to be heard over the cacophany of dissent. We have the privilege of living in the age of the late Servant of God John Paul II and now receiving the extraordinary tutelage of Benedict the Builder. The “ecclesial movements” are flourishing, a sign of a new missionary age and a seed of springtime. New religious communities are being birthed and old ones are recovering their charisms and missionary impulse. New Catholic Colleges are being founded and older ones are...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's supreme leader has imposed his will on the streets with security forces that crushed mass protests over the country's disputed election. But he faces an unprecedented level of behind-the-scenes political discontent among the Muslim clerics who form the theological bedrock of the Islamic Republic. The bitterness could represent a deeper, long-term challenge to the rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The outright rejection by some clerics of election results that Khamenei ruled valid breaks a basic taboo against criticizing the man who in the philosophy of the Islamic Revolution literally represents God's rule on...

In parts one and two, we looked in detail at the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States. In this third part, we will examine the dissenting opinions. Dissenting opinions hold no rule of law, but are oftentimes cited as persuasive authority by those who wish to change laws or file additional lawsuits. They can even be used by a future court to overturn a previous decision. While we won in this case and SCOTUS affirmed that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is indeed an individual right and that the DC gun ban is unconstitutional, we...

First, let’s begin with some terminology. The term “fifth column” generally refers to a group within a larger community which intentionally and covertly collaborates with an outside enemy so as to weaken that group from within and undermine its leadership and effectiveness. The expression seems to have originated with the Spanish Civil War but has now been expanded to refer to a strategic use of covert activity and dissent within a State, or, as in this instance, even within a Church. I use the phrase “fifth column” in reference to people within our Church, fellow Catholics. These folks have rejected...

The New American recently warned that Americans who oppose policies emanating from Washington are being tarred as right-wing extremists and even potential terrorists by the Obama administration's Department of Homeland Security as well as by the New York Times and other liberal media organs. This push to demonize and even criminalize political dissent appears to be accelerating. Earlier this month, New York Times columnists Frank Rich and Paul Krugman wrote pieces laying the blame for the murder of an abortionist and a U.S. Holocaust Museum security guard at the foot of President Barack Obama's critics. Both have received figurative high-fives...

The Department of Defense has withdrawn a training manual question that linked protesters across the United States to terrorism, but there's evidence coming to light that describing Americans as terror suspects, or "low-level" terror suspects, is routine. reported just days ago that the U.S. Department of Defense had included in a training course a question that defined protesters as terrorists.According to the letter from the Northern California ACLU, the DoD's "Annual Level 1 Antiterrorism (AT) Awareness Training for 2009" tells department personnel "that certain First Amendment-protected activity may amount to 'low-level terrorism.'" Specifically the training "Knowledge Check 1" asks, "Which...

A written exam administered by the Pentagon labels "protests" as a form of “low-level terrorism” — enraging civil liberties advocates and activist groups who say it shows blatant disregard of the First Amendment. The written exam, given as part of Department of Defense employees’ routine training, includes a multiple-choice question that asks: “Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism?” — Attacking the Pentagon — IEDs — Hate crimes against racial groups — Protests The correct answer, according to the exam, is "Protests."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdrew its controversial report on “Right Wing Extremism” (PDF) as a terrorism threat back in May, but now left-wing media pundits say it’s time to bring back the report that tarred all U.S. military veterans and any political conservative as potential terrorist threats. Last Friday, the New York Times’ Paul Krugman launched a full endorsement of government attacks on the political right: “With the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient…. Politicians...

President Obama's plan to revamp financial regulations triggered immediate criticism Wednesday from both the political left and right over the expanded policing authorities given to the Federal Reserve while business groups grumbled about a powerful new agency charged with protecting consumers against abusive lending.

I’ve been wondering why all those “Dissent Is Patriotic” bumper stickers that abounded here in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY during the Bush era disappeared once Barack Obama came to office. Now I think I know why: Ed Schultz must have come to town and ripped them off. On his MSNBC show this evening, reacting to Dick and daughter Liz Cheney’s dissent from PBO’s national security policies, Schultz claimed that they are “not American” and “don’t love the country.” View video here.

What a difference an inauguration makes. It was only a few months ago that "dissent is the highest form of patriotism" was still the rage among the elite, liberal, "tolerant" class. But then Barack Obama became president. And now, suddenly, dissenters are paranoid, violent extremists worthy of surveillance by the federal Department of Homeland Security. Returning war veterans, who tend to be conservative and believe that terrorists ought to be called terrorists, need to be watched. Average working Americans who held polite "Tea Party" protests on April 15 against confiscatory taxes and rampant government spending — protests marked by a...

A proposed new law would punish those who bullied, harassed or intimidated others online with jail, a fine, or both. The “Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act”, proposed by Republican senator Linda Sanchez, is designed to deter the kind of behavior which led to the death of Megan Meyers, after a cyber-bullying campaign from the mother of one of her schoolmates. The text of the bill defines in very broad terms the kind of action that could be considered unlawful, as well as the penalties Sanchez and the supporters of the bill would like to see imposed. The text of the...

I thought I'd share this, I don't normally post vanities but its something I think you all should hear, a growing number of African Americans are starting to not like the idea of Obama as our first black president. I've been hearing from African Americans in New Hampshire, Maine and Mass and found that they do not like him one bit. One guy at a bar told me that He used to support him but that he might change from Democrat to republican because of what he did in office. A friend of mine in Nebraska was at a church...

According to the nororious recent government report, I am a "radical right wing extremist." If you didn't vote for Barack Obama, if you're unhappy with our tanking economy and the government's complicity in said tanking, or perhaps more odiously, you are a war veteran - you are, for all intents and purposes, an enemy of the state, subject to surveillance by law enforcement and security officials, who have been officially advised of the danger you represent. So let's see: I didn't vote for Obama. I am unhappy with the government's complicity in our economic decline and the power grab that...

Because we live among friggin' wimpy assholes who have no common sense and wipe other people's bottoms to maintain peace and pussyfoot around everyone's b.s. sensitive side -- just don't even look at this if you are a... Woman...who am I kidding...women in the U.S. have more balls than most men... "Metrosexual"...just click away...NOW! Your ears might get singed and your eyes might melt and your frail little psyche might just implode from watching this raunchy bit of deserved U.K. snark by GOT.

The latest round of criticism aimed at his pro-abortion nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kansas), shows signs of getting under President Obama’s skin. “The last thing we need is priests meddling in politics,” Obama is reported to have groused by a source wishing to remain anonymous. “Haven’t they heard of ‘separation of church and state?’” The President is said to be especially puzzled by the declaration that Catholic politicians who support abortion be denied Holy Communion. “Why can’t they accept an honest difference of opinion?” Obama asked. “And even if the priests think it’s...

On Friday, US Premier Barack Hussein Obama tipped his hand on his plans of banning dissent.   He told reporters that Republicans must “stop listening to Rush Limbaugh.” Were Obama an ordinary politician, we’d take this comment as a harmless, oral wish.  Limbaugh is an effective advocate for conservatism, limited government, lower taxes, freedom, and peace-through-strength—all things Obama hates.  Obama’s not a typical politician in the American sense; he’s a communist.  He’s a totalitarian. During the election of 2008, Obama sent thugs to threaten, cajole, and intimidate dissidents of his campaign.  They attacked radio stations in Chicago and other cities.  They...

A very dear friend of mine, an evangelical Protestant minister who is a Champion of Life, commented to me upon reading it, “Boy, does this Pope know how to Pope!” In this instance, my reaction to Bishop Joseph Martino’s continued defense of the truth in his Diocese was “Boy does this Bishop know how to Bishop!” And further, how desperately we all need him - and others like him - as we walk through the smoke of what Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, right before he was elected to the Chair of Peter, prophetically called “the dictatorship of relativism.” The latest news...

Don't really know where to post this, but I know in some article here there was a quote from Gibbs along the lines of "he (obama) is not going to tolerate any dissent." thought i had copied it and emailed it to myself but can't find it. does anyone else remember this and know where i can find it?

It seems the thin-skinned messiah occupying the Oval Office doesn’t like it much when his word is not instantly accepted as gospel. In spite of having his surrogates attack opponents unmercifully during his quest for the supreme power, words spoken against him bring throngs of thugs to do the dirty work he tries to distance himself from. We saw a taste of this during the campaign when “Joe the Plumber” asked the anointed one about his small business tax plans. The attack machine went into high gear digging for dirt on Samuel Wurzelbacher in confidential records databases. Of course, the...

The president-designate's gaze passed swiftly over the faces of the cameramen. All were doing their best to retain a professional demeanor. None were entirely successful. The overwhelming majority of them, like the majority of their brethren in journalism, had supported the deposed administration. Few had any sympathy for the views of those who were to replace it. Yet each of them had volunteered for his assignment, knowing full well what had come to pass. "I wish it could have been otherwise, but the late president gave us no choice. He had decided to place himself and his associates above the...

HOUSE BILL No. 6394 September 3, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Elsenheimer and Walker and referred to the Committee on Intergovernmental, Urban and Regional Affairs. A bill to amend 2006 PA 110, entitled "Michigan zoning enabling act," (MCL 125.3101 to 125.3702) by adding section 409.

President Obama is moving quickly to implement his liberal, “post-American” agenda. Right now, Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress are using the economic crisis to push massive and unprecedented new government spending that will rapidly move America to the socialist Left. Who can stop the Obama agenda? Only an unprecedented idea-based Resistance from freedom-loving citizens can prevent the full implementation of Obama’s march to the Left. That’s why Grassfire.org is seeking to identify and mobilize grassroots citizens who will Join The Resistance— an alliance of patriotic, resilient and determined conservatives who will not forsake their principles.

Limbaugh is a major thorn in the side of the Left. They need to remove him, because his criticisms serve to slow their advance and might even help to stop them in their tracks. That’s why I’m for Limbaugh and I too hope Obama fails at every turn in his efforts to expand the powers of government.