Free Republic

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: It's unbelievable. It is happening again! It's happening all over again. You remember during the Republican -- it was a primary debate in January, two years ago, Mitt Romney, out of the blue, was asked by George Stephanopoulos, "So what do you think about contraception?" And Romney's going, "What? Contraception? George, what are you talking about?" Stephanopoulos kept pushing and kept pushing, and it wasn't an issue anywhere. So Romney finally answered it, and that gave birth to the War on Women. There was no War on Women, and now this vaccination thing has popped up. It's...

Alabama's first openly gay state lawmaker threatened to "out" fellow elected officials engaged in extramarital affairs, especially those that champion family values and traditional marriage. State Rep. Patricia Todd's (D-Birmingham) ire came to a boil after several state officials reacted negatively to a recent federal ruling that declared Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard called the ruling "outrageous" and said that the will of 80% of Alabama citizens who voted in 2006 to define marriage as between a man and a woman has been overturned by the act of "a single unelected and unaccountable federal...

The director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, the storied home of the agency’s most secretive intelligence operations, has announced that he plans to retire, The Daily Beast has learned. CIA spokesman Dean Boyd confirmed that the director announced his retirement “after a long and distinguished career at CIA. We thank him for this profound and lasting contributions to both CIA and to our nation’s security.” As a practice, the CIA doesn’t identify the head of the clandestine service by name. But Frank Archibald was outed in a Twitter post in 2013, and details of his biography were known to...

The Islamic State militant group has released an online video saying it will kill 2 detained Japanese nationals unless Japan pays ransom within 72 hours.

The issue of whether political speech is more important than religious speech was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in oral arguments Monday in a case involving a small church that is suing an Arizona town over a sign display code they believe violates their rights. Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to favor Good News Community Church and its pastor Clyde Reed over the town of Gilbert's restrictions on religious roadside signs. During the arguments, a couple attorneys wondered if Gilbert's code on roadside signs placed political speech above religious speech. Reed and his congregation were represented by...

A rodeo clown wearing an Obama mask was denounced by everyone from the lieutenant governor on down who demanded that the people responsible be held accountable.The rodeo clown got actual death threats. He was banned for life. The man who hired him was forced to resign. The Kansas City Star suggested that the Secret Service should investigate the event.The NAACP demanded a federal probe.When a parade float featuring an outhouse as the Obama presidential library happened, Democrats claimed that it crossed the line and was unacceptable.None of these were assassination threats, even though the left had openly trafficked in...

The double standard laid bare. If you’re a devout believer of whichever faith and eager to see less blasphemy in the media, as many Americans are, there’s no other conclusion to draw here than, “I need to be much, much angrier.” The image of the prophet Mohammed, however, seems to occupy its own category, with its own rules. Last week, Baquet told me via email that as editor of the Times he had to consider “the Muslim family in Brooklyn who read us and is offended by any depiction of what he sees as his prophet.” [sic] When I...

CNN announced this week that their policy is not to show images of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, that may potentially be offensive. The editorial decision followed the outlets decision not to show the now-famous Charlie Hebdo cartoons. However, as of Tuesday morning CNN’s website still displayed pictures of crucified Jesus in a jar of human urine.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — After losing a seven-year legal battle, James Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, reluctantly took the witness stand in federal court here on Monday, but refused to answer any questions that could help the Justice Department identify his confidential sources. Mr. Risen said he would not say anything to help prosecutors bolster their case against Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former C.I.A. officer who is set to go on trial soon on charges of providing classified information to Mr. Risen for his 2006 book, “State of War.” The Justice Department first subpoenaed Mr. Risen to testify...

Hey, what’s more annoying than protesters blocking traffic? Protesters interrupting your meal. Anti-cop protesters embarked on a mission today to ruin brunch for people in New York City. ATTN WHITE Man, I have no guilt disturbing your brunch. Its YOU that has no right to be here.

The dog-eating reference is a dig at the current inhabitant of the Oval Office, via his memoir "Dreams From My Father", notes Politico, in which President Obama discusses eating dog meat in Indonesia. Palin asks, "Did you go crazy when your heroic Man-of-Your-Lifetime, Barack Obama, revealed he actually enjoyed eating dog meat?"

‘I find it really attractive how successful you are,” my date said, leaning in for a kiss. Sure, it sounds like a line. But it also sounds like feminism. It certainly made him more appealing than the guy who said, “Wow, you’re really ambitious,” like he was surprised. Or the one who asked, “Why do you work so much?” and “Why would you want to work even more?” when I was angling for a promotion. It didn’t work out with any of those men, but going out with them made it all the more obvious to me what I want...

Making it to the White House will shift prejudices not only in America, but far beyond. Hillary Clinton was on my mind even before word came of the death of Mario Cuomo. The former governor of New York will be remembered by those who have long forgotten, or never knew, his record running that state chiefly for his oratory and his knack for an enduring phrase. Eight minutes spent on YouTube watching his 1984 rebuttal of Ronald Reagan’s depiction of the US as a “shining city on a hill” will not be wasted. It was Cuomo who memorably told us:...

It was Sept. 11, 2009, just outside a high school in the small Michigan town of Owosso when Jim Pouillon, 63, was murdered for doing what he thought was right: protesting against abortion, which he considered murder. Like many pro-life activists, the elderly Pouillon, a volunteer with Operation Save America who relied on an oxygen tank to breathe, was peacefully holding a sign featuring a graphic picture of an abortion victim. He had been trying to stop abortion since 1988. The goal of his particular brand of activism: force people to visualize and understand the reality of abortion, and to...

At this point in George W. Bush's presidency, Hollywood uncorked a barrel of anti-Iraq-war movies, all of them in their varying styles trashing the American military or intelligence agencies as vicious murderers, rapists and all-around freedom-tramplers. Most were duds because the public wanted nothing to do with those messages. But oh, did the critics love 'em. In Obama's "fourth quarter," as he calls it, Clint Eastwood has released his movie "American Sniper," starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, a NAVY Seal who survived four tours of duty in Iraq and was credited with an astonishing 160 confirmed kills. The story...

Which offense is more serious? Denying a lesbian communion at a Catholic funeral? Or a female Episcopalian bishop hitting and killing a bicyclist? The Washington Post has picked (A). In 2012, they splashed across the front page (with a picture) that lesbian activist Barbara Johnson was denied communion at her mother's funeral. On December 30, the Post buried a hit-and-run-bishop story on page B5 with the headline “Bishop put on leave after fatal crash: Episcopal diocese says Heather Cook drove car that killed bicyclist.” .......

Liberal novelist Stephen King regrets asserting that if you don't learn how to read, you'll end up in "the Army, Iraq." The comment, widely seen as a shot at the military, was first publicized six years ago on NewsBusters. In an interview with the Huffington Post, King was asked if he stood by the remarks. The author lamented, "No. That was just a case of misspeaking and also having one of those brain cramps that you realize that you're no longer living in the world that you grew up in...If I could take one remark back, that would be the...

North Korea blamed its recent Internet outage on the United States on Saturday and hurled racially charged insults at President Barack Obama over the hacking row involving the movie "The Interview." North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission, which is headed by country leader Kim Jong Un and is the nation's top governing body, said Obama was behind the release of the comedy that depicts Kim's assassination. The commission described the movie as illegal, dishonest and reactionary.

And Is Denied Service By All Of Them Say that “Bestiality Is Wrong” or “Polygamy Is Wrong” and it’s not considered hate speech, but if you have the opinion that “Gay Marriage Is Wrong” the whole world jumps up and down screaming “racism” “bigotry” and “hatred”. This is becoming the politically-correct norm, but no matter what one argues, this is suppressing free speech. No one targeted pro-gay bakeries, but gay activists target Christian bakeries. “Support Gay Marriage” is one Christian bakery was sued for refusing to put that slogan on a cake for an event to support the gay...

Facebook blocked a page calling for a demonstration in support of one of President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics after being pressured to do so by Russian Internet regulators.