Free Republic

https://twitter.com/latimes/status/631115411300446209/ That old saying about sticks and stones breaking bones but words never harming us has effectively been turned on its head in Post-America. Stated differently, tweets like the above are the natural outgrowth of a culture in which hypothetical threats like global warming or The Great Books are treated as existential, while actual threats to life and limb like say a nuclearized Iran or armed protestors are either ignored or whitewashed if they do not serve a political narrative.

In a July 23 interview published in the New York Observer, actor Richard Dreyfuss said he would like to rewrite the 2nd Amendment to make it clear it applies to the militia rather than individual rights.

Despite what some people think, hero is not a synonym for competent government-hired killer.If Clint Eastwood's record-breaking movie, American Sniper, launches a frank public conversation about war and heroism, the great director will have performed a badly needed service for the country and the world. This is neither a movie review nor a review of the late Chris Kyle's autobiographical book on which the movie is based. My interest is in the popular evaluation of Kyle, America's most prolific sniper, a title he earned through four tours in Iraq. Let's recall some facts, which perhaps Eastwood thought were too obvious...

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...

IÂ’ve watched the film depiction of the life of the late Chris Kyle, AmericaÂ’s deadliest sniper, Navy SEAL, and veterans advocate, twice. It is a gripping portrayal, but it is a portrayal nonetheless. While the screenplay perhaps lacks nuance, it is also a product of Hollywood and should be considered a truncated and dramatized version of one manÂ’s life story. The complexities of biography often elude filmmakers who are charged with creating dense and intricate portraits of a human being in 120 minutes. Nevertheless, the movie is quite enjoyable. The performances are stirring and the wartime themes, difficult as...

With a win against the estate of late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle behind him, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura now has his sights on HarperCollins, the publisher of the bestselling memoir "American Sniper." Ventura filed a lawsuit Monday against the New York publisher, alleging the publicity generated by the book with a "false and defamatory" segment "substantially increased sales of 'American Sniper,' thereby generating millions of dollars in revenues and profits for Harper Collins." HarperCollins does not comment on pending litigation, a spokesperson said Tuesday. A federal jury in St. Paul found in July that a segment of the...

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura filed suit Monday against HarperCollins, the New York publisher of the book that a federal jury in St. Paul said had defamed him. In July Ventura won $1.8 million from the estate of Chris Kyle, the late Navy SEAL who wrote the bestselling memoir “American Sniper,” which included a subchapter about an alleged California bar fight between him and a man he called “Scruff Face” and later identified as Ventura. Ventura, who is also a former member of a SEAL unit, successfully argued that the bar fight and disparaging remarks he made against Navy SEALs attributed...

The TV show What Would You Do has produced an episode of a pregnant women being forced by her boyfriend to have an abortion. The show uses actors to portray real life circumstances to see how the public would react. WWYD couple PICTURE ON LINK The interchange occurs inside a restaurant geared for the patrons to overhear the argument to catch their reactions on camera. In the scenario, the pregnant actor tells her pretend boyfriend she is pregnant. He gets irritated, accuses her of sleeping around and tells her she has to have an abortion, “You’re ending this pregnancy or...

Gas prices, on average, are about 50 cents less a gallon than a year ago, giving a de facto tax cut and providing relief to millions of consumers as the holiday season kicks into high gear. However, a growing number of politicians have suggested that, given cheaper fuel costs, conditions might be ripe to hike federal taxes on gas in order to help fund infrastructure projects. Rendell is one of those voices. He supports raising the federal gas tax—

In case you missed it over the weekend, Georgetown University student Oliver Friedfeld was mugged at gunpoint by in Washington D.C. Instead of pressing charges or expressing anger toward his attacker, Friedfeld said he "deserved" to be beat up because of his "privilege." He also said Americans should expect an occasional mugging or break-in because of the sins of their ancestors. More from Campus Reform:A Georgetown University (GU) student who says he was mugged at gunpoint says he “can hardly blame" his assailants. Senior Oliver Friedfeld and his roommate were held at gunpoint and mugged recently. However, the GU student...

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) predicts that there will be enough support for immigration reform in a GOP-led Congress. According to the Associated Press, "Ryan said that as long as Obama doesn't try an executive order in November or December and works with Congress," immigration legislation can be enacted.

* Obama is reportedly looking to expand his deferred action program to include any one who came to the U.S. as a child * The sweeping order would also allow parents of both citizen children and illegal immigrant children to remain in the U.S. * As many as 4.5 million illegal immigrants with U.S. born children could be protected * A growing number of conservatives are pledging to stop Obama by restricting immigration funding in an upcoming spending bill * Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has explicitly said there won't be another government shutdown - period House Speaker John Boehner...

A new Pew survey found that Latin American Catholics are increasingly leaving the Catholic Church, either to join evangelical Protestant churches or are abandoning religion altogether. The survey participants cited a search for a personal connection with God as the biggest reason for their shift. The wide-ranging survey, released on Thursday, reported that although 69 percent of adults across the region identify as Catholic, in almost every country surveyed there was a reported net loss of Catholics in terms of people raised Catholic and currently Catholic. Overall for Latin America as a whole, 84 percent of the population was raised...

First of all, everyone knows that saying anything overtly racist in front of strangers is totally taboo. So the inhibitions to participation in this insane activity are already pretty great. Even so, most of these kids are not new to conversations about race; the majority of them are students of color, including loads of junior college transfers, student parents, vets, and a smattering of white kids, mostly freshmen. Of course some are just scared of speaking in front of so many people, no matter what the topic. “Most folks’ll never eat a skunk / but then again some folks’ll /...

This really happened. Today. This was actually posted by The White House on Instagram.

Yep, the United States is so racist that Kanye West was able to become a multi-multi millionaire here. He probably does need to travel more to find out how little racism affects success in the United States compared to most of the rest of the world. This reminds me of when Johnny Depp said he and his family were moving to Paris, France because the United States was too violent. Then the reality of Muslim riots in Paris with many cars being burned each night set in. Remember that? Yeah, after a few years Depp moved back to the States....

I have wondered about Beck for a while, but loved his exposure of the communist network in the US. Since he left FOX...he seems to have changed...and the immediate disregard to the Bundy situation really made me sick. Beck didn't even give the guy the benefit of the doubt and touted the NYT version. I know he has risen to fame since 2001, ghost written several books, had rallies, etc....but to have a network, now? A base in NY....a major website (so buggy and full of cookies it puts me off). Does anyone else find this strange? And claims to...

Toronto police are looking into allegations that a member of Justin Bieber’s entourage assaulted a limo driver who was driving the Canadian pop star and several others. But a spokesman says it’s unclear whether the teen heartthrob himself is accused in the attack or simply one of his companions.

So Pajama Boy turns out to be Ethan Krupp, an employee of Obama Youth Organizing for America, the Obama front group.  Maybe his autobiography will be called The Unarms of Krupp?  He may be having second thoughts already; he’s apparently closed up his Twitter account, and blocked access to a YouTube video of a speech he gave at the University of Wisconsin (naturally).  But there’s this wonderful video he did for OFA, with the totally creep-out title “Get Ready to Have the Talk”: He’s into “social media” naturally.  Here’s a squib from an alumni profile:Sounds like a real fun guy....

'Yeezus' MC: "Anytime the word 'Jesus' can be used more in our lives, it's a good thing."The opening night of Kanye West's Yeezus tour featured a highly unexpected cameo: Jesus Christ. Or, at least, a dude dressed as "White Jesus," as SPIN reviewer Douglas Wolk wrote. Like most things Yeezy does — I.E. rent an entire baseball stadium in order to propose to Kim Kardashian — the move quickly proved to be a conversation-starter. What's odd about this one is how ready and willing he was to personally join said conversation. In back-to-back interviews with San Francisco Bay Area rap...