Free Republic

Looks like JCPenney is sticking it to those who slammed Ellen DeGeneres' hiring as its spokeswoman. The company's new Father's Day ad shows two "real-life" dads playing with their two actual kids, JCPenney says. "First Pals: What makes Dad so cool?" the ad's copy asks, according to blogger Joe. My. God. "He's the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver—all rolled into one. Or two." The ad, Gawker notes, follows the American Family Association's One Million Moms' attempt to launch a boycott over DeGeneres' hiring earlier this year.

In its June book, J.C. Penney Co Inc. ran an ad featuring another same-sex couple, but this time it features two dads in honor of Father’s Day.

Priests of the Domestic Church: A Father's Day Homily | Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers | Ignatius Insight In the days before global positioning systems, Mapquest, and Google Earth, men were stereotyped as reluctant to ask for directions. You know the scene: a couple is driving somewhere and, unable to find their destination, the wife turns to her husband and says, "Honey, maybe we should stop and ask for directions." The husband, dismayed that his wife would dare challenge his sense of direction, stubbornly says, "I know where I'm going!" This would go on and on until they eventually found the...

A Prayer for Fathers Most gracious Heavenly Father,We thank you for our earthly fathers, those to whom you have entrusted the responsibility to provide loving protection of their families and guidance of their children. We thank you, also, for our priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood is so vital to the faith of your people.May our earthly fathers imitate the manly courage of Abraham, Jesse and Joseph, and all the holy fathers of the past in providing wise counsel to the children you have given to their care. And may our spiritual fathers be guided by the examples of Saints...

“Todd is a good dad”. Governor Sarah Palin said these words often on the 2008 presidential campaign trail when introducing her four- time Iron Dog champion husband, Todd Mitchell Palin, to cheering audiences. The First Dude, as she affectionately calls him, is deeply committed to his marriage, is fiercely protective of his children, and constantly shows patriotic allegiance not only to his native Alaska, but to America. Never slothful or lazy, Todd is always by his wife’s side and works hard to provide for his family whether it be on a Bristol Bay salmon run or in the oil fields...

Ten Simple Rules for Dating my Daughter Rule One : If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anything up. Rule Two : You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them. Rule Three : I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys your age to wear their trousers so loose that...

President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to salute dads for Father's Day and tout his administration's efforts to help parents navigate the shaky economy. Mr. Obama, who has two daughters, said he has tried to be a good father. "I haven't always succeeded, of course—in the past, my job has kept me away from home more often than I liked," the president said. President Obama filled his address with tips for being a good father but above all, he said, "children need our unconditional love—whether they succeed or make mistakes; when life is easy and when life is...

Happy Father's Day!!

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he American Family Association today criticized President Barack Obama for celebrating households headed by "two fathers" in his Father's Day proclamation. In his June 18 proclamation, the president said, "Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by...two fathers." "This is the first time in our nation's history that a president has used Father's Day as an excuse to promote the radical homosexual agenda and completely redefine the word 'family,'" said AFA president Tim Wildmon. "Virtually all Americans have the common sense to recognize that children need both a mother and a father. Rudimentary biology tells us...

How "strong" does Obama "feel" about [Islam] as his Muslim hard-drinker father left him at the age of 2? Rhetorical question. I always thought that alcohol is prohibited to Muslims, oh well, hypocrisy in that religion? not rare! --- The importance of fathers Atlanta Journal Constitution And I say all this as someone who grew up without a father in my own life, Obama went on. He left my family when I was two years old.http://blogs.ajc.com/cynthia-tucker/2010/06/21/obama-talks-about-the-importance-of-fathers/ Obama: 'I have been an imperfect father' - Father's Day Guide "As fathers," Obama writes, "we need to be involved in our children's lives...

A good Father's Day gift would be to reform the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), make it gender-neutral, and assure men that family courts will accord them constitutional rights equivalent to those enjoyed by murderers and robbers. VAWA will be coming up for its five-year reauthorization later this year, and that will be the time to hold balanced hearings and eliminate VAWA's discrimination against men. VAWA illustrates the hypocrisy of noisy feminist demands that we kowtow to their ideology of gender neutrality, to their claim that there is no difference between male and female, and to their opposition to stereotyping...

On the eve of Father's Day, I heard on the air on Chicago's WIND AM some typical left-wing babble about families. A fellow calling himself a doctor waxed eloquent over how we can "make our own families," and how "families aren't just about blood. They are about love." Nice, gauzy, and wholly inadequate to truly define the importance of family, isn't it? But it is this mushy-headed thinking that is so destructive to the role of real families in America today, especially where it concerns fathers. So, on this 2010 Father's Day I thought I'd correct the mushy-headed liberalism about...

Author's note: This piece is co-authored by Jeanne Monahan.This Father’s Day will be a celebration for dads all over the country, an opportunity for children to thank and honor their fathers. Yet for many men, the memory of involvement in a past abortion, of “cards they will not receive,” will be painful and palpable. In a debate where the primary focus is a woman’s body and a woman’s right to choose whether or not to carry a child to his or her delivery, the “other partner,” the father of the baby, is rarely given consideration, and is often completely disregarded...

Forty-seven years ago, the body my Dad lived in for 58 years, was gently lowered into the ground in Mt. Vernon Cemetery in the heart of beautiful Teays Valley, West Virginia. Today as I have nearly every day since his death, July 1, 1963, I thought of him - again trying to do the utterly impossible task of putting into words, feeble and faltering words, all that he means to me. He gave me and all his family priceless treasures, treasures beyond all earthly value, in both quantity and quality. He gave me love. I never knew what it was...

He awoke Sunday quite depressed Reminded of what lie ahead Not looking forward to going anywhere He had rather sleep late instead Sunday was always his favorite day After working hard all week Sleep late then watch the ball game Get some real R & R and peace Oh, he wanted to visit, but then again Ball games would be on all day What a bummer to miss any or all Why, his favorite team would play Guilt overrides, he knows he must go His mind starts devising a plan Make an appearance an hour or so Then leave as...

Linking to Pres. Obama's Father's Day proclamation, Drudge focuses on the recognition PBO extends to two-father families. I'd say the message's very first sentence is even more noteworthy: "From the first moments of life, the bond forged between a father and a child is sacred."

Cover    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Cover Only [PDF format, 11 kb] 1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Prostitution:    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - p72 [PDF format, 45 kb] 2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Segregating Prisoners by Sex    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - p75 [PDF format, 30 kb] 3. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Rights of Bigamists    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader...

From Colbert King of the Washington Post: “Family, marriage and the contribution of fathers come together as topics for reflection on Fathers Day. So I’d like to know why Barack Obama, a husband and a father in a family structure that encompasses bonds deemed essential to our society, is constantly and savagely attacked by conservative leaders whose personal circumstances undermine the family values they espouse?” 1. His support of late-term abortion. 2. Being part of a church that preached racial division and a contempt for America. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes...

“The Father’s Day” (Galatians 3:23 – 4:7)Today is Fathers’ Day, a day when we honor our fathers for the blessing that they are to us. This is good and right that we do this--especially you fourteen-year-old girls out there in the congregation! Be sure to honor your father today! Now for many of us, our fathers are long gone. But that does not mean we don’t have a Father to honor today. In fact, I want to suggest to you that this is “The Father’s Day,” a great day to thank and praise our heavenly Father. Our text is the...

Tomorrow Is Father’s Day. Unlike those whose fathers are still alive, my father is now just a memory. My father had died in 1999 and what I do remember of him, he served this country in the Coast Guards during WW 2. He worked for Pratt And Whitney Aircraft and was an active member of the International Machinists union. Loved cats and dogs and just as important, loved this country.

Family, marriage and the contribution of fathers come together as topics for reflection on Father's Day. So I'd like to know why Barack Obama, a husband and a father in a family structure that encompasses bonds deemed essential to our society, is constantly and savagely attacked by conservative leaders whose personal circumstances undermine the family values they espouse?.......

No Better Gift for Father’s Day Take the Time to Write a Letter to Your Kids By: Tom McGrath Social scientists continue to report that many Americans, male and female, suffer from a “father hunger.” Growing up, they didn’t have sufficient experience of connection with their fathers. Dads worked away from the home—sometimes long hours—and often felt out of place in the mix of family life. Business success and the demands of being the main provider came at a great price for men in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Many men sacrificed their awareness of just how fiercely they...

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the...

THINGS THE DUMBEST MAN IN THE WORLD TAUGHT ME Proverbs 1:8, “My son hear the instruction of thy father.” Pastor Terry Kent Hagedorn, Calvary Baptist Church, Reedsville, WV When I was fifteen (1965) I realized that my father was dumb. He had always been that way. It just had not been so apparent to me until I became a teenager. However, it was now becoming obnoxiously obvious to me that he was turning into THE dumbest man in the world! I am not exaggerating. It was a malignant condition. He kept getting worse. And, I kept getting more and more...

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2010 – As Americans celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, thousands of military fathers will be deployed thousands of miles from their families. Army Staff Sgt. Scott Williams, second from right, said he’ll miss, not only his family, but also his father’s “famous marinated family steak” while deployed to Kuwait this Father’s Day. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Five servicemembers shared their Father’s Day memories and personal perspectives about what it means to be a military father serving in wartime. Here are their stories. Army Staff Sgt. Scott Williams Growing up in Iowa, Army Staff...

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2010 – Army Sgt. 1st Class Roland Lueras left for a year-long deployment to Iraq on Father’s Day last year, missing his family’s usual gift-giving celebrations. Army Master Sgt. Donald Towers poses for a picture with his grandchildren, Jamie and Waylon, shortly before his deployment to Iraq in June 2009. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But this weekend, it will be his 8-year-old son, Austin, who will receive the special gift: his father. Lueras is one of about 80 Army National Guard soldiers with the 203rd Military Police Battalion based in Athens, Ala., returning...

The problem here with the Gulf oil spill is that we didn’t adhere to those standards, and the MMS didn’t regulate aggressively enough, and BP told the government some things that now we’re finding out aren’t necessarily true. So, there’s a lot of blame to go around, but certainly the American public can’t be blamed for the problem that we’re seeing today, that tragedy in the Gulf, and they should not be punished. They should not be punished with cap and tax either, a tax on energy that now Obama is talking about in a kind of response to the...

6/26/2009 - CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- It took the tenacity of a daughter, the insistence of a politician and the presence of 27th Special Operations Wing members here June 21 to properly recognize a World War II Soldier who sacrificed his leg in combat. In a Father's Day ceremony in Portales, N.M., Col. Stephen Clark, the 27th SOW commander, presented Herman Wallace a Bronze Star in recognition of his service during World War II. Col. Mark LaRose, the 27th Special Operations Maintenance Group commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Hector Baez, the 27th Special Operations Mission Support Group...

We’re not suggesting that the formerly missing Governor of South Carolina specifically ditched his family and security detail to go hiking on Naked Hiking Day. It’s just that one of the days he hit the trail also happened to be the aforementioned holiday. [Editor’s note: This paragraph was changed to make clear that the governor’s timing was a coincidence.] Until late yesterday, no one would say publicly where he was. Poof. He just disappeared. The story started to resemble a John Grisham novel. A southern conservative governor and very vocal critic of a popular liberal president eluded his security detail...

The smiling, ethnically diverse family featured on the cover of Toronto's latest edition of its summer Fun Guide was digitally altered to make the photo more "inclusive," which city officials say is in keeping with a policy to reflect diversity. A spokesman for the department that publishes the guide listing recreation activities confirmed the publication was doctored to insert the face of a different father. "He superimposed the African-Canadian person onto the family cluster in the original photo. It was two photographs and one head was superimposed over the original family photo," said John Gosgnach, communications director for the...

In an interview with President Obama on Friday, CBS’s Harry Smith asked the "father-in-chief" about growing up without his own father: "In this fatherless world, where did you learn to love?" [audio available here] The first part of the interview, which aired on Father’s Day on CBS’s Sunday Morning, focused on Obama’s role as "First Dad" as Smith declared: "Maybe it was on election night when we first realized not only would there be a new president but also a new first family. A family with young children...Along with the role of commander-in-chief and leader of the free world, Barack...

Following is an e-mail which was sent to whitehouse e-mail list on Sunday. From: First Lady Michelle Obama Happy Father's Day, "I’m writing to share a special video of Barack talking about fatherhood, but first I want to share some thoughts of my own." Video is at the site: http://whitehouse.gov/blog/responsible-Fatherhood ==== personal note: My disgust at the arrogrance kept me from watching it

On his first Father’s Day in the White House, Barack Obama exalted the role of surrogate dads: “We also honor those surrogate fathers who raise, mentor, or care for someone else’s child. Thousands of young children benefit from the influence of great men, and we salute their willingness to give and continue giving.” Ann Dunham married Barack Obama’s father, the focus of his “autobiography.” Barack Senior abandoned the family before the child was two years old. Dad was not exactly father of the year. He is described as a “drunk and a bigot,” who was a cruel man, prone to...

The reader might be warned that reading this San Francisco Chronicle Father's Day piece serves as a most perfect emetic. In fact, it's a wonder that writer Jennifer Weiss could type with all those stars in her eyes. Her Father's Day adulation of Obama is so over-the-top that Obama suddenly becomes the "father of our country," and is determined to have "super-dad status." The most offensive part of this piece is, of course, the aforementioned assigning to Obama of the role of "father of our country." There is only one father of our country and that is George Washington, war...

With Father’s Day almost upon us, expect a host of media stories on men and family life. Some will do a good job of capturing the changes and continuities associated with fatherhood in contemporary America. But other reporters and writers will generalize from their own unrepresentative networks of friends and family members, try to baptize the latest family trend, or assume that our society is heading ceaselessly in a progressive direction. So be on the lookout this week for stories, op-eds, and essays that include these five myths on contemporary fatherhood and family life. 1. THE ‘MR. MOM’ SURGE Open...

Dad, Happy Fathers day. I referred to you as Dad because I remember once you said that you would like to be called Dad, but yet I never did. So Dad, on this fathers day I want to give you a list of all the things that I am thankful for, in your being a father over me. So in no particular order here we go. First off, I don’t particularly remember this but Brandie explained to me that you once made us a swing out of a milk carton, and swung us on it, and Brandie really enjoyed that....

A prayer for all the Father's on Freerepublic! A Father's Day Prayer Our Father in heaven, You are the one who knows how absolutely special fathers are. You made them that way. How else can a man work so hard, give so much, and love unconditionally, without your strength... So first, Lord, thank You for fathers, for daddies. For big, strong men with tender hearts, with hands that are calloused and rough, yet so soft and gentle when hearts need mending. Lord, help children to delight this day in being with their dads, even if it must be only by...

... as they finish 18 holes at the Fort Belvoir Golf Club together on Father's Day, Sunday, June 21, 2009.

Sen. John McCain started Father's Day on "Fox News Sunday," but he said he'll spend the rest of the day on the phone, chatting with his seven kids. The Arizona Republican said fathers need to give their kids "support, understanding -- and sometimes that support has to be a little tough love." He said that he often felt pressured to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both Navy men, and said that parents should give their children choices. "I hope that I'm a good father," McCain said.

The girder comes out from the glacier of Mount Ararat, at an altitude of 4200 meters. It's visible to the naked eye and the Alpine guide Claudio Schranz of Macugnaga has no more doubts: it's a piece of the Noah's Ark. He saw and photographed it at a distance of five meters. It's the morning of December, 2nd, Schranz is an Alpinist and he's 51 years old, he has hundredths of expeditions in all the world to his credits.

For FATHER'S Day.. These always gets to me... "In The Living Years" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGDA0Hecw1k "That's my Job" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7XK_zNq930

“Behind every great woman, you will find her dad.” According to an article by Joanne Richard in the Edmonton Sun, that’s the kind of extraordinary power that a father has over his daughter. Dr. Mary Jo Rapini, a psychotherapist and author, declares that the way a dad treats his little girl determines how she will feel about herself as a woman. If fathers admire their daughter’s achievements, character, and looks, says Dr. Rapini, that girl will become a confident and self-assured person who will choose a husband who treats her the same way. In fact, Dr. Rapini echoes the old...

Quick - - what do you know about the country of Kenya? That’s the country with the world’s greatest GDP, low inflation and stable employment - - right? Well, no. In 2008, the United States had the greatest GDP of any individual country in the world (it came in second behind the 27 nations of the European Union), whereas Kenya produced the world’s 82nd largest GDP. Kenya endured an annual inflation rate of 9.7% in 2008 (current inflation figures for Kenya are unavailable), while the United States recently posted an inflation rate of .1%. And while the United States is...

Bottles of beer will be given to fathers who attend church, in an alternative "blessing" for Father's Day. A senior bishop has backed the move, which is part of a Church of England initiative to put a Christian emphasis on the annual celebration of fatherhood. Concerns over the lack of men attending services year-round has led clergy to offer a range of incentives today, including free beer, bacon rolls and chocolate bars. It is the first time that the Church has attempted to treat Fathers' Day in the same way as Mothering Sunday, which has traditionally formed part of its...

There is little question that in most families the mother is the central unifying person emblematic of unconditional love that can be tough love when necessary. Recent research, however, suggests that fathers are more important in the lives of children than had been previously understood. It is still unclear how much this reflects the fact that, although many single parents are successful in that challenging role, children raised in intact two-parent homes enjoy certain tangible advantages, or that fathers bring certain essential characteristics to family life. Some research indicates that fathers are more likely to engage in vigorous physical play,...

When does a boy become a man? The answer goes far beyond biology and chronological age...

The ideal father is hardworking, fun-loving, a good provider, understanding, wise, sometimes stern and, above all, inspiring. Yet a century ago, the popular image of the father was less radiant. Groucho Marx observed that in those days, there were many hymns to motherhood, but "nobody ever wrote any song about fathers. Father was the town schlemiel in almost every place."

On this Father's Day, the American public should proudly note that our president takes his personal role as father (and spouse) as seriously as he does his job as father of the country. The nation has become better acquainted with President Obama in his first five months of office, and we've learned that his value to our society goes far beyond his vision for ending the economic crisis, his passion for reducing our dependence on foreign oil and his efforts to woo foreign leaders. He also has spent hours wooing some key decision-makers closer to home, namely Sasha, Malia and...

Some kids will be surprising their fathers with breakfast in bed this weekend, while others will present a gift inscribed with the phrase, "world's best dad." Some men, though, will only be reminded of the heartache from losing the opportunity to become fathers. They are the third victims of abortion. The story of a man abandoning a woman after getting her pregnant has become the stereotypical image of pro-abortion activists and some pro-lifers. The male shirker is central to the abortion storyline and often is used to rationalize taking the life of a baby.