Free Republic

A brave man carrying a Benghazi sign marched behind Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a Fourth of July parade in Gorham,New Hampshire on Saturday. Photos posted to Twitter by CNN’s Dan Merica show a man marching just a few feet behind Clinton holding a white sign with the word Benghazi on it. The sign is a reference to the September 11, 2012 Islamist terror attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans: Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

Nowadays it seems as if the Left is politicizing everything with a plethora of new taboos. The latest item on their taboo list is your Fourth of July picnic, specifically hot dogs and hamburgers. As you gather with family and friends to munch on those treats fresh off the grill, little did you know that you are destroying the planet according to leftist political orthodoxy. Here is Rebecca Leber of The New Republic as she tries to guilt trip you over hot dog and hamburger carbon emissions:

"The Fourth of July celebrates that monumental moment when a new nation was announced to the world, calling for immigrants. The new nation promised a new system of government based on a Constitution, and the land a resources to prosper in that new found freedom. The population of the Colonies was about 2.5 million in 1776. The call of freedom was heard worldwide and people arrived from all over." the full article is here

The Confederate flag is in the news -- being called a symbol of hate by the Left while at the same time the White House is emblazoned with Rainbow flag colors in their celebration that people can love and marry anyone. I cannot wait for 2017 -- to be rid of this destructive, evil administration. I grew up on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin (my mother was raised outside of Milwaukee). I moved to Florida around my junior high school years (a growing transplant state but with with deep South roots in the center regions of the state) and stayed through...

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (KRON) — One of the biggest debates every Fourth of July is what’s the best place to sit to view the fireworrks. Photographer Jos Stiglingh may have found the definitive answer. Stinglingh strapped a Go Pro camera to a quad-copter drone and then flew it inside the fireworks explosions at a display in West Palm Beach Florida back in May. Neither the camera nor the drone was damaged. Enjoy along with the music. (click link for vid)

Before he was America’s first president, George Washington was a spy and a soldier, serving on America’s frontier. His spying activities in advance of the French and Indian War brought him a national reputation and helped precipitate that great war. The reputation he built then secured a military command for him in that war which would eventually lead to international acclaim as America’s first commander-in-chief. In the year of 1753, French soldiers marched south from Canada into an area where claims of sovereignty between France and England were in dispute. This area is roughly where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is now located...

On the Fourth of July in the United States of America we celebrate freedom. In particular we celebrate freedom from tyranny, freedom from government that is not representative, and freedom from unchecked power and unaccountable sovereigns.Yet as Christians, we cannot overlook that there are ways of understanding freedom today that are distorted, exaggerated, and detached from a proper biblical, Christian, or Natural Law context. Many modern concepts of freedom treat it as somewhat of an abstraction.Yes,  many speak of freedom in the abstract and have a hard time nailing down the details. So let’s talk about some of the details.Most people...

 I Am an American!             I was born an American. Unlike my grandparents, I was born in the greatest nation in the history of the world. Being born here didn't make me a real American. That took time. I became an American, slowly and decisively over my entire life. I learned to be an American, through experiences, and knowledge, and witness. I remember moments in my life that brought me to the realization that being born here, in America, is one of the the greatest blessing I had been given. As a young boy, I watched as my...

A recent Gallup poll, timed for the Fourth of July, found that while most Americans (85%) are “proud to be an American,” most (71%) also believe that our Founding Fathers would be “disappointed” in the America of today. The numbers highlight the difference between our regard for our Constitution and for the people who make America great, on the one hand, and our collective distrust of government overreach on the other. The daily news is a patchwork story of America’s great people -- and I’ll share one touching example in a moment -- as well as our very real political...

<p>Will you be celebrating Natural Law this July 4th? You should be. Your Founding Fathers did.</p> <p>In declaring their independence and asserting their God-given rights, the Founding Fathers—particularly the pen of Thomas Jefferson—acknowledged the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.”</p>

[Satire] Obama had a completely different message for a group of Congressional Summer interns in Washington: “America is a great country. There is no denying this. However, I caution you all as you step forward in your careers. Peer back into history and ask yourselves- Was a revolution truly necessary? Great Britain may not have had it completely right, but they had many things right. Take taxes for example... "

Frederick Douglass, Self-Made Man The former slave reminds us of our July Fourth task: “Cling to this day.” By Rich Lowry Frederick Douglass gave one of the great July Fourth orations in American history. Speaking in Rochester, N.Y., in 1852, he hailed the accomplishments and ideals of the Founders, before denouncing the nation’s departures from the faith of the Declaration of Independence with the righteousness and fury of an Old Testament prophet.

The governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, chose 21 year-old George Washington to trek 400 miles into the frontier to deliver to the French a demand to leave the disputed area or face the prospect of war with colonial America and England.  Washington also went to gather intelligence on the way, as there was little doubt that England and America hoped to pick a fight as much as the French did. We know quite a lot about what happened on this expedition because Washington kept a diary that was later published. According to the diary, Washington took with him Jacob Braum,...

This week we celebrate the Fourth of July, the day that our founders declared their independence from Great Britain. This declaration action came after a long history of imposition by King George III. While it might seem as though this is ancient history, there are applicable lessons to remember today. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," the document begins, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving...

July 3 marks the last day of the battle of Gettysburg 150 years ago -- Pickett's Charge, the "high water mark of the Confederacy." July 4 is of course Independence Day, but this year it is also the sesquicentennial of the surrender of Vicksburg, which split the rebel states in two by securing the length of the Mississippi for the Union. This week, a century and a half ago, marked the certain beginning of the end for the Confederacy and thus of slavery and the rise of the great Republic of freedom. To commemorate this week, I am spending the...

As we celebrate our nation's 237th birthday, a crucial facet of American life has all but vanished. We have forsaken, in a systematic and deliberate public manner, one of our most fundamental duties: fostering civic virtue in each and every one of our citizens. What does it mean to be an American? Politicians in both parties keep pushing to create a new "path to citizenship" for millions of illegal aliens. But if sovereignty and self-preservation still matter in Washington, citizenship must be guarded ferociously against those who would exploit and devalue it at every electoral whim. The pavers of the...

July 4 reminds us of all we have to be thankful for. By Mona Charen I feel a very unusual sensation — if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude. — Benjamin Disraeli
 The very wise Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs, describes the differing dispositions of liberals and conservatives this way: Liberals are moved by outrage at what is wrong with their society; conservatives feel gratitude for what is right.

Last week, I highlighted four little-known facts about the Declaration of Independence. Here are a few more facts to add to those oddities: There are at least 26 surviving paper copies of the Declaration of Independence of the hundreds made in July 1776 for circulation among the Colonies. After Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, the Committee of Five, which was appointed to write it, was also responsible with overseeing its reproduction for proclamation to those living in the Colonies. The reproduction was done at the shop of Philadelphia printer John Dunlap. "On July 5, Dunlap's copies were dispatched across...

Patriotism these days is like Christmas — lots of people caught up in a festive atmosphere replete with lights and spectacles. We hear reminders about “the true meaning” of the occasion — and we may even mutter a few guilt-ridden words to that effect ourselves — but like most people, each of us spends more time and thought in parties, gift-giving, and the other paraphernalia of a secularized holiday than we do deepening our devotion to the “true meaning.” The attention we pay the fictional Santa Claus rivals that which we pay the One whose name the holiday is meant...

On July 4, Americans gather to celebrate our nation’s Independence at family gatherings, backyard barbecues, and firework displays. Often we do this without thinking of the meaning of this uniquely American holiday. For too long – from our classrooms to the halls of Congress - our Founders, the Declaration, and our Constitution have been forgotten or even willfully ignored. But 2012 must be different. This year, join with Hillsdale College in a simple – yet powerful – symbol of support for the principles of liberty. This 4th of July, Hillsdale College wants you to join with your friends, family, and...