Free Republic

Marine General Joseph Dunford arrived in Afghanistan and assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and United States Forces – Afghanistan on 10 February 2013. After a prolonged thirteen years of American involvement in Afghanistan, General Dunford will oversee the withdrawal of US combat forces from Afghanistan scheduled for the end of 2014 in adherence to President Obama’s withdrawal order. General Dunford described the current Afghan situation in his Commander ISAF Afghanistan Update, summer 2013 report. He remarked on the 13 year culmination of ISAF efforts that led to the momentous milestone achieved as the Afghanistan National Security...

As opposed to what the Left believes, the purpose of government is not to impose social justice. As often happens, that was forgotten in Scotus’ 1964 Reynolds v. Sims ruling. Citing a non-existent “one man one vote” principle, eight Warren Court black-robes ruled that state legislative districts must be of approximately equal populations. Through a rogue interpretation of the equal protection clause, these masterminds imposed a democratic republic form of government on all fifty states! Never mind the constitution simply guaranteed a republican form of government, Scotus illegally overruled centuries of wisdom and imposed democracy. Republics demand consent of the...

The nation is engulfed in an internal Cold War as Obama navigates America into a failing European Socialist State. Obama battles and offers no quarter to conservatives, the last bastion of citizens whose traditional views of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights are affront to the progressive view of the US Constitution as a living, changing document. For five years, Obama has bullied the Republican establishment into submission. Conservative patriots, aghast at our Republican leaders’ readiness to cave to Obama’s demands and provocations, have made their voices heard in Congress. Americans are outraged at Obama’s end runs around Congress...

Near-silently, I padded through the grasslands, crouching down low, the chill air frosting my breath with every exhale. I hoped -- nay, prayed -- I would be unseen by the hastily-deployed military and civilian martial-law enforcement squads. Following the roads was simply not an option. The checkpoints were placed every few miles leading out of Atlanta, and every one of them had armed personnel with ballistic armor. Some even had lightly-armored vehicles. No matter if you went by back roads or expressway, there they were - and all of them had a school bus or two to ferry you to...

Isn't this about time to START RECALL ELECTIONS?In all elected offices, national, state, local, where Dems, and Rinos open their mouths, or have a national voice..

The weapons we Fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contratry, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Cor 10:4 Congratulations to Boehner and the Repubs for lasting far longer than anyone imagined. Since the filibuster by Ted Cruz there is a new feeling in DC which has the establishment confused. How in the world are the Repubs holding the line when they are only known for caving over the past three decades. Most like myself never imagined they would make it 48 hours when they are about to pass an entire week. Every day...

I GUESS IT’S OVER.. I wanted to say goodbye until…? On Monday morning Oct 1 2013, a day that will be recalled in history as one of those moments, that will be etched in our conscience for an eternity.. When I opened my eyes Monday morning, my first reaction was that it was unremarkable, as in, a freaky calmness.. I was once again grateful that I was still alive, pain free, and with a dim sunlight illuminating my bedroom windows everything was at it should be.. Thank you Lord.. I then noticed that the television was still glaring, low volume...

One issue that I've not seen adequately addressed either in the mainstream or even the conservative media is the impact Obamacare will have on the family. Obamacare pays out subsidies, on a sliding scale, to families whose modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). For example, the FPL for a family of 4 in 2013 is $23,550 per year. 400% of that FPL is $94,200 per year. If a family has an MAGI of $94,201 or more, they have the privilege of paying the entire premium cost for an Obamacare policy. Here...

The solution to America's problems reside within the American tradition. Our latest problem, the unasked-for Obamacare, is centered around new onerous fines/taxes. Obamacare is the result of an imposed ideology that is incompatible with the American experience. Its social justice progressivism is irrelevant, hostile, and has no legitimate place here. We long ago faced a similar situation in which a foreign ideology meant taxes that couldn’t be avoided. In 1765, Parliament imposed the Stamp Act. The tax had a logical basis. Great Britain spent enormous sums to kick France out of much of North America, and a tax on those...

America is a resilient nation. We have had bad Presidents before, but without a doubt, never as bad as the current occupant of the White House. Hopefully, over time America should bounce back from the chaos and destruction Obama’s policies and leadership have inflicted upon this nation. obama-pelosi-reidWe have witnessed Obama vacillate and abdicate American national security interest to tyrants and challengers on the world stage; while paradoxically, Obama ignores American laws and bullies his political opponents in the US. How can a great people in such a grand nation ever allow a revolutionary to assume the highest elected office...

Yesterday, I attended the fifth of five statewide rallies hosted by Tea Party and other groups who had an opportunity to vet candidates for a challenge to Lamar! in next year’s primary. I had solicited FReeper input here, Beat Lamar! : Help Me Vet Joe Carr Rather than give a detailed report, I will say that my impression is that Joe would win the support of 99.99% of us. Almost all on the issues suggested to me in the thread were covered. If there are any questions, I would try to answer them. I did not record or video, since...

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”… Atcs 23:11 Where is it written that a shutting down the District of Corruption is an economic disaster? It is a disaster for those who believe the world would end without the economic engine called Washington DC. What if all of these people are wrong and the only thing standing in the way of an economic resurgence is the Federal Gummit? The opposite theory from the pundiots is the longer the Fed is...

In 2010, the damage Obamacare would do to our society and economy was theoretical. Drafted by undisclosed Leftists, its contents were not known before the world’s most deliberative body passed it on a strictly party-line vote. Earlier this past week, Senator Ted Cruz eloquently dissected Obamacare. In over twenty hours, and with the help of long dead but esteemed philosophers, he explicated its assault on our most cherished freedoms. He brought their theories home to the present, and itemized the effect Obamacare has had on employment, poverty, business growth, and religious freedom. Throw in the cries for exemptions by all...

And though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 2 Cor 10:3 To listen to the Republican pundiots you would think they have never lost an election when it seems they have never won one. They think if they don’t rock the boat they are assured of winning the Senate even though there is no evidence they will. The experts believe if they continue to be the Party of warm spit the people will find them irresistible so they continue to moderate and surrender. In flies the Cruz Missile blowing the boat out...

<p>Neither health care or insurance are enumerated powers for the central government to be involved in or control. Period. They are clearly reserved to the states and the people by the constitution. Doesn't matter how poor people are or how sick. The federal government has no constitutional power to intervene.</p>

Two Billion Dollars. I heard this morning (and I'm looking for a source) that $2,000,000,000.00 has been sent in recent years from US tax payers to fund a Somali terrorist group known as al-Shabaab. And what is al-Shabaab now known for? That's right - the terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. As I freep this; 68 deaths have been reported with many more injured. And reports are sketchy as to whether or not officials have contained the situation. What else do we know about al-Shabaab? It seems that it's not enough that the US is funding this group,...

"Obamacare is awful, Obamacare is evil, Obamacare is an abomination etc. etc. etc."....... The loud voices of Republican criticism are ringing out loud and clear as the RINO congressional leadership has set up two opportunities for business as usual GOP politicians to look good by casting NO votes on Obamacare even as they will allow it to go ahead in the end by funding it. The House got their turn by voting last week and the Senate gets their turn this week. That's because the Republican establishment will not stand up and support Senator Ted Cruz and his effort to...

Before the Left came to dominate K-12, I learned in high school social studies that patriots risked their lives and property for eight years to avoid the expense of a few percent in stamp, sugar, or tea taxes. What rubbish. Review our Declaration of Independence. It complains of George III’s abuses, usurpations, despotic and tyrannical intents, veto of our laws, suspension of our assemblies, appointment of judges loyal to him alone, and creating multitudes of offices to control us. In the decade beginning with victory over the French and Indians, George III was determined to influence thirteen colonial legislatures as...

Let's be absolutely clear here. If the Democrat controlled Senate rejects the Continuing Resolution passed by the House that completely funds the entire government except for President Obama's unconstitutional, nation-wrecking, job-killing, pet project, the trainwreck also known as "Obamacare," then it is they (Obama and the Democrat Senate) who are clearly ordering the totally radical and unnecessary shutdown the of the federal government. The bill passed by the House fully funds all legitimate government functions. The people do not want federal government controlling their healthcare and they are speaking through their elected representatives. It would be prudent for the President...

On 19 September, Congressional Democrats sitting on the House Oversight Reform Committee investigating the disastrous Benghazi debacle, in large unison, absented themselves by design from listening to the testimonies offered by two grieving parents of slain American patriots, Sean Smith and Navy Seal, Tyrone Woods. How disrespectful and disgraceful were the personal actions of Democrat Congressmen. Smith and Woods were two of the four valiant and patriotic Americans slain in Libya who died defending American sovereign interests. Their parents have waited in agony for answers that the government promised, but failed to provide. It is a sad commentary in today’s...

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,… Luke 4:18 It is time to take off the gloves and beat Obamacare like the Frankenstein it is. It is by far the worst legislation to ever come out of the District of Corruption and that is mouthful. This piece of Pelosi takes away all your freedoms from cradle to grave under the guise of saving the community money...

Great first step today by the House! Now the bill goes to the Senate and there's no doubt they'll change it to fund ObamaCare. And then the House must hold the line! Reject the Senate's changes! Defund/kill ObamaCommieCare before it kills us!! If Obama/Reid follow through with their threats to shutdown the government, then the adults in the House, with the full backing of the people, will have an opportunity to pass appropriation bills to fund the essential departments of government department by department. The first appropriations bill to pass should be social security and medicare. This will set the...

Why don't you just STHU regarding your pathetic attacks on conservatives, Barry? You are a maggot, a bottom feeding scum, who has not one ounce of true patriotism running through whatever those are masquerading as blood veins in your body. You are an effeminate metro-sexual wimp and wuss, who can only scheme of ways to stick daggers in the backs of real Americans who are your betters or try to find other weasily, mealy mouthed ways to bring them down. You’re neither black nor white and you certainly are not American. You stand for and support everything that is the...

At one time, I viewed Obama as indolent and slothful. I used to say, "If Adolph Hitler had been as lazy as Barack Obama, the 1940's would have been a pretty nice decade." But observation has proven my premise wrong. Obama is not lazy, not in the slightest. In fact, the mental image Obama most evokes is mad jackrabbit on crack. He may go on numerous vacations, and play countless rounds of golf, but he is an extremely busy and very involved President. It is what he is busy on and involved in that is the problem: He's busy nearly...

Obama’s Failed Stewardship The stewardship of America under President Obama is a national embarrassment. Obama left adrift in a quagmire without a defined national security strategy and international support for his Syrian attack was locked floundering in sinking US polls and a Congress where he lost the support even of his own Democratic controlled Senate. Russian President Vladimir Putin, an old KGB thug, recognized the humiliating box that Obama clumsily entered and the sheer panic settling in his administration. Putin struck, seizing the opportunity to diminish Obama’s stature while providing him an opening to “save face” from a sure Congressional...

The entire narrative of the Obama administration is that President Bashar al-Assad, or at least his minions, used a nerve gas (Sarin) on the opposing rebel forces, and that this warranted a strike on Syria to disuade them or others from using weapons of mass destruction. Let us look at this claim, in light of the evidence of the last few weeks: Russia publicly contradicted Washington's premise that Assad had released chemical weapons in Ghouta, but offered approve a strike on Syria -- its longest and most solid ally in the region -- if concrete evidence, gathered by the United...

He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites form generation to generation.” Ex 17:16 Obama made the perfect case for Bush invading Iraq in his speech for the very reasons stated to attack Syria. He said it was up to the world to draw a line when it comes to using or threatening to use chemical weapons against his people and children. The case he made was it was too horrible to see all of those children laying dead from chemical weapons makes it a moral...

Last night, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City was heard to issue a big gulp. The stridently anti-gun Mayor, who wishes to impose his hoplophobic vision on the rest of the country, was defeated soundly, and twice, as two of his Colorado-based cronies were both defeated in the first recall votes in Colorado State Legislature history.Both Senator John Morse -- himself the Senate Majority Leader -- and Senator Angela Giron voted for onerous and far-reaching gun control measures in Colorado in March of 2013, including a ban on the purchase of normal-capacity magazines (HB1224).The reaction by gun-owners in the firearms-friendly...

America’s stature in the world has been dealt a body blow by President Obama’s amateurish and inept leadership as illustrated in the last few weeks by his chaotic dithering on the Syrian chemical weapons crisis. The damage to America’s credibility on the world stage cannot be overstated. Regardless of how Congress votes in support of a war resolution, Obama’s self expressed plan of a limited “shot across the bow” attack on Syria is nothing more than symbolic, and his plan fails miserably to appreciate and contain the potential spread of hostilities in the region once the attack occurs. Obama’s “golf...

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 2 Cor 10:3 Never let a good crisis go to waste, even if you caused it yourself. We are now witnessing the results of Leading From Your Behind in Syria. This story is not about Syria and some questionable chemical attack or whether one side is worse than another, it is about our criminal mismanagement of our energy resources. Sure we are seeing how ill equipped Obomber is on the world stage when he has to actually lead, but more than anything it underscores...

Tribute to my Uncle Ed: My Uncle Ed passed away today, after being in hospice for the last few months, at the age of 96. I wish I had more of the details, but this is what I can recollect on short notice. Uncle Ed was the eldest of 9 children, born to Polish immigrants. Grandpop was a coal miner and steel worker, and Grandmom grew the food, raised the kids, and made the meals. As a youth during the Depression, Uncle Ed got a job at the local supermarket, and thus was able to bring home the occasional packet...

The Obama administrationÂ’s unpopular bid to bomb Syria over chemical weapons attacks has given the leftist anti-American group Code Pink new life from sympathetic media and new fans on the right. Screengrab by Breitbart Code Pink waved blood-red painted hands in the air behind Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the House hearing on Syria this Wednesday. Conservatives opposed to waging war on Syria have taken to Twitter cheering Code Pink for the groupÂ’s protests during the joint testimony of Kerry, Hagel and Dempsey...

While stressing that Washington’s primary goal remained “limited and proportional” attacks, to degrade Syria’s chemical weapons capabilities and deter their future use, the president hinted at a broader long-term mission that may ultimately bring about a change of regime. “It also fits into a broader strategy that can bring about over time the kind of strengthening of the opposition and the diplomatic, economic and political pressure required – so that ultimately we have a transition that can bring peace and stability, not only to Syria but to the region,” he told senior members of Congress at a White House meeting...

Like a modern day Patrick Henry, Mark Levin may have sparked a revolutionary train of events. The Liberty Amendments rationally examine where we are, where we are headed, and what must be done to restore our once federal republic. Fussing and fuming at FR, demanding the political head of Boehner, electing conservatives, etc., are all necessary but demonstrably insufficient to check our death spiral into despotism. Those who profit so well from the system they corrupted have no interest in reform. The key to restoration resides with us, the sovereign American people. What follows is a letter I sent in...

<p>Just a reminder. The is a voter rebellion. The tea party rebellion. We are rebelling against business as usual in DC and against both major parties. The democrats have gone full-bore Marxist. The Republican GOP-e has gone full-bore statist. Very little difference liberty-wise, they're both anti-liberty. Neither party defends the constitution or our God-given liberty. They are ignoring the constitution and granting themselves dictatorial powers in the central government. We the people are basically at war against the ruling class. It's the tea party rebellion.</p>

We have just witnessed one of the most stunning and humiliating climb downs of any president in the history of the United States. Obama's humiliation is entirely of his own making. He unilaterally threatened to wage war, however limited he said it would be, for no clear purpose, with no clear strategy and with no clear outcome. He did so thoughtlessly by proclaiming a "red line" and thus backing himself through inadvertence and, more important, his country into an untenable position. He pushed the country out onto a limb only to find he was alone, without allies, without Congress, even...

Okay Freeper Family, you know President Obama is itching to pull the trigger on Syria to deflect from his failed policies and train wreak administration, but something about all the evidence of a Syrian Government Chemical Attack just does not pass the smell test. Many of you know I am a veterans and here is where I need some of my fellow vets to help me understand something. Mr. Kerry in his push for action stated that less than 1,500 people were killed in a government launched chemical attack, now that is a very low number of deaths from a...

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Luke 14:31 Chicken-Hawks like Obomber and Carter would be cute when they were saber rattling if they were not so dangerous. They are like the biggest wimp on the playground going up and throwing a limp wristed punch at the playground bully. You just know it isn’t going to end well for the geek. After lecturing Bush for ten years about...

My involvement with Free Republic began around 2000 when my wife began her vigil around the Texas governor’s mansion in support of GW against the challenge of Al Gore for the presidency. I generally provided the livelihood for the Bat Lady to be able to protest and surround the mansion against the leftists who were kept at bay across the street. While she was registered in order to post after action reports I was a lurker on the site. Over the years we have attended rallies and protests and meetings. Other groups of freepers nationwide also held rallies, attended protests,...

The Presidential Eligibility of Ted Cruz Got your attention yet? I have a modest proposal for ALL FReepers concerning this issue, but let me explain why there is a proposal at all. The last couple of weeks our venerable and sainted media (peace be unto them) has decided to, after all these years of silence, bring up the issue of Presidential eligibility. The strange appearance of article after article would make you think they were about to expose the birth certificate of messiah Bambi from a Kenyan hospital and show proof of a renouncement of his citizenship while in Indonesia...

All of us in the conservative movement know that Obama should have been impeached long ago for his arrogance and trampling on our Constitution, but until now, we haven't had a broad enough consensus in the country to go forward. Now we do. The upcoming war on Syria is wildly unpopular, with less than 10% of Americans supporting it, and for the first time I can recall, even Democrats and Indies despise Obama as much as we do. While our neighborhood is solidly conservative, the US sites where our import-export business operates have lots of Democrats and liberals. For this...

What are our chances of restoring the Constitution through Article V? Since we conservatives do not have the services of Nate Silver at our disposal we are left to our own devices to handicap the participation of states in any Article V convention. Here is my humble offering. Statescape reports that houses of the legislatures in the following states are controlled by Republicans: AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaIdahoIndianaKansas Louisiana MichiganMississippiMissouriMontana North Carolina North DakotaOhioOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahWisconsinWyoming In addition to these 26 states we might add Nebraska as number 27 with its unicameral legislature and its technically nonpartisan legislature but one which is regarded to...

Amendment to establish congressional term limits. No more than twelve total years combined in house and senate. Amendment to repeal the 17th Amendment. Governors may fill vacancies to fill out remainder of terms. Upon two thirds vote, state legislatures may remove their senators. Amendment to establish twelve year term limits on scotus. On three-fifths vote, and within twenty four months of a ruling, congress or the states may override scotus decisions. These overrides are not subject to judicial review. Congress shall submit preliminary budget to president by first Monday in May for the next fiscal year. Should congress/president not adopt...

I have not actually posted in some time, other then the occasional reply to a post, and now I post a vanity. I encountered the California Highway Patrol while carrying concealed and wanted to share the experience. I was returning from Sacramento to my home near Angels Camp, in the Motherlode region of the state, when I crested a rise in the road . My radar detector, I have one for entertainment not circumvention of the law, went off and I saw a CHP on the shoulder to my right, a CHP approaching in the opposite lane, and behind the...

Take a look ahead. Despite our nation’s free fall into totalitarianism, congress recoils from using its power of the purse and impeachment. Only a small cadre of conservatives call for a state amendment convention to go around congress, and defeat the eighty year assault on liberty called progressivism. Obamacare, Benghazi, F&F, illegal appointments, open borders, use of executive agencies to silence political opponents, suspension of the laws, fag marriage, a foreign born president . . . are insufficient to cause serious resistance. While Obama is the face of those recent assaults on our freedoms, he had plenty of help from...

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 Back before the communist took over the Universities I had a professor who said everything is based on economics. Every decision you make good or bad is an economic decision on how that decision will cost or reward you. He gave the example of marriage as an economic decision women make proving that it is not based on love for women, but on what benefits a potential husband brings to her economic...

We arrived precisely at one o'clock, the scheduled time for the meeting, following a giant Harley decorated with American flags in to the parking lot. We were surprised to have to wait in line for ten minutes to get in to the hall as they had underestimated the turn out. There was a member of some lefty alliance with a table sporting enviro-weenie stuff that we (conveniently for them) had to pass by, but once we got in it was standing room only, about two hundred of us standing. Dr. Benishek was giving a canned summary of his activities when...

In the United States, if you are convicted of a hate crime, your sentence is usually extended 15 years or so. This trend of criminalizing thought - as noble as it seems in the case of hate crimes - is a dangerous precedent. Allow me to explain. The goal of the state in law and law enforcement is to seek justice for those who have been wronged. This is a simple statement that underpins conservative civic theory, limited government, and a victim- not criminal-centered approach to justice, but it certainly goes against most of legal philosophy today. And I am...

…in the Hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. Rom 11:14 The Democrat Party for the last 50 years has claimed to have the solutions to all of our problems if they would simply have a chance. Well they have been in complete charge for the past six years and things have gotten worse not better. They can claim they inherited a bad situation which they and their cronies had nothing to do with or the evil George Bush cause everything, but why haven’t they solved all of those problems by...

Financial QUESTION: Obama and Democrats Trying To SEIZE Retirement Accounts (IRAs, 401Ks) ? Aug 9, 2013 I want to know what other Free Republic Members know about this H.R. 2035: Automatic IRA Act of 2013 I got an e-mail stating: "Obama & BIG Government Are Planning To Seize Retirement Accounts!" President Obama’s FY2014 Budget Plan brings us one Large step closer to De-Privatizing IRA’s & 401k’s. Much like Obamacare, Obama’s “Automatic IRA” will force employers with 10 employees or more, to “automatically” enroll their workers in the new Government run accounts. Obama’s Automatic IRA will be managed by the Social...