Free Republic

Remember when certain words or phrases meant good things to Americans? Many of these words have been singled out by groups as hateful to other Americans so they have become taboo. I would like to see what kind of list of taboo words, phrases or figures who were once positive but which have become or are becoming outlawed by the thought police. If possible also post the group it would be offensive to and why.

The recent criticism of hate speech on campus is entirely appropriate. But we ought to make one exception to this rule: the “religious right,” a retrograde coterie of unattractive common folk who seek to impose their irrational beliefs on the rest of us. These fundamentalists lie awake at night, plotting the imposition of the truths they have received by revelation from God. God has decreed the necessity of prohibiting abortion and gay marriage, lest the land be scourged by His wrath, so the unquestioning hordes of Jesus-freaks flood the polls on election day. The few who are at Yale (here...

The “war room”, the hub of attack, counter-attack and spin which was at the heart of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns in the 1990s, has swung back into action with renewed force after Hillary Clinton was bloodied by her rivals for the first time in a debate last week. With so few stumbles on the road to the presidential nomination, her war room has barely been needed until now but it has quietly been prepared for the moment when she trips up. It was Hillary Clinton who invented the war room during her husband’s campaign and she has developed her own...

Breaking News: Cleavage on Display "There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-SPAN2. It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton... There wasn't an unseemly amount of cleavage showing, but there it was. Undeniable," the Washington Post reported. NEWSFLASH: Hillary Clinton has breasts. And apparently that "news" merits coverage in the Washington Post. In a Style section cover story on Friday, fashion "reporter" Robin Givhan notes that Hillary Clinton has taken a brazen step for a woman politician by wearing a low neckline. "Showing cleavage," says Givhan, "is a request to be engaged in a particular way. It doesn't necessarily mean...

I mean no disrespect to the dead, but I take the British view of obituaries, which is to try to capture the true public significance of the person who died, not just his good qualities. The truth about the Rev. Jerry Falwell is that he was a character assassin and hype artist who left little positive impact on the United States-and little negative impact either, for that matter. Besides founding Liberty University, he won’t be remembered as nearly as influential as he’s made out to be. .................. According to lore (and much of the coverage of his death), November, 1980...

JABALPUR, India (UCAN) – Church people in a central Indian diocese say they saw God's intervention in a life-size Jesus statue that apparently wept blood. On Feb. 12, a bloodlike substance reportedly oozed from the eyes of a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus kept in the open yard of St. Joseph the Worker Church of Ghoreghat, a parish in Jabalpur Diocese. Jabalpur, a major town in Madhya Pradesh state, is 815 kilometers southeast of New Delhi. Ghoreghatt, 180 kilometers (110 miles) further southeast, is in Mandla district. Statues and images of the Sacred Heart usually portray the heart...

It looks like fans of Aaron McGruder's sometimes controversial "The Boondocks" comic strip will have to rely on the television version to satisfy their appetites. Universal Press Syndicate, which distributes the strip, announced today that McGruder has decided not to resume the newspaper adventures of Huey and Riley after a six-month hiatus. "We haven't decided on a permanent replacement for 'The Boondocks' yet," Brown said. "Several strips are under consideration."

Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blasted the Bush administration for war and homeland security policies that he said leave Americans more vulnerable to attack. Kerry’s remarks came in a Faneuil Hall speech on the eve of tomorrow’s five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. In his fourth speech this year at the venue, Kerry accused the administration of using the tragedy that killed about 3,000 Americans to justify the war in Iraq. “It is immoral to treat 9/11 as a political pawn (to) excuse the invasion of Iraq,” Kerry said. “They were attacked and killed not by Saddam...

THIS is the muzzle The Daily Telegraph has sent to batty loudmouth Germaine Greer on behalf of all Australians furious over her comments about Steve Irwin. Today The Daily Telegraph calls on all Crocodile Hunter fans to tell the controversial academic exactly how they feel - and ... this afternoon we can also publish a new address to contact her. Greer raised the ire of a nation this week when she made the bizarre claims that the animal world had taken "revenge" on Steve Irwin when he died tragically from a sting ray attack in northern Queensland. A furious Queensland...

Rice is in way over her head Friday, August 11, 2006 By HELEN THOMAS HEARST NEWSPAPERS WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has flunked her first foreign policy crisis in the Middle East. She went to the turbulent region last month in the early days of the war that began when Hezbollah forces in Lebanon crossed into Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Rice had orders from President Bush to oppose any immediate cease-fire, which was hardly the proper policy by the United States if it wanted to end the suffering among Israelis and Lebanese. Rice apparently was dispatched...

Why is it that this woman who happens to have been born black assumes she is better and should be treated differently than white Americans?

I heard the news reports and then on CBS this morning they had the couple on the Early Show. Looking at the parents, it’s easy to see where the baby got its weight. The parents are obese and the baby is starting off that way. Why should we celebrate this and give them all this TV coverage? All three will be a drain to our health care system for years to come.

"I take responsibility for my vote, and I, along with a majority of Americans, expect the president and his administration to take responsibility for the false assurances, faulty evidence and mismanagement of the war," So spake Hillary Clinton looking older, but not sounding wiser. Having to appeal to her eroding far left liberal base, she is once again showing her true colors, which like a chameleon change as the seasons change. Perhaps we need to remember what really happened and forget the Clinton version of history. On September 12th, 2001, the President of the United States, George W. Bush spoke to...

AQABA, Jordan — Jordanian police rounded up several people Saturday and uncovered the launcher used by militants to fire three Katyusha (search) rockets from a hilltop warehouse the day before, narrowly missing a U.S. Navy ship docked in this Red Sea resort.

Northern Virginia Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA, 8th District) reportedly called Vice President Cheney an "ass-kisser," adding that President Bush doesn't read books, only reads the sports section of the newspaper and surrounds himself with people who just tell him what he wants to hear. Moran told the editor of the left-leaning website The Raw Story that Bush has "surrounded himself with ideological sycophants. And the biggest ass-kisser of all is Dick Cheney." Contacted by phone by 630 WMAL this morning, Moran did not deny making the remarks. Rather, he said the quotes were "taken out of context." Moran declined to...

Television personality Bill Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," says Christians and others who are religious suffer from a neurological disorder that "stops people from thinking." "We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think flying planes into a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder. If you look at it logically, it's something that was drilled into your head when you were a small child. It certainly was drilled into mine...

<p>The anti-war display hung at the home of Steve and Virginia Pearcy includes a Palestinian and Iraqi flag. This is the second time this week that the couple has hung a U.S. soldier in effigy. Earlier the couple shamefully hung a soldier by a noose with a sign that read “Your Tax Dollars at Work.” The new sign says “Bush Lied. I Died.”</p>

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

A bitter-sounding Sen. John Kerry dismissed the historic Iraqi election on Sunday, warning Americans not to "overhype" the watershed event. "No one in the United States should try to overhype this election," Kerry told NBC's "Meet the Press." The failed presidential candidate questioned the historic referendum's legitimacy, saying, "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote." Kerry also pooh-poohed reports of a surprisingly high 72 percent turnout by Iraqi voters, insisting instead that the election has "gone as expected." Asked if he thought Iraq was now less of...

No Name Calling Week?     1/12/2005By Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D.Yes, name-calling is wrong. But this event’s sponsors reveal the agenda behind banning it. “There is a special place in hell for people like you!” These words were directed at me by a teacher during this past summer’s National Education Association (NEA) convention in Washington, D.C. This delegate to the NEA convention made his prediction in response to my presence at the NEA’s Ex-Gay Educators’ Caucus booth in the convention exhibit hall. His cheery salutation caught me off-guard given the message of tolerance and acceptance I had been hearing around the exhibit hall....

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

You are looking at the beginning of this great country's, next great political party. We are a party concerned with the moral and ethical decline of the United States of America. Our mission will be to restore traditional American values, something that neither party is doing right now. Although members of the Republican Party have started our mission, other members of the party are holding back our movement with their lack of faith. We will usher in a golden era for America and it starts with you. It will be hard work but by 2008, a member of the National...

People from all walks of life keep asking me the same question: “Are there moderate Muslims?” I know myself that there are, but… Many of the moderates are faced with intimidation by militant Muslims (“Islamists”). Muslims also have to contend with their own old cultural habits, hateful religious leaders, a bigoted press, and schools that teach hatred and homicide bombings. As usual, just as things seem the darkest, I happen upon something that brightens my spirit -- at least a little. Last week, FOXNews mentioned the organization “Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism” (FMCAT). I immediately went to their website, and...

Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the campaign should focus on Kerry's judgment during his 20 years in office. We will, too, starting soon. However, Bob Dole said two weeks ago that he can't remember a single piece of legislation that Kerry sponsored. We can. We can remember a lot of the hateful legislation Kerry supported; legislation that would have definitely been harmful to low and middle-income American families. Democrats are generally uninformed, politically. In all fairness, many of them are occupied trying to make ends meet and just have no time to pay attention...

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (10:27 PM): "Between now and November, you, the American people, you can reject this tired old hateful negative politics of the past and instead you can embrace the politics of hope, the politics of what's possible, because this is America where everything is possible." (Sen. John Edwards, Remarks At The Democratic National Convention, Boston , MA, 7/28/04 )   AL SHARPTON (8:30 PM): "I suggest to you tonight that if George Bush had selected the court in ‘54, Clarence Thomas would have never got to law school." (Rev. Al Sharpton, Remarks At The Democratic National Convention, Boston...

Radio Host Who Allegedly Threatened Bush, Rumsfeld Incensed By 'Vicious, Hateful Lying Web Sites' By Jimmy Moore Talon News May 24, 2004 SEATTLE, WA (Talon News) -- In an expletive-filled response to a Talon News story from last week where a listener accused him of making death threats against President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, liberal Seattle radio talk show host Mike Webb declared his innocence and decried "lies told by right wing web sites." Talon News reported last week (see earlier story) that a listener to The Mike Webb Show, which airs from 10:00 p.m.-1...

Lyrics to Incubus' newest hit Megalomaniac And in case you have any doubts as to who the song is about, the video has shots of GWB in it. From the album "A Crow Left Of The Murder" I hear you on the radio You permeate my screen Its' unkind, but if I met you in a scissor fight I'd cut off both your wings on principle alone On principle alone Hey megalomaniac You're no Jesus Yeah, you're no f***ing Elvis Wash Your hands clean (or Yourself) Baby yeah Step down Step down If I were your appendages I'd hold open...

An associate of mine, a former political appointee, recently spoke to a Republican friend of his who serves in a senior position in what has become the Office of Homeland Security. He reports that this official, along with many of his colleagues across the political spectrum within the apparatus of government, are absolutely terrified of George W. Bush. According to this official, the consensus is that Bush has completely lost touch with reality, and is bringing us to a place where politics will no longer matter. A London newspaper, the Guardian, has quoted a source close to the administration as...

MIDI - END OF THE WORLD We are the RAT underground gang Our hopes cannot be renewed It feels like it's the end of our world By dumb, drunk, frat boy we've been screwed We thought we really could nail 'em We still fought Florida's feud It feels like it's the end of our world By dumb, drunk, frat boy we've been screwed We're told "Your head is in the seventh planet" And we'll blow up the next time we sneeze We can't understand…no, we can't understand Our only friend's Tarik Aziz We have been rooting for Saddam We...

DASCHLE'S LEADERSHIP 101: IDENTIFY PROBLEM, BLAME REPUBLICANS & OFFER NO SOLUTION While President Bush Advances The American People's Agenda, Sadly, Daschle Is Content To Practice Partisan Politics As Usual ____________________________________________________ THE NEW YORK TIMES CALLED SENATOR TOM DASCHLE'S (D-SD) PERFORMANCE AS MAJORITY LEADER "SHAKY." "Mr. Daschle's performance in the spotlight has been shaky. He failed to round up the votes to pass a bill providing prescription drugs for the elderly. He could not win passage of an overall budget resolution to set spending levels for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The worst part, for him, was that these...

The current discussion over state and municipal budgets and taxes clearly separates reactionaries from progressives. Reactionaries, those who would turn the social/political clock back to the supposed Good Old Days when government did not interfere with a man's God-given right to pile up the riches, usually start their argument with money. How can we reduce taxes? -- they ask. Let's cap spending and taxes, they shout. To them, the buck is the main thing. Progressives (once termed liberals) start with the needs of our society. What kind of education program should we have? What personnel levels do our police and...