Free Republic

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich invoked the spirit of the Founding Fathers by paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence in his speech to supporters following his second-place finish in the Florida Republican presidential primary. Gingrich, a trained historian and author, began his 15-minute speech by noting President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the first national military cemetery when he spoke of “government of the people, by the people, for the people." “And we’re going to have people power to defeat money power in the next six months,” he said in a reference to Florida victor Mitt Romney,...

This shouldn't surprise many people. According to a Pew Research poll, the liberals who relentlessly advocate higher taxes are three times more likely than conservatives to think it's okay to cheat when paying them. They are more than twice as likely to excuse getting paid under the table so as to keep collecting unemployment benefits. Liberals also have less of a problem with shoplifting and buying stolen goods. A study published in the Journal of Legal Tax Research confirms that liberals take tax evasion less seriously. One in the Journal of Business Ethics found that conservatives have "higher levels of...

On August 22, 2008, Army Special Forces soldier Kelly A. Stewart made a huge mistake: he had a one night stand with a woman who was not his wife (who is herself another soldier). It’s a mistake he’s been paying for over the intervening 3+ years, and will be paying into the future. But was the punishment equal to the mistake? That’s the central question posed by “Three Days in August: A U.S. Army Special Forces Soldier's Fight for Military Justice” by Bob McCarty. I actually read this book on my vacation in Cabo all the way back in October,...

India and Israel on Tuesday vowed to upgrade their relations in all fields and work out a joint strategy to "checkmate" terrorism, while deciding on a roadmap to elevate cooperation in multiple areas like defence, agriculture, trade and hi-tech over the next two decades. Setting the ball rolling, Krishna, who is the first Indian foreign minister to visit Israel in over a decade, called Israel a "natural ally" in all frontiers during his over one-and-a-half hour breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, a rare gesture accorded to only dignitaries from countries sharing special relations with Israel. After his...

GOP New Hampshire primary debate tonight on ABC at 9pm ET By Nate, on January 7th, 2012 Tonight will mark the first of two debates this weekend focused on the New Hampshire Republican primary. This evening's debate will take place at Saint Anselm College and is sponsored by ABC News, Yahoo! and WMUR. Sunday morning will feature a GOP debate broadcast on NBC at 9am ET (yes, am) but look for more details on that later today. Air Time: Saturday, January 7th at 9pm ET / 6pm PT on ABC Live Stream: WMUR and Yahoo! News Participants: Santorum, Romney, Paul,...

Ready, aim fire. That’s apparently Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s idea of relaxation before returning to the campaign trail this weekend. Ahead of Saturday night’s ABC News-Yahoo-WMUR debate in New Hampshire Perry took a few moments to himself at an Austin-area shooting range. “Just relaxing a bit @ Red’s Range before we leave for New Hampshire!” @governorperry tweeted Friday along with a photo of himself wearing a green sweatshirt and a baseball cap with a firearm in hand. On the campaign trail, Perry, a staunch defender of second amendment rights, has not been shy about talking about his “long love affair”...

"Restore Our Future, a super-PAC supporting Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, will run full-page ads attacking Newt Gingrich in the New Hampshire Union Leader and The State in Columbia, S.C., the most prominent newspapers in the next two primary states. The decision to attack Gingrich is a curious one, as Rick Santorum has emerged as Romney’s top rival for the GOP nomination after he virtually tied Romney on Tuesday in Iowa’s caucuses. Post-voting analysis shows much of Gingrich’s support in that state ended up going to Santorum."

What a difference a caucus makes. Rick Santorum who two months ago had one percent (1%) support among likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters now is running a close second there with 24% of the vote. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Palmetto State finds former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney still in the lead, earning 27% support from likely GOP Primary Voters, up from 23% in early November. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in third with 18% of the vote, followed by Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 11%. Bringing up the rear are Texas Governor Rick Perry...

Newt Gingrich broke though taboos against challenging Palestinian Authority double talk and re-writing history, forcing Mitt Romney to admit he is right – but adding that saying so is incendiary.” Gingrich, who is leading the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, angered the Palestinian Authority with his remarks in a televised interview in which he stated that "an invented Palestinian people…are in fact Arabs." PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told reporters in response, “These are extremely trivial, demeaning and ridiculous remarks. Even the most extremist settlers of Israel wouldn’t talk in such a ridiculous way. Our people have been here...

This "Cain Train" took off right after Sarah Palin decided she would not run for the Republican nomination for president. Since then I've noticed that Herman Cain fears no one to the right of him and seems to cherish the fight with those he considers to be to his left(politically speaking). Do you think that Herman Cain is the (CAIN+PALIN) express because of his conservative values? Can Herman Cain win if Palin won't endorse a candidate in the primaries? Do you believe Herman Cain has proven to be equal or better than Palin as a conservative? Finally, Why as Herman...

Let's suppose Cain wins the nomination. Do you think he's going to pal around with Palin on the campaign trail or pick her as VP? The honest answer is "No". Cain would need independents and Palin has a lot of negatives, also, she's from Alaska, not a key state. The simple truth of the matter is Palin is no longer important as some think she is. And any candidate that latches on to her, or rather, let's Sarah latch on to them could quite possibly end up losing the independents. So, watch for the nominee to distance himself (whoever he...

For too long, politicians have been afraid to speak honestly about entitlement reform — but the American people deserve the facts, Texas Gov. Rick Perry writes in an op-ed that appeared Monday in USA Today. Perry provides the cold, hard truth: Social Security’s unfunded liability is calculated in the trillions of dollars. Last year, annual Social Security outlays exceeded annual revenues for the first time since 1983. The Congressional Budget Office projects that outlays will be roughly 5% greater than revenues over the next five years, worsening as more and more Baby Boomers retire.By 2037, retirees will only get roughly...

Earlier this month at a charity hockey event in Faribault, Minn., 11-year-old Nate Smith made an 89-foot shot from center ice to win $50,000. The problem was that Nate's twin brother, Nick, was the one who purchased the winning raffle ticket. When the time came to attempt the shot, Nick was outside of the arena unaware he had won, so in stepped Nate to score the miraculous goal. After the boys' father, Pat, came forward the next day and admitted to event organizers about the twins' switch, Odds on Promotions, the company that insured the event, held up awarding the...

Japanese citizens have shown incredible honesty in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that brought the country to its knees. It emerged yesterday that the Japanese returned almost $78million in cash found in the quake rubble. In the five months since the disaster struck, people have turned in thousands of wallets and purses found in the debris, containing nearly $30 million in cash. More than 5,700 safes that washed ashore along the coastline have also been hauled to police stations by volunteers and rescue crews. Inside the safes officials found about $30million in cash. In one safe alone, there...

Michelle Bachmann is running for president and she's supported by the Tea Party. You know, the "angry" ... "emotional" ... "ugly" middle Americans with "low-sloping foreheads" who believe in constitutional government, lower spending and the rule of law. Let's join our MSM pals and freak out when Bachmann says something so we can let everyone know about it and she won't be elected in 2012. Is this fun or what? VIDEO

Man Finds More Than $40,000 Cash in Utah Home, Returns it to Owners Bountiful, Utah – A man who found more than $40,000 cash in the Utah home he recently bought has returned the money to its rightful owner, The Salt Lake City Tribune reported Thursday. Josh Ferrin discovered the money stuffed in eight ammo boxes in the attic while he was exploring a workshop room in the Bountiful home on Tuesday. "I opened it up, freaked out. Closed it, locked it in my truck and called my wife," Ferrin said of the surprise. At the time he thought of...

DALLAS — Dallas will keep $2,000 found by a teenager in a parking lot last February. The money will go into the city's general fund — not back to Plano high school student Ashley Donaldson, who found the cash in an envelope at the Pavillion Shopping Center in North Dallas. "I don't regret making the decision I did," she said. "I feel proud of myself for giving the money back. It's one of the biggest decisions of my life." The 15-year-old Shepton High School student spotted the money on the ground and took it to a nearby Chase Bank. Over...

This just in: there are still good people in the world. A woman who found $2,000 in a thrift store item turned it in and was rewarded for her good deeds, said Value Village District Manager Lance Letson. Letson said the shopper, Yekaterina Shneyderova, 22, was looking at a cash box for sale at his Roswell store Friday when she opened it and found the dough, all in $100 bills. The box also contained financial records of a Marietta couple. Shneyderova, a Kennesaw State student, said as soon she saw the cash she knew she had to return it to...

President Obama's post-partisan America has disappeared, replaced by the politics of polarization, resentment and division. In a Univision interview on Monday, the president, who campaigned in 2008 by referring not to a "Red America" or a "Blue America" but a United States of America, urged Hispanic listeners to vote in this spirit: "We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us." Recently, Obama suggested that if Republicans gain control of the House and/or Senate as forecast, he expects not reconciliation and unity but "hand-to-hand combat" on Capitol...

Is that MoveOn troll Lauren Valle? What the heck is this all about? If you haven't seen the video of what happened before the stomp your explanation at The Other Side of The Rand Paul Stomping Incident. Click the image to get the full size poster ----------------------------------------------------See more posts and art at The Looking Spoon (www.thelookingspoon.com)

Brannon Howse of “Worldview Weekend” responded to my article “A ‘Howse’ Built on Prophetic Sand.” The title of his response article is “Howse, Markell, Hunt, Ice, Reagan, McTernan, Salhus, and Rosenberg, Are Not the Enemy or the Problem with America.” As anyone who read my original article can see, Brannon never responded to a single point I made. This is bad form for the head of a worldview ministry. It sets a bad example for the church and the world. The following is an example of how the head of a Christian worldview ministry should respond to a critical article:...

Back-to-School Virtues: Three qualities that help your child succeed in class and in life. By Louise Perrotta An editor for The Word Among Us.Slightly modified by the Central news desk of L'Effort CamerounaisAs the new school year begins discussions have come alive with suggestions for success in the schoolroom. There's enthusiasm, and often good advice, for parent-teacher teamwork, helping kids learn, believing in your child's potential, and making this "the best school year ever." Provided it's well directed, enthusiasm is a gift! Every effective educator has it; every learner needs it. So as we gear up for the academic year,...

The crowd sings God Bless America, 6:30 a.m. August 28, 2010. Photo by Freeper Pete. The rally is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT.Links for live reports and coverage:GlennBeck.com rally main pageC-SPAN showing the rally on cable and live stream.Live stream at Glenn Beck's Facebook page.UStream is also live streaming the rally.Class of '97 Freeper Pete is live Tweeting updates and photos. He has a thread going in BloggersFrog Mom's Live Thread from yesterday.Link to D.C. Traffic cameras. Folks camped out overnight at the Lincoln Memorial for the rally.Live traffic cam - National Mall (on map,...

Jennifer Aniston is in hot water for using a politically incorrect term on “Live with Regis & Kelly” Thursday morning. While promoting her flick “The Switch,” Aniston discussed her recent Barbra Streisand-inspired photo shoot for “Harper’s Bazaar” on the show. "Yeah, I got to play dress up,” Jen said to Regis, “I do it for a living, like a retard!" Now, disability advocates are bashing the actress for her word choice. A rep for the Special Olympics tells “Us Weekly,” "People with intellectual disabilities have fought their whole lives for understanding and recognition. When people continue to use the R...

Housekeeper finds $6,000 and gets a $100 rewardNeed a sign that there is still some good left in the world? Look no further than Jeanne Mydil. The cleaning woman at the Miami International Airport Hotel was honored Thursday for returning $6,000 in cash that she found in a hotel nightstand after the guests had checked out. What makes the honest act even more remarkable is Mydil's husband died just a week before and she was struggling to figure out how to pay for his burial. But Mydil had a feeling the money was more important to someone else than it...

It is no secret that many of us who reject Obama's neo-communist agenda have turned to the Founding Fathers for guidance; when you think your country's founding principles are under attack, it's natural to re-acquaint yourself with the writings of the extraordinary group of men who wrote our founding documents.   When we examine this genius cluster, George Washington is perhaps the best loved.  Last week Glenn Beck recommended the four-year old, 1208-page tome, George Washington's Sacred Fire, which discusses pop culture fave topics like the religious beliefs of our first President.  The book shot to number one on Amazon's bestseller...

What are your most embarrassing moments? You don’t want to admit them. And if you do admit them, you certainly won’t add to your shame by inventing embarrassing moments about yourself to make you look even worse. Who’s going to lie to make himself look bad? People will lie to make themselves look good (especially politicians), but no one will lie to make himself look bad. That’s why when historical accounts contain events embarrassing to the authors (or heroes of the authors) those events are probably true. Historians call this the principle of embarrassment, and it’s one reason why I...

(CNN) -- I wish the titans of Wall Street could meet Mark Dalton. Not that it would be likely to change anything. But I wish the leaders of Goldman Sachs and of the other big banking firms could talk to Mark Dalton for just a few minutes. They might learn a few things about how to better connect with the American people. I didn't know Dalton's last name until a few days ago. For almost two years, I've held onto something he mailed to me. There was no reason not to throw it out, yet I had a feeling that...

His book Band of Brothers – which chronicled the exploits of one company of US airborne troops in second world war Europe – was turned into a highly praised TV series. But now American historian Professor Stephen Ambrose, who was President Dwight D Eisenhower's official biographer and wrote or edited more than a dozen books about him, is embroiled in a posthumous controversy. It is alleged that he invented many meetings he claimed to have had with Eisenhower, and even fabricated entire interviews with him. The revelations have sent shock waves through the scholarly community in the United States. The...

As you folks know, I have spent the last two years researching the life and times of the ObamaMessiah, and today I just learned something new.  Barack Obama's birth certificate was destroyed in a fire. In an article, entitled, "Obama 'Birther' Row Rears Its Head Again," Greg Milam, identified as a "U. S correspondent" for Sky News, the British version of Fox News, has just introduced a whole new reason for Obama not presenting his birth certificate to confirm his eligibility -- it was burned in a fire! -- poor Barack -- everything seems to happen to him. Milam correctly...

Congressional Republicans were smart to invite President Obama to address them in Baltimore last Friday. And it was great that Mr. Obama accepted and was willing to take questions. But the president told some real whoppers. According to Mr. Obama, he basically kept his promise to broadcast health care discussions on C-SPAN. During the campaign when he promised "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table" and have them broadcast on C-SPAN, he was only referring to the "congressional hearings" that have been televised for decades. He told the Republicans that the deals to give unions a...

Members of the media that were videotaping the President’s meeting with a group of mayors at the White House were asked to leave after President Barack Obama had completed his prepared remarks. “Giving scripted remarks is one thing,” the President said. “The give-and-take of the Q & A portion of the meeting is entirely different. People may say things that they’d prefer not be transmitted to the general public.” The President contended that “we can’t really expect honesty from these mayors if they have to worry that their words may reach an unintended audience. And while we are confident that...

A committee of scholars appointed by Boston University concluded today that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. plagiarized passages in his dissertation for a doctoral degree at the university 36 years ago. "There is no question," the committee said in a report to the university's provost, "but that Dr. King plagiarized in the dissertation by appropriating material from sources not explicitly credited in notes, or mistakenly credited, or credited generally and at some distance in the text from a close paraphrase or verbatim quotation."

GREAT FALLS (AP) — A Great Falls man who found a $6,000 diamond ring at the mall has returned it to its owner and wouldn't even accept the reward. Chandria Murphy of San Antonio, Texas, was helping her mother at her chair massage business at a Great Falls mall earlier this month. She was getting ready to close up on Dec. 10 when a last-minute customer arrived. She took off her three-diamond ring and placed it on a table. She usually puts it in her pocket. Murphy finished up and went home before she panicked and realized she didn't have...

Fox News will finish 2009 as the top-rated cable news network, a perch it has enjoyed for eight years running. But 2009--the first year of the Obama administration--also marks FNC's highest rated year in the channel's 13-year-history. FNC topped the competition in all dayparts: morning (1 million total viewers, 340,000 viewers in news' target demographic of 25-54-year-olds); total day (1.2 million viewers, 323,000 in the demo); primetime (2.2 million viewers, 551,000 in the demo). Those numbers mark year-to-year demo gains of 14% in the morning, 16% in total day and 10% in primetime (Mon-Sun), according to Nielsen. FNC saw double-digit...

"Once a liar, always a liar" is a proverbial parental admonishment. A new study claims there is truth to the adage: People who cheated on exams in high school are considerably more likely to be dishonest later in life, according to a report to be released today by the Josephson Institute of Ethics. The study, which surveyed nearly 7,000 people in various age groups nationwide, offers a sobering assessment of today's youth as cynics who are aware that their behavior crosses boundaries but believe it is necessary to succeed. And the findings suggest that habits formed in childhood persist: Those...

We all know honesty is the key to any relationship. To show dishonesty in business dealing is not only immoral but illegal. Aside from the moral and legal issues it is simply bad for business. Every business has its reputation following it good or bad....

The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), claimed it posted the “full text” of its health care reform bill, “America’s Healthy Future Act,” on its Web site. But when users clicked the link to read the proposed law, they could only access a 259-page document that included summaries of both current law and the proposed legislation--or what some senators called a "plain English" version of the bill.

A marketing scheme backfired on The Washington Post on Thursday, forcing the newspaper into uncharacteristic mea culpa mode. A headline in The Post itself tells all: "The Post's 'Salon' Plan: A Public Relations Disaster." In an age of excruciating transparency, revelations that the newspaper planned to pair up political insiders, business leaders, Obama administration officials and Post reporters for cozy, off-the-record "salons" at the home of publisher Katharine Weymouth generated immediate, corrosive buzz -- and lots of reaction. A color publicity flier obtained by Politico revealed that The Post would charge up to $250,000 for these "collegial" encounters, billed as...

By a 252-172 vote, House Democrats defeated a Republican sponsored resolution calling for an inquiry of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) charge that the Central Intelligence Agency had misled congress on the “enhanced interrogation” issue. Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami called the resolution “a dangerous venture.” “America is under attack from radical extremists,” Elshami said. “A high profile investigation of one of the nation’s highest ranking leaders will embolden these enemies and could demoralize those entrusted with our homeland’s security.” “In these perilous circumstances it is important that we present a unified front behind our leaders,” Elshami added. “We should not be...

As Barack Obama closes in on his first 100 days as president, majorities of Americans approve of the job he is doing, are satisfied with what he has accomplished so far and think he is keeping his promises, according to a FOX News poll released Friday. Obama's approval rating comes in at 62 percent, down just three points from the 65 percent approval he received after his first week in office. Twenty-nine percent of Americans disapprove. In addition, most people say Obama is doing a better job than they expected (26 percent) or meeting expectations (56 percent). Few say he...

The mainstream media has once again taken delight in reporting salacious news about Governor Palin and her family as the Johnstons are traveling the talk show circuit for the express purpose of bad-mouthing the mother of his child and the Governor. While this blog normally focuses exclusively on the Governor's accomplishments, some recent developments dictate that the subject of Levi and Bristol once again be covered. There is more to this story than meets the eye -- particularly regarding who is financing these appearances, what the financier's motives are and who the financier is connected with. The Johnston family's trip...

Insincerity is the lubricant of social intercourse. It's also the hardest thing to fake.We've all heard about the latest VP F-Bomb. Cheney did it a few year ago on the senate floor when he told Senator Leahy what he could do with himself. Last week Palooka Joe used the f-word to tell his friends to lighten up and drop all that formal "Mr. Vice President" crap. Say what you want about VP Biden, but you can't call him insincere. He's radically honest. Wikihow explains radical honesty and how to practice it in your everyday life. Included are little anecdotes from...

A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor. Proverbs 17:18 I miss the day when I could shake somebody's hand, and the handshake alone bound the person to whatever was agreed upon. Sadly, trusting your fellow man to do the right thing is a thing of the past. Now we must draw up 50 page contracts promising that we'll have the garbage ready for the garbage man at precisely 8:00 a.m., or the trash won't be picked up that week. Samuel Goldwyn summarized our new attitude the best: A verbal contract isn't...

Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant." The prophet answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. 2 Kings 5:14-16 What a very different society we live in today! Today the so-called "prophet" would require the healed one to give a large gift because of the miraculous healing. I...

A 92-year-old great-grandmother from Queens accidentally discarded a winning $1 million scratch-off lottery ticket - but a scrupulous supermarket clerk saved the day. -snip The Far Rockaway woman scratched them, thought they were losers and asked the clerk to toss them.

Jim Vicevich Jim Vicevich hosts "Sound off Connecticut" every weekday morning. Republitarian by nature (see Larry Elder, KABC), Jim has more than 20 years experience in broadcast television. With 6 Emmy nominations and 3 Telly Awards, Jim has worked most recently as business and financial reporter for NBC30 the NBC owned TV station in Hartford. In addition Jim worked as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years. Watch him and listen at this link below: http://www.radioviceonline.com/

Now we get to endure all of the nonsense from the Libertarians. They will explain how conservatives did this wrong, did that wrong etc, etc. They'll subtly and sometimes boldly undermine Conservative principles under the guise of bringing forth common understanding. All while offering up their idiotic solutions cloaked in faux reason. Dismiss them as quickly as you would the most ardent liberal...because in the end, their perspectives spring from the same well; Anomia.

By and large, the media has utterly failed to analyze Obama's fanciful rhetoric to check for facts or for honesty. Study after study has shown a profound mainstream media bias favoring Obama and attacking McCain. A prominent ABC journalist called this bias "a very, very dangerous game ... with the Constitution." A brand new study by the Project for Excellence in Media came out yesterday with absolutely devastating results on rampant media bias. We'll quickly be able to see the media bias, as people appearing on Obama's infomercial - such as Roberta Johnston, Larry Stewart, and Mark and Melinda Dowell...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday brushed aside Republican charges that his tax plan amounts to socialism, but he acknowledged it involves "spreading around opportunity" so that wealthier Americans — like himself — pay a little more to help lower-rung workers. ...Obama made his remarks at a news conference after a meeting with foreign policy and military luminaries to discuss "urgent issues" facing the country from abroad, an attempt to inoculate himself against the fresh charge from the McCain side that he is too untested for the White House. McCain and Palin have seized on comments from...