Free Republic

George W. Bush marked the Fourth of July with an address to a massive crowd in Woodward, Okla., that appeared thrilled to receive the former president for its holiday celebration. The audience at the Rodeo Arena was largest Bush has addressed since he left office. Woodward's entire population is 12,000. By Mayor Bill Fanning's count, more than half that number showed up to hear the speech, which was part of festivities marking the $25 million renovation of a local park. In his address to the crowd, Bush looked back as far as the signers of the Declaration of Independence and...

The Bristol Fourth of July Committee and the Rhode Island Tea Party put down their sabers Wednesday, a week after a phone call between two Bristol residents unleashed a torrent of nationwide anger upon this town and the state of Rhode Island. The Tea Party accepted an apology from Fourth of July committee chairman Dave Burns, and assurance that the citizens activist group has not been banned from future July 4 parades. The Fourth of July Committee also made it clear that their Float Committee chairman, Jim Tavares, had no authority to “ban” the Tea Party when he called float...

Those that recognize my name know I usually write the Westminster AAR’s. Westminster used to be our hometown and we do FReep/Rallies the 2nd and last Saturdays of each month, but Gettysburg, PA is our hometown. The past 2 weekends have given me great opportunity to share some special events that have taken place in our historic and amazing hometown. Westminster is a great place to visit, but we love living in Gettysburg! For those of you that live elsewhere, Gettysburg is a great place to visit! Over 40 miles of scenic road including the Gettysburg National Military Park, battlefields,...

Reporters from roughly 30 television networks, newspapers, magazines, and web sites celebrated the Fourth of July with Barack Obama at the White House last weekend. Why didn't you know that? Because they were sworn to secrecy. We reported yesterday that Politico's Mike Allen was spotted milling about as a guest at the White House's "backyard bash" by the pool reporter, who was allowed into the event for 40 minutes and kept in a pen before being ushered out. When Allen quoted from the pool report in his Playbook column the next day, he deleted a reference to his own name...

John Cook of the gossip website Gawker discovered that the White House press elite partied down with President Obama on ahem, Independence Day: Reporters from roughly 30 television networks, newspapers, magazines, and web sites celebrated the Fourth of July with Barack Obama at the White House last weekend. Why didn't you know that? Because they were sworn to secrecy. We reported yesterday that Politico's Mike Allen was spotted milling about as a guest at the White House's "backyard bash" by the pool reporter, who was allowed into the event for 40 minutes and kept in a pen before being...

White House Press Corps Spent the Fourth of July Hanging Out With Obama, Off the Record By John Cook, 12:44 PM on Thu Jul 9 2009, 1,046 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp) Copy this whole post to another site Slurp cancel select site advertising consumerist deadspin defamer fleshbot gay fleshbot gawker gizmodo idolator io9 jalopnik jezebel kotaku lifehacker valleywag artists gawkershop Reporters from more than 30 television networks, newspapers, magazines, and web sites celebrated the Fourth of July with Barack Obama at the White House last weekend. Why didn't you know that? Because they were sworn to secrecy. We...

A complete round up of the tea party at PJTV.

WASHINGTON - A widespread and unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime, The Associated Press has learned. The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, according to officials inside and outside the government. Some of the sites were still experiencing problems Tuesday evening.

When historians track the beginnings of the second American Revolution, their search will take them to Morristown, N.J., just like the first time. And like the first, it will have started with a tax revolt, and anger at an unresponsive government Something is happening in this country. And it would be not only arrogant, but unwise, for our elected officials to ignore it. In the past, movements like the July 4 national Tea Parties were usually sparsely populated by libertarians, radicals and reactionaries. This movement has them too, but with a whole lot more regular folks. The crowd Saturday at...

HappyBirthday,America!We hope our annual card finds you well and celebrating our Season of Freedom.   For almost a quarter century, we’ve sent these greetings to share our thoughts and pride in winning life’s lottery – being Americans.   Since we wrote last, much has changed…for America…and for the Kaufman clan (more on our family in Lindsay’s letter). For America, we experienced the worst economic upheaval since the 1970s…and, of course, elected a new president.   For those of us who believe in the magic of The American Soul, we know that whether or not we voted for President Obama,...

Pastor Steve Anderson was returning to the United States when a border checkpoint demanded to search his vehicle. He refused, citing the 4th Amendment, and was beaten for his trouble. While I don’t agree with every single point of his message, Pastor Anderson tells an amazing story and presents us with a stark reminder of just how far we have come in the name of security. As he says, if the 4th Amendment is not sacred, why should we expect the government to protect the 1st, the 2nd, or any other part of the Constitution? VIDEO at original article.

On fire with the Holy Ghost that is. Pastor Steve Anderson, the pastor who was tased and beaten by Border Police on April 14th 2009, lead the Gilbert Arizona TEA Party rally yesterday to ovation and action. His words and demeanor were beyond phenomenal! There is a new body in the Black Robe Regiment today. If you would like to watch his 7 minute message

Multi-National Security Transition Command- Iraq J4 observed the July 4th holiday by raising flags to be sent to the United States. U.S. Army Col. Keith Kodalen receives the flag from U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Rosa Harmon. Photo by Van Williams, Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq. BAGHDAD — July fourth, the day of American independence, was celebrated in the International Zone with special flag raising ceremonies by Soldiers with Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I). The flags, after being raised and flown here, will be sent to servicemembers, family and friends in the United States.U.S. Army Col. Keith Kodalen,...

Independence Hall Tea Party III was quite a success, surprising even to us. At the highest point 2100 people (a tad more than Philadelphia Tea Party II)were present. And people were coming and going through out. Over a thousand people signed our Tea Party Petitions on Cap and Trade, Health Care and EFCA,and to join Independence Hall Tea Party Association many also signing up for the Mother of all Tea Parties on 9/12. We were not permitted to collect money on Independence Hall territory, but if you were one of the people who signed up for a bus for 9/12,...

The Statue of Liberty's crown is open again for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks. That's symbolic. It was reopened on the Fourth of July, very symbolic. The decision was announced in May on the "Today" show -- hugely symbolic -- by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. "The economic times we're going through really call for hope and optimism," he said, and "nothing symbolizes" those things like the Statue of Liberty. Icons are handy that way. They're instantly recognizable. But the meaning of this one has gotten muddled over the years. So, to mark this occasion, I'd like to...

It was a most unusual Fourth of July holiday. While we, the American people, were celebrating the passage of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, 1776, our only nationally-elected leaders, the President and Vice-President, seem to have forgotten its meaning.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is helping the nation celebrate its birthday and his daughter Malia celebrate hers. The president on Friday morning flew to Camp David, Md., for the first part of the first family's Fourth of July celebration, including daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday. He set off with friend Martin Nesbitt to meet first lady Michelle Obama, who was already at Camp David.

The Dallas Tea Party, organizers of America’s Tea Party, held July 4th at Southfork Ranch near Dallas, Texas announce that the event was a major success... ...ultimately we had over 37,000 people celebrating our independence, as confirmed by the Collin County Constable’s office.

Baton Rouge Independence Day Tea Party, posted at 9:42 am on July 6, 2009 by Laura The Baton Rouge Tea Party folks did a fabulous job on the Independence Day Rally. In spite of the brain-melting heat there was a turnout of around 500 people, according to an unofficial police estimate. Meaning I asked a cop and he took a wild guess. There wasn’t a good angle to get the entire crowd, but here are a few photos so you can judge the crowd size for yourselves. About 40 yards down from the steps was another crowd of 75-100 people...

The crew of our aircraft awoke late afternoon on July 4, 2009 to find the camp decorated in red, white and blue ribbons, balloons, and posters in preparation for scheduled 4th of July events. I began my day a couple of hours earlier. I dressed in a digital camouflaged kilt and went about the camp to honor those working. I played God Bless America in front of Operations. My aircraft commander went with me to maintenance to thank them for the hard work they do in keeping our planes in the air. It was the Wild Blue Yonder (Air Force...