Free Republic

This is a "revised and extended" re-post of an article I wrote in 2011 to mark an anniversary of General Lee's death. It celebrates the two hundred and sixth anniversary of his birth on January 19, 1807, a happier occasion. Today, January 18th, is also Lee - Jackson Day in Virginia, as proclaimed by Governor Robert F. McDonnell. We have changed as a nation, often not for the better.We, as a nation, seem to have done with heroes of his type. Yet he inspired a fledgling nation, the Confederate States of America -- young, old, rich and poor alike. Those...

I adapted this piece from this graphic found at Facebook.

<p>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa's top elections administrator is vowing to continue to ferret out fraud and to push lawmakers for a voter ID law. Secretary of State Matt Schultz says the voter fraud cases resulting in arrests so far are only the beginning. Three more cases involving a Bosnian citizen living in Clive and two Canadians who were living in Shenandoah were announced on Wednesday. They are charged with election fraud for registering and voting in Iowa without U.S. citizenship. Two Canadian citizens and a citizen of Mexico and two convicted felons who allegedly registered to vote also have been charged. Schultz says it's likely more arrests will come as the Iowa Criminal Investigation Division works through a list of more than 1,200 people he believes registered to vote without citizenship.</p>

(snip) When you’re evaluating yourself, what qualities do you try to focus on? Petraeus: On every bit of guidance I give, the last instruction is: Learn and adapt. We also work very hard on [being] **first with the truth**. That’s a powerful admonition: First of all, we’re going to **tell the truth**. We’re not going to put lipstick on pigs. We’re going to be absolutely **100% forthright** and **brutally honest** with — not just with ourselves and with our subordinates and our superiors — but **with the press**. The credibility of leaders is of enormous importance. How do you identify...

White House records reveal that the moderator of last night's vice presidential debate, Martha Raddatz, visited Vice President Joe Biden at his official residence on March 26, 2012. Raddatz is an employee of ABC News. As the records show, that day Raddatz visited the VPR (or, the vice president's residence) for a "Women's History Month Reception." That record was released on June 29, 2012. According to Biden's schedule released the day before the event, "the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will host a reception in honor of Women’s History Month at the Naval Observatory." There appears to be no...

In my post over the weekend about the folly of pushing for a special prosecutor on the Obama administration’s intelligence leaks to the New York Times, I argued that holding the president politically accountable is far more important than indicting the leakers; therefore, Congress should do its job and shine intense light on this scandal rather than abdicate to a criminal investigation — ultimately supervised by Obama and his attorney general — which would simply bury it. Among the points I made was that the criminal case is probably a loser anyway: The lesson here — of far more political...

From: Man Alive! A survival manual for the human mind. by Greg Swann Chapter 8. The integrity of art. The universe is internally self-consistent. This is what we mean when we say it “makes sense” – the laws of nature are comprehensible to us because they are all consistent with each other, all superficially differentiated manifestations of the law of identity. This is actually a matter of controversy right now in theoretical physics, where the self-consistency of the universe and humanity’s seemingly uncanny adaptation to it are held to be evidence – in the mother of all We-Now-Know-We-Know-Nothing theories –...

The Obama Regime has mandated that Americans MUST fund abortion by exactly one dollar per month. This is done by mandating that the service commodity of health insurance must be purchased as a condition of lawful residency in the United States. Caesar Tyrannus Obama, I will not submit. Attached as a separate surcharge to every health insurance policy that covers abortion (and TRUST that the regime will soon mandate abortion coverage - just as they have done with contraception, sterilization and abortifacients) will be an "abortion surcharge" of $1.00 per month, to be billed as a separate transaction from the...

Fox News host Greta Van Susteren announced this evening that she will be boycotting the 68th annual Radio and Television Congressional Correspondents' Dinner over the selection of a comic to headline the dinner who has repeatedly attacked Sarah Palin using vile sexual terms.Another pig….and a media association has hired the pig, Louis C.K., to be their headliner for the big media dinner? Really? I am not going. I refuse to go. Everyone in the media should join me in this boycott. The headliner of this year’s Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner is “comedian” Louis C.K. Comedian? I don’t think so....

When the hundreds of thousands of Penn State alumni hear the name JoePa, they think of moral leadership, of the kind of person they aspire to be. Of his warmth, his fatherliness, his steadiness, and his granite character. Joe Paterno was for hundreds of thousands of alumni the very model of the moral ideal of Western humanism. Hundreds of thousands of alumni think a huge injustice was committed against JoePa by the board of trustees, and they have emphatically expressed their sentiments to the new interim president of Penn State during his coast-to-coast series of alumni meetings to damp down...

In one of the more generous incidents in recent prep sports memory, a Florida girls cross country team voluntarily gave up their runners-up medals and trophy to a school which they felt deserved them more, and they did so entirely of their own volition, without any influence of a coach or other adult.

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...

Americans take the integrity of our elections for granted. Every citizen has an equal right to vote, and every vote cast is counted. Rubbish. The voter rolls of this country are stuffed with illegal aliens, felons and dead people, who not only vote, they vote overwhelmingly Democrat. Citizens in uniform serving overseas, who might vote Republican, are routinely denied the right to vote when ballots are mailed "too late" to be returned in time to count. When a Republican wins a close race, uncounted ballots are "found" in the backseat of a Democrat poll worker's car. American elections are getting...

Horne acknowledged that a brief filed by the Department of Justice in a case to be heard next month by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals centers around the agency’s argument that Arizona’s law requiring proof of citizenship to register is pre-empted by federal law. But Horne, a Republican, told Capitol Media Services he sees something more sinister. “I think the motive is that the more illegals that vote, the better the Obama administration thinks it will do,’’ he said. As proof, Horne pointed out that the Department of Justice did not file its friend of the court brief...

Here's an update to yesterday's piece on "doing the right thing"........ which was a big thank you kiss to Tom Blumer, editor of the leading business blog, Bizzy Blog, and a PJM contributor. The foreign contribution story I broke in July 2008 took months to pull together. It is irritating to listen to people justify what amounts to an intellectual theft. It is wrong. Not only did we go through thousands of pages of FEC douments, but I followed up with David Keene (yes, Grover's boy) in 2008 as well. He was the President of the ACU, and I implored...

In the bathroom of their home, Tim and Nicole have a sign which reads, “Gratitude — Always remember to count your blessings.” Due to the slow economy, Tim, like many Americans, was laid off — in July of 2009. So, what’s to be grateful about in that? Well, Nicole still had her job full time, as media specialist for Akin Road Elementary School in Farmington, MN, a short distance from Faribault. And Tim had the unemployment compensation benefits (though they are scheduled to run out the end of this month). Then one morning, Tim got a phone call from his...

DALLAS, March 4, 2011 – Recalling his own experience as an Eagle Scout, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last night praised scouting for instilling principles, integrity and honor in tomorrow’s leaders. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates thanks former President George W. Bush after he is introduced during the Circle Ten Council Friends of Scouting dinner in Dallas, March 3, 2011. Gates, a former Eagle Scout, gave a keynote speech. DOD photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates was the keynote speaker at a Circle Ten Council Friends of Scouting dinner here. The secretary told...

“Primum nil nocere.” First, do no harm. This bedrock principle in medicine is a foreign language to most politicians and, sadly, to some Wisconsin doctors, who have violated their oath and the public trust as they have defrauded Wisconsin taxpayers. Several University of Wisconsin family physicians donned their sacred white coats and were caught distributing fraudulent “sick notes” free for the asking quite literally by the boxful - I wonder who paid for that printing - to teachers and others who skipped work to engage in political protest at the state Capitol in Madison. Whatever the merits of the teachers’...

Author Joe Wheeler, historian and scholar, brings to the pages of this insightful book the knowledge gleaned from over ten years of study and more than sixty books on the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. Skillfully weaving his own narrative with direct quotes from Lincoln and poignant excerpts from other Lincoln biographers, Wheeler brings a refreshingly friendly rendition of Lincoln's life, faith, and courage.

At a Touchdown Club meeting many years ago, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant told the following story: I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player, and I was having trouble finding the place. Getting hungry, I spied an old cinderblock building with a small sign out front that simply said "Restaurant." I pull up, go in, and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I'm the only white fella in...

Republicans introduce bill to eliminate presidential 'czars' By Michael O'Brien - 01/06/11 04:15 PM ET A group of House Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to rein in the various "czars" in the Obama administration. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and 28 other House Republicans introduced legislation to do away with the informal, paid advisers President Obama has employed over the past two years. The legislation, which was introduced in the last Congress but was not allowed to advance under Democratic control, would do away with the 39 czars Obama has employed during his administration. The bill defines a czar as...

Complacent conservatives not only have allowed our primary and secondary school systems to descend into the pits of liberal philosophies, but we have kept silent while our American colleges and universities wallow in mediocrity. “They [students] are not being given meaningful instruction, regarding the responsibilities of citizens, and they are certainly not being taught the benefits of moral restraint,” (p. 213) says author Jim Nelson Black in his outstanding book, “Freefall of the American University; How Our Colleges Are Corrupting the Minds and Morals of the Next Generation.” As parents and grandparents struggle to get enough tuition dollars together, we...

One of the highlights of my experience writing for Power Line was meeting Leo Thorsness in the summer of 2008 when he came to town speaking on behalf of the McCain presidential campaign. Colonel Thorness had been "tied up" in the Hanoi Hilton with John McCain for six or seven years and was touring the country to support McCain. Colonel Thorsness is a recipient of the Medal of Honor for a mission he flew shortly before he was shot down and captured. Yet the bravery he displayed in captivity is on par with the heroics that earned him the Medal...

Remember four months ago when she was demanding that they remove her name from an RNC fundraising invitation to donors? Some pol-watchers at the time took that as a sign that she was trying to distance herself from the Republican brand. (“Who wouldn’t want to be sort of seen as more of an outsider and that’s how she’s positioned herself.”) Fast-forward to today and suddenly she’s signing letters on their behalf. What gives? Two theories. One: She’s turned out to be such a good soldier and is so favorably disposed to Michael Steele that she’s willing to do a fundraising...

LEBRON JAMES PLAYED ESPN LIKE A NEW YORK PIMP ARRANGING A DATE WITH THEIR PRIZE WHORE! The TV Dog-and-Pony Show that ESPN did with Lebron James' announcement of which NBA franchise would pay him the most money - or sell the most of their soul and future, had all the sleaze of a pimp and his John negotiating which NBA franchise would be his next whore. ESPN long ago flushed what little remaining thread of journalistic integrity it may have once had. Just like the Muslim Communist Clown now occupying the White House, the only question that remains is, "HOW...

North Carolina Republican Facebook page will instantly delete anything you say against them. As usual, their tactics mirror those of the Democratic establishment. Time to do away with all establishment politicians!

While recently attending a candidate forum, I heard a prominent Republican candidate answer a question about gay marriage with the declaration, "I don't think the government should have anything to do with marriage." Huh? Fellow Republicans, let us be clear: The government has a whole lot to do with marriage. After all, we do not purchase marriage licenses at our local 7-11, but instead receive them from a government office -- and only after governmental officials have received the proper fees and documentation to certify the marriage. In fact, if we were to view a California License and Certificate of...

Neal McDonough is a marvelous actor who elevates every role he plays, whether it's in Band of Brothers or Desperate Housewives. So when he was suddenly replaced with David James Elliott 3 days into the filming on ABC's new series Scoundrels earlier this week, there had to be a story behind the story. The move was officially explained as a casting change. But, in fact, McDonough was sacked because of his refusal to do some heated love scenes with babelicious star (and Botox pitchwoman) Virginia Madsen. The reason? He's a family man and a Catholic, and he's always made it...

Ok, I've started a site, one where I have publicly taken an oath to preserve and defend the Constitution. Against all threats, and even if it means personal loss or even targeting by those who would be our kings-by-right. Will you join me? We have a forum to discuss, and a blog to read and to publicly affirm an oath to the Constitution. I hope in the immediate future, to finalize the software so that the publicly taken oath is a database, searchable and displayable by name and location.

ROBERTS: Well, the Iraq war certainly played into it and people were very fed up with the Republican leadership. But the fact is that, you know, we here analyzing these elections tend to talk a lot about policy because it's what we care about and cover, but there is this tendency of both parties to overreach when they get all of the power - the - get both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. That was part of the reason, that sense that the Democrats were overreaching, in 1994, that they lost the House of Representatives then, after decades. But it was...

First we deconstructed law by disguising capricious decisions as “the law.” Then Democrats tried to deconstruct presidential elections by re-counting ballots until the “right” vote was obtained. Then leftists deconstructed the liberal arts by rewriting “history” to suit their agenda. Now activists are trying to deconstruct even the physical sciences by “correcting” climate data until the “right” result is obtained − that is, a result that justifies government regulation of every aspect of life

In defense of Bill Clinton, their democrat president, the liberal media campaigned to convince Americans that character does not matter. In the midst of the Clinton scandals, I was shocked to hear even a minister say Clinton's affairs were a personal matter and did not affect his presidency. The media spin worked. An extraordinary man was featured on the Glenn Beck TV program, Jon Huntsman, founder of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Asked by Beck to share, Huntsman told a tale of amazing integrity. In the 80s, Huntsman sold his business for 54 million dollars. The buyer's lawyers were slow. In...

The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show. The disclosure comes as pressure builds from Democrats on Capitol Hill for quick January confirmation of Erroll Southers.... Southers, a former FBI agent, has described inconsistencies in his accounts to Congress as "inadvertent" and the result of poor memory of an incident that dates back 20 years. He said in a Nov. 20 letter to key senators that he had accepted full responsibility...

Apologies to all of my FReeper friends for an extended absence from the forum. I have checked in now and then, and did not want to answer some pings and not others, so have merely participated in 'spectator mode' these past few months. I am offering the following as a Christmas wish for all of you -- some of whom I have known here for longer than ten years. Despite long silences over that time (often on both ends), I believe we all share a timeless common bond, formed by a love of country that will not die ... and...

The East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) revelations come as no real surprise to anyone who has closely followed the global-warming saga. The Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) thesis, to give it its semi-official name, is no stranger to fraud. It would be no real exaggeration to state that it was fertilized with fraud, marinated in fraud, stewed in fraud, and at last served up to the world as prime grade-A fraud with nice side orders of fakery and disingenuousness. Damning as they may be, the CRU e-mails are merely the climactic element in an exhaustively long line. A short tour...

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) ― Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visited wounded soldiers and their families near the site of the worst mass shooting on an Army post in the United States. The Bushes made their private visit to Fort Hood's Darnall Army Medical Center on Friday night. Bush spokesman David Sherzer said in an e-mail that the couple thanked Fort Hood's military leaders and hospital staff for the "amazing care they are providing."

No one saw the truck drive off, it left the alley between the bank and another business. You could pick up the cash and no one would see you. What should you do?

Recently I revisited The Visual Craft of William Golden, a book published in the early-Sixties about the legendary CBS creative director. There is an essay in the book by CBS exec John Cowden that sheds light on Golden’s artistic integrity, and helps to explain why the advertising work created under his guidance remains to this day the strongest body of advertising ever created for a TV network. Golden’s world revolved around graphic design, illustration and advertising, but I find his experiences to be relevant to creative people working in any commercial field, and especially animation. For example, Cowden recounted how...

What would make a fitting legacy for Ted Kennedy in the Senate? I think it would be the election of a Senator to take his place, who committed to the same great public ideas that Senator Kennedy spoke about, so often and passionately. Teddy often spoke of his dedication to and respect for the Constitution. This is to be expected where Sam Adams created the Sons of Liberty who threw the tea in Boston Harbor. And where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at, and later fired by, the Minutemen at Concord and Lexington. So, the person...

This was filed with the following: State of Nevada Office of the Attorney General Southern Nevada Public Integrity Unit Office of Clark County District Attorney Office of the Clark County Managers Office July 27, 2009 page 1-2 Re: Las Vegas Township Constable Robert Gronauer On July 25, 2009 we had Las Vegas Township Constable Robert Gronauer on the Veterans In Politics Talk Show on All Talk Radio. Since the interview we have had several disturbing comments from our listeners. Mr. Gronauer made a statement that he has not had an Audit in over Eight years and he claims his office...

A Letter to Our Readers By Katharine Weymouth Sunday, July 5, 2009 Dear Reader: I want to apologize for a planned new venture that went off track and for any cause we may have given you to doubt our independence and integrity. A flier distributed last week suggested that we were selling access to power brokers in Washington through dinners that were to take place at my home. The flier was not approved by me or newsroom editors, and it did not accurately reflect what we had in mind. But let me be clear: The flier was not the only...

Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said yesterday that a hasty time frame, haphazard planning and miscommunication led to the release of a promotional flier that inaccurately described the newspaper's plans for a series of sponsored "salons" with influential insiders. "We decided to throw this particular event very recently," Weymouth said in an interview. "We said, 'Let's not wait. Let's pick a date and let's go for it.' When you rush like that, you make mistakes." Weymouth said she takes responsibility for the controversy, and she took the rare step of writing a letter to readers, which appears today on the...

Providing all of my research were the "family values" Republicans. Last week, second-term Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina disappeared for six days, leaving the state without a chief executive who could make decisions in an emergency. His Republican lieutenant governor didn't know where he was, and had not been given any authority to make decisions in his absence. The state police said they had not been informed. His wife told the Associated Press she didn't know where he was, wasn't worried about him, and thought he was "writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids"...

If you've spent any time at all on Internet message boards or in college debate class you'll have seen the rafters vibrate with righteous condemnation against the "slippery slope argument." It is claimed that a worst case, ultimate extrapolation of a thing is a bad argument because it isn't necessarily a truism. Supporters of the Second Amendment, for instance, are scolded by liberals when the supporter says that any new gun law is "one more step to banning guns." The gun restricter says that the gun supporter is employing a "slippery slope" argument and that it is idiotic to claim...

Over the past 3 decades of bashing my head against the stout wall of public apathy, ignorance and stupidity (igorance can be cured but stupidity is forever), I sometimes found myself mutttering that "Like a dog that soils a carpet in the living room, these dummies need a SERIOUS dose of rub-your-noses-in-it statist socialism to get a good close look at the thing" But as I reflected on what I'd just said, it struck me that -- with much help from the government endoctrination centers called "schools" and the 501(c)(3) neutered churches yammering away on Romans 13 -- they might...

It is now over 5 month since the best President of this century has left office . Do I miss the years he was our President and Commander in Chief.? You betcha. Today, I will post photos from June 2001 and June 2002. snugs will post photos from June 2003. (She might do it tomorrow though instead.. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

Remarks of U.S. Senator Barack Obama on the nomination of Justice Janice Rogers Brown June 08, 2005 Remarks as Delivered The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois. Mr. OBAMA. I thank the Chair. I rise today to speak on the nomination of California Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Now, let me begin by saying that the last thing I would like to be spending my time on right now is talking about judges. I am sure that is true for many in this Chamber. I know that I certainly do not hear about filibusters...

The National Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Jeff Roy, and Governor Sarah Palin, will hold a press conference at 10:00 am on May 30, 2009 at Mt View VFW Post 10252 located at 3105 Mt View Drive, Anchorage. The purpose is to launch an extraordinary expedition by America’s heroes to successfully summit 20,320 ft. Mt. Denali, the highest peak in North America, after more than a year of intensive preparations. Commander Roy will introduce the members of this team of wounded warriors who symbolize the strength of our Nation and those who defend it. The team...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The State Personnel Board today dismissed an ethics complaint filed against Gov. Sarah Palin. The governor's office says it was the 13th ethics complaint filed against the governor or her staff that has been resolved with no finding of a violation of the state ethics law. Andree McLeod of Anchorage filed the complaint. Among the allegations was that Palin violated the Executive Branch Ethics Act in using state resources and staff to further her own national political aspirations.