Free Republic

The nine august justices of the United States Supreme Court — or at least the five conservative Republicans — chose the wrong time to make a sea change in constitutional law, admitting the Second Amendment to our pantheon of civil liberties. By demonstrating how willing they are to toss aside decades of jurisprudence in pursuit of a conservative agenda, they sent a chill into the souls of women all across the nation and resurrected fears that Roe v. Wade is next on the chopping block.

If Don Imus' racially bigoted remark merited a two-week suspension by MSNBC, for how long will MSNBC and HBO ban Bill Maher after his bit of religious bigotry on today's "Imus in the Morning"? Maher, ostensibly on to discuss Imus' imbroglio, engaged in this repartee with the host: DON IMUS: I used to think that all of these things that the administration did were either because of the war criminal Vice-President and that psychopath who was over at the Pentagon, because of them, or because of stupidity. But I really believe, in my heart, that it's arrogance, and maliciousness and...

Mr. Franken, who is on a U.S.O. tour of Iraq and Afghanistan and says he is owed $360,750 by the network, declined requests for comment. Through Air America’s spokeswoman, he said, that “although I do not know the specific details about A.A.R.’s progress through the Chapter 11 restructuring process, I was pleased to hear that they had received a letter of intent from a prospective buyer.” He added his hope “that the network’s ownership situation and financing difficulties will be resolved while I am away.” When he returns, he faces competition from an unexpected source: Product First’s Ed Schultz, who...

The celebration of a mythical Thanksgiving did not happen in this country for several hundred years after the event, by which time American Indians had been colonized, assimilated and removed from many of their ancestral lands, usually through dubious treaties and other means that are still being questioned today. Thanksgiving has been further colonized by capitalism in recent times, further removing us from the true meanings of “thanksgivings” that Native people honor on many occasions throughout the year.Much like American-Indian mascots, people say that American Indians are being honored by the remembrance of that “first” Thanksgiving, which children purportedly embody...

Judge bemoans lack of driver ed for illegal who killed man By O’Ryan Johnson Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - Updated: 01:03 AM EST A Salem woman whose longtime friend and tenant was killed by an illegal alien driving without a license says she is shocked a judge not only reduced the man’s sentence, but took time to lament the lack of driver’s training for illegals during the sentencing. Alex Costa, 28, of Peabody pleaded guilty to striking and killing Richard Golin, 49, and was sentenced to nine months. But Judge Robert Cornetta turned him over to immigration agents Monday for...

TACOMA, Wash. - The 300-member congregation's administrative council of the First United Methodist Church of Tacoma has declared itself to be a sanctuary for servicemen and servicewomen who don't want to go to Iraq. The council voted last weekend to open its doors to those service people beginning Saturday, church officials said Wednesday.

Disappointing airplay for the first two singles from the new album by the Dixie Chicks exposes a deep -- and seemingly growing -- rift between the trio and the country radio market that helped turn the group into superstars. "Taking the Long Way," due out May 23, is the band's first album since singer Natalie Maines sparked a major controversy in 2003 by declaring that she was ashamed to hail from the same state as fellow Texan President George W. Bush. Radio boycotts ensued, and many fans abandoned the band. The first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," peaked at...

Scouts denied funding http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/homepage/local_story_138230721.html http://tinyurl.com/n2l7h Published: May 18, 2006 11:07 pm Kelli Hernandez VALDOSTA — Decades of continued financial support to the Boy Scouts stopped after the Bank of America Charitable Foundation denied their request for funding this year, according to a letter written by Michael Harp, Market President for Bank of America. The letter, addressed to Scout Executive Matt Hart, with the Alapaha Area Council Boy Scouts of America, outlined the Bank’s newly adopted non-discriminatory policy for charitable giving. According to the letter, “under the non-discrimination policy, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation cannot provide funding to any organization...

Was the Military Industrial Complex Involved in this Fascist Betrayal? This is a question to be researched carefully, but dollars to donuts, I bet we will see emerging an interesting pattern among those who voted for cloture yesterday (in most of the states) and undo benefits/favors from DoD/Pentagon and the Military.

I am in an argument with a liberal friend. He wants to remove the 2 senate seats from the electorl college states so that Republicans will not have an advantage by winning more states. For example Wymoning is 3 EV but he wants to make it only 1. What is a counter argument? Thanks

A computer technician in California has filed a lawsuit against his employer after being reprimanded for expressing his support for traditional marriage at work. The employee at a private Orange County company works at an office where co-workers are allowed to have personal, religious and political messages in their cubicles. But when he placed a bumper sticker supporting traditional marriage in his own cubicle, his supervisor ordered him to remove it. The worker removed the sticker but was still demoted and reprimanded. Realizing he was being treated illegally, the employee contacted Pacific Justice Institute, a legal organization specializing in the...

I heard Mario the Pious pontificating the other day and I thought that it would be appropriate to name the Top Ten liberal idiots and include on this list the Pious Mario himself. There are other - many others. But identifying them is an important first step in ridiculing them. Through ridicule there may be a chance for reform and correction. The first step can be hard; conservatives don't usually have time or inclination to point fingers; they are too busy getting the work of the world done. Liberals tend to have thin skins and get offended and pouty when...

Like so many -- too many! -- young conservative students in America, Ruth found herself being singled out for abuse by a professor who simply hated Ruth's political views. Ruth -- an A-student at Georgia Tech -- mentioned to her professor that she was going to attend the conservative conference sponsored by C-PAC in Washington, D.C. Without batting an eyelash, the professor told Ruth "Well, then, you will probably fail my course." Can you imagine the arrogance and sense of superiority this professor must have assumed when she unflinchingly told Ruth she was going to see to it she failed?...

Food Network Reneges on Boy Scout Troop by Aaron Atwood, assistant editorTV's Food Network takes Boy Scout idea off the table.When the Food Network asked "How do you Iron Chef?" on its Web site, Boy Scout Troop 99 of Colorado Springs responded. They were accepted—then rejected because they pledge to "being morally straight."The troop had been doing Iron Chef competitions at campouts and Scoutmaster Dave Maher thought a vignette of his troop cooking up a storm would make a great promo for the company. The competition gives two chefs an identical cache of food and challenges each to outdo the...

Semi-News – The risk that the word “God” might be uttered on public school grounds has been beaten back through the efforts of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU’s threat to sue schools that permit Boy Scouts to meet on school property has prompted the Boy Scouts of America to pull its troops out of public schools. “Some think that just because the Boy Scouts are a voluntary organization that its members should be free to say whatever they want at their private meetings. We say that even if others who might be offended are not present at these...

Re-Name Berkeley? UC Reagan Astute reader Frank King goes the clamor for changing school names one better. Noting the movement to change Thomas Jefferson school in Berkeley, he suggests that Berkeley itself is suspect. Berkeley, California is named for George Berkeley, philosopher and Anglican Bishop. He was also a slave owner and a Christian apologist for slavery. Berkeley's Slaves After coming to the colonies, Berkeley bought a plantation in Newport, Rhode Island-the famous "Whitehall." On October 4, 1730, Berkeley purchased "a Negro man named Philip aged Fourteen years or thereabout." A few days later he purchased "a negro man named...

APOPKA, Fla. -- There's a battle brewing between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Boy Scouts of America. It's a dispute that has public schools and other government agencies caught in the middle and potentially facing lawsuits, WESH 2 News reported. For many years, schools have sponsored Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs and provided space for them to hold meetings and activities, but the ACLU is now threatening to sue individual schools and school districts if they continue to sponsor the scouts.

On April 29 and 30, liberal activists gathered in New York City for a weekend conference on "Examining the Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right." The program consisted of speeches with alarmist titles like "The Rise of Dominionism in U.S. Government," "Is an Unholy American Theocracy Here?," "Christian Jihad," and "Fundamentalism: The Fear and The Rage." There were no conservative Christians on the program. The conference was sponsored by People for the American Way, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and the National Council of Churches (NCC), along with the left-wing periodicals The Nation and The...

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (AP) -- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani delivered the commencement address Sunday at a school where his selection as graduation speaker touched off angry debate and led to the resignation of the student newspaper's editor after the paper ran a photo likening Giuliani to Adolf Hitler. Most Middlebury College students applauded following Giuliani's speech, but a small group of students tied red pieces of cloth around their mouths while he spoke. Cynthia Hernandez, who organized the protest, said although Giuliani's actions following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were admirable, "the eight years he spent terrorizing...

SYRACUSE NY--The Boy Scouts of America will have to find another place to hold an annual Merit Badge Day. Syracuse University has decided not to allow the scouts to hold the event on campus. The school says the Boy Scout's ban on openly gay leaders is against the school's non-discriminatory practices. The youth organization believes they're being targeted. "Syracuse University is the recipient of millions of tax dollars and those tax dollars are from all kinds of people, from all kinds of sexual orientations and religious beliefs. If you take taxpayers money you have an obligation to serve all the...

Did anyone just see the report on FOXNews about the out of control 5-year-old who was handcuffed at school? While showing a tape of the child climbing on top of furniture, tearing papers off the bulletin board, hitting, kicking, and possibly even trying to bite an assistant principal, Judge Andrew Nepaitano and 'child psychologist' Dr, Jeffrey Gardere, dicsuss the racism of the police and the psychological harm done to the child.

They’re at it again in Massachusetts. Several months ago the Town of Grafton proposed a new policy regarding weapons that would have made it unlawful for anyone who even owned a weapon from setting foot on any town property or doing any business with the town. This proposal created a firestorm that packed the board of selectmen’s meeting with irate citizens. The proposal was withdrawn before the meeting ended. A new policy has now been proposed. This policy will apply only to town employees, but will ban all town employees, when performing any duties of employment (regardless of where the...

"NO CHRISTMAS FOR YOU" FOAMY TAKES ON THE ANTI-CHRISTMAS CROWD!

Just was listening to the midday show on Chicago sports radio station The Score, 670AM. The hosts, Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers, were talking about Curt Schilling's endorsement of Bush. Bernstein then went on to make the following statements: "God tells Bush what to do," Bush "likes to blow up brown people all while telling Curt Schilling how to pitch." Bernstein makes anti-Bush comments all the time on his show, but by far this is the most insulting I've heard to date.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The United States may have come a long way in the fight against institutionalized racism but in California, black children are still being denied access to an important educational tool. Pamela Lewis wanted to have her 6-year-old son Nicholas take a standardized IQ test (search) to determine if he qualifies for special education speech therapy. Officials at his school routinely provide the test to kids but as Lewis soon found out, not to children who are black, due to a statewide policy that goes back to 1979. At that time, many black kids performed poorly on...

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., is greeted by his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry after speaking about his energy policy at a rally, Wednesday, May 26, 2004, in Seattle, Wash. The Kerrys celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Joanna Harmon is considering whether to leave the United States for Canada. Nik and Nancy Phelps practically have visas in hand to set up business in Belgium. Joan Magit and her husband are eyeing Vancouver. Amy Gertz moved to the United States from Canada two and a half years ago – she's now moving back. These are scary times for progressive Americans. Many feel isolated and embarrassed by the actions of our government. Some are downright terrified at what will happen if Bush is re-elected in November. When politics get too bleak, it's comforting to remind ourselves that we can...

DUVALL,SI -- SPIELBERG NO! By Don Feder . There aren’t many people in Hollywood with the guts to take on a heavyweight like Steven Spielberg. That makes Robert Duvall part of an elite – showbiz types with courage and a conscience. In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, the man who played Lt. Col. Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now” gave the director of “Saving Pvt. Ryan” a little verbal napalm in the morning. Commenting on Spielberg’s 2002 trip to Cuba, Duvall innocently remarked: “Now I want to ask him (Spielberg) – and I know he’s going to get pissed off –...

I'm having an argument with some liberals and the Internet is not going to be of much help, so I need someone who has a print source of Confucius quotes. The quote is: Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. There are a bunch of whacky liberals where I work saying that its a quote from Nelson Mandela. I'm trying to tell them that since ol' Nelson lived about 1500 years after Confucius did, it makes him a PLAGIARIST. The real problem is that when you search the interent there are abundant...

Al Franken to Substitute for Rush Limbaugh (2003-10-10) -- Former comedian Al Franken will replace Rush Limbaugh on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network for the next 30 days while Mr. Limbaugh participates in an addiction treatment program. Premiere Radio Networks announced the substitution shortly after Mr. Limbaugh told his millions of listeners that he is addicted to prescription painkillers and is going to deal with it "once and for all." "When Rush told us he needed 30-days off, we knew we had to find a top-notch replacement," said a Premiere spokesman. "Although we had not heard of Al Franken before,...

<p>The gods of humility have a way of paying a visit to all of us eventually, when we are too sure of ourselves or too full of ourselves the gods of humility come knocking at the door.</p> <p>As one who has been paid such a visit I could tell you it is rarely welcome and rarely unneeded. The humility gods came knocking on Rush Limbaugh's door today. Surely it was humbling for Mr. Limbaugh to tell his audience that he is a drug addict, no different really than the drug addicts he has condemned along the way.</p>

It's not what we thought we were gonna be doing, a lot of the people's civil rights have been compromised, and we don't know what's going on. If I keep speaking my mind, will I be deported?

Connor Trinneer (Charles 'Trip' Tucker), Alfre Woodard (Lily Sloane) and F. Murray Abraham (Ru'afo) are just a few of the many actors that are joining together on Monday 3 March in protest of military action against Iraq. The actors will be all be starring in separate productions of Lysistrata, a comedy play that is set to be held in 56 countries, and all 50 US states, in a total of around 920 readings. Lysistrata tells the story of women from opposing states who unite to end a war by refusing to sleep with their men until they agree to lay...

Please sign the petition to eliminate the liberal propaganda outlet known as PBS and make Bill Moyers and the other liberal shrills get real jobs. It has been long past time to defund these government media outlets.

Hours after news broke of arrests in the sniper case, New York Newsday hit newsstands with a column blaming President Bush for not doing enough to catch D.C.'s serial killer. Headlined "Bush Should Take a Walk Near Home" and prominently placed on page 3, columnist Jimmy Breslin's piece excoriated Bush for campaigning for Republicans across the country instead of staying at home while his city was under siege - and even suggested that the president was a coward for leaving town. "Bush should have been taking a walk through Silver Spring or Rockville," complained the writer who came to prominence...

Prior to the controversy now surrounding the "Pledge of Allegiance, I will admit I was quite nonchalant about it. It was something I repeated in unison with my classmates long ago. I wasn't sure why we did it. For some reason, it seemed to conflict with my Baptist Sunday school teacher's assessment of the Biblical commandment about worshiping false idols. As I got older though, I gave that no further thought. It wasn't until the recent court ruling that the phrase "under God" was unconstitutional, that I thought about it again. The controversy has served to make me better educated...

VPC Launches New Web Site, www.banhandgunsnow.org, in Conjunction With Release of Paperback Edition of Latest Book, Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns WASHINGTON, DC—In conjunction with release of the paperback edition of its most recent book, Every Handgun is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns (The New Press, 2001), the Violence Policy Center (VPC) today launched a new citizen-action web site, www.banhandgunsnow.org. Each year handguns claim more than 20,000 American lives in suicides, homicides, and unintentional shootings. The unique qualities that make handguns ideally suited for violent death and injury—concealability coupled with lethality—are...