Free Republic

Why Sarah Palin? Because when I write a blog here on Jeb Bush or President Obama, it will bring in maybe 10 comments. A piece on Sarah Palin last week brought 135. Same every time. She strikes a chord which runs deep. She has a purpose here. She may be today the most important person in American culture and politics. She may always have been. The flak you draw tells of your truth and importance, and no one has taken more flak than Palin. Most has been neutralized now as Tea Party meets the mainstream with the IRS affair in...

The July 4 armed march on Washington just got a little more interesting. A day after telling City Desk that he would still try to enter Washington with a loaded gun, rally organizer Adam Kokesh changed tactics. Now, he wants citywide civil disobedience over whatever law participants consider unconstitutional. "This is now a call for mass civil disobedience on July 4th anywhere in Washington, DC," Kokesh writes on his march's Facebook event page. "Break whatever unconstitutional law you choose." Kokesh declined to comment on the move, promising a full announcement next year. But the shift to a citywide strategy seems...

Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday he is putting his full support behind legislation aimed at stopping the production of undetectable plastic guns that can be made using relatively cheap 3-D printers. A Texas-based libertarian group has successfully been able to produce a functioning plastic handgun using a 3-D printer that anyone could purchase, Schumer said. He said the group plans to post on the Internet how to go about making this cheap, but functioning weapon that could pass through metal detectors at airports and elsewhere. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he is joining Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) who has pushed for new...

Libertarian activist and radio host Adam Kokesh is hoping to get 1,000 people to march on Washington on July 4 — armed with loaded rifles. The plan, launched with a Facebook group today, is to gather on the Virginia side of the Potomac, where gun laws are lax, and then march across the bridge with loaded rifles slung over their shoulders into the District, where openly carrying weapons is generally prohibited. “This will be a non-violent event,” the Facebook group warns, “unless the government chooses to make it violent.” Already, over 200 people have said they’ll attend the march. Here’s...

Former Rep. Ron Paul said the law enforcement that swarmed around Boston in the days following the marathon bombings was scarier than the actual terrorist attack. “The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city,” he said on the Lew Rockwell website, Politico reported. “This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.” The terror attacks on April 15 in Boston killed three and injured 264. Mr. Paul, a former libertarian political candidate who served in Congress as...

The biggest question mark over Ron Paul has always been his affinity for unsavory wack jobs on the fringes of American politics, but these days he’s turning that question mark into an exclamation point. The Daily Beast reports that the ex-Texas Congressman is creating the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, a think tank concerned with what Paul considers important foreign policy and civil liberty issues. It appears that the institute’s board contains some truly bizarre characters: Putin shills, Serb genocide apologists, 9/11 truthers, and pro-Confederate loons. Here’s a summary of one of the members, John Laughland: A prominent...

In his “farewell address” before Congress, libertarian Republican Ron Paul asked in so many words, “why is liberty so hard to sell?” Congressman Paul answered that question at length in his speech (which you can read here),but in summary, he said that in the early part of the 20th Century, “The majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be “progressive” ideas. Pure democracy became acceptable… They failed to recognize that what they were doing was exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke...

Fox News has hired Tucker Carlson to co-host Fox & Friends Weekend, even though the two are on opposite ideological trajectories -- Fox is getting more moderate while Carlson is getting more fringe. The network has intentionally taken on a more moderate tone in recent years; this year, for example, it dumped Sarah Palin and hired Scott Brown. Megyn Kelly gently mocked Karl Rove for his insistence that Mitt Romney maybe would have beaten Barack Obama, if only he'd gotten more votes in seven states. "OLIGARHY"-fearing conspiracy theorist Glenn Beck is long gone. But Carlson, who founded the conservative blog...

The modern day tea party movement took shape in 2007. Yet, it is hardly a reflection of the anti-war, anti-deficit, pro-civil liberty message that propelled its early popularity. During a time of impending recession, a government that had taken us to endless wars on false pretenses, and an unprecedented expansion of government under eight years of “conservative” leadership, the tea party began as a fundraising rally cry for a then relatively unknown dark horse candidate, Representative Ron Paul. The first “modern day tea party” was held on the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party, December 16, 2007. In a...

Glenn Beck✔ @glennbeck Newest member of the Westboro Baptist Church: Ron Paul. I am with Marcus Latrell & grieving family members. Will respond tomorrow. SHAMEFUL. 1:30 AM - 05 Feb 13 289 Retweets 96 favorites Tell us what you really think, Glenn. Glenn Beck wasn’t the only one making that comparison after Ron Paul launched a repulsive Twitter attack on murdered American hero Chris Kyle. Derek Ryan @longhornderek Ron Paul is now no better than the Westboro Church protesters. (Let's hear it, Ronulans. Lets hear you defend your dear leader.) 6:28 PM - 04 Feb 13(continued)

haven’t seen anyone ask this yet, so I will: did the Ron Paul Revolution stay home last night? Mitt Romney won 3 million votes less than McCain while Obama lost 10 million votes of his own from 2008. Where did those 3 million McCain voters go? The main part of why I believed Romney would win this time because I knew the 10 million Obama supporters would sit home…but never in my worst nightmares did I imagine McCain voters would sit home. I counted on them to show up and bring friends this time to boot Obama out. The only...

As a former Libertarian presidential contender, the 2008 Libertarian vice presidential nominee, the former chairman of the Libertarian National Campaign Committee, and the man called "Mr. Libertarian" by media across this country, you might be surprised to find I’m supporting Republican Mitt Romney for president. Yes, this Las Vegan has gone “all in” for Mitt. Why? Because Mitt Romney is the only sane choice for Libertarians. It’s simple. Libertarians believe in less government; lower taxes; cutting rules, regulations and mandates to get government out of the way of small business; reining in out-of-control government agencies like the EPA; auditing the...

I have a lot of respect for my Libertarian friends, and they are frequently the first people I’d like to have a discussion with about a new policy or political controversy. I find most of them to be intelligent, thoughtful, well-read people. I also find that in large part Independents (including the Tea Party) often have much in common with the right when it comes to the issues of this particular election–economics and the over-reach of the Federal government. But I do think that to actually vote for a 3rd party candidate in a tight general election (as this one)...

Paul Brown was working on his computer in his north suburban home when police smashed in the front door, pointed guns at and handcuffed him and other family members, and ransacked the house in a search for drugs. The authorities had burst in immediately after a postal worker delivered a package to the home that they said contained marijuana. But a search of the house found no further contraband, and officers left without making an arrest. Brown, outraged, said he was sure the cops had the wrong house. Police maintained they had the right place, but the target of their...

WASHINGTON—A multibillion-dollar information-sharing program created in the aftermath of 9/11 has improperly collected information about innocent Americans and produced little valuable intelligence on terrorism, a Senate report concludes. It portrays an effort that ballooned far beyond anyone's ability to control. What began as an attempt to put local, state and federal officials in the same room analyzing the same intelligence has instead cost huge amounts of money for data-mining software, flat screen televisions and, in Arizona, two fully equipped Chevrolet Tahoes that are used for commuting, investigators found. The lengthy, bipartisan report is a scathing evaluation of what the Department...

Veteran American libertarian author and activist Jerome Tuccille once wrote a book titled It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand. Not true in my case. For me it all began with Walt Whitman, the 19th-century mystic whose mesmerizing American poetry helped turn me into a free market individualist. “I celebrate myself, and sing myself…” But that’s another story. These days, I find what began with Walt Whitman is usually fired up in me now by leftist economists who promote big government, Occupy activists who attack corporate greed and politicians who cravenly exploit class warfare over allegedly expanding inequality. Which is how...

(VIDEO AT LINK) On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Wednesday, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said that as far as he was concerned, Mitt Romney was already the victor over incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama. “You know, I think — I’m in the minority here, but I think the election is over,” said Paul, who was on to promote his new book “Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds.”“I think that Romney has already won,” Paul continued. “The people really are tired of the debt. They’re tired of irresponsible leadership. I think they’re...

Obama Administration Expands ATF’s Power to Seize Property As part of a one-year trial run, the Department of Justice has granted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives the power to “to seize and administratively forfeit property allegedly involved in controlled substance offenses,” which is almost tantamount to saying that on the mere suspicion that one is doing something illegal, the ATF can snatch one’s firearms and property. The Washington Times, among other publications, have explained the implications of this new DoJ decree: It’s a dangerous extension of the civil-forfeiture doctrine, a surreal legal fiction in which the seized...

The gun business is booming. The question is, why? Smith & Wesson stock Friday was zooming, thanks to a stellar earnings report. The firearms maker also boosted its outlook for the rest of the year. Because of the strong business, its backlog of orders more than doubled from the same quarter last year, the company is concentrating on boosting production and building inventory. “We are underserving the market at this moment, we all know that, and that's a great opportunity going forward for us,” CEO James Debney said in a conference call with analysts. And another gun maker, Sturm, Ruger...

“Truth is the new hate speech.”—“Creeping Sharia” “We [the people] own this country.”—Clint Eastwood I feel like I ought to start out each of my articles anymore with a disclaimer, or caveat saying something along the lines of “WARNING: The contents of this article are to be considered null and void in the event of a “Reichstag Fire,” false flag event, and/or an invasion by Russian Spetsnaz in collusion with Northcom,“or words to that effect. My intent is not to make light of such concerns, as God knows we have reason enough to be more than a bit edgy these...

TAMPA -- The Paulistas were at the Republican National Convention last week, and they were cranky. They held up cranky signs and wore T-shirts with cranky messages. They scowled. They pouted. They sometimes shouted when others were speaking. They were clearly cheesed off that their man, who won several states during the primaries, did not get to write the platform and otherwise dominate the convention. Oh, wait. Oops. No, Dr. Paul, the gold-medal winner this year in the Olympic Pat Paulsen look-alike competition, didn't win several states. In fact, he did not win a single state. He ran early and...

Dianne Feinstein announced Wednesday that she’s re-entering the battle over gun control during her keynote speech to the California delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Feinstein was president of the San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on what she calls that city’s “day of infamy” in 1978, when a former colleague shot and killed Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Since then, Senator Feinstein has been one of the most vocal proponents of gun control on Capitol Hill. She promised California delegates she’d return to Congress to reintroduce “an updated assault weapons bill.” At the delegates' breakfast, she said that, "Weapons...

Admittedly, I am late to evaluating Clint Eastwood’s RNC performance. However, the fact that the pundit class is still critiquing it days later is one indicator of how shrewd it was as political theater. Accordingly, it is worth noting just how wrong some of the Eastwood analysis has been, even from those defending the speech. The harsh, conventional wisdom about Eastwood’s decidedly unconventional approach to the convention is that it was the ramblings of a senile old man. Even may of Eastwood’s defenders have described it as rambling. This likely makes Eastwood’s day. After all, who is Clint Eastwood? He...

Ted Nugent warns America. Vid at link.

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Training at Camp Lejeune Thursday looked and felt real -- and that was the point. Law officers and marines from across the country ended their training with a bang. Thursday was the final day of exercises for law enforcement and marines who have gone through special reaction team training at Camp Lejeune for the past three weeks. In the final exercise, teams were presented with a series of real life scenarios as well as hands on instruction to handle them correctly. Brian Dye, Operations Chief of I&I in Lexington, Kentucky says training civilians as a blended...

Mitt Romney will not be on the ballot in Washington State, if a lawsuit from the Libertarian party succeeds. Citing a legal technicality which disqualifies the republican party from being considered a “major party” due to its failure to get a senate candidate on the ballot in 2010, libertarians appear to have the law on their side which would disqualify the republican party from being able to place its candidate on state ballots in November. That would remove Romney from the ballot, which would still allow his supporters to write in his name but would likely suppress the number of...

When They Come For Your Guns, You Will Turn Them OverAugust 13, 2012 By Jim Karger “When they come for my gun, they will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands,” is a common refrain I often hear from the Neo-Cons when there is a threat, credible or otherwise, that the US government is going to take their firearms. And, when I hear this crazy talk, I agree with them openly. “You are right. They will pry your gun from your cold dead hands,” which I often follow with the question, “And where will that leave you...

"This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." -- Barack Obama So far, the message of the Obama campaign essentially seems to be, "I'm unable to effectively govern because Republicans won't do everything I want. Re-elect me so I can deliver more of the same. Oh, also Paul Ryan wants to push old people off a cliff while Mitt Romney will give you cancer." That doesn't tell you much about what Obama would try to do in his second term, but given that he appears to be largely indifferent to the law and the wishes of...

August 12, 2012SCRUBBED : PHOTO OF PRESIDENT OBAMA REMOVED JUST DAYS AFTER BOOK EXPOSES AGENDA TO ELIMINATE SUBURBS by Lee Stranahan A photo of President Obama was suddenly pulled from the website of the group Building One America, whose goals were documented extensively in Stanley Kurtz’s book Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities. The book, which was released ten days ago, reveals what Kurtz refers to as Obama’s plan to undercut the political and economic independence of America's suburbs. Kurtz connects current Obama administration policy with his personal history, and with groups...

Wisconsin -(Ammoland.com)-Wisconsin Carry has learned of some concerning information that we would like to pass along to our membership and right-to-carry interested folks in southeast Wisconsin. In a recently published Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article which you can read here It was reported that the former Badger Guns (now Brew City Shooters Supply) http://www.brewcityshooterssupply.com/ has, since 2009, been reporting the names of every customer that comes in to use their firing range to the West Milwaukee Police Department. In this time over 25,000 customer names were reported to West Milwaukee Police Chief Dennis Nasci who ran a background check on each...

But the Senate will never ratify, you say? Guess what, they don't need to... Speaking on Fox and Friends this morning, Dick Morris explained that when the US signs such an international treaty, the nation is bound until the Senate rejects it or the President renounces it. In just nine days from now, the terms of this treaty will be finalized. Morris went on to say that this heinous agreement -which would in-affect repeal the the Second Amendment and deny us all of the divine right to self-defense- will likely be signed by Obama... then Harry Reid will simply...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Hey, Cookie, give me that Obama sound bite from Friday night in Roanoke, Virginia. The one where he says, "You started a business, you didn't do that yourself, somebody else did that." It's the most profound thing I've heard in a long time from somebody at such high levels of power and leadership. And I've been gauging people's reaction to this. I'm stunned. This notion that we're just in the middle of commonplace politics, it's just the same as it's always been. The Democrats are in charge now. The Republicans will win an election here and there...

Second Amendment: The United Nations is putting the finishing touches on an Arms Trade Treaty that transcends borders and may even trample our Constitutional right to bear arms. Every indication is that the president will sign it. Like the New Start and Law of the Sea treaties before it, as well as the Kyoto Protocol and Agenda 21, the Arms Trade Treaty being finalized at the U.N. this month is one of those feel-good, can't-we-all-get-along pieces of parchment whose net effect is to accomplish little except to eat away at American sovereignty and freedom. Just as the world's worst human...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: April 16, 2009. This from CNN's website: "Reviving a ban on assault weapons and more strictly enforcing existing gun laws could help tamp down drug violence that has run rampant on the US-Mexican border, President Obama said Thursday. Speaking alongside Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Obama said he has 'not backed off at all' on a campaign pledge to try to restore the ban. It was instituted under President Clinton and allowed to lapse by President George W. Bush. 'I continue to believe that we can respect and honor the Second Amendment right in our Constitution -- the...

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder...

“Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation — I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.* “* Unless, you know, 224 years from now, whoever happens to president simply decides he really doesn’t want to do that.” — Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of Barack Obama’s U.S. Constitution The Founders set the course in a simple, concise, 35-word affirmation —...

Why do Liberals and Progressives want you Disarmed? Following the shooting of Treyvon Martin earlier this year, liberals and progressives renewed their calls for more restrictions on firearms and repeal of Florida’s stand your ground law. Some called for the out right ban of handguns. Once again their justification is so-called public safety because they claim the police are entrusted with duty of protecting you. As I wrote in “The Police are Under No Legal Obligation to Protect You”, this assertion is patently false because courts throughout these United States have consistently held that police have no legal duty to...

Ladd Everitt, the Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, is earning his pay once again. His latest screed, Why ‘Stand Your Ground’ is really ‘Kill at Will’, is a breathtaking example of the antis’ stock in trade: half-truths, untruths and flat out lies with a liberal sprinkling of logical fallacies. To wit: “What do you call a law that allows a person to shoot and kill another human being when they could otherwise walk away safely? I can only call it immoral.” When he starts the journey that way, you know it’s going to be a...

The normally-reserved Yves Smith asks whether Obama should be impeached over it. Democratic Senator Wyden – the head of the committee which is supposed to oversee it – is so furious about the lack of access that he has introduced legislation to force disclosure. Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is so upset by it that he has leaked a document on his website to show what’s going on. What is everyone so furious about? An international treaty being negotiated in secret which would not only crack down on Internet privacy much more than SOPA or ACTA, but would...

A document posted online early Wednesday morning reveals the Obama administration intends to give new political powers to multinational corporations, contradicting prior campaign promises. The leaked document was posted on the website of Public Citizen, a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy group that has been critical of the administration’s trade objectives. The most recent leak follows growing controversy surrounding the secrecy of the Trans-Pacific trade talks. Members of Congress, including key Democrats, have complained the secrecy of the trade discussions is insulting. In addition to growing outrage in Congress, public health experts, labour unions and internet freedom advocates have voiced concern...

Privacy: News the EPA is conducting surveillance on farmers goes against our grain. Freedom means freedom of movement and the presumption of innocence. How can we have it if every move is monitored by government? Nebraska's congressional delegation sent a justifiably angry letter to Administrator Lisa Jackson last week complaining that her Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its legislative and constitutional authority by conducting drone surveillance flights over Nebraska and Iowa farms looking for violations of the Clean Water Act. "They are just way on the outer limits of any authority they've been granted," said Nebraska GOP Sen. Mike Johanns,...

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) proposes that the U.S. Army be used to plan, command, and carry out (with the help of civilian law enforcement) domestic police missions. So says a story appearing in the May/June issue of the influential organization’s official journal, Foreign Affairs. The article lacks a single reference to the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits such actions. In an article penned by Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General Raymond T. Odierno, the CFR would see the Army used to address “challenges in the United States itself” in order to keep the homeland safe from

Now the Chicago police department is following Obama’s example and telling people that their First Amendment rights can be terminated anytime. Check out the incident caught on camera when a couple of news reporters were trying to cover a story outside a Chicago hospital. Following the threat, the officer arrested the two journalists. Even though they were released a short time later, the incident has not gone unnoticed. According to the National Press Photographers Association, there have been 70 such arrests that they have documented since last September. Many of the arrests have involved the filming of news stories when...

AURORA, Colo. – Police have a “person of interest” in custody in connection with the robbery of the Wells Fargo back at 15301 E. Hampden Avenue Saturday afternoon. Immediately following the robbery, police closed the intersection of Iliff and Buckley after reports the suspect might have taken hostages. According to our crew on the scene, police stopped and searched nearly two dozen cars. The adult occupants of the vehicles were handcuffed during the investigation.

Conservative bloggers say they are being terrorized by a potentially deadly prank in which phony 911 calls bring armed cops to their doors in search of criminals, all in retaliation for their blog posts. At least two conservative Internet pundits have reported being victims of "SWAT-ing." In at least one incident, the caller claimed to be the resident of the home and confessed to shooting his wife, according to a recording of the call posted online. "It's a phone call that could have gotten me killed," Patrick Frey, a deputy district attorney at Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, wrote...

A pro-Walker Marine vet got into a few confrontations at Democrat Tom Barrett’s rally today with Bill Clinton in Wisconsin. The Franklin Center has video. They couldn’t handle the truth. So, union cops were called in and dragged him out of the rally and arrested him. They didn’t like what he was saying. The Marine is predicting a 10 point win for Scott Walker. I second that.

Gun rights advocates recently discovered that the gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns has burrowed its "gun violence prevention coordinators" (read "anti-gun lobbyists") into city payrolls from Augusta, Maine to Seattle, Washington, at taxpayer expense. MAIG is the brainchild of New York City's zealous anti-gun billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who formed the group at a 2006 gun control summit held in Gracie Mansion and co-hosted by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. MAIG touts an agenda of "commonsense reforms" that gun rights advocates see as being somewhere on the far side of repealing the Second Amendment. With a membership that started...

MONTEREY, Tenn. -- "If somebody told me this happened to them, I absolutely would not believe this could happen in America." "You live in the United States, you think you have rights -- and apparently you don't," said George Reby.

On Thursday, MSNBC's Al Sharpton took the race card to a whole new level by falsely claiming Republicans are like Hitler, and are prepared to kill African-Americans en masse. "It seems like they [Republicans] act as though, some wiping out of people, some of the right-wing, is all right, it’s not all right to do to any innocent people. If you had war and people that’s one thing, but to wipe out innocent people just because of who they are like what was done in Hitler’s Germany or what was done to Native Americans is not justifiable," he said....

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) seems to have it out for our military. The department is using the city’s pointless firearm registration mandate to harass, arrest and jail servicemen. Army 1st Sergeant Matt Corrigan was woken in the middle of the night, forced out of his home, arrested, had his home ransacked, had his guns seized and was thrown in jail -- where he was lost in the prison system for two weeks -- all because the District refuses to recognize the meaning of the Second Amendment. This week, the city dropped all charges against Sgt. Corrigan, but the damage...