Free Republic

Mr. President, perhaps amidst the merriment surrounding the inaugural festivities you misremembered your oath. Sir, you solemnly swore “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.” But these few weeks hence, your State of the Union speech essentially disavowed America’s cherished founding charter. Many left-leaning pundits applaud your “bold” vision to radically redefine America. President Obama, you are understandably emboldened by re-election, but you were not made king. Regardless of whether you agree with constitutional precepts, you’re still legally bound; still compelled by the sacred oath you swore. Perhaps while lecturing college students on Constitutional Law you read it. What authorization...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) just announced that he’ll be placing a hold on the nomination of John Brennan for CIA director until he receives answers to his questions about the administration’s use of drones. “I have asked Mr. Brennan if he believed that the President has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and my question remains unanswered. I will not allow a vote on this nomination until Mr. Brennan openly responds to the questions and concerns my colleagues and I share,” Paul said. “These issues must be discussed...

The Keystone XL Pipeline has been viewed as a means to alleviate several problems: reducing America's dependency upon Middle East Oil, providing a source for America's refining of oil if America ever decides to face reality and challenge the environmentalist insistence against building domestic refineries, lowering the price of fuel at the pump (since increasing pump prices directly influences the price of all domestic products, everything moves by oil), providing employment for many Americans in the construction of the pipeline and at the port, and an assurance of a reliable source of crude (in case we decide to accept reality)....

Consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader panned President Obama's call to raise the minimum wage as "too little, too late." The president in his Tuesday State of the Union address pressed economic policies he said would aid the middle class, including a call to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $9. Nader, in an interview with The Hill on Wednesday, criticized Obama for failing to address the issue in his first term and said the president had already abandoned middle-class families. He noted that Obama, after his 2008 presidential victory, had called for raising...

The National Rifle Association (NRA) pushed back against President Obama’s calls for gun control in his State of the Union address, arguing the proposals would lead to “confiscation” of citizens’ firearms. A new Web video released Tuesday night from the nation’s largest gun lobby sought to rebuff the president’s impassioned call for lawmakers to vote on a package of measures including bans on the sale of assault weapons, high-capacity clips and instituting mandatory background checks. “President Obama gives a good speech and when you listen him talk about new gun laws, you may think he sounds reasonable,” says NRA executive...

Bob Barker, the retired game-show host, has no idea why he ended up on the National Rifle Association’s enemies list. I know exactly why the NRA cited me. I’ve spent years pushing for sensible gun-safety laws, including universal background checks, a ban on assault-type weapons and a waiting period before firearms purchases. I wasn’t surprised to learn that my name was among those on a surprisingly long and eclectic list of corporations, Hollywood celebrities, medical groups and even sports teams that the NRA has declared “anti-gun.” By contrast, the 89-year-old Barker keeps a handgun on his bedside table and has...

A recent article in the Washington Post exposes once again what climate change skeptics already know: the green movement is designed to lower living standards, not just make living more carbon efficient. “One of President Obama’s goals in his State of the Union address was to make American homes twice as energy-efficient by 2030,” writes Brad Plumer for the Washington Post today. “But would that actually curtail overall energy use and reduce U.S. carbon emissions? That’s a trickier question.” “A second way to look at this is that as Americans get richer, we’re inevitably going to want bigger homes and...

For Immediate Release 2/13/2013 There is substantial interest in creating a film adaptation of the Terry Lakin Story, "OFFICER'S OATH." This is a poignant, heroic story that must not be forgotten, or falsely relegated to the "conspiracy theory" chapter in the annals of our national history. Terry knowingly sacrificed his military career, endured a court-martial, and ultimately spent nearly half a year in Leavenworth Prison simply for standing up for the Constitution he pledged to uphold and defend. His story is detailed in the book "An Officer's Oath," which is recommended reading for anybody who reveres this country and the...

Despite increased efforts, manpower, and resources, the war on drugs has been a resounding failure. W.C. fields once quipped, “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.” Not only does the government continue to fail in its crusade against drugs, it continues to perpetrate a policy of immense immorality. It has been over forty years since President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs. What do we have to show for it? The United States has wasted over one trillion dollars, caused incarceration rates to exceed that of...

On September 11, 2012 four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens were murdered in Benghazi, Libya. Five months have passed since that fateful day and we still do not have an accounting for Obama's whereabouts during the seven hour firefight in Benghazi. What we do know however, is that Obama failed in his duty to come to the aid of incredibly brave Americans in distress. We know now that not only did Obama not call an in-person emergency meeting in the Situation Room (hence no 'Situation Room photo' during Benghazi) or ANY room, his re-election was more important to him than...

As mentioned in previous blog entries, several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, mentioned that the President, in his State of the Union address, would be addressing climate change. Indeed, in his speech the President called upon Congress to act and create a McCain-Liebermanesque solution while promoting his own executive actions. “I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago,” said President Barack Obama. “I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions...

On Thursday, February 14th, President Obama will join the latest in a series of "Fireside Hangouts" – a 21st century take on FDR’s famous radio addresses – to talk about his State of the Union Address. During the +Google+ hangout, the President will answer questions from Americans across the country about the issues and policies laid out in the speech. How you can join: Right now, you can submit a question for the President and vote on your favorites on the White House +YouTube Channel: http://at.wh.gov/hC22N

If you missed President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, you didn’t miss much – especially if you watched any of his past four State of the Union addresses. We heard the same recycled rhetoric, and we heard his Orwellian declaration that the cornucopia of new federal programs he proposed, as well as his intention to eradicate world poverty, wouldn’t “increase our deficit by a single dime.” Of course, he glossed over the inconvenient facts. He boasted about job creation, but didn’t mention that real unemployment is higher today than when he took office. He touted all...

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul reacted to President Obama's SOTU address with John Stossel on Fox Business Network. Paul said in the speech, "certainly we didn't get any answers tonight" to the key issues facing the nation. "Everything on the surface looks like it's welfare-ism and warfare-ism. But I think underneath there's a smoldering desire that is growing by leaps and bounds that saying that a lot of people in this country have had enough of it..."

(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night that he will end the war in Afghanistan by the end of next year, and that after that he will keep tens of thousands of American troops in Afghanistan to fight a war in Afghanistan. “And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over,” said Obama. For the period after 2014, he said, “We are negotiating an agreement with the Afghan government that focuses on two missions: training and equipping Afghan forces so that the country does not again...

Jose Antonio Vargas, an illegal immigrant and former reporter, scolded a congressional panel on Wednesday, saying that he should not be called illegal, and saying it is an insult to his family who brought him here. “When you inaccurately call me illegal, you not only dehumanize me, you’re offending them,” he said. “No human being is illegal.” Mr. Vargas testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Chris Crane — a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and president of the ICE agents’ union — who is unable to arrest him under the administration’s new non-deportation policies. Mr. Vargas, who “came...

Desiline Victor was one of the props used by Barack Obama in his State of the Union Address. She has been widely celebrated in the press largely because she waited three hours to vote for Obama. Daily Mail A 102-year-old woman has been chosen to sit next to Michelle Obama at the annual State of the Union address in Washington. Desaline Victor, a naturalized U.S citizen from Miami, Florida, waited for more than three hours to cast her ballot for the President on November 6. Ms Victor will sit in the First Lady’s box with military families, people who are...

The National Rifle Association will assert that President Barack Obama’s attempt to enact new gun control laws will result in the “confiscation” of people’s firearms in a new web video scheduled to run in five states and the District of Columbia. The video will go online around the time Obama begins delivering his State of the Union address, in which he is expected to mention his effort to reduce gun violence through legislative means. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CNN that the organization based its warning on what he said is a Justice Department document, “Summary of Select Firearm Violence...

Liberals have a difficult time staying on point in an argument. Never was this so obvious in the aftermath of Marco Rubio (R, FL) and his response to President Obama's State of the Union speech. Mr. Rubio made a point-by-point analysis of why President Obama has failed the American people, which offering a myriad of practical, conservative solutions to the problems that face the United States. In response, the Left has responded in unison: "What an Idiot, He Drank Water!" That's right, for a moment during Mr. Rubio's response, he paused to drink from a bottle of water. ...Within hours...

I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't recall any previous State of the Union speech where justices refused to attend based on disagreements with the president. From Politico: "The conservative wing of the U.S. Supreme Court was absent from President Obama's Tuesday State of the Union address. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia declined to join their six other colleagues at the prime time address to Congress. During Obama's 2010 address, Alito was seen whispering the words "not true" during Obama's speech. Obama used his address to blast the court for their 2010 Citizens United case which...