Free Republic

At one time, Limbaugh did his program from a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper he dubbed, with tongue-in-cheek grandiosity, the Excellence in Broadcasting Building. These days, he mostly broadcasts out of a studio in Palm Beach, Fla., which he calls the Southern Command, and describes on the air as a “heavily fortified bunker.” In fact, Limbaugh’s show emanates from a nondescript office building on a boulevard lined with tall palms. There isn’t even a security guard in the lobby. The elevator opens directly onto a pristine anteroom furnished in corporate glass and leather. An American flag stands in the corner. Only...

; Page A11 President Calvin Coolidge speaking on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, Pa.: Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments. This is both historically and logically true. Of course the government can help to sustain ideals and can create institutions through which they can be the better observed, but their source by their very nature is in the people. The people have to bear their own responsibilities. There is no method by which that burden can be shifted to the government. It is not the enactment, but the observance of...

Sen. John McCain is making surprising headway with religious conservatives - that part of the Republican electoral coalition he was expected to find the most resistant. For a campaign that Republican critics have called ill-managed, disorganized and message-challenged, the Arizona senator's organization has, from all outward appearances, been doing things right in its appeals to evangelicals and other religious conservatives. In the past week, Mr. McCain won over a major group of social conservatives, thanks to personal appeals, and the campaign has made personnel moves appealing to religious voters. In Denver last week, a meeting of nearly 100 religious conservative...

Senior Church of England bishops have held secret talks with Vatican officials to discuss the crisis in the Anglican communion over gays and women bishops. They met senior advisers of the Pope in an attempt to build closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church, The Telegraph learnt. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was not told of the talks and the disclosure will be a fresh blow to his efforts to prevent a major split in the Church of England. In highly confidential discussions, a group of conservative bishops expressed their dismay at the liberal direction of the Church...

Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection By ETHAN BRONNER JERUSALEM — A three-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days. If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus...“This is the sign of the son of Joseph. This is the conscious view of Jesus himself. This...

John Wayne explains the damaging use of the hyphen in our American name.

http://www.realamericanstories.com/ People describe what it means for them to be an American.

[Click through to article to view interview with author James Piereson.] The central thesis of James Piereson's Camelot and the Cultural Revolution was that JFK's assassination was the key moment that caused a large portion of once sensible liberals to begin to tilt to the far, far left, and for lack of better word, become Unhinged. Like this calm, rational fan of the New Frontier! In the (admittedly totally tasteless) formulation of a friend of mine, the best thing that ever happened to civil rights in this country was the bullet through JFK's head. Along the way, as I wrote...

Almost exactly five years after he was elected as the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson remains the most controversial Christian in the world. His consecration as the first openly gay, partnered Anglican bishop launched a global conversation about sexuality in Christianity and divided the Anglican Communion, the largest Protestant body in the world with 77 million members. Yet what he is doing now may be more radical: Robinson is traveling the country and the world to talk more openly and more publicly than ever about his faith. "The principal identity that I have is as a follower of...

You'll notice Barack Obama is now wearing a flag pin. Again. During the primary campaign, he rarely did, explaining that he'd worn one after 9/11 but then stopped because it "became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism." So why is he back to sporting pseudo-patriotism on his chest? Need you ask? The primaries are over. While seducing the hard-core MoveOn Democrats who delivered him the caucuses -- hence, the Democratic nomination -- Mr. Obama not only disdained the pin. He disparaged it. Now that he's running in a general election against John McCain, and in dire need of the...

As if times were not grim enough for our sleepless Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has now revealed the works of art which he hangs on the walls of his office and flat at 10 Downing Street. 'Blood' by Howard Hodgkin There is little cheer among some of the 200 or so paintings which include a hand-coloured lithograph by Howard Hodgkin, entitled "Blood" and depiction of dark Scottish hills - "A Scottish landscape" - by Norman Ackroyd. 'A Scottish Landscape' by Norman Ackroyd Westminister sources suggested the Hodgkin painting could provide inspiration if Mr Brown decides to sack his neighbour Alistair...

Government and police spokesmen would have us believe that the carnage in Jerusalem on Wednesday was unavoidable. Husam Taysir Dwayat, the convicted rapist, burglar and drug dealer turned jihadist who mowed down innocent people with his bulldozer on Jaffa Road was not suspected of links to terrorist organizations. The sociopathic, violent criminal who had "returned" to Islam over the past month raised no red flags. There was nothing to be done. No one is to blame. If the protestations of the government and the police that nothing could have prevented Dwayat from using his bulldozer to murder three people sound...

Of Seditions and Troubles SHEPHERDS of people had need know the calendars 1 of tempests in state; which are commonly greatest when things grow to equality; as natural tempests are greatest about the Equinoctia. And as there are certain hollow blasts of wind and secret swellings of seas before a tempest, so are there in states: —— Ille etiam cæcos instare tumultus Sæpe monet, fraudesque et operta tumescere bella. [Of troubles imminent and treasons dark Thence warning comes, and wars in secret gathering. Virgil] Libels and licentious discourses against the state, when they are frequent and open; and in like...

The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver on Tuesday announced a $5.5 million settlement of 18 cases of sexual abuse by three priests against young parishioners between 1954 and 1981. Of the cases, 17 involved deceased priests Harold Robert White and Leonard Abercrombie. One claim was against Monsignor Lawrence St. Peter, also deceased. Archbishop Charles Chaput said the victims' ordeal has been terrible and "hugely mortifying" to the church. "We cannot undo the sins and failures of the past or the suffering they have caused," Chaput said at a news conference. "I would like to express the sadness of all of us...

Montgomery County police have charged another Roman Catholic priest with child abuse. The Rev. Aaron Joseph Cote, 56, turned himself in at the First District station in Rockville, police said. According to police spokeswoman Lucille Baur, police notified Cote that they were obtaining a warrant for his arrest, prompting Cote to return to Maryland from his current home in New York and turn himself in. According to police, during the summer of 2001, Cote worked as a part-time Youth Minister at Mother of Seton Parish in Germantown. Cote was counseling the 14-year-old victim, Brandon Rains of Frederick, now 21. Cote...

Although the Fourth of July is a great day to be alive for most Americans, it causes the bile to boil in moonbats' veins, so that it seeps out through their pores in the most hideous displays. The appalling Chris Satullo is hardly the only example. Below are some lowlights from a seasonal piece at The Progressive: "It's July 4th again, a day of near-compulsory flag-waving and nation-worshipping. Count me out. Spare me the puerile parades. Don't play that martial music, white boy. And don't befoul nature's sky with your F-16s. […]" "For when you stop to think about it,...

Shattering earthquakes, massive tidal waves and simultaneous volcanic eruptions will follow. Nuclear reactors will melt, buildings will crumble, and a cloud of volcanic dust will block out the sun for 40 years. Only the prepared will survive, Geryl said, and not even all of them. These may sound like the ravings of a madman, or perhaps the head of a small apocalyptic sect. But Geryl is not the only one who believes in the apocalypse. Thousands of people worldwide seem to be preparing, in one way or another, for the end of days in 2012. Survival groups exist in Europe,...

Sen. Barack Obama spoke on the subject of patriotism this past week in an effort to undo some of the damage he has already inflicted on his own image -- through his associations, his statements and policy positions -- and to obscure his liberalism. Liberals rightly feel defensive about their patriotism because they always seem to find themselves blaming the United States for this or that, exhorting us to be more like the "enlightened" nations of Europe or forever shouting that we are a "laughing stock" in the eyes of other nations. It was not a conservative who wrote in...

CNN) -- How would the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin feel about the way the United States has turned out 232 years after declaring its independence? Most Americans say they're proud to be citizens, but most also think the Founding Fathers wouldn't be pleased. Not pleased, a majority of Americans recently polled said. According to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, 69 percent of adult Americans who responded to a poll June 26-29 said the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be disappointed by the way the nation has turned out overall. Twenty-nine percent responded "pleased," the...

Two weeks ago I took a Walk in the Park. It was touching, sad, funny, and educational and the best possible use of two hours of time. The park was a cemetery. It was populated by dead people who talked. This was the ninth year of the Walk in the Park, sponsored by the Highlands Historical Society. Each year the Society chooses seven or so residents of the cemetery, researches their stories, casts the actors and actresses, and invites the public to visit. It is an impressive experience to walk into a cemetery and see men and women, and sometimes...

A detailed account of the character assassination leveled by the Associated Press against an Ohio teacher.

Suicides kill more people than homicide and war, namely 1.8% of worldwide deaths! Global suicide rates have increased 60% over the past 45 years and suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth and young adults, aged 10-24. It's also is one of the leading causes of death for adults between the ages of 25-44, with men ranking 75 to 80 %. Socio-psychological studies rate single men as the least emotionally stable, followed by married men, and single women; married women are the most emotionally stable. The current world suicide rate is approximately 1 million per year, or...

Anything in these remarks that does not stray from the truth is indebted to the American Founders, who bequeathed these ideas to us, to Abraham Lincoln, who preserved and ennobled them in the country's greatest crisis, to Harry V. Jaffa, who has done more than anyone since Lincoln to recover them, and to the late Tom Silver, the wisest and best of those who founded the Claremont Institute for the sake of these ideas. American children are not born understanding the principles of their country, and most American college students—if reports can be believed—are still largely unfamiliar with them...

WASHINGTON -- Just in time for Independence Day, a conservative think tank has delivered a controversial report questioning whether America's national identity is eroding under the pressure of population diversity and educational slackness. The threat outlined by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in its report, "E Pluribus Unum" strikes me as a bit exaggerated. But at a time when Barack Obama and John McCain find themselves debating the "patriotism issue," having a coherent discussion of this matter -- and this short pamphlet is admirably written and well-researched -- is a useful contribution. The takeoff point for the argument is...

Ending his stirring Gettysburg Address, one of our greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, spoke words of hope to a war ravaged Nation. These words echo today as we celebrate Independence Day: “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” America needs a new birth of freedom. ...Two voices tower above all the others in proclaiming the real meaning of human freedom, the late Pope John Paul II and his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. These two servants of God are...

What else is there to do on Thursdays besides FReep and listen to TSN?! C'mon, eat, drink, breathe SAVAGE? Especially on 4th of July eve?!?!Savage’s websiteLOTS of links to listen to the Savage radio show here!!!

President George Washington wrote a prayer addressed to “O most glorious God, in Jesus Christ” and ended it with this: “Let me live according to those holy rules which thou hast this day prescribed in Thy Holy Word. Direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Bless O Lord all the people of this land.” President Thomas Jefferson: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis — a conviction in the minds of the people...

SPECIAL TV BONUS! 13 Quotes ABOUT John McCainJohn McCain doesn't even to pretend to like conservatives--unless there's an election going on. This all may be confusing to some readers: is he or isn't he? So here are 36 John McCain Quotes, plus 13 bonus quotes about McCain--to enable the reader to make up his own mind. - - - "The first thing that I would do is call in John Kerry, Bob Kerrey, Joe Biden, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger, Dick Lugar, Chuck Hagel, and several others and say, ‘We’ve got to get foreign policy, national security issues back on...

Cheuvront granted a motion by defense attorneys barring the use of the words rape, sexual assault, victim, assailant, and sexual assault kit from the trial of Pamir Safi—accused of raping Tory Bowen in October 2004.

Douglas Kmiec is the kind of Catholic voter the GOP usually doesn't have to think twice about. The Pepperdine law professor and former Reagan Justice Department lawyer (Samuel Alito was an office mate) attends Mass each morning. He has actively opposed abortion for most of his adult life, working with crisis pregnancy centers to persuade women not to undergo the procedure. He is a member of the conservative Federalist Society and occasionally sends a contribution to Focus on the Family. He is also a vocal supporter of Barack Obama. Kmiec made waves in the Catholic world in late March when...

It doesn't take much to make Markos Moulitsas, King of the Kos Kidz, go ballistic. The latest flips and flops by preseumptive Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama are having that effect. But Kos has been known to hurl his favorite invective ("F*** you") over much less. Here's what the Obamessiah is doing to tie the leftist blogger's undies in such a knot: First, he reversed course and capitulated on FISA, not just turning back on the Constitution, but on the whole concept of "leadership". -snip- Then, he took his not-so-veiled swipe at MoveOn in his "patriotism" speech. Finally, he reinforced...

A good sign for the McCain camp from an absolutely essential constituency. It's not so much that these leaders can move thousands of votes, but to have them off the reservation and teeing up unhelpful quotes for the next four months would have been a huge problem for the GOP. Reports Michael Scherer: At a meeting Tuesday in Denver, about 100 conservative Christian leaders from around the country agreed to unite behind the candidacy of John McCain, a politician they have long distrusted, marking the latest in a string of movement that bodes well for McCain's general election prospects among...

America’s cities and towns will soon fill with parades, fireworks, and barbecues in celebration of the Fourth of July, the 232nd birthday of America. But one hopes that the speeches will contain fewer bromides and more attention to exactly what is being celebrated. The Fourth of July is Independence Day, but America’s leaders and intellectuals have been trying to move us further and further away from the meaning of Independence Day, away from the philosophy that created this country. What we hear is that independence is outdated, that we’ve reached a new age of “interdependence.” Our presidential candidates call for...

The basic duty of every state is to guarantee its security and protect its citizens, and the loyalty of citizens to their state constitutes an essential pillar in maintaining a mechanism that would safeguard our home. Therefore, no country in the world allows its citizens to travel to enemy states without a permit; moreover, no country allows those who act in a way that raises reasonable suspicion of undermining national security to be elected to Parliament. Israel, a state that is still fighting for its existence and liberty and which has a unique and complex character because of hostility abroad...

A Vietnam vet friend of mine argues that maintaining a democracy requires three things: a passion for freedom, tolerance for diversity and intolerance for threats. A letter from a reader, responding to a column on Iraq's struggling democracy, suggested I write about the United States' own tortuous path -- sketching a nation that began with limited voting rights and confronted powerful factions, ethnic animosities, urban riot, rural rebellion and destructive civil war. The reader thought America's saga might help the public "understand that this democracy thing is hard." Hard indeed. Mull my friend's threefold guidance, and you'll find tricky paradox...

MCCAIN: PUMP THIS!by Ann CoulterJuly 2, 2008 Well, I guess we're all pretty relieved we didn't drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge back in 2002. What a disaster that would have been. The vote on ANWR was almost entirely along partisan lines, with all Republicans, except a handful of "moderates," voting for drilling, and all Democrats, except a handful of sane Democrats like Zell Miller, voting against drilling. John McCain opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because he polled soccer moms and found out they were against drilling. They thought it sounded too much like going to...

Pull back for a moment from the day-to-day and see the pattern. Talk radio. Oil. Guns. Global warming. Smoking. On the surface this is a seemingly unconnected laundry list of issues, their connection one to another tangential at best. Or is it? In the increasingly disturbing view we are all getting of the messianic world that is Obamaland, these subjects in fact have a chilling commonality. * Talk Radio: Think back for a moment to that threatening letter sent earlier this year to Rush Limbaugh's business partners at Clear Channel Communications by Senator Harry Reid, the Democrats' Senate leader. It...

I was sitting at lunch with a colleague a few weeks back, and he mentioned that he did not understand the general media hubbub over Michelle Obama's unpatriotic statements. "So she said that she hadn't been proud of America in her adult life," he said. "So what?" I answered that many Americans, rightly, were offended at the idea that a prospective First Lady of the United States was not proud of her country. "If you don't believe this is the best country on earth, don't live here," I said. "That's 'love it or leave it,'" he answered. "I don't have...

Pacifism: The last refuge of hypocrites Exclusive: Burt Prelutsky spotlights left's situational opposition to armed conflict Posted: July 02, 2008 1:00 am Eastern By Burt Prelutsky It amazes me that Barack Obama continues to score points for having opposed the war in Iraq. But, considering how much the left-wing media adore this guy – and let us never forget that Obama has managed to send shivers up Chris Matthews' leg – I suppose nothing should surprise me. I mean, Sen. Obama is a man who's been around for nearly 47 years and apparently every single person who is near and...

Homosexual-rights advocates have asked California's Supreme Court to block citizens from voting this fall on a measure voters originally brought to the ballot: Proposition 8, the California Marriage Protection Act. Proposition 8, so labeled when Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified it earlier this month for placement on the November 4 ballot, is a constitutional amendment that states, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The amendment was created by voter initiative with the signatures of 1.1 million voters, more than the required 694,354 needed to place an issue on the ballot. Lawyers...

The Anglican church is in "chaos" with the "moral authority" of the Archbishop of Canterbury lying in tatters amid growing splits over homosexuality and women bishops, rebel leaders claim. In a direct challenge to the leadership of Dr Rowan Williams, three leading Archbishops said they had decided to "take things in hand". Leaders of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), a newly formed network for millions of Anglicans angered by the rise of liberal theology, denied that they planned to "seize power" within the church. But Most Rev Henry Orombi, the Archbishop of Uganda, Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia,...

Washington DC, Jul 1, 2008 / 02:18 am (CNA).- A new advertisement from the Family Research Council’s lobbying arm, FRC Action, cites Sen. Barack Obama’s endorsement of fathers who “recognize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception” to press the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to defend his stand on abortion.The 30-second television ad begins with a clip of Obama’s Father’s Day speech at a Chicago church in which the Illinois senator discussed the problem of absent black fathers. “We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't just end at conception,” he says in the clip.The ad then shows commentary...

Bishop Thomas Wenski Orlando, Jul 1, 2008 / 06:27 am (CNA).- In a Sunday newspaper commentary Thomas Wenski, the Bishop of Orlando, Florida decried the California Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a ban on same sex marriage, saying the act of “raw judicial activism” reminds us that “society’s culture wars are far from over.”Writing in the Ocala Star Banner, Bishop Wenski said advocates of homosexual marriage erroneously label their opponents as intolerant bigots. “To defend marriage as a monogamous union between one man and one woman is not bigotry,” Bishop Wenski wrote. “Nor are the efforts of those who...

News Release OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS 703-413-1100 x5117 and 310-451-6913media@rand.org FOR RELEASE Tuesday June 10, 2008 Virginity Pledges May Help Postpone Intercourse Among Youth Making a virginity pledge may help some young people postpone the start of sexual activity, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Researchers found that adolescents who made pledges to remain virgins until they are married were less likely to be sexually active over the three-year study period than other youth who were similar to them, but who did not make a virginity pledge, according to the study published online by the Journal of Adolescent...

CNN) -- Democrats have usually conceded the evangelical vote during presidential elections, but Sen. Barack Obama is trying to change that by mobilizing what some call the "Christian left." As part of his outreach to evangelical voters, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday will tour the Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio, and give an address on how he plans to build what he calls a "real" partnership between faith-based organizations and the White House if he becomes president. Obama's outreach to evangelical voters has also included private summits with pastors, an effort to reach out to young evangelicals and...

If all goes according to plan, a massive underground facility in Switzerland will begin smashing particles together later this summer in an effort to provide a clearer understanding of the physical universe than has ever before been possible. Known as the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, the project is composed of a 17-mile circular tunnel beneath Geneva, containing thousands of magnets meant to send beams of subatomic particles hurtling toward each other. The resulting collisions are expected to release matter similar to that present at the "Big Bang" that created the universe.

"Those who later formed the Weatherman organization produced a paper at the Students for a Democratic Society Convention in Chicago in June of 1969. With a nod to Bob Dylan, the sponsors titled their epistle: 'You Don’t Need A Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Is Blowing.'"http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26243 "Dubbing itself the Weathermen, this new organization took its name from a line in Bob Dylan’s 'Subterranean Homesick Blues'—'you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows'—and within months had set off bombs at the National Guard headquarters and set in motion plans to bomb targets across the country"http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/weatherunderground/film.html...

Friday morning, July 4, our nation marks for the 232nd time the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which we have always regarded as the event that makes us what we are. Also we have regarded it as the event that marks us a special nation, a nation holding out a light to guide the rest of the world. Always, that is, until lately. Today critics celebrate that the world is passing us by. Fareed Zachariah declares: “America remains the global superpower today, but it is an enfeebled one.” China and India will soon tower above us. Amy Chua writes...

European Union lawmakers agreed to cap airline emissions blamed for climate change as of 2012, EU officials said, ending an internal deadlock over draft legislation that the U.S. opposes and may cost the industry billions of dollars. The accord by European Parliament and government negotiators adds EU and foreign airlines in January 2012 to Europe's emissions-trading system, which imposes carbon-dioxide quotas on businesses and requires those exceeding their limits to buy permits from companies that emit less. The plan covers flights to and from the 27-nation EU's airports, said three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because national governments...

A heated debate is raging in Sweden after an eight-year-old boy's failure to invite two classmates to his birthday party resulted in a complaint filed with parliament. Nearly 200 outraged comments have been posted on the website of the local southern Swedish daily Sydsvenskan, just days after the paper reported on the unlikely string of events that followed a young boy's decision to invite all of his classmates to his birthday party except two. The policy at the boy's school in the southern town of Lund was that all children (or all the boys or all the girls) had to...