Free Republic

Voter apathy being what it is in America, voter registration drives are often lauded for their altruistic goal of engaging more people in the democratic process. Among such efforts are those of Rock the Vote, which aims to get more young people involved in voting and politics. Promoted heavily on the rock music video cable channel MTV, Rock the Vote's very first introductory line is simple and straight forward: "Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, founded in 1990." Given this up front pronouncement of being non-partisan, people who know absolutely anything at all about the American political landscape...

The uncertain times after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have given rise to all sorts of rumors. E-mails have circulated about malls that will be attacked on Halloween, about Osama bin Laden being spotted in Utah and Oliver North having warned about bin Laden at the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987. None of these turned out to be true and quickly were debunked on Internet sites devoted to "urban legends." The most prominent of these is Snopes.com, a Website started in 1995 as a hobby by David and Barbara Mikkelson, respectively a Web programmer and housewife in the Los Angeles area....

The head of a Washington, DC based media watchdog group is asking that advertisers demand to preview a planned CBS mini series on former President Ronald Reagan before sponsoring the program. Media Reasearch Center President L. Brent Bozell Tuesday sent a letter to each of the nations top 100 advertisers urging them to preview the movie before making a sponsorship decision because it is what Bozell called 'a partisan attack against one of Americas most beloved Presidents.'A review of the script by New York Times writer Jim Reutenberg noted the two part mini series, scheduled for later this month, makes...

A growing number of conservatives are at odds with Disney and the homosexual movement over 'Gay Days,' a June event in which homosexuals converge on various Disney properties and associated establishments in Orlando, Florida and environs. While this event is not formally sanctioned by Disney - it's grown from a local grass-roots homosexual movement into an event of global notoriety - one must presume that 'Gay Days' is in Disney's best interest. Forget for a moment from whose pocket the money comes during this observance; it's all green and it all adds to the corporate bottom line and those of...

Home ownership embodies the American Dream. It is something to which most of us aspire. By and large, we do pretty well as a nation in fulfilling this dream. U.S. Census Bureau data show the home ownership rate in America stood at 67.9% in 2002, a figure that's been steadily trending higher since 1982. One wouldn't guess this by reading the headline of the May 5 announcement from the National Housing Conference, which stated, "New National Data Reveals Annual Salaries for Five Vital Community Occupations Fall Short of the $50,000 Necessary to Own a Home." In even more dire language,...

By Scott Hogenson CNSNews.com Executive Editor June 19, 2002 Nickelodeon's June 18 special on homosexual parenting was not a sensitive presentation on a delicate issue; it was a slick piece of cultural propaganda designed to intimidate kids. In airing the program, the nation's preeminent cable TV channel for children has traded on its brand to provide a new avenue for advocacy of homosexuality. Aired without commercial interruption after rumors that advertisers didn't want to touch this 30-minute teenage gabfest with a 10-foot pole, the show went to considerable lengths to promote homosexuality and portray even measured, rational disagreement with...

Debates have been a staple of the democratic process for millennia. From the acrimonious debates of the Roman Senate to the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 to today, people rely on debates to learn about candidates and their position on the issues. But there’s something weird in the air this year. There is always a political calculus applied to debates; incumbents tend to seek fewer debates while challengers routinely demand more. Whether a candidate is enthusiastic when it comes to debates depends on a lot of factors. A shy inarticulate candidate might be less inclined to debate than one who is...

The American Left, as a political force, relies on deception. At the macro level, the Left lies about pretty much everything. They do this because they are acutely aware that if they told the truth about their policies, very few people would support them. But there are also smaller fibs. Call them micro-deceptions, ones that betray select issues at the edge of the Left’s radar that are irritating them at the moment. I received one such micro-deception the other day from Amazon. After purchasing a book from Amazon a few days earlier, (I heartily recommend the Autobiography of Josiah Henson)...