Free Republic

Has anybody seen Donald J Trump's tweet today about his planned meeting with the NRA? Donald J Trump @realDonaldTrump I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns. 8:50 AM - 15 Jun 2016

Republicans, I’m told, were elected to Congress by the people, and yet they’ve done absolutely nothing. This indictment has now mutated into “Republicans gave President Obama everything he wanted,” i.e., the GOP and Obama were basically colluding against the American voter this whole time. Republicans have been dreadful on plenty of fronts — the quality of their advocacy, the spine they show making arguments and the lack of innovation and malleability in the focus of their policies, to name a very few — but resistance to Obama’s legislative agenda was definitely not one of them. If Republicans had capitulated in...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz often tells supporters about his Supreme Court win against the federal government in 2008, defending Texas' right to execute a Mexican man for murder, as evidence of his conservative and anti-establishment credentials. But there is one part of the story that goes untold. The Medellin v. Texas case, decided when Cruz was the state's solicitor general, set the stage for years of diplomatic tension between the United States and its southern neighbor.

If there is one thing that is bipartisan in Washington, it is brazen hypocrisy. Currently there is much indignation being expressed by Democrats because the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings on President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The Democrats complain, and the media echo their complaint, that it is the Senate’s duty to provide “advice and consent” on the President’s appointment of various federal officials. Therefore, according to this claim, the Senate is neglecting its Constitutional duty by refusing even to hold hearings to determine...

(CNN) -- To hear Jackie Barden and David Wheeler describe their lives today is a master class in hope. On December 14, 2012, Barden's youngest son, 7-year-old Daniel, and Wheeler's son, 6-year-old Ben, were among those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. "(My husband) Mark and I still have a great life, and we really have to remember that," Barden said, adding that their two children bring the family an enormous amount of love and strength. "We are fortunate with what we have with the two of them." .... "Our families deserve that day in court," said...

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has picked a name for its military effort against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria: Operation Inherent Resolve. .... Despite the initial reaction at the Pentagon, military officials said that Central Command pressed to adopt Operation Inherent Resolve as the moniker. Additionally, some officials thought that a mundane name also would be a safe choice, unlikely to offend any member of the international coalition the U.S. has assembled to strike extremist targets.

Scroll down to bottom right of the CNN page to answer the poll question: Should children be allowed to learn to shoot guns under adult supervision?

Just a few short weeks ago, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said America needs to consider the impact violent video games and movies can have on our children. He specifically noted “vicious, violent video games, with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse.” And LaPierre is correct in many ways. The NRA came out during a time in which guns were being given a crazy amount of attention and brought light to a few of the issues that were not being given an appropriate amount of attention, such as mental health issues and entertainment violence. However, it does...

As some radio stations have already begun playing Christmas Songs, it is time once again to compile our annual list of the absolute worst musical offerings of the season. The first three songs on my list are pretty much indisputibly the worst songs ever written as musical celebrations of the season. The fourth I've only heard recently but immediately recognized that it certainly belongs in any top ten list of worst Christmas songs. The rest of the list should be wide open, so please post your contributions. Here is my top four songs on the list, with the top three...

Dallas police say a woman shot two people who kicked in the door to her house and one of the intruders died. It happened at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 7200 block of Concordia Drive. Dallas police said the woman was home alone when she heard a noise -- two men had kicked in the front door of her house. She confronted the two men as they reached the second floor landing and shot them several times, according to police. The intruders ran out the front door and police said one of the men collapsed from a gunshot wound,...

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, speaking at an event hosted by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Legal Action Project, said Monday said that having “some kind of constitutional right to a cell phone with a predialed 911 at your bedside might be better protection than a gun.” “I’m not sure I actually have captured the entire question, but it does occur to me that one thing that I thought about from time to time is that maybe you have some kind of constitutional right to have a cell phone with a predialed 911 number at your...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". pyrotechnics [pye-ruh-TEK-niks] noun, plural 1. the art of making or the manufacture and use of fireworks 2. a display of fireworks . 3. a spectacular display (as of extreme virtuosity) Did you know? The use of military fireworks in elaborate celebrations of war and peace is an ancient Chinese custom, but our term for the making and launching of fireworks is a product of the 17th and 18th centuries. "Pyrotechnics" and the earlier...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". fascicle \FASS-ih-kul\ - noun 1. a small or slender bundle (as of pine needles or nerve fibers) 2. one of the divisions of a book published in parts Example sentence: "It was a word that was due to be included in the dictionary's second fascicle, or part, being readied to be printed and published in the later summer of 1885." --- From the 1998 book The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". trammel \TRAM-ul\ - noun 1. a net for catching birds or fish 2. something impeding activity, progress, or freedom; restraint -- usually used in plural Also: verb - "to confine" or "to enmesh" Also: adjective (trammeled) - "confined or limited" Example sentence: "I cast the miserable trammels of worldly discretion to the winds, and spoke with the fervour that filled me…." -- From Wilkie Collins' 1868 novel The Moonstone Extra Example sentence: "Those...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". mountebank \MOUN-tih-bank\ - noun 1. a person who sells quack medicines from a platform 2. a boastful unscrupulous pretender; charlatan Example sentence: In his newspaper column, Gavin criticized the talk-radio host as "a mountebank whose 'expert' opinions and advice are complete hooey." Extra Example sentence: "Bring your five-minute tales related to all things fraudulent and pseudo. Flimflammers, mountebanks, poseurs and snake oil salesmen especially welcome." -- From a literary events listing by Gina...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". fey \FAY\ - adjective 1. marked by a foreboding of death or calamity 2a. marked by an otherworldly air or attitude 2b. crazy 3a. excessively refined; precious 3b. quaintly unconventional; campy Example sentence: Grandfather always said grandmother was "fey," and he often joked that he believed she was raised by woodland fairies. Extra Example sentence: "The Danny Elfman score is augmented, somehow appropriately for a twee story, by songs from the ultra-fey Sufjan...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". languid \LANG-gwid\ - adjective 1. drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion; weak 2. sluggish in character or disposition; listless 3: lacking force or quickness of movement; slow Example sentence: The trial proceeded at a languid pace as each attorney called up a whole roster of witnesses to testify. Extra Example sentence: "From Gadhafi to Irene, the month that ended yesterday was hardly languid: London erupted, Steve Jobs resigned and the...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". moiety \MOY-uh-tee\ - noun 1a. one of two equal parts; half 2b. one of two approximately equal parts 2. one of the portions into which something is divided; component, part 3: one of two basic complementary tribal subdivisions Example sentence: "According to the FDA, a new molecular entity or new chemical entity is a drug that contains no active moiety that has been approved by the FDA for any other application submitted under...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". prepradial \pree-PRAN-dee-ul\ - adjective of, relating to, or suitable for the time just before dinner Example sentence: Although dinner was served late, the preprandial conversation was so diverting that no one minded. Extra Example sentence: "Churchill celebrated Christmas with the Roosevelts, took part in FDR's preprandial cocktail hours, shared most meals with the president, and, to Eleanor Roosevelt's great dismay, kept her husband up until the early hours each morning, drinking brandy, puffing...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". haruspex \huh-RUSS-peks\ - noun a diviner in ancient Rome basing his predictions on inspection of the entrails of sacrificial animals Example sentence: The haruspex declared that the outcome of the battle would be favorable. Extra Example sentence: "The coroner-cum-haruspex will divine the mystery of her death, read the entrails of the bird that flew too far and too fastÂ…." -- From an article by Violet LeVoit in the Baltimore City Paper, August 17,...