Free Republic

ORANGE CITY, Iowa - Republican Fred Thompson tried to rev up support for his presidential campaign Tuesday by comparing his Democratic rivals to race car drivers who only know how to turn left. ADVERTISEMENT click here "It's like they're all in training for the NASCAR, you know, nothing but a left turn, just steady as she goes, all the way around," he said at a coffee house in northeastern Iowa. "And they're going to wind up kinda where they started from, too, like the George McGovern days, some of them driving a little faster than the others, but they're all...

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE Fred Thompson? “My friends, I come to you today to tell you that I intend to run for President.” With that, Fred Dalton Thompson announced his candidacy for President this week—adding his name to a lengthy list of Republican contenders. Traditionally, Presidential candidates have announced their intentions after Labor Day, but that tradition has given way to “campaignus infinitum ad nauseam.” Criticized by media talkingheads for his “late entry,” Thompson expressed his doubt that voters will say, “That guy would make a very good president, but he didn’t get in soon enough.” After all, says Thompson, “People treat...

OIF: Good news is bad for surrender monkeys In our democratic republic, we charge our elected representatives with the conduct of vigorous debate about issues both foreign and domestic. In doing so, we expect them to uphold their oaths to protect and defend our Constitution. However, politicians often posture and pretend in order to line up constituencies that perpetuate their tenure in office, regardless of constitutional constraints. Such political posturing is a disingenuous breach of trust at best. When this deceit extends to matters of national security, especially when we are at war and continue to face formidable threats from...

“Equal and exact justice to all men...” —Thomas Jefferson PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE Murder in Black and White Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom were described by family and friends as a “clean-cut and faithful couple—good kids.” Channon was a senior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she met Christopher. She and Chris went out on a Saturday dinner date, after which Channon called her mom and told her that they were on the way to visit friends. But Channon and Christopher never arrived at their friends’ house—or returned home. The next day, the mutilated and burned remains of Chris Newsom...

(2007-04-19) — Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart upholding the right of Congress and state legislatures to regulate abortion and, in particular, to ban partial-birth abortion, is “a blade to the back of the head of every woman in America,” according to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY. “I know I speak for my sisters across the nation,” said Sen. Clinton, “when I say that I feel like someone grabbed me by the ankles, and jammed a pair of scissors into the base of my skull and then just sucked my brains out. This is devastating to our freedoms and...

Another rebellion is brewing across the hinterland. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has targeted ranchers, farmers, horse owners, homesteaders, organic gardeners, and chicken-owning grandmas for participation in a new National Animal Identification System. The targets are unhappy, and are organizing to see that the USDA cannot force participation in this new high-tech USDA program. Senator Jim Talent, and Representative Jo Ann Emerson, both from Missouri, have introduced legislation in both chambers that will prohibit the USDA from imposing a "mandatory" animal identification program on livestock owners. The bills will also prohibit the use of federal funds to support any state...

    The six-page letter, "The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today," was sent yesterday to the archbishops who oversee the world's 38 Anglican provinces in response to last week's Episcopal General Convention in Columbus, Ohio.     Archbishop Rowan Williams said the 70-million-member Anglican Communion may require a "covenant" defining theological orthodoxy on a wide range of matters, including homosexuality.     Local parishes that do not agree to it may be relegated to "associate" status, he said.     "We could arrive at a situation where there were 'constituent' churches in covenant in the Anglican Communion and other 'churches in association,' which were still...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Episcopalians passed a resolution expressing "regret" for consecrating a homosexual bishop in 2003, but not "repentance" as many of the world's Anglican archbishops have urged. The resolution that apologized to other Anglicans for not taking into account "the impact of our actions" was passed the same day as the newly elected presiding bishop played up the divisions within worldwide Anglicanism by saying homosexuality is not a sin. Meanwhile yesterday, a key conservative bishop responded to the election of Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori by asking the worldwide head of the Anglican Communion for "alternate oversight" under a foreign...

HEREFORD, Ariz.--Last July 6, Mercedes Maharis awoke at 11 p.m. to the roar of a Border Patrol helicopter hovering outside her living room here, two miles north of the Mexican border. It was pitch black outside. The chopper blades pounded so hard that her windows shook as if under artillery bombardment. She opened the door and heard people screaming and running as the chopper herded them off the hill toward three Border Patrol trucks below. In her nightgown, shaking with fear, Ms. Maharis grabbed her camera and filmed the scene. "I had to film it because nobody would believe it,"...

New York -- A rambling letter to U.S. President George Bush from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested Bush return to Christian teachings. -snip- "Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ, the great Messenger of God ... But at the same time, have countries attacked: the lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed," the 18-page letter said. -snip-

JERUSALEM -- Leaders in Israel and Turkey envision a network of four underwater pipelines for transporting Russian oil and natural gas, with feeder lines to Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon. The joint Turkish-Israeli development plan holds the promise of accelerating economic growth in the Middle East. A $50 million feasibility study is financed by the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank, officials from Turkey and Israel say. India is a main backer of the proposed network of pipelines because of the energy needs of its fast-growing economy. Delivery of oil and natural gas by means of pipelines that traverse Turkey and...

"It's not that liberals don't know anything; it's just that they know so many things that aren't so." - Ronald Reagan Remember how the Gipper used to inspire us from the Oval Office and on the stump? Remember "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" George W. Bush could learn a lot from the great communicator. On the recent outburst by a Chinese dissident during a joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao, I would have loved to have heard my president say: "What you are witnessing is freedom of speech in defense of freedom of religion, Mr. President. These...

TEHRAN -- Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Within this context, many see the president's long-running confrontation with the United States and Europe over Tehran's nuclear program as an attempt to demonize the West and distract the Iranian public from pressing domestic problems. A relatively small group of extremists "at the top of the government around the president" are seeking to benefit from a crisis with the West, because "that way they will be able once again to blame the...

Guest Column Animal ID Makers in Hog Heaven By Mary Zanoni, Ph.D. (Cornell), J.D. (Yale) Feb 6, 2006, 18:25 Comments on NAIS "Draft Program Standards" and "Draft Strategic Plan" I have carefully examined the Draft Program Standards (Standards) and Draft Strategic Plan (Plan) issued by the USDA (the Department) on April 25, 2005, in furtherance of the Department's proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Many aspects of the Standards and Plan appear to create insurmountable legal, fiscal, and logistical problems. The comments below address five categories of problems: 1. Constitutional infirmities of the proposed program; 2. An enormous economic cost...

The Patriot Post Patriot No. 06-05 Digest | 03 February 2006 THE FOUNDATION "The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." —Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution TOP OF THE FOLD SOTU 2006: Defense and democracy... Every year this column seeks to extract from the annual State of the Union address a basic message of the President's concerns for the coming year. This time, two themes quickly emerged: National defense and global democratization. Taken together, President George...

Remember that so-called “agreement” drafted by the Senate “moderates — the gang of 14 — which brokered a deal in which Republicans would not use the “nuclear option” to break a filibuster in exchange for Democrats agreeing not to filibuster qualified judicial nominees? It appears the Democrats have short-term memory lapse. Despite that fact that Judge Samuel Alito answered more questions than any recent Supreme Court nominee and has a stellar legal background, Democrats such as John Kerry and Ted Kennedy are using the F-Word: filibuster. The big question is how will Senate Republicans respond. As is being reported in...

Score One For Democracy... Three For Terrorism By Joe Mariani December 19, 2005 It's sad, even tragic, that for every advance abroad, we seem to take several steps backward at home. Our enemies no longer have any need to attack America directly -- they have the services of the "mainstream" media and the political Left. Despite the Left's continued attempts to portray Iraq as a failure or disaster, that country is well on its way to becoming the focal point of a spreading Middle Eastern democracy -- the only realistic answer to terrorism's root cause. Two critical tests remain for...

Prepare your mind and body for a trip into the Twilight Zone. Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives said yesterday that the Democrats will offer no unified position on Iraq in 2006. Despite claims by Democrats and the media that the Bush administration has no plan, Pelosi said that differing opinions within her party regarding Iraq are “a sign of strength.” In comments made to the Washington Post, Pelosi told reporters and editors that Democrats “should not seek a unified position on an exit strategy in Iraq, calling the war a matter of individual...

California Republicans are in open revolt against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over his hiring of a Democratic operative as his new chief of staff. And one leading state GOP official is touting actor Mel Gibson as a possible Republican primary challenger to Schwarzenegger. Officials with the California Republican Party are said to be furious with Schwarzenegger and have demanded a private meeting with the governor to complain about his appointment of Susan P. Kennedy, who was a Cabinet secretary during the administration of Gov. Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was elected governor after an extraordinary effort succeeded to recall Davis in 2003.

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Allison Avrett's photos show her daughter Haleigh as a smiling little girl with brown bangs hanging over her squinting eyes. Those pictures were taken before Mrs. Avrett gave up Haleigh for adoption five years ago, and long before the purported beating that landed the 11-year-old in a hospital attached to the ventilator and feeding tube. Now, with Haleigh's doctors saying she will never recover from her vegetative state, the child is at the center of a life-and-death legal struggle.