Free Republic

I've been hearing about the impending "conservative crackup" for nearly 25 years. The term was coined by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., the founder of the American Spectator. He meant that conservatism had lost its philosophical coherence. But the phrase almost instantly became a catchall for any prediction of the right's imminent demise or dissolution. These dire prophesies always reminded me of those "Free Beer Tomorrow" signs. As Annie sings, tomorrow is "always a day away." Well, thanks to Donald Trump, tomorrow may be here. There's a fierce internecine battle over whether to oppose Trump's run, passively accept his popularity, or...

It’s pretty clear Donald Trump isn’t a conservative. The problem is many voters in the Republican Party think he is. These voters are real, they care about the constitutional principles that make America exceptional, and Trump needs them. He can’t afford to have the base of the Republican Party leave him for Ted Cruz.This is why he needed Sarah Palin’s endorsement. This is why he went to Liberty University and talked about “2 Corinthians.” This is why Cruz’s comment about New York values was problematic for him. Many pundits made the mistake after the last debate of thinking the comment...

...Leadership Institute founder and president Morton Blackwell has now enthusiastically endorsed Iowa frontrunner Ted Cruz....Among the criteria Blackwell outlined for a candidate were "a record of personal activism and leadership for conservative principles," being "surrounded by people notable for their firm commitment to conservative principles," fighting hard "for conservative principles when it appeared to be a losing battle," a lack of flip-flopping on policy positions, and "helping conservative organizations and working to elect conservative candidates."On Friday, Blackwell named the candidate he believes has met those concerns. "I have decided to endorse Ted Cruz and to urge other serious conservatives to...

Ever since 1988, Republican candidates for all offices, particularly those running for President, have tried to channel Ronald Reagan. The conservative icon is the shining example of how a proper right-wing perspective has the power to make the country prosper domestically and make it respected around the world. In three decades, no candidate has come as close to truly picking up the Reagan mantle and bringing his ideals back to the White House than Ted Cruz. As The Atlantic points out, the sentiment from voters is very similar to what was happening in 1979 and 1980. The Judeo-Christian right had...

New information about donations to Hillary Clinton’s family foundation and her husband have her on the defensive. It’s also going to make it harder to go on offense.When Clinton announced her campaign, she outlined four big fights she would take on. One of the pillars of her pitch was that she wanted to fix “our dysfunctional political system and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if that takes a constitutional amendment.”This position has political appeal. Voters think the system is rigged, and they think big money helps those in power keep it rigged. For a...

Because I'm a Conservative, I believe in a strong separation of church and state. As Eliade wrote in The Sacred and the Profane, "the sacred always manifests itself as a reality of a wholly different order from 'natural' realities." We do a disservice to the truly sacred when we force it into Caesar's world. What is sacred to me is between myself and my Maker--and forcing that into the public square diminishes both of Us. Because I'm a Conservative, I care about the environment. Whether prompted by the Bible or by our own sense of morality (itself a part of...

The controversial Jewish State Law on Monday elicited a response from Washington. Jeff Rathke, a spokesman for the State Department, did not condemn or denounce the law, but did say that "Israel is a Jewish and democratic state and all its citizens should enjoy equal rights. We expect Israel to stick to its democratic principles." Earlier on Monday, the coalition decided to postpone by a week the Knesset plenum vote on two versions of the Jewish State bill, one of which was proposed by MK Ze'ev Elkin (Likud), and the other by MKs Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) and Robert Ilatov...

Have you seen the front page of the Las Vegas Sun website today? Erin Bilbray’s liberal activist friends over at Occupy CIR have literally covered it with attack ads against Dr. Joe Heck over his stance on immigration reform. Joe has been clear that we need real solutions to improve our broken immigration system – but he will NOT be bullied into amnesty by Erin Bilbray and her liberal activist friends. We cannot let Erin Bilbray and her liberal activist friends get away with these purely partisan attacks!

For years, Republicans benefited from economic growth. So did pretty much everyone else, of course. But I have something specific in mind. Politically, when the economy is booming -- or merely improving at a satisfactory clip -- the distinction between being pro-business and pro-market is blurry. The distinction is also fuzzy when the economy is shrinking or imploding. But when the economy is simply limping along -- not good, not disastrous -- like it is now, the line is easier to see. And GOP politicians typically don't want to admit they see it. Just to clarify, the difference between being...

The principles America was founded on have paved the way for the freedoms and privileges each citizen is thankful for today. At the heart of conservatism, is the recognition that many of these founding ideals are worth fighting to preserve. In the words of John Quincy Adams: "Posterity--you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." So in the spirit of preserving today’s blessings for tomorrow’s Americans, let’s take a look at ten things the Founding Fathers would be fighting against in the 21st century....

Springfield, Ills, April 6, 1859 Messrs. Henry L. Pierce, & others. Gentlemen Your kind note inviting me to attend a Festival in Boston, on the 13th. Inst. in honor of the birth-day of Thomas Jefferson, was duly received. My engagements are such that I can not attend. Bearing in mind that about seventy years ago, two great political parties were first formed in this country, that Thomas Jefferson was the head of one of them, and Boston the head-quarters of the other, it is both curious and interesting that those supposed to descend politically from the party opposed to Jefferson...

On a very slow late-August weekend, Lee Daniels' The Butler easily held on to the top spot at the box office. We're the Millers also continued to play well, while all three new nationwide releases opened to less than $10 million. Overall, the Top 12 earned an estimated $91.6 million. That's up 10 percent from the same weekend last year, when The Expendables 2 led with a weak $13.4 million. With good reviews and strong word-of-mouth, The Butler fell 31 percent to an estimated $17 million. In comparison, The Help dropped 23 percent at the same point in its run...

A new masonic Pope imbued with Italian and humanitarian principles to corrupt the Church from within? Michael Brown over at Spirit Daily is carrying a link to a National Catholic Reporter article suggesting that a revolution has quietly begun at the Vatican. See here. For centuries the Freemasons have been working to infiltrate the Vatican and to install their own Pope while emphasizing a "social gospel." What is the "Social Gospel"? Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich was shown this secular humanism which would disguise itself as Christianity: "...this church was born without a Saviour, good works without faith, the communion of...

The author of the novel "Ender's Game" has spoken out about the controversy that's flared up over the upcoming movie adaptation in the past few days, but he doesn't sound eager to smooth ruffled feathers, declaring the statements that angered fans are "moot." Geeks OUT, a group that "rallies, empowers, and promotes the queer geek community," are calling for a boycott of the "Ender's Game" movie based on statements about gay marriage made by Orson Scott Card, who wrote the much-loved young adult sci-fi novel in 1985. Card, a strongly outspoken opponent of gay marriage, wrote of the subject in...

Happy Ramadan from President Obama: With the start of the sacred month of Ramadan, Michelle and I extend our best wishes to Muslim communities here in the United States and around the world. For the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time for thoughtful reflection, fasting and devotion. It is also an opportunity for family and friends to come together and celebrate the principles that bind people of different faiths – a commitment to peace, justice, equality and compassion towards our fellow human beings. These bonds are far stronger

Hutson observes that in their 1780 state constitution, “[o]fficials in Massachusetts afforded the most ample liberty of conscience…to Deists, Mahometans, Jews and Christians” (2002)—an allusion to Samuel West’s discussion of tax assessments for the support of the public teaching of religion and morality. This observation is accurate as long as one clearly understands that “liberty of conscience” specifically meant no governmental intrusion, but did not extend to the encouragement or promotion of Islam in public life. Proof of this contention is seen in the Third Article of the 1780 constitution itself, in which the legislature was authorized “to make suitable...

Gay marriage is an issue of equality that fulfills America’s founding principles, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during Wednesday’s press briefing. Earnest was responding to a reporter who asked whether President Obama feels his stance on gay marriage has “cleared the way” for others to support it publicly, noting Sen. Portman’s decision to support gay marriage earlier this month after his son announced he was gay.

This article is an excerpt from Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman's new book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing. Predicting the future is a crapshoot. When we were writing this book and interviewing people about 3D printing, we discovered that a few underlying "rules" kept coming up. People from a broad and diverse array of industries and backgrounds and levels of expertise described similar ways that 3D printing helped them get past key cost, time and complexity barriers. We have summarized what we learned. Here are ten principles of 3D printing we hope will help people and businesses take...

Money cannot buy you happiness... but it's more comfortable crying in a Mercedes than on a bicycle. Forgive your enemy- but don't forget the SOB's name Help a man in trouble... and he'll remember you (when he's in trouble again!) Many people exist in this world only because it's illegal to shoot them Trying to debate facts with an Obama voter is like trying trying to pick-up a cow pie by the clean end~ ___________________________________________ h/t Kirby