Free Republic

Henry Kissinger, who died on Wednesday night at the age of 100, was the most enduringly influential secretary of state in the history of the United States. He was also the most controversial. But the influence matters far more than the controversy. His critics have wasted no time in ignoring the old injunction that no ill should be spoken of the recently deceased. The scurrilous magazine Rolling Stone led with the repulsive headline 'Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America's Ruling Class, Finally Dies'. At a time when anti-Semitism has again reared its ugly head in the wake of the...

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he wants the U.S. economy to reopen by Easter Sunday, April 12, despite the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in some U.S. states and a rising death toll from the disease. Legal experts say a U.S. president has quite limited power to order citizens back to their places of employment, or cities to reopen government buildings, transportation, or local businesses. Here is why. What does the Constitution say about who makes decisions about public welfare? The United States is a federalist system, meaning power is shared between a national and...

It's been a wacky election season, but when hasn't it been? Remember when Ross Perot, who couldn't decide whether he was running or not running for president, did both, alternately jumping in and out of the race as the mood struck him? Welcome to the quadrennial circus that is an American presidential campaign. This year the stacked deck now has two jokers -- Donald Trump, the self-infatuated real-estate magnate of reality TV and the Greater New York Metropolitan Area, and Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey with a gift for gab. Naturally he promptly endorsed The Donald. It's a...

Do It for America, Mr. Romney   Part of Senator Zell Miller’s (D-GA) stirring 2004 Republican Convention speech was:   …President Roosevelt in a speech that (1940) summer told America “All private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger.”   In 1940, Wendell Willkie was the Republican nominee. And there is no better example of someone repealing their private plans than this good man. He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft – an unpopular idea at the time. And he made it clear that he would...

And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. – I Chronicles 12:32 (KJV), (written as David was given the administration of the nation of Israel). In America, the elections of 2012 are a transition election. Our country is in a transition period. God knows what it is we are transitioning to. Time will tell. But, before we examine that, let’s step back a century and a half: In the America of...

The key to understanding Lincoln's philosophy of statesmanship is that he always sought the meeting point between what was right in theory and what could be achieved in practice. By Dinesh D'Souza Most Americans -- including most historians -- regard Abraham Lincoln as the nation's greatest president. But in recent years powerful movements have gathered, both on the political right and the left, to condemn Lincoln as a flawed and even wicked man. For both camps, the debunking of Lincoln usually begins with an exposé of the "Lincoln myth," which is well described in William Lee Miller's 2002 book Lincoln's...

On Friday, November 19, the Claremont Institute will honor Rush Limbaugh with the Statesmanship Award at its annual Churchill Dinner in Los Angeles at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Mr. Limbaugh will be the main speaker for the evening. A reception is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and dinner will begin at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $250 each, or $500 for preferred seating. Tables of 10 are available for $2,500, $5,000, or $10,000. You may register online using this secure form or by calling Nancy Padilla at (909) 621-6825, x132.

Bush vs. Kerry: An Election Like No Other By Ali Sina I watched the first round of the presidential debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry with a lot of interest. I am not an American but I believe the outcome of this election will affect not just America but the entire world. If you don’t accuse me of being hyperbolic I dare to say that this is the most important election in the history of mankind. On this election may depend the future of the world and whether there would be another world war or perhaps it could be...

Reagan and Churchill Closer Than You Might Think "Those who are possessed of...deeply rooted convictions...will be in a much better position to deal with the shifts and surprises of daily affairs than those who are merely taking short views, and indulging their natural impulses as they are evoked by what they read from day to day." "True wisdom is to cultivate a sense of proportion which may help one pick out the three or four things that govern all the rest and as it were write one's own headlines and not change them very often." "Expert knowledge is limited...

Allawi Thanks America, Details Plan for Iraq's Future By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2004 -- "Thank you, America," Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi told a joint session of Congress today. Allawi thanked the United States for its role in the liberation of Iraq. He said that despite what people may read in the news or see on television, "Iraq is succeeding." The prime minister did not sugarcoat the challenges lying ahead for his country. But, he said, Iraq, the region and the world are "better off without Saddam Hussein." Allawi, who had been driven into...

The respected Claremont Institute will honor Rush Limbaugh in Los Angeles later this month. The Institute will award the radio talk show host with its 2003 "Statesmanship Award” at its annual Winston S. Churchill dinner in Los Angeles. Brian Kennedy, President of Claremont, wrote, "Few Americans in recent memory have done more on a daily basis to sustain and invigorate a healthy public opinion in this country than Mr. Limbaugh, known fondly to us all as ‘Rush.’" Kennedy continued: "In an overwhelmingly liberal media, Rush has brought to unprecedented millions of listeners a conservative point of view, year in and...