Free Republic

Mob rule has often been described as two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for supper. A pure democracy is an example of mob rule. Our Founding Fathers designed our government to resist mob rule. Based on my experience serving as a public school teacher for nearly 40 years, my study of our U.S. Constitution, involvement in local, state, and national politics within several states for over 25 years, reading, watching, and listening to a variety of writers, radio and television commentators/pundits, I have formulated an opinion: Reflecting on the years since our most recent Presidential election, I perceive a...

The US Constitution was written in 1787, and a group of papers called the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers proceeded to examine the issue in detail thru Jan 1788. New York met in June, 1788 to vote on New York's acceptance of the US Constitution. Henry Livingston's brother Gilbert voted for ratification, even though it had been assumed he would vote against it. This page includes deep details on the NY Constitutional Convention of 1788, with the text of the Anti-Federalist papers. The "The Ifs of History" book suggests that the US Constitution might not have been approved if Gilbert...

Democratic senators on Wednesday defended their decision to ask President Trump’s Catholic judicial nominees about their beliefs, saying it’s fair to ask whether they can separate their religious faiths from their jobs as judges. “It is never inappropriate for a member of this committee to ask whether a nominee for a lifetime position for the federal judiciary can rule fairly whatever their personal affiliations might be,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who’s frequently questioned nominees’ religious backgrounds. The issue came to the fore Wednesday as the Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on Peter Joseph Phipps, a...

Abortion is front and center of most political debates currently. The recent wave of pro-Life legislation in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, and Mississippi have good intentions from good people, but the approach is fundamentally flawed. They are trying to legislate something which essentially does not belong to that domain. The abortion issue is fundamentally not political, and Conservatives should not follow the examples of the totalitarian left who try to legislate toward the erosion of Capitalism on their path to Socialism. These recent pro-Life laws take aim only at the Supreme Court. They are states’ answers to Roe v....

Full title: Head of the Knights of Columbus Calls Democratic Senators' Scrutiny of Catholic Teaching 'A Problem to All People of Faith' Washington, D.C. - Carl Anderson, the head of the Knights of Columbus, spoke with Townhall Friday during the March for Life about the scrutiny that judicial nominee Brian C. Buescher faced over his membership in the Catholic charitable organization. In written questions submitted in December, Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) expressed concern over the group’s support of defining marriage as being between a man and a woman and the group's opposition to abortion. These positions...

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis urged President Trump to get congressional approval before the United States launched airstrikes against Syria last week, but was overruled by Mr. Trump, who wanted a rapid and dramatic response, military and administration officials said. Mr. Trump, the officials said, wanted to be seen as backing up a series of bellicose tweets with action, but was warned that an overly aggressive response risked igniting a wider war with Russia. Friday night’s limited strikes on three targets, which lasted under two minutes, were the compromise.

In a stunning display of ignorance, the Illinois State Senate just voted 43-12 in favor of the resolution to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment. What makes this vote even more enraging is that Republicans Pam Althoff (R-Crystal Lake), Jason Barickman (R-Pontiac), Mike Connelly (R-Wheaton), Karen McConnaughay (R-West Dundee), Chris Nybo (R-Hinsdale), Sue Rezin (R-Morris), and Tom Rooney (R-Palatine) voted with Democrats on this partisan resolution.

Corporate America is taking the lead on gun control as Congress slides back into gridlock on the issue. Several major retailers have decided to impose new restrictions on firearm sales, while scores of companies have moved to cut ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA). “This is the biggest signal to me that on this issue, there has been a tipping point,” said Rich Masters, head of North America crisis and issues management for Qorvis. “Companies don’t do this unless they know they are gonna be on fairly safe ground.”

A New Jersey animal shelter’s annual pet blessings has prompted a federal lawsuit by a group called American Atheists Inc. of Cranford. The Bergen County Animal Shelter is accused of violating the First and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution over two events held in 2016 and 2017. Each event featured a member of the Franciscan Order of the Divine Mercy in North Arlington. Plaintiffs say that animal blessings at the facility are tantamount to an endorsement of religion. They seek an injunction to stop the annual event, and legal fees.

Eight years ago, Sen. Orrin Hatch argued in a Senate Finance Committee then controlled by Democrats that Congress does not have the constitutional power to order people to buy things. The committee was discussing the incipient Obamacare bill. It's most outrageous element: The so-called "individual mandate," which would force Americans to purchase health insurance. Hatch did not believe the Constitution's Commerce Clause -- which gives Congress the power to "regulate Commerce with foreign nations, and among the states" -- could be stretched to give the federal government the power to compel individuals to do this. "Rather than regulate what people...

The most misunderstood institution in our constitutional government is the Electoral College. Most recently, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee claimed that “the Electoral College is not in the Constitution.” Others on the right of the political spectrum claim that the process by which the members of the Electoral College are selected is our “founders’ vision for our Republic” and constitutionally mandated. Both are dead wrong. Let’s begin with the actual words of the Constitution: “Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of Senators...

THE BRUTAL WAR in Yemen has intensified in recent days, with the Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States increasing its bombing campaign and blockade of ports. Meanwhile, the architect of the war, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has launched a widespread purge of the government, while using a missile launched from Yemen as a pretext to threaten war with Iran. Yet American lawmakers are still avoiding a vote on authorizing U.S. involvement in the conflict. Saudi Arabia relies heavily on the U.S. military for intelligence sharing, refueling flights for coalition warplanes, and the transfer of American-made cluster bombs,...

In a remarkable speech marked by fearlessness and clarity, the leader of the free world told other world leaders this week that all of them -- himself included -- need to focus on their own people. In his first address to the United Nations, President Donald Trump offered a mixture of views that provided both paradox and clarity. He focused on sovereignty but was not isolationist. He was respectful of other forms of government but pushed world leaders to focus more on people than on government. Trump reaffirmed his belief in the slogan that helped win him the nation's...

Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men on September 17, 1787, recognizing all who are born in the U.S. or by naturalization, have become citizens.

Republican presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George H. W. Bush have referred to U. S. Supreme Court decisions as "the law of the land." Actually, that distinction belongs to the document we celebrate today—the U. S. Constitution. If you want a good treatise on it, read The Theme Is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition by M. Stanton Evans. "In fact, the Constitution was the work not of a moment, an hour, or even a lifetime, but of two millennia of Western thought, political struggle and hard-won knowledge about the state," Evans wrote. "The Constitution is an almost...

Doing a bit of research and looking for honest opinion without searching the internet for the answer first. I realize the answers here may differ from those I've received elsewhere. To be clear: I'm not asking to be judgmental. Rather, I would just like honest answers based on individual awareness of the noted aspect of history and our own Constitution, without regard for its origin. Questions: 1. Does your memory serve that the terms describing "concentration camp" and "death camp" are interchangeable and pertain to the Nazi Jew-murdering era? 2. Are you aware that there was a German Constitution in...

Now that we’ve had a few days to cool down over the riot last Saturday in Charlottesville, we can look at the matter a little more dispassionately and discern a pattern working its way out. The people who organized the so-called “Unite the Right” rally are members of a fringe group that, for better or worse, has come to be called the “alt-right.” Their core ideology appear­s to be that “white men,” that is, those of northwest European heritage, are the bearers of civilization and all that is noble, and are presently under assault by the Left. When President Trump...

If President Donald Trump decided to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in a military conflict with North Korea, a possibility he has left open amid escalating tensions, it appears there’s little that could stop him. The prospect of a nuclear flashpoint comes after a war of words between Trump and the North Korean government, with the president warning this week of “fire and fury” against Pyongyang if it continued making threats, and North Korea subsequently threatening an attack on the U.S. territory of Guam. Trump on Thursday suggested that his initial statement may not have been tough enough, and...

All of these rulings by the court against Trump's executive orders are an overstepping of their judicial authorities. The judges are acting illegally. In Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution the text states that Congress has the authority to “constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court.” In Article III of the U.S. Constitution, when referring to the inferior federal courts, it states that it is Congress who may from “time to time ordain and establish.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) asserted Thursday night that President Trump needs congressional authorization for military action in Syria after Trump ordered an airstrike in the country following a deadly chemical attack earlier this week. "While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked," Paul said in a statement shortly after reports that the U.S. had launched more than 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles against an airfield in Syria. "The President needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate," Paul said....