Free Republic

Ready to go through the 2016 election all over again? Philippe Reines, who worked for Hillary Clinton going back to 2002 and was her senior adviser at the State Department, made the argument to Politico Friday that the former Democratic nominee might actually be the party's best hope for defeating Trump in 2020. He said no other Democrat has "anywhere near a base of 32 million people," especially not Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The party, he feels, shouldn't dismiss her as a failed candidate because she's "smarter" and "tougher" than most, and she "could raise money...

President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and others who oppose action to address human-induced climate change should be held accountable for climate crimes against humanity. They are the authors and agents of systematic policies that deny basic human rights to their own citizens and people around the world, including the rights to life, health, and property. These politicians have blood on their hands, and the death toll continues to rise. Trump and his minions are the loyal servants of the fossil-fuel industry, which fill Republican party campaign coffers. Trump has also stalled the fight against...

A mere three weeks ago, the nation witnessed liberal groups and even some Democrat leaders argue that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh did not deserve a presumption of innocence. Still others argued that he did not even deserve the guarantees of due process. They argued — largely for political purposes — that the mere accusation alone without any evidence to back it up was enough to destroy him. For the conservative and traditionalist Americans, the contention was simply absurd, but many failed to see matters in the same light and passionately called for the disqualification of the judicial nominee...

It’s an unsettling time to be a man in America. Democrats recently tried to destroy the career of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over a sexual assault allegation that lacked any substantial evidence or corroboration. According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kavanaugh deserved “no presumption of innocence.” This attitude has also infected the campus tribunals that adjudicate sexual assault claims, and now run roughshod over the rights of accused college students. It culminates in cases like one recently reported by writer Robby Soave at Reason, where a University of California at Davis student spent $12,000 defending himself against...

Hi, Myron! I’m Lisa, a MoveOn volunteer. With less than 1 month until Election Day, we’re campaigning to build the Blue Wave in North Carolina! By uniting together we can end Republican control of Congress-will you pledge to vote blue on Nov 6? Reply YES & we’ll share periodic texts from MoveOn’s 668366 number & send you a free BLUE WAVE sticker! (Message or data rates may apply)

Today's post is in honor of Pvt. Edwardo J. Lopez, who was killed in action in Asad, Iraq on this day in 2006. The 21-year-old native of Aurora, Ill. was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. 1781: British Gen. Charles Cornwallis formally surrenders 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate, and 30 transport ships to an American and French force at Yorktown, Va., effectively ending the American Revolution. 1944: Two Interstate TDR assault drones are launched against Japanese gun emplacements on Ballale Island - one drone...

With midterm elections right around the corner, people around the country are turning their eyes to high stakes races in states like Florida, West Virginia, and Nevada. Perhaps no race, though, has garnered more outside media attention than that of the Texas Senate election between incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democrat Rep. Beto O’Rourke. “I honestly couldn’t point to anything. I’m not as educated as I would like to be.” While Cruz leads in most polls, O’Rourke has a decided lead amongst Millennials and college students.

Anti-gun rights activist David Hogg often urges young people to take on the Second Amendment. But he’s picked up a few more topics to pontificate on recently. In his latest talk Wednesday to students at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, with the midterm elections just weeks away, Hogg defended illegal immigrants, decried white politicians, and bemoaned American imperialism.

"After the earlier debate was cancelled by Gillum, Sunday evening will be voters' first chance to see them go head-to-head." " Finally, this weekend brings Floridians' first opportunity to see the two candidates for governor, Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum, go head-to-head in a debate. The details: it's happening in Tampa at 8 p.m., in the local PBS studio. Voters can watch the debate, likely moderated by Jake Tapper, on CNN. Previously, there had been three debates scheduled between the candidates. A Telemundo debate in Orlando was supposed to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 16, but Gillum cancelled,...

It is the most extraordinary, alluring and thought-provoking of all the ways in which quantum mechanics has been interpreted. In its most familiar guise, the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) suggests that we live in a near-infinity of universes, all superimposed in the same physical space but mutually isolated and evolving independently. In many of these universes there exist replicas of you and me, all but indistinguishable yet leading other lives. The MWI illustrates just how peculiarly quantum theory forces us to think. It is an intensely controversial view. Arguments about the interpretation of quantum mechanics are noted for their passion, as...

Just heard this on the radio. A man nonchalantly removes Ted Cruz signs while being filmed by the owner, who also happens to be a gun owner. The perp then comes toward the owner with a voice like that of Gollum, from Lord of the Rings.

The latest mystery mission of the U.S. Air Force's robotic X-37B space plane has now passed the 400-day mark . This mission — known as Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5) — was rocketed into Earth orbit on Sept. 7, 2017, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed space plane is carrying out secretive duties during the X-37B program's fifth flight. [The X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts] Flight duration Each X-37B/OTV mission has set a new flight-duration record for the program: OTV-1 began April 22, 2010, and concluded on...

It looks like the “Meskin” government actually listens to President Trump’s words, and does what he says, unlike most branches of the US “feral gummint”. You think I am kidding, I know. Yet, judging from what happened today, the POTUS has more control over the governments of Latin America, with an emphasis on immigration policies, than he does over the US government. At least, he’s controlling the Mexico border, or so it appears. Here’s from USA Today: The government of Mexico dispatched two 727 Boeing planes filled with federal police officers to its southern border with Guatemala on Wednesday to...

On Orthodox Easter, Russian Patriarch Kirill addressed scores of the faithful, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. He likened the resurrection of Christ—who, in Orthodox parlance, “trampled down death by death”—to the Russian, née Soviet, victory over the Nazis. Kirill’s religious praise of Soviet victory is nothing new. Under Josef Stalin, the Soviet Union tried tapping into the nation’s “enormous spiritual strength” by reviving the Orthodox Church in Russia, albeit in a limited capacity. Realizing the power the church had to unite Russia and its near abroad—and seeking to bring Nazi-controlled territory back under Soviet influence,...

Leading caravan activist who angered Trump last year is arrested and bundled into a van by Mexican cops, as 4,000 Honduran migrants heading for the US face off against police in town on Guatemala-Mexico border Irineo Mujica, director of the organisation Pueblo Sin Fronteras in Mexico, who was detained at a march in spring when he led a caravan of hundreds of migrants towards the US border has been arrested again Mujica was detained Thursday as members of a 4,000-strong migrant caravan made it to a Guatemalan border town A clip showing Mujica being arrested saw him being bundled into...

The U-2 spy plane was famous for pushing pilot endurance to the limit. The slow, high-flying aircraft flew for up to nine hours at a time, with a single pilot guiding the plane, taking pictures of the ground below, and occasionally dodging surface-to-air missiles. Nine hours is a long time to be cooped up in a plane without a real bathroom—or to be stuck in a small space with the smell of your own fart. So the CIA actually prescribed a proper diet for U-2 pilots to avoid the need to poop or pass gas.

Pomona College in California is offering a class to students on "queering" the Bible. "Queer Theory and the Bible” will teach students how to read the Bible "through queer theory,” by examining excerpts that are "central to prohibitions on homosexuality,” as well as "discourses of heteronormativity” through which "homophobic readings of the Bible” are born. "We will also look at the ways in which these discourses and the identities they shore up can be ‘queered,’ as well as at biblical texts that can be read as queer friendly,” the course description reads. "This process of queering will allow and require...

Time appears nearly up for an estimated 100,000 foreign citizens working in the U.S. under a special authorization for spouses of foreign workers here on the controversial H-1B visa. The federal government, which has been promising since late 2017 to ban these H-4 visa holders from working, has just put out a notice that the new rule will be issued sometime next month.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Gwinnett County police confirmed late Wednesday evening that they had found the body of a missing DeKalb County teacher accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. ... According to the incident report, the victim was a 12-year-old boy.

SANTA MONICA, California — Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams looks thoughtful in in the lobby of a beachfront hotel on a sunny Thursday afternoon as he tells me that the phrase “jobs not mobs,” which he suggested on Twitter six days before, would be catchy — though he adds that Republicans had not yet used it. Literally minutes later, President Donald Trump tells a rally in Montana: “Democrats produce mobs. Republicans produce jobs.” The president tweets soon afterwards: “#JobsNotMobs.”