Free Republic

Roman poet Virgil penned these words in his epic, The Aeneid, roughly a generation before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. They can be loosely translated to, “the descent to hell is easy.” Those who’ve traversed this passage can attest to the veracity of this axiom. Though not apparent in the milieu of Virgil’s poem, for our purposes today, we’ll extend its application to the insidious progression of currency debasement. What short utterance more aptly characterizes the steady degradation, as currently practiced by today’s church of state? Yesterday [Thursday], for example, the House acted with untroubled ease to further America’s...

The massive spending deal, negotiated by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and agreed to by the president, looks poised to kill off the Budget Control Act of 2011—the law that was meant to restrain federal spending. With that law on the way out, the question arises: Where can fiscal conservatives turn to exert real and lasting fiscal discipline? Thankfully, two members of Congress have introduced a bill to do just that. The Maximizing America’s Prosperity Act—or MAP Act—is a bill proposed by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., that would limit federal spending...

Dish Network Corp. has stopped carrying 22 regional sports networks owned by the Walt Disney Co. as negotiations over a new distribution contract broke down. The channels, which went dark Friday morning on Dish and its direct-to-consumer streaming platform Sling, are the sports networks that Disney acquired in its $71.3 billion acquisition of the bulk of entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox earlier this year. Disney is in the process of selling 21 of the regional sports networks to Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. in a deal valued at more than $10 billion. The one other channel—New York’s YES Network, which...

You’ll want to be ready if you find yourself on the receiving end of a Kate Hall medicine ball toss. I wasn’t. During a midday early May workout, Hall recruited me to catch her throws and roll the ball back to her. I moved to the middle of the infield at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland, Maine. From just inside the track, Hall sprang forward and heaved the 8-pound ball. Next thing I knew, the ball landed just in front of me, bounced, and crashed into my chest. It left a red mark on my sternum that lingered for a week....

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., decried on Saturday what she described as a “racist” attack by President Trump on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., -- after the president called the chairman of the House Oversight Committee a “brutal bully” and said his Baltimore district was “more dangerous” than the southern border.

President Donald Trump called one of the top-ranking Congressional Democrats a “brutal bully” early July 27 before lamenting the conditions in the representative’s home district.

Two 16-year-old teenagers have been charged with robbing a Baltimore Police Department deputy commissioner at gunpoint. The arrests of Kathree Fowlkes and Kamal Godwin was announced Friday. They were charged with armed robbery and are being prosecuted as adults, Fox 45 reported.

A balcony inside a nightclub in South Korea collapsed on Saturday, killing two people and injuring 16, including American and other athletes at the world swimming championships, officials said. Hundreds were at the nightclub in the southern city of Gwangju when the collapse occurred next to the athletes’ village. Two South Korean men died while 16 others were injured, police said. According to a police account, the injured include 10 foreigners, eight of them athletes who were in Gwangju to participate in the swimming championships. Among the athletes were three Americans, two New Zealanders, one Dutch, one Italian and one...

Joseph Mifsud: The name of the generally unknown character in the Russia investigation came up, over and over, in the long awaited House committee hearings with former special counsel Robert Mueller. Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio invoked the name as if it legally required the accompaniment of horror movie theme music; Mueller immediately snapped back that he would not discuss that man. Yet, that did not deter Republicans. “Joseph Mifsud,” “Joseph Mifsud” — the mantra continued until the shadowy professor had emerged as the Keyser Soze of the Mueller hearings. Keyser Soze was the mysterious figure in the film “The...

On the morning of Saturday, July 13, Cindy Eiseler and three of her friends were running along the Lansing River Trail by Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan, when they heard a voice calling for help from the woods nearby. “We heard a man’s voice crying out ‘I need help, I need help!’” Eiseler told Runner’s World. “It stopped us dead in our tracks not knowing exactly where the man’s voice was coming from.” The group did not want to venture into the woods alone, so they called 911 and assured the man that help was on the way. While...

Robert Mueller’s testimony this week was the biggest flop since Heaven’s Gate, which is an apt comparison since Democrats are in full eschaton mode and their heavenly dream of deposing Trump is turning into the hellscape of a likely second term of full-scale Trumping (Trumpdown?). Maybe Mueller was trying to pull off a community theater version of Columbo? Or maybe he’s a deep cover agent for the Russians after all.

Robert Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on July 24, 2019 revealed something that has become common in modern politics. He knew and remembered very little, leading some observers to wonder whether he had even read his own report. The significance of his appearance goes far beyond the immediate issue. Mueller is a symbol of the ventriloquism that is poisoning meaningful political discussion in America. Mueller enjoyed a solid reputation as a law enforcement official in several presidential administrations. He was not known for partisanship. Mueller’s respectability was the perfect hood ornament for the left’s crusade against President Trump....

It’s completely unacceptable for the political leader of our country to denigrate a vibrant American City like Baltimore, and to viciously attack U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings a patriot and a hero.

VIDEO A few scenes from our vacation at Weeki Wachee Springs on July 21. Among the activities were a riverboat ride down the Weeki Wachee River, watching the Little Mermaid show, and an incredibly refreshing swim in Weeki Wachee Springs at Buccaneer Bay for several hours. The water there is a constant 74 degrees year round and since the springs feeds 150 million gallons of water from deep underground, it is crystal clear and absolutely pure. Price of admission is only $13 for adults and $8 for children. Riverboat ride, mermaid shows, and use of the Buccaneer Bay water park...

[Catholic Caucus] At Napa Institute, Cardinal Burke points out 'pervasive errors' in contemporary church teaching Napa, Calif. — In back-to-back opening keynote addresses July 25 at the ninth annual Napa Institute, well-known conservative Catholic commentator George Weigel and high-profile papal critic Cardinal Raymond Burke exhorted the predominantly affluent Catholic assembly to fight pervasive error, division and apostasy in the church and embrace its immutable teachings. Visit National Catholic Reporter's Online Classifieds to learn about job opportunities, events, retreats and more. Both called the nearly 700 participants at the July 24-28 event in Napa, California, to "more thorough, intense Catholic lives"...

On Monday, Equifax settled with the US Federal Trade Commission over its 2017 data breach, which affected 147 million Americans. The settlement of up to $700 million includes as much as $425 million for individual compensation including $30 million for "Alternative Reimbursement Compensation." So naturally, AOC sent out this absurd tweet:

However, it appears that many networks of prominent donors, including powerful women, are staying out of the presidential fundraising race for now. Almost 100,000 women have given more than $200 to a presidential candidate so far during the 2020 presidential elections — nearly four times the number of women donors at this point in the 2016 elections. Who benefits has yet to be determined, but where women are putting their money provides insight. Democratic presidential candidates have raised $41 million from women so far this presidential cycle while the Republicans have raised $12 million, based on an OpenSecrets analysis examining...

New York City Major Bill de Blasio (D) seems to think he can decide who can and cannot live in his city. In fact, during a BuzzFeed News event on Thursday night, de Blasio told Trump he would no longer be welcome back to the Big Apple once his presidency ends "very soon." He also challenged Trump to a debate because, as de Blasio said, Trump doesn't understand New York City or what's best for the area.“I challenge you, Donald Trump, to come to New York City, and I will debate you about what’s right for New York City. And BuzzFeed...

A white woman who berated two black women at a North Carolina restaurant with a racial slur said she is not sorry and that she would say it again. Nancy Goodman was caught on video directing the N-word at the women during a confrontation at a Bonefish Grill in North Hills, North Carolina, after Goodman accused them of being too loud. Goodman told NBC-affiliate WRAL Wednesday that she should have handled the situation differently, but that she wasn't sorry. "I’m not going to say I’m sorry to them because they kept pushing at it," Goodman said. "I would say it...

MEDFORD, Ore. — A two-year-old child is missing after his parents were involved in "an apparent murder-suicide in Montana," according to the Medford Police Department. The couple, Daniel Salcido and Hannah Janiak, were first reported missing to the Medford Police Department on June 11th, 2019. The couple had a child together, Aiden Salcido... On Thursday, July 25th, 2019, Medford Police Detectives learned that the Kalispell Police Department in Montana had stopped an Oregon plated green 1996 GMC Jimmy. A man was driving with a woman in the passenger seat - they were believed to be giving false information about their...