Free Republic

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. was a young Ku Klux Klansman with a reputation for hating blacks in 1963, when a bomb ripped a hole in the side of 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four black girls during the civil rights movement. Today, Blanton is old and imprisoned, the last survivor among three one-time KKK members convicted of murder in the bombing. Soon, Alabama’s parole board will decide whether Blanton deserves to be free after serving 15 years of a life term for murder. The board has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to consider parole for...

A small group supporting suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore waved "Judge Moore is Right!" signs and handed out flyers at a major intersection in Pelham on Monday morning until police showed up. * * * Moore was automatically suspended from the bench in May after the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission filed judicial ethics charges regarding a January order he issued to state probate judges. That order stated the Alabama Supreme Court's March 2015 order telling probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses was still in place, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2015 decision legalizing [homosexual]...

On the off chance that far-left Dem congressman Keith Ellison is on your holiday shopping list, we have the perfect gift suggestion: a good biography of George Wallace. On today’s This Week, Ellison claimed that Donald Trump was “the worst Republican nominee since George Wallace.” Just one small problem, of course. As Republican Rep. Tom Cole pointed out, Wallace was a Democrat who sought the Dem presidential nomination [multiple times] and even addressed the Democratic National Convention [in 1972.] Ruh-roh! View the video here.

If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday. Christie, who is governor of New Jersey and leads Trump's White House transition team, said the campaign was drawing up a list of federal government employees to fire if Trump defeats Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election. ... Trump's transition advisers fear that Obama may convert these appointees to civil...

HENIX CITY, Ala. - A Taco Bell employee in Alabama has been fired after authorities say two Lee County deputies were denied service. Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said in a statement that the uniformed deputies were told by the cashier Saturday night in Phenix City that they wouldn't be served and they needed to leave.

our political class is still violating our sovereignty and security with endless migrants from the Middle East. We have so many emergencies within our national security apparatus and military that can and should be addressed within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), yet the GOP-Senate chose to focus on more immigration as their final act before recess. The Senate passed the Shaheen, D-N.H. (F, 2%) motion to instruct the conference committee negotiating the House-Senate differences in the NDAA to authorize a potentially unlimited amount Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) for Afghanis. Only 12 Republicans opposed the motion, which is non-binding, but...

The Republican Party’s Platform Committee adopted a draft document Tuesday that not only recognizes the unborn child’s “fundamental right to life,” but also calls for defunding Planned Parenthood and states that the GOP will “not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage.” The draft platform still has to be adopted by the full GOP Convention, which will be held in Cleveland next week. The Platform Committee, which was chaired by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) — who has a 100 percent pro-life voting record, according to the National Right to Life Committee — and dominated by social conservatives, adopted...

The former beauty queen who called the Dallas shooter a “martyr” has been suspended from her job at a Florida TV station. Kalyn Chapman James, who was the first black Miss Alabama, is on administrative leave from WPTB2, where she hosted a weekly art program. “I don't feel sad for the officers who lost their lives and I know that's not really my heart,” the Mobile native said in a controversial two-minute clip posted to Facebook Sunday. “I value human life. And I want to feel sad for them but I can't help but feeling like the shooter was a...

“I don’t want to feel this way,” Ms. James said into the camera. “I’m dealing with a bit of guilt because I don’t feel sad for the officers that lost their lives, and I know that that’s not really my heart. I value human life, and I want to feel sad for them, but I can’t help but [feel] like the shooter was a martyr. And I know it’s not the right way to feel, because nobody deserves to lose their lives and I know that those police officers had families and people who loved them and that they didn’t...

What a lovely gal. On Thursday night Black Power activist Micah Johnson murdered five police officers in cold blood and injured seven others. Micah wanted to kill white people and white cops.He did.Video captured Micah’s mass murder and execution of one police officer. On Sunday Kalyn Chapman James, the first black Miss Alabama, posted video on Facebook saying she can’t help but think Micah Johnson “was a martyr.” AL.com reported: Kalyn Chapman James, the first African American to hold the Miss Alabama title, posted a tearful video on her Facebook page Sunday that says she doesn’t want to “feel this...

Bernie Sanders supporters lost a debate over international trade that divided Democrats during a meeting in Orlando on Saturday to draft their party platform. Sanders supporters had hoped the party's official position statement for 2016 would include language explicitly rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, while backers of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominee, argued for softer language. Both presidential candidates oppose the controversial trade agreement, but it was championed by President Barack Obama, leaving the party in an awkward position.

Michael G. Hubbard, the former speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives who was convicted in a state trial last month on 12 counts of corruption, was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison plus probation and $210,000 in fines.

The lead organizer of the Dallas protest where snipers opened fire on police officers has made several disturbing comments on his social media. A Breitbart News review of Jeff Hood’s internet footprint revealed regular posts about the apocalypse, violent retribution to police, and Hood even recently posted about the 2013 death of a self proclaimed “social justice warrior” who committed suicide by lighting himself on fire in front of a shopping mall in Texas. Video of Hood speaking on camera just after the attack surfaced on social media where Hood talks about “leading the protest” (snip) Reverend Hood closely follows...

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the events surrounding an officer-involved shooting that left one man dead in Selma.

Let us now address the greatest American mystery at the moment: what motivates the supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump? I call it a “mystery” because the working-class white people who make up the bulk of Trump’s fan base show up in amazing numbers for the candidate, filling stadiums and airport hangars, but their views, by and large, do not appear in our prestige newspapers. On their opinion pages, these publications take care to represent demographic categories of nearly every kind, but “blue-collar” is one they persistently overlook. The views of working-class people are so foreign to that universe...

PHILADELPHIA — Three dozen union workers gathered outside city hall here on Thursday to rally against the global free-trade deals they believe have harmed Americans like them. Their candidate was Katie McGinty, the Democrats’ nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania. But their spiritual leader was Republican Donald Trump. “He recognized there’s some problems we need to solve,” said McGinty, who is challenging Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R), a free-trade advocate. “One, we have to stop bad trade agreements. . . . And two, we have to take the Chinese on when they manipulate their currency and dump goods in our markets.” Just two...

The Washington Post published an article listing five candidates likely to be considered to be Trump's vice president. U.S. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa is on that list. Ernst is Iowa's first female U.S. Senator. Ernst was not well known When she ran for the senate seat vacated by the retiring Tom Harkin. KWWL-TV caught up with Ernst and asked if she would consider serving as Donald Trump's vice president. "I would say, 'did my mother pay you to say that?', Ernst said. "But, no. I would have to consider it, but I love what I do in the United...

Which begs the question: Who is he going to pick as his vice presidential nominee? The short answer: No one knows. Trump relishes being unpredictable so trying to game out how this most unconventional of politicians will make his mind up is a bit of a guessing game. Add to that the fact that Trump's inner circle remains, largely, devoid of establishment types and you quickly get into a situation where the people talking don't know much and the people who do know aren't talking.

Donald Trump on Monday spent part of his July 4th with Sen. Joni Ernst -- fueling speculation that the Iowa freshman senator could be on the short list of his vice presidential picks. Ernst told Fox News they had a "good conversation," adding, "I will continue to share my insights with Donald about the need to strengthen our economy, keep our nation safe, and ensure America is always a strong, stabilizing force around the globe." Earlier, Trump tweeted, "I look forward to meeting (Ernst) today in New Jersey. She has done a great job as Senator of Iowa!"

Donald Trump announced he would meet with Sen. Joni Ernst on Monday, one of several recent names dropped on his Twitter feed that are fueling speculation over his highly-anticipated vice presidential selection. "I look forward to meeting @joniernst today in New Jersey. She has done a great job as Senator of Iowa!" Trump tweeted early Monday. Ernst's name appeared in reports on VP shortlists over the weekend, and a senior Trump adviser confirmed to CNN that Ernst is being considered. Trump also doled out some conspicuous praise for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who have also...