Free Republic

Sal Russo, co-founder of the Tea Party Express, announced his support for amnesty on Wednesday, reversing his organization’s statement from a year ago that it would not take a position on immigration reform. If you take a look at Russo’s background, this isn’t exactly the revelation that some in the media are making it out to be. What’s interesting, though, is the dichotomy between Russo’s position and the principles of the organization he helped to create. The Tea Party Express bills itself as anti-establishment, but Russo’s immigration proposal is nearly identical to the principles pushed by GOP House Leaders --...

FORT HUACHUCA — There was a lot of energy — for kids and adults — on Friday, as 3- to-5-year-olds dressed in green T-shirts engaged in a field day. The students were part of the Fort Huachuca Accommodation School District’s special education classes, helping to prepare the future kindergartners to cope in a more formal education setting. Teacher Annette Rogers said part of the program is ensuring the children have time outdoors to help in their physical development. It’s called “adaptive PE,” she said. As a part of foundational physical education it is important for children with special needs, Rogers...

Is it possible to be the anti-establishment candidate in a Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and be the choice of the Republican establishment in your state at the same time? By definition, this would seem impossible. Yet, State Senator Joni Ernst has managed to be the establishment backed, anti-establishment candidate in Iowa’s Republican U.S. Senate primary. Iowa’s Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds was an early endorser of Ernst’s campaign, and Governor Terry Branstad has reportedly been helpful behind the scenes, especially in the fundraising department. Ernst has also been backed by national Republican establishment figures like Mitt Romney, Sen. John...

Watch, a pterodactyl in it's natural habitat. The pterodactyl first spots a protestor and a mark. The mark, having an alliance with the protestor, defends him. The pterodactyl first screams in it's distinctive high pitched voice. It then attempts to attack the mark with it's claws, but is defeated. The pterodactyl, not one for giving up, continues attacking the mark, but once again lies on the ground defeated. Truly a wonderful creature. Dubstep: https://soundcloud.com/zmcd/mark-mark-mark

[Caption:] U.S. Senator John McCain, center, speaks as Democratic Senator from the state of Connecticut, Chris Murphy, second left, and Opposition leader Oleh Tyahnybok [All Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" leader], stand around him during a Pro-European Union rally in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013. Sen. John McCain (R. Ariz.) advocated for sending arms to Ukraine Tuesday [link at URL] on Fox News. McCain acknowledged the arms would not likely enable Ukraine to defeat the Russians in open war, but emphasized it could improve the Ukrainian military's morale and ensure that the Russians would have "a real fight...

by Brian Hayes | Top Right News Last month, we reported on an incursion by Mexican troops in Arizona, who held U.S. agents at gunpoint before being allowed to retreat back into Mexico. Many experts believe that elements of the Mexican army are openly assisting the drug cartels along their smuggling routes into the U.S. Now comes a new shocking report of dozens of invasions across the border by Mexican troops, who have shot Americans and even landed helicopters on ranchers' land and held them at gunpoint. WATCH:

Hillary Clinton is running for President. Oh, sure, she hasnÂ’t announced it yet. But all the signs are there: speeches to certain groups, third-party money-raising apparatus, little hints dropped by Bill Clinton on Twitter. Hillary can play coy, but no one in the Democrat Party believes for a second that she did not walk out of the offices of Secretary of State and right into a campaign meeting. But what about the other big female name in American politics? No, not Elizabeth Warren. She is going to run with Hillary for the VP job. WeÂ’re talking about Sarah Palin. Ever...

The Blaze's Investigative Reporting Show "For the Record" has been investigating Benghazi for a year. The hour long special will air tonight on The Blaze TV. Today, on The Blaze Instagram, they have been dropping hints that John McCain may be involved somehow. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4

Updated 6:37 p.m. | Sen. Ted Cruz gathered a group of House conservatives in his office Tuesday night, talking about immigration and House GOP leadership elections slated for after the midterm elections. As CQ Roll Call first reported last October, Cruz held a secret meeting with members at Tortilla Coast during the height of the government shutdown drama. Many of these same Republicans are the agitators who aren’t happy with Speaker John A. Boehner. The Texas Republican gathered roughly 10 members of the GOP Conference at 8 p.m. Tuesday for a 90-minute session that included candy bars, crackers and soda....

A jury on Wednesday spared the life of an Arizona woman convicted of beating her husband to death with a hammer, sentencing her to life in prison instead of the death penalty. The decision in the penalty phase of Marissa Devault’s trial comes after the jury deliberated for about three days since April 22. Devault nodded when jurors were polled about their decision, and she hugged her attorneys before leaving the courtroom smiling. “We’re happy with the decision they made, thank God,” defense attorney Andrew Anderson Clemency said outside the courthouse. “They made a decision to spare a life.” …

Frustrated with President Barack Obama’s reaction to Russian action in Ukraine, a group of Republican senators said Wednesday they will introduce legislation outlining a more muscular response. “What we’ve seen from the administration is a lot of rhetoric,” Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. The White House has been dealing “with the situation after something bad has already occurred,” he said. Earlier this week, violence flared up in another area of Ukraine that hugs the Russian border, as the new government in Kiev criticized local police...

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Police say a valley man threatened to kill his wife, telling his victim "Islamic Law" gave him the right to kill her. Ansar Muhammad, 43, is facing several charges, including assault and imprisonment. SNIP: Muhammad was arrested and booked into the Avondale city jail and later transported to the Maricopa County jail. He faces aggravated assault domestic violence-impede breathing, assault-intent/reckless/injury, unlawful imprisonment, threatening-intimidation with injury and sexual assault charges. More Information at Link

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy has issued a warning to Republicans who continue to question the integrity of the agency’s scientific data: we’re coming for you. McCarthy told an audience at the National Academy of Sciences on Monday morning the agency will go after a “small but vocal group of critics” who are arguing the EPA is using “secret science” to push costly clean air regulations. “Those critics conjure up claims of EPA secret science — but it’s not really about EPA science or secrets. It’s about challenging the credibility of world renowned scientists and institutions like Harvard University...

They train to the same standards as their active duty counterparts and cost 60 percent less to maintain. Yet after years of defending freedom in Afghanistan, Arizona’s Citizen-Soldiers are being told they are unworthy of operating the Army’s premier attack helicopter. Army leaders recently revealed a plan to take away all 192 National Guard AH-64D Apache attack helicopters — 24 of which are assigned to Arizona — asserting that Guardsmen aren’t as ready to perform attack aviation missions as the active duty. That claim is inaccurate and statistically unproven. Adding insult, proponents of the Army’s plan say the Guard can’t...

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the House GOP Conference Chair, said that amnesty legislation could come to the floor by August. Her comments come after multiple House Republicans have ramped up support for amnesty legislation and discussed bills they plan to introduce in the coming months. “I believe there is a path that we get a bill on the floor by August,” McMorris Rodgers said, according to the Spokesman-Review. “We’re going to have to push that this is a legal status, not amnesty,” she said. According to NBC 5, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) "will soon introduce a bill that will...

To many Democrats, ObamaCare is a four-letter word. Most Democrats in competitive elections are seeking to avoid the topic, opting not to tout the controversial law on their campaign websites. In a review of battleground races, The Hill found that out of 50 Democratic candidates with active campaign websites, only 11 mention the healthcare law by name, either as "ObamaCare," "Affordable Care Act," or "ACA." Fourteen more mention the law, but not its name, and half the candidates omit it entirely from their websites. President Obama has trumpeted that more than 8 million people have enrolled in ACA-related plans. Meanwhile,...

Governor Brewer has been considered a friend of second amendment supporters.   When she was under threat of reelection, she signed constitutional carry into law.  Under her watch, Arizona has taken the lead as the most advanced state in the union when scored on restoring second amendment rights. Other states are striving to catch up.  Kansas passed a bill to make sure that public buildings would only ban people carrying guns if they effectively did so for legally armed citizens and criminals alike.  Indiana passed a law ending their "roaming school zones", where legally armed citizens could be turned into...

Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) blasted President Barack Obama and his policy towards Syria on Tuesday, the Washington Free Beacon reports. Speaking to Phoenix radio station KFYI, McCain compared Obama to former president Jimmy Carter, saying, “I thought Jimmy Carter was bad, but he pales in comparison to this president in my view.” …

In a statement released Thursday, John McCain called Hillary Clinton "my friend" and praised her public service career. ... According to a news release, Clinton is scheduled to "participate in a conversation" with McCain. This year's forum will focus on "Crisis in the Middle East: Values, Strategy and Options," and will include a session on Russia and Ukraine and on combating human trafficking.

A new report analyzing the financial ramifications of a takeover of some of Nevada’s millions of acres of federal lands suggests the state would benefit from such a transfer. A transfer of 4 million acres of U.S. Bureau Land Management land could bring in anywhere from $31 million to $114 million a year, based on a review of four Western states that have significant amounts of trust lands under their control, the report says.