Free Republic

It is this solution, brilliant at the time, that leads us to Brearley’s legacy on climate change. Because over the course of the last 200 plus years, the electoral college, which provides for stronger voting power per person in more rural and less populated states, has elected four U.S. presidents who clearly lost the popular vote (1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016). Two of those elections have occurred during the period in which we have known about the causes and impacts of carbon dioxide emissions and climate change and in both cases, the impacts of those elections have very likely had...

Here's why rural Ontario is fading and cities aren't The urban-rural divide is swiftly becoming one of the most pressing issues of economic policy in this century. From Europe to England to the United States and yes, here in Canada, the sweeping changes to physical landscapes have translated to sweeping changes in political landscapes. As David Reevely pointed out last week, Ontario’s urban centres have seen economic growth and recovery that the stretches of rural land separating those centres simply haven’t. There are multiple reasons for this, one being that Ontario’s municipalities have been practising a policy of intensification for...

Barbra Streisand has struck a sultry pose for the latest W magazine cover, showing off her incredibly toned legs in a pantless photo shoot. The 74-year-old legend wore only a white dress shirt, men's tie and left little to the imagination in the sexy snaps. "Strong women are, simply, women with opinions," she told the magazine.

Five days after the most tragic, appalling and cataclysmic event in modern American political history, it’s hard to know what to do next. For Clinton supporters, for liberals, for people of colour, it has been like waking up to a nightmare that not only never ends, but gets worse each day, as the consequences of a Trump presidency come into focus.

People in this world are suffering, and Miley Cyrus is taking that very seriously — by ditching her publicist and skipping future red carpets. "[A year ago] I had to do the [‘A Very Murray Christmas’] premiere, and I will never do a red carpet again,” she tells Elle in its October issue. “Why, when people are starving, am I on a carpet that's red? Because I'm 'important'? Because I'm 'famous'? That's not how I roll. It's like a skit — it's like ‘Zoolander.’"See, Miley’s not “doing it” anymore, she says, and by “doing it” she means putting on an act, being disingenuous, having people suck...

You work and get paid. To whom do your after-tax earnings belong? Do they all belong to you or does some portion of them belong to the neighborhood grocer whose store you patronize? Who should have first dibs on the money you've earned: you or the auto dealer who sold you the last car you bought? In both cases the correct answer indisputably seems to be “you.” But not so fast. Typical discussions of trade policy imply that the answers are “the grocer” and “the auto dealer.” When politicians promise to raise tariffs on imports, they are promising to penalize...

Even in his final months, Muhammad Ali was speaking out on behalf of Islam, the religion he so famously embraced in the 1960s by changing his name and refusing to fight in the Vietnam War. In December, the boxing legend issued a statement criticizing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Ali called on fellow Muslims to “stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda.” Ali, who died Friday at 74, endured public scorn when he joined the Nation of Islam as a young athlete. Decades later, long...

If the Republicans had nominated a skunk in the contest against Hillary Clinton, the National Rifle Association would have heartily embraced the odoriferous Mr. Stinky. A week ago, the NRA, which has millions of members and is eager to target congressional races in which guns are an issue, endorsed Donald Trump for president. He spoke, of course. Hand in the air for emphasis, he told the NRA that Clinton would try to "abolish" the Second Amendment. How does one "abolish" anything in the Constitution? It takes many steps. It's not going to happen. But that doesn't matter. It was what...

The UAW today endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, citing her support for UAW members, her lifelong commitment to the job security of American families, and her ability to unify and win in November. “Hillary Clinton understands our issues on trade, understands the complexities of multinational economies and supports American workers, their families and communities,” said UAW President Dennis Williams. Now is a time for unity, a time to focus on what lies ahead in November. Bernie Sanders has brought to this campaign a dialogue that has been needed for far too long. He has been, and remains, a great friend...

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders share a drink and reminisce during the opening of "Saturday Night Live." “I’m not going anywhere,” Sanders, played by Larry David, says as a bartender announces closing time. “I can stay here as long as I want.

BY NOW it is clear that Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nomination to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by Antonin Scalia’s death, is not going anywhere. But if Hillary Clinton wins the White House, Senate Republicans may make a desperate about-face during the lame-duck session to lock in the moderate Garland before the arrival of Clinton and a possibly more left-leaning candidate. By then, however, it will be too late. Sorry, Judge Garland, but what Clinton should do if she wins is make clear that her choice will be none other than Barack Obama, a former professor of constitutional law,...

I wonder when the Trump backers will realize they’ve been had. The 2016 GOP campaign has been overwhelmed by Donald Trump’s celebrity persona, by the can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it appearances where he might say or do anything — and “anything” includes expletives, incitements, and assorted idiocies that would have been disqualifying in the bygone times of, oh, five or ten minutes ago. But Trump is not the real story of the campaign. The real story is the Republican base’s rejection of the Republican establishment — i.e., the party leaders, prominent pols, lobbyists, and donors who make up the GOP component of the Washington...

Hillary Clinton showed her wild side at an LGBT event at SoHo's Capitale, where the presidential wannabe sported a leather jacket, boasted about her Democratic-leading campaign and ran a red light on her way out. Stars including Rosie O'Donnell, Billie Jean King and former Rep. Barney Frank — celebrating his 76th birthday — were all in the house as Hill went on a roll. "She told everyone, 'I have a million more votes than Donald, and oh, by the way, I have 2 1/2 million more than Bernie Sanders!" says an event insider. We're also told that the boo birds...

If Donald Trump secures the Republican presidential nomination, he would start the general election campaign as the least-popular candidate to represent either party in modern times. Three-quarters of women view him unfavorably. So do nearly two-thirds of independents, 80 percent of young adults, 85 percent of Hispanics and nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. Those findings, tallied from Washington Post-ABC News polling, fuel Trump’s overall 67 percent unfavorable rating — making Trump more disliked than any major-party nominee in the 32 years the survey has been tracking candidates.

After canceling a Friday rally in Chicago due to potential violence, Donald Trump lost out on two major primary contests on Saturday, giving a much-needed boost to his competitors Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. On Saturday, Rubio - who is currently in third place in the GOP race - was declared the winner of the Washington D.C. caucus, nabbing the district's 10 delegates all for himself. Meanwhile, Cruz won nine on Wyoming's 11 delegates, with Trump and Rubio each earning one delegate each. The state's 14 other delegates will be elected at the April 16 state convention. While Trump is...

One of the more ironic aspects of campaign 2016 is that Donald Trump, for all his constant talk of winning, often doesn't know the simplest things about how to win.Not more than a couple of days after taking the presidential high road, complimenting his opponents and calling himself a unifier at his post-Super Tuesday press conference, at a point when it looked as if a sizable number, if not a stampede, of conservatives and Republicans were poised to join his "movement," all he had to do at the next debate was be reasonably pleasant and offer halfway decent answers on...

I hope if you've been paying attention these past few days, you're beginning to understand my position, and why I've been so forceful, consistent, and aggressive in my advocacy of it. Many of you already understood, but certainly there are many others who still need to figure it out. In just the last couple of days, Donald Trump has promised reprisals against his critics when he's elected president, pledging to "open up" libel laws so that he can punish anyone who writes "negative" or "false" stories about him. He said his critics "will have problems" when he's in power. Remember,...

As the Obamas begin their final year in the White House, a new movie debuting at the Sundance Film Festival aims to tell the First Family’s origin story, with a focus on their first date on the south side of Chicago. Richard Tanne, an actor and first-time feature director, conceived of the idea for Southside With You back during Barack Obama’s first campaign for president, when the then-senator from Illinois didn’t look much older than the 25-year-old who convinced Michelle Robinson to join him for a long afternoon in the summer of 1989 (watch an exclusive clip above). The years...

GOP front-runner leads cult of personality centered around white alienation, racial resentment and authoritarianism. Donald Trump is the front-runner in the 2016 Republican presidential primary race. He leads his closest rival, Ted Cruz, by a substantial margin. Trump’s proto-fascism, xenophobia and bigotry are not anomalies or outliers. These values are held by a large percentage of Republicans. Donald Trump validates these feelings. As such, it is now fundamentally clear that Donald Trump is a hero and leader for many conservatives in the Age of Obama. Most members of the pundit class have been befuddled by the ascendance of Donald Trump....

President Barack Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, released a pre-Christmas statement yesterday, celebrating the fifth anniversary of his having signed legislation that allows openly homosexual, lesbian and bisexual individuals to serve in the U.S. military. "Today, Americans can serve the country they love no matter who they love, and openly gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women in uniform make our military stronger and America safer," said the president. ...