Free Republic

A SHADOW LOOMS over the world. In this week’s edition we publish The World Ahead 2024, our 38th annual predictive guide to the coming year, and in all that time no single person has ever eclipsed our analysis as much as Donald Trump eclipses 2024. That a Trump victory next November is a coin-toss probability is beginning to sink in. Mr Trump dominates the Republican primary. Several polls have him ahead of President Joe Biden in swing states. In one, for the New York Times, 59% of voters trusted him on the economy, compared with just 37% for Mr Biden....

American consumers, including Democrats and Republicans, are feeling better about the U.S. economy, the University of Michigan's consumer survey showed on Friday, in what could be welcome news for President Joe Biden who has struggled to convince voters that he is best equipped to manage the economy heading into the presidential election in 2024. Consumer sentiment jumped 13 percent in January to its highest level since July 2021. The feeling of confidence about the economy cut across age, income, education, geography and even political affiliation. Democrats and Republicans showed their most favorable readings since the summer of 2021, according to...

Cadillac is quickly transforming itself into an electric SUV brand, and the upcoming 2026 Vistiq will serve as the mid-size three-row offering in the luxury marque's lineup. So far, all we've seen are a couple of exterior photos released by the company, but from what we can tell the Vistiq looks to be about the same size as the gas-powered XT6 SUV. Styling is sharp, with inspiration drawn from the brand's other electric offerings. Under the floorboards will undoubtedly be a variant of General Motors's Ultium battery.

The NHL made history before Saturday night’s Winnipeg Jets game against the Colorado Avalanche. The Jets were celebrating South Asian Heritage Night at the Canada Life Centre, which featured a beautiful rendition of O Canada sung in Punjabi, a first for the league. The singers were students from the local Amber Trails School’s kindergarten to grade 8 choir, which is the first school in Manitoba to offer a bilingual English-Punjabi program. This marks another incredible and unique way that NHL teams have celebrated Canada’s diverse nation of hockey fans. Though it may seem like a small gesture, it can help...

An experiential gift is perhaps one of the best gifts you can give this holiday season. And while a trip to Machu Picchu may not be in the budget, a MasterClass annual membership surely is — and come to think of it, it may turn out to be as epic, exciting and perspective-shifting as a global adventure. Even better: MasterClass is having an epic Cyber Monday sale. Right now, you can get two annual memberships for the price of one — as low as $10 a month. Want to get even more bang for your buck? Consider the Duo...

Vice President Mike Pence is a principled man of faith who has worked tirelessly to advance the conservative cause. Casey and I appreciate Mike and Karen for their willingness to put themselves forward in this campaign and wish the Pence family well in their next steps. Oct 28, 2023

Whoopi Goldberg, 67, fearlessly revealed she wets herself a lot when laughing, at a recent mental health gala. The actress and talk show host was asked by Page Six how she keeps herself in check during the Bring Change to Mind‘s 11th annual Revels & Revelations Gala and explained that now that she’s “at a certain age,” she tries “to laugh and pee.” Although she didn’t know exactly how many times her bathroom accidents happened in the last year, she admitted it’s been “a lot.” While Whoopi was at the mental health event, she was greeted by the late Robin...

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) signaled Monday that he is open to being a consensus Speaker candidate if House Republicans cannot decide who will lead the legislative body. McCarthy spoke to radio host Hugh Hewitt on if he would serve as the leader of the House in the event that Republicans cannot coalesce around House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) or House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). “Look, the conference has to make that decision. I’m still a member. I’m going to continue to fight and act,” McCarthy remarked. It remains unlikely that the conservatives who voted to...

Former Vice President Mike Pence cast the 2024 election as a fight for the future of conservatism and called on fellow Republicans to reject the “siren song of populism” championed by former President Donald Trump and his followers. “Should the new populism of the right seize and guide our party, the Republican Party we’ve long known will cease to exist and the fate of American freedom would be in doubt,” Pence said in what his campaign plugged as a major speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College Wednesday afternoon. […] Pence linked the right’s populism...

Former Vice President Mike Pence opened his bid for the Republican nomination for president Wednesday with a firm denunciation of former President Donald Trump, accusing his two-time running mate of abandoning conservative principles and being guilty of dereliction of duty on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence, launching his campaign in a suburb of Des Moines, became the first vice president in modern history to challenge the president under whom he served. He said Trump had disqualified himself when he insisted that Pence had the power to keep him in office — even though he did not. Trump, he said, “endangered my...

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for president on Wednesday, becoming the second House Republican to throw their support behind the Florida governor — even though he has not launched a campaign for the White House. In a statement released by the Never Back Down super PAC, which is supporting a DeSantis presidential bid, Massie called the Florida governor “a proven energetic leader.” “America needs a leader who is decisive, respects the Constitution, understands policy, puts family first, and leads by inspiring,” Massie said. “That’s why I’m endorsing Ron DeSantis for President.” “If we make the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Handed some 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 security footage, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has launched an impassioned new effort to explain away the deadly Capitol attack, linking the Republican Party ever more closely to pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the 2021 riot. The conservative commentator aired a first installment to millions of viewers on his prime-time show, working to bend perceptions of the violent, grueling siege that played out for the world to see into a narrative favorable to Donald Trump. He promised more Tuesday night. The undertaking by Fox News comes as Trump is again running for...

Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker: "I don't think there's anybody that's serious that's actually considering running against Joe Biden because he's done such a great job." Comments were made on 3/5/23

[Catholic Caucus] The Leadership of Pope FrancisWe are now in the tenth year of this Pontificate, and much has been written about Pope Francis and the way in which his Petrine Ministry is charting a course for the Church in the present age. His words and actions have been considered through the lenses of various ideological mindsets, resulting at times in contrasting understandings. There is no doubt that most people consider him a reformer, a Pope that wants to bring the Church into conversation with the challenges of the times. For some of them, such a trajectory has no solution...

Dr. Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state and senator Hillary Clinton, will receive an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) for her work as a public-health advocate and author. She will be according the honor at the university’s board of governors meeting in May, BGU president Prof. Daniel Chamovitz announced on Thursday. “We are honored that Dr. Clinton will be accepting an honorary doctorate from BGU, which has always been at the forefront of community medicine and increasing access to high quality medical care for underserved populations." Ben-Gurion...

During the 1980s, Ronald Reagan bestrode the political landscape like a colossus. After two Reagan landslides, the Democratic Party was on its heels, having lost one-in-four of their supporters to the popular Republican. Democrats took pains to study the so-called “Reagan Democrats” and learn what made them tick. Leading the charge was the Democratic Leadership Council, which advocated that the party abandon its Big Government, New Deal-like approach to problems and support a strong national defense and middle-class tax cuts. Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Joe Biden were among its prominent members who liked to call themselves “New Democrats.” Reagan...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Catholics Got Talent?’: Competition Invites Musicians to Promote Zeal for the EucharistWASHINGTON — Catholic poets, composers, and songwriters are invited to participate in a competition in which the winning piece could be performed before 80,000 people at the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis is sponsoring a Eucharistic Revival musical competition in an effort to renew zeal for the Eucharist.The musical competition is one facet of the multiyear National Eucharistic Revival launched on June 19, 2022 — the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ,...

My two millennial sons vouch for the linked article. These are the contributions that Millennials have made to our cuisine. I have had almost none of these foods listed, being an aging Baby Boomer, but those under the age 40 has likely had them all or at least heard of them. The "rolled" ice cream looks interesting. Charcoal Water, not so much. Normally I hate Internet lists like this because it end up being clickbait, with annoying pop-up ads taking over your screen before you can get to the next page. But this article (at least for me) had zero...

I forgive Pope Benedict. I hope others can too.I first met Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1994 when I was researching my book "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church." I was getting ready to leave Rome and he was one of the last and most important interviews for the book. Because of illness, he had to cancel our first appointment and then graciously rescheduled me for a time when most Vatican officials were taking their siestas. At the end of the interview, I asked for his blessing — something I only did with two other Vatican...

Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book explained how leaders and groups need each other for power: “For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” President Biden has breathed new confidence into allied unity and resolve—and has in turn been strengthened by our international allies. Overcoming the self-destructive America First isolationism of our recent past, Biden has rebuilt trust through collective action. Most recently, America’s continued triumphs in international energy diplomacy—ranging from reining in OPEC+ to the successful rollout of the Russian oil price caps to helping the EU work through its...