Free Republic

The two presidents stood in the East Room on Tuesday afternoon, united in their goal of defeating the Islamic State but separated by a stylistic gulf as vast as the Atlantic. On the left, facing the cameras, was François Hollande, war president. He spoke of “cowardly murderers” who “dishonor humanity,” of a “relentless determination to fight terrorism everywhere and anywhere,” of “an implacable joint response,” of “hunting down their leaders” and “taking back the land.” On the right stood Barack Obama, President Oh-bummer. Defeating the Islamic State? “That’s going to be a process that involves hard, methodical work. It’s not...

Global average temperatures in 2015 are likely to be the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Data until the end of October showed this year's temperatures running "well above" any previous 12 month period. The researchers say the five year period from 2011 to 2015 was also the warmest on record. The rise, they state, was due to a combination of a strong El Nino and human-induced global warming. The WMO said their preliminary estimate, based on data from January to October, showed that the global average surface temperature for 2015 was 0.73 degrees C above...

Johnny Manziel lost his starting spot after cameras caught the quarterback partying during his bye week. Browns coach Mike Pettine called the behavior, which comes after an offseason trip to rehab, “disappointing” and “frustrating.” Manziel’s bye-week carousing spoils his national coming-out party previously scheduled for Monday night’s game against the banged-up Baltimore Ravens. Pettine announced on Tuesday Josh McCown will start the game at quarterback. TMZ spotted Manziel on Thursday at the RIO Rooftop & Restaurant nightclub in Austin, where he partied the evening away with friends. The Summit Rooftop Lounge, where he spent the evening boozing on champagne, served...

ext week, the world's leaders will converge on Paris to discuss whether humanity is burning up the ozone layer and how best to address the problem (hint: the solution will probably include a plea for more governmental authority in monitoring and controlling humanity's energy consumption and, probably, taxes). And, thankfully, according to our fearless leader who has been completely absent from the world stage following the Paris terror attacks, such a gathering will not only end our global reliance on fossil fuels, but it will also demonstrate to a homicidal Islamic apocalypse cult that we are a strong, global presence...

I had always looked upon my six-year-old son as a blessing. But now I realize that he is a disease. My wife, my parents, my grandparents, and every member of my family, both living and deceased, are likewise a disease. But if you are reading this right now, and you are white, you should know that your children and all of your loved ones are also a disease. So implies a University of Colorado education professor, Cherly E. Matias, in the most recent edition of Teaching Education, a peer-reviewed journal. In “‘Why Do You Make Me Hate Myself?’: Re-teaching Whiteness,...

Star running back Ezekiel Elliott has apparently played his final home game for No. 3 Ohio State, and he wasn't pleased with the way it went down. After starting the week in the hospital with a previously undisclosed infection in his leg, the junior returned to the lineup Saturday afternoon, declared himself fully fit and then ripped the play calling in a 17-14 upset loss to No. 9 Michigan State at the Horseshoe. "How we lost, I just feel like we weren't put in the right opportunity to win this game, we weren't put in the right situations to win...

The bodies of slaughtered Parisians were still unburied when our president, the leader of the most powerful country in history, beclowned himself on the world stage. In Turkey Obama gave a speech that surpassed even his long record of narcissistic petulance and juvenile snark. What we are witnessing is a willful destruction of America’s prestige and authority unprecedented in our history. It’s a sad day when the President of the United States makes a milquetoast French socialist like François Hollande sound like George S. Patton. A jihadist organization, the most prominent of a metastasizing global movement, had just murdered 129...

Marco Rubio has a plan for defeating ISIS. Politico agrees it's brilliant and wants to share it with everyone. First, Senator Rubio wants to stop admitting Syrian refugees into the United States: First, I would protect the homeland by immediately stopping the flow of Syrian refugees into the United States—not because refugees fleeing conflict are unwelcome, but because it is currently impossible to verify their identities or intentions. I would also strengthen the Visa Waiver Program’s security screening to ensure individuals coming to our country are not a threat. This is very good. I am glad that Senator Rubio does...

President Obama said Thursday that Syrian refugees are no more dangerous to the U.S. than tourists, and he accused Republican presidential candidates of stoking fears about the refugees and closing the Guantanamo Bay terrorist detention center to score political points. Speaking to reporters at a summit in the Philippines, Mr. Obama said the “overwhelming numbers” of Syrians who are applying for entry to the U.S. “are children, women, families — themselves victims of terrorism.” He said they are already subject to rigorous vetting by U.S. security officials. “The idea that somehow they pose a more significant threat than all the...

President Barack Obama lashed out Wednesday at Republicans who insist on barring Syrian refugees from entering the U.S., deeming their words offensive and insisting "it needs to stop." "Apparently they're scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America," Obama said. Mocking GOP leaders for thinking they're tough, Obama said overblown rhetoric from Republicans could be a potent recruitment tool for the Islamic State group. He insisted the U.S. process for screening refugees for possible entry into the U.S. is rigorous and said the U.S. doesn't make good decisions "based on hysteria" or exaggerated risk. "We are...

In the wake of Friday's deadly terror attack in Paris and the confirmed bombing of a Russian airliner, Russia and France are pounding the Islamic State's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa as, while the number of U.S. airstrikes against ISIS still dwarves all others combined, America appears to be in a slap fight while others are punching hard, say military experts. U.S. rules of engagement and the overarching desire to minimize collateral damage are holding back the true force of U.S. air power, while Paris and Moscow have taken off the gloves following the bombing of a Russian airliner and Friday's...

The Paris terror attacks may have put a clamp on President Obama's plans to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, as the number of governors saying they won't take them swells. At the same time, top congressional lawmakers are urging the administration to halt the plan. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul called on Obama to "temporarily suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees" pending a "full review," according to a letter obtained by Fox News. The resistance at the state level is coalescing at a rapid clip. So far, governors in at least 17 states...

In Turkey on Monday, President Barack Obama stated that ISIS is not "a traditional military opponent" and labeled it as a "violent extremist group." His comments cut directly to the heart of why the U.S. has been so ineffectual in defeating this enemy. If we don't even recognize it for what it is, how can we defeat it? ISIS is not a terrorist organization. It is indeed a state. It is a "traditional military opponent." Though ISIS uses unorthodox means and barbaric tactics, it has become a "state" – a state that could have been crippled if not wiped out...

Conservative Iowa Rep. Steve King has endorsed Ted Cruz for president, saying the Texas senator is "the answer to my prayers." "I do believe that Ted Cruz is the full package, the constitutional conservative that can restore the soul of America," King said at a press conference in Des Moines Monday, ABC News reports. King said he made his decision after a Friday visit to Europe, where, "I saw the erosion of the culture ... because of the colossal cultural suicide they're committing," ABC News reports. "Our nation is sick and getting sicker," King said in a press release, stating...

The human impact from Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris is immeasurable. As the world mourns the loss of life and the threat of terrorism, analysts say there’s no doubt fear will ricochet through the global economy. But they have varying opinions about the degree to which it will likely be felt not just in France, but as far away as the United States. France’s tourism industry is likely to take the biggest immediate punch from Friday’s gruesome events. According to 2014 data from the International Monetary Fund, France is the world’s sixth-largest economy – the second-biggest in the eurozone, and...

Both Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio have called for the US to accept more Syrian refugees, as long as they are properly "vetted", of course. But what does it mean to "vet" a refugee? Normally, if someone wants to come into the United States, say, from France or Germany, our government can check with the French or German government to see if this person has a criminal record, or even is who he says he is. But when it comes to refugees from Syria, what is called "vetting" relies mostly on one source of information: the refugee. The UNHCR referral...

In an interview that aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday, newly elected Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) 58% said he hopes to lead a House of Representatives that is “functioning again.” “I think wiping the slate clean was about wiping the slate clean in Congress and getting Congress, the House functioning again,” Ryan said. However, part of that Ryan said will require finding “common ground” with the Obama White House. “Look, if we can find common ground, we can on highways, we will on funding the government, hopefully we can on tax policy,” Ryan said. “Those are...

The European Union won’t change its strategy for dealing with refugees arriving from the Middle East and elsewhere in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks, the president of the bloc’s executive arm said Sunday. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, also urged citizens and politicians not to confuse the Paris perpetrators with those seeking shelter from war and terror. People familiar with the matter have said that one of the terrorists who killed more than 100 people in coordinated attacks in the French capital Friday had entered the EU via Greece on a Syrian passport. That revelation...

University of Missouri police said Wednesday they have arrested a suspect accused of making online threats against black students and faculty, threats that added to racial tensions on campus that resulted in the departure of two senior university officials. Police did not release a name but said the suspect was not on or near the university’s Columbia campus when the threat was made. The suspect is in custody. “We had additional officers on patrol last night and the campus remained safe,” Major Brian Weimer said in a statement. “We investigated a number of reports and tips and take every one...

Jeb Bush has a strong performance on Tuesday night's GOP debate stage and was 'really the serious candidate on stage" with his command of domestic and international policy, former Rep. Eric Cantor said Wednesday. "Clearly Jeb was back," the one-time House Majority Leader told CNN's "New Day" program. "Jeb clearly was prepared. He was the one most focused on identifying where conservative policies play out and benefit working people of this country. And was prepared to take on Hillary and did so last night more so than anybody." Bush believes in commonsense conservative policy, Cantor continued, versus what's become the...