Free Republic

Twelve minutes before noon on Wednesday, President Joe Biden was sworn into office as the nation’s 46th president. Seven hours later, the United States reported more than 4,409 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, according to data collected by the COVID-19 Tracking Project.

In Rochester, Michigan, Oakland University is preparing to hand out wearable devices to students that log skin temperature once a minute — or more than 1,400 times per day — in the hopes of pinpointing early signs of the coronavirus.

With President Trump refusing to concede the election, there is a growing chorus of Republican voices spreading a ghoulish conspiracy theory: that the dead may have helped Joe Biden become the 46th president of the United States. “Literally, dead people are voting in Nevada,” Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and Trump ally, said on Monday.

So, not sure where else to put this. I'm having a difficult time getting a "feel" for this election. By all counts, my gut is telling me that Trump should win in a landslide, based on the enthusiasm I see at Trump rallies, and the lack of the same at Biden "rallies". I totally discount the polling showing Biden ahead 15 points or whatever ridiculous number is coming out this week. Trump signs in my area are plentiful -- Biden signs, fewer than I saw for Hillary. But I remain concerned as to whether this is just the area I...

Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Sen. Kamala Harris, faced off in Salt Lake City Wednesday night for the lone 2020 vice presidential debate. The live, 90-minute debate, moderated by USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page, touched on the coronavirus, the economy, climate change, the Supreme Court and more.

Three men were killed Friday night when they crashed a vehicle into a barrier activated by a security forces gate sentry at Robins Air Force Base, according to a base news release. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI have been asked to help in identifying the men, said Houston Coroner Danny Galpin. The men had no identification on them, said Galpin, who was summoned to the crash scene. The incident unfolded about 9:30 p.m. when a vehicle approached the Russell Parkway gate that is an entrance way onto the base, according the release. The driver failed...

Jill Stein has lashed out at the suggestion that Russian Facebook ads cost Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton the election. The former Green presidential hopeful was backed by at least one Facebook ad bought by Russia ahead of the 2016 election, with Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump also benefiting from the adverts, a Politico report said.

The world is a terrible mess. Lives ruined, forces aligned against each other, and the threat of death constantly hanging over everyone's heads. So time to relax and watch a new episode of The Walking Dead! Just kidding, you guys... If you were looking to get away from round the clock news of *suppresses gag reflex* President Trump, you probably should have focused elsewhere than on this week's shockingly timely episode of TWD, where a sadistic, misogynistic, enigmatic, violent maniac has beaten the good guys into submission and is now demanding they give up their s---, threatening them with violence...

Bill Clinton met Hillary at the bottom of her airplane’s stairs in Philadelphia on Monday and she appeared to stumble as she made her way to the awaiting car. Bill put his arm around her and she shuffled the short distance from the plane to the motorcade vehicle.

https://youtu.be/0JA_ErrUgwE (2010) The Apprentice USA S10E09 - Anand, a 31-year-old from Tampa, FL, was fired in the broadcast's opening minutes after Trump learned Anand had attempted to cheat during a prior task and then lied and denied the allegation when confronted about it.

A Chick-fil-A restaurant in Georgia is honoring veterans and active-duty service members with a “Missing Man Table.”Store manager Alex Korchan told WSB-TV the table features a folded American flag, a place setting for the veteran, and a letter titled “Missing Man Table.” The letter is similar to notes left on other “Missing Man” tables.

60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon died Wednesday evening in a car accident in New York. The CBS newsman was riding in a livery cab that struck another car and then crashed into a median on the West Side Highway, his network confirmed. Simon, the recipient of 24 Emmy awards, began regularly contributing to the Sunday-night newsmagazine in 1996. He also was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II; when that series wrapped in 2005, he worked full-time on 60 Minutes.

Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments aren't the only part of his interview with GQ causing controversy. The 67-year-old "Duck Dynasty" star was suspended by A&E Wednesday for calling homosexuality sinful — and putting gay people in same category as terrorists. While those quotes quickly went viral, it wasn't his only brow-raising statement in the interview; he also implied that African Americans were happier living under Jim Crow laws.

The stars of "Duck Dynasty" might be America's most popular TV family, but that could change very soon — because Phil Robertson has made some strong (and seriously offensive) anti-gay remarks that have sparked instant backlash. Speaking with GQ, Robertson lamented that when "everything is blurred on what's right and what's wrong ... sin becomes fine." So just what qualifies as sinful in his book? "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there — bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men," he declared.

On Saturday Brookings Institution Fellow, Shadi Hamid, tweeted a photo of the front page of what he describes as a "liberal" Egyptian newspaper which has proclaimed President Obama as a full-fledged member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The paper goes on to report that the son of a Muslim Brotherhood leader recently threatened to release documents proving Obama's membership in the terrorist organization, according to Hamid.

Tempers are flaring over a version of the American flag flying in Lake County. A veterans group says the flag is an outrage. The flag, which features a picture of President Obama, was taken down Tuesday afternoon. Korean war veteran Don Van Beck said his blood was boiling. "I can't describe how upset was because you just don't do that to the American flag," Van Beck said. Van Beck found it flying outside Lake County Democratic headquarters under the stars and stripes. Marine Corps vet John Masterjohn was seeing red.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour won't say if he's running for president in 2012, but he's already working to shape the narrative around a potential bid, especially when it comes to issues like race and his background as a former lobbyist.

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin left open the option Thursday of waging war with Russia if it were to invade neighboring Georgia and the former Soviet republic were a NATO ally. "We will not repeat a Cold War," Palin said in her first television interview since becoming Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate two weeks ago.

When all is said and done, much more will be said than done. And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up the latest in the saga of Barry Bonds. He is not retiring and not changing his story. Barry is not going anywhere, except after Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. Excerpts from the book "Game of Shadows" were released detailing allegations of extensive steroid use by Bonds from 1998 to 2002. The book, written by San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, makes Bonds sound like a walking pharmacy, alleging that the seven-time MVP took up to 10 performance-enhancing...