Free Republic

Colorado Democrats have renamed their annual “Jefferson Jackson Dinner” the “Obama Dinner” to honor the legacy of the 44th president and his wife. Barack and Michelle Obama are the ones that the Colorado Democratic Party has been waiting for — to usurp a fundraising event named after the third and seventh U.S. presidents, respectively. Party spokesman Eric Walker had two words for critics of the decision: “Damn right.”

After California’s then-Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced felony pimping charges last year against the two owners of Backpage.com — a classified-ad website that is a hub for sex trafficking and prostitution, one of the men cut a $10,000 check to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s super PAC. Mrs. Pelosi’s political action committee, House Majority PAC, has resisted giving the money back, and an aide to Mrs. Pelosi said the California Democrat knows nothing about the contribution. The uproar over sexual harassment that began with the Harvey Weinstein scandal has intensified the scrutiny of political contributions linked to Backpage, which...

Senate Republicans breathed a big sigh of relief Tuesday night when Roy Moore went down to defeat in the Alabama special election -- even though it halved their already razor-thin majority. Alabama voters rejected a man who was totally unfit to serve as U.S. senator, not just because of numerous allegations that he preyed on young girls when he was a local district attorney in his 30s but because his reverence for the Constitution was as phony as his 10-gallon hat.P But the race might have turned out differently had it not been for the courage of my home state's...

While there is always a risk of reading too much into Supreme Court justices’ questions during oral argument, there is often much to be gleaned. If Tuesday’s oral argument is any indication, the year-long anticipation for the Masterpiece Cakeshop Supreme Court showdown will result in a narrow opinion that provides little clarity in the continuing conflict between culture and religious liberty. By now the basics are well-known: When a homosexual couple asked Jack Phillips, the owner of the Colorado-based Masterpiece Cakeshop, to design a wedding cake for them, Phillips informed the pair that he could not, in conscience, create a...

Lines began forming outside the Supreme Court last week for one of the biggest oral arguments of the year, in the case of a Colorado man who says that requiring him to create custom cakes for same-sex weddings would violate his religious beliefs. At the end of over an hour of debate, it became clear that, at least in one respect, the case is just like so many others: It is likely to hinge on the vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who initially seemed sympathetic to the same-sex couple but later expressed real concern that Colorado had not been sufficiently...

The GOP tax plan was passed through the Senate Friday night in a 51-49 vote. There are a number of things included in the last-minute text, including a provision by Sen. Gardner of Colorado that exempts Kombucha, a fermented tea drink, from alcoholic taxes and regulations. Why it matters: These are small examples of what got slipped in the bill last-minute as the Senate vote neared, and reveals some of the senators' pet projects back in their home states. Odd amendments included in the tax plan: Sen. Orrin Hatch Prohibit things like cash and gift cards to be given as...

November 27, the Denver Post set into motion its latest round of layoffs just over a year after shrinking the newsroom staff by 26 employees through the combination of a buyout offer and supplementary dismissals. Seven positions included in the Post's contract with the Denver Newspaper Guild are affected, and another four employees working non-union gigs also appear to have been discharged. "The Post gave the required two-week notice of layoff in seven union covered positions," notes the DNG's Tony Mulligan, corresponding via email. "Four are in the newsroom and three are in advertising support." ... As for why the...

Captain Chris Jett of the Burnet County Sheriff's Office said the officer was on his way home in the 12000 block of FM 1431 near Smithwick just after 10:00 p.m. when he saw the suspect shooting into a car with family of three. The officer called 911 and exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The suspect was shot in the chest and ran off into the woods, where he was found.

AURORA, Colo. -- An Aurora couple are dealing with an unimaginable loss as they prepare to lay their 10-year-old daughter to rest. “She was just a child of joy and she brought joy to everyone,” her father Anthony Davis said. Ashawnty Davis was a fifth-grader at Sunrise Elementary School in Aurora. She had a passion for basketball and wanted to grow up to be a WNBA star. But her parents say something changed in the happy little girl at the end of October when she was involved in a fight after school on Sunrise Elementary property. “She got into her...

At first glance, the Masterpiece Cakeshop case — for which the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on Dec. 5 — looks easy. In 2012 Charlie Craig and David Mullins attempted to buy a wedding cake at Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo. The owner, an evangelical Christian named Jack Phillips, refused to sell them one. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission found Phillips liable for sexual-orientation discrimination, which is prohibited by the state’s public accommodations law. State courts have upheld the commission’s decision. The reason the nation’s high court is giving the case a second glance is Phillips’s First Amendment...

This week marks the fifth anniversary of Colorado's legalization of the commercial marijuana trade, and the reviews aren't good. An editorial in the Colorado Springs Gazette reports, "Five years of retail pot coincide with five years of a homelessness growth rate that ranks among the highest rates in the country. Directors of homeless shelters, and people who live on the streets, tell us homeless substance abusers migrate here for easy access to pot." The paper says, "Five years of Big Marijuana ushered in a doubling in the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who tested positive for marijuana, based...

Homeless campers living west of Durango have created a governing council and adopted 19 rules for themselves to give order and security to an otherwise disorderly community. Some of the self-imposed rules include: Hail other campsites before approaching. Keep noise levels to a minimum after dusk. Donate two hours per week to keep the camp clean. And use designated locations for bathroom needs, which includes burying waste. “When it (Camp Council) was first created, I didn’t expect it to work,” said Tom Bates, one of three councilors on Camp Council. “We had chaos up there prior to this. Any community...

The Denver Broncos saved some of their best defense for after the game. At issue: boss John Elway labeling them soft. It didn’t sit too well with a few of the players, though others welcomed the critique. Yet the comments didn’t stoke the necessary fire, either, as the Broncos lost 20-17 to the Cincinnati Bengals, extending their losing streak to six games. “None of us are soft,” said linebacker Brandon Marshall, whose team met Saturday night to discuss the remarks by their Hall of Fame QB turned general manager. “For him to call us soft, it just rubbed us the...

While most of the focus is on the media's “shiny object”, Judge Roy Moore and the contentious senate race in Alabama, a very dangerous statement has been tossed out by Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. With the support of Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona and Todd Young of Indiana, Gardner has put forth the idea that if Judge Roy Moore wins the election in Alabama the senate should expel him because he does not meet the moral and ethical standards of the senate.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton refused to speculate about what the Senate should do if Roy Moore wins his Senate race in Alabama after being accused of sexually harassing and assaulting multiple women. Cotton, a Republican, said it’s up to the people of Alabama to decide if that’s the kind of man they want representing them in the Senate. “As far as Roy Moore goes, I'm not going to speculate about what may happen should he win. We're three weeks out from the election, he made it pretty clear this week that he's not going to step aside … it’s up...

DENVER -- The Problem Solvers have uncovered a city law that's making Denver millions of dollars before defendants have even been convicted of a crime. The Denver statute is called a Public Nuisance Abatement Ordinance and it allows police to confiscate property, usually cars, for a crime you may later be found innocent of. It's exactly what happened to 57-year-old Semere Fremichael, a native of Eritrea. The immigrant from East African has been driving a taxi in Denver for the past 28-years. In April, he was arrested in an undercover prostitution sting. An undercover female cop tapped on Fremichael's taxi...

A previously deported illegal immigrant gang member charged with attempted murder and kidnapping this month was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Ft. Collins, a northern Colorado sanctuary city that ousted a finalist for police chief over his support of immigration enforcement. Judicial Watch blew the scandal open in September and is embroiled in a public records saga with Ft. Collins officials for documents surrounding the selection process and abrupt elimination of a respected veteran law enforcement official with impressive credentials. Ft. Collins is trying to keep records secret by asserting that the “material is so candid or personal that public...

DENVER (CBS4)– A former Democratic legislative aide is now the tenth woman to accuse Rep. Steve Lebsock, a Democrat representing Thornton, of sexual harassment. In a detailed Facebook post, Cassie Tanner accuses Lebsock of making repeated lewd sexual advances and then publically unbuttoning part of her blouse. The incident happened in 2014 at a Young Democrats function held with other legislative aides at 1UP in LoDo.

Devin Patrick Kelley the Texas Church Shooter is a far-left wing Antifa supporting Atheist. This Texas church shooting is one of the biggest mass murders in Texas pushed by Antifa and George Soros Communist Revolution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RmD3hGobP0  

In the winter, when Interstate 70 shuts down at exit 205 due to car crashes or a deluge of snow, Silverthorne police chief John Minor gives his officers the same piece of advice: “You better have your head on a swivel and your head in the game, because it’s about to get a little sporty.” For the officers and state patrollers who ride herd over the chaotic cattle drive of cars and semis during an interstate evacuation, being on high alert means the difference between life and death. “If you’re actually on the interstate staffing that closure just before the...