Free Republic

There has been a great deal of hand-wringing lately, particularly in progressive circles, about how a Trump presidency could destroy American democracy: the end of free speech and a free press, the influence of money in politics rising to the level of a true oligarchy, Supreme Court appointments that end cherished civil rights, like abortion rights, voting rights, and equal protection. These changes could be coming, and they could be every bit as destructive to the core values of our democracy as many people fear. But a Trump presidency poses a far more direct, permanent, and existential threat to our...

<p>The fall out from media bigwigs on the receiving end of a smack down of epic proportions from President-elect Donald Trump continues, with several participants whining to The New Yorker about how mean Trump was.</p> <p>Four executives who attended the off-the-record meeting are quoted without being identified and if there’s a common theme in the remarks, it may be the liberal application of f-bombs.</p>

As for many of you, last Tuesday was a very bad day for me.... Is our next president a demagogue or democrat? ...I have been involved in politics for more than 50 years, and this is certainly not the first time I've been on the losing end. It always hurts. And this one maybe hurts more than the rest — partly because we didn't really lose. Our side got more popular votes, while Trump received fewer votes than Mitt Romney or John McCain. ...The Founding Fathers provided tools to combat the demagogues they knew might come along. We merely need...

Here's the full transcript of his remarks from the Senate floor "I have been in politics for five decades, and I have not seen anything like what we are seeing today in America. The man who lost the popular vote by two million votes is now the president-elect. Let me repeat that: the man who lost the popular vote by two million votes or more is now the president-elect. His election sparked a wave of hate crimes across the nation. This is a simple statement of fact..."

An Iowa lawmaker has one thing to say to state universities that spend taxpayer dollars on election-related sit-ins and grief counseling: “Suck it up, buttercup.” “I’ve seen four or five schools in other states that are establishing ‘cry zones’ where they’re staffed by state grief counselors and kids can come cry out their sensitivity to the election results,” said Rep. Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton) to the Des Moines Register. “I find this whole hysteria to be incredibly annoying. People have the right to be hysterical … on their own time.” Kaufmann plans to introduce new legislation in January that he calls...

Aaron Sorkin wrote a moving letter to his teenage daughter and her mother, Julia Sorkin, on Wednesday after Donald Trump won the presidential election.In the letter, addressed to “Sorkin Girls” and published on Vanity Fair, the creator of The West Wing and The Newsroom wrote that he felt powerless as he watched Trump defeat Hillary Clinton, and that his daughter’s tears spurred him to action.“Well the world changed late last night in a way I couldn’t protect us from. That’s a terrible feeling for a father. I won’t sugarcoat it — this is truly horrible,” Sorkin wrote. “It’s hardly the...

A profile of Secretary of State John Kerry published Sunday in The New Yorker reveals that, 11 years after his election loss to George W. Bush in 2004, Kerry still believes he was robbed via systematic fraud. The article itself, written by David Remnick, focuses mostly on Kerry’s efforts to achieve peace and democracy in the Middle East, but it also dwells extensively on his presidential defeat more than a decade ago. “In 2004, when Kerry lost the Presidential race to George W. Bush, who is widely considered the worst President of the modern era, he refused to challenge the...

HOME 2016 ELECTION POLITICS POLICY MAGAZINE OPINION WATCHDOG BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL MEDIA VIDEO NEWSLETTERS PODCASTS EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ACT ABOUT US SCROLL DOWN FOR NEXT STORY "They say it was the roughest campaign ever in the history of Republican politics, but what you do is you go to sleep for a couple of days and you wake up and you honor [the pledge]," Donald Trump said. (AP Photo) Trump unloads on former GOP opponents who refuse to back him By GABBY MORRONGIELLO (@GABRIELLAHOPE_) • 6/29/16 5:26 PM SHARE TWEET SMSMore Donald Trump railed against several of his Republican primary opponents on Wednesday...

President Barack Obama again failed to push through additional gun control efforts in Congress — even after blaming the terrorist attack in Florida on Republicans and supporters of the Second Amendment. White House press secretary Josh Earnest revealed that Obama was “profoundly frustrated” after Senate Republicans again blocked anti-gun legislation. Earnest suggested that the president would again turn to executive authority to try and enact gun control policies on his own.

Newser) – There's nothing at all amusing about the serious charges a Wisconsin man is facing—but his mugshot is getting a few pokes on the Internet. Anthony Zingale, 19, is accused of threatening a Plymouth woman with a knife in a rape attempt at a house party Saturday night, the Sheboygan Press reports... ***warning graphic*****

Each of us wants to believe that if we were tested in some fundamental way when the chips were down — morally, spiritually, or physically — that we would pass the test.... Hillary Clinton is in the minds of many conservatives an ethically challenged liberal, hatred of whom has become a reflexive part of Republican liturgy. But...She is business as usual concealed by a little progressive smoke here and a few populist mirrors there..... Trump is a boor, a bully...a neo-fascist... We spawned Donald Trump; now we must stop him. We must deny him the presidency by not voting in...

Thank you Jim for banning me for the past several days. It's opened my eyes to how far this once great site has fallen. Freedrepublic.com has been a great site in the past and I pray that it might be in the future. Thank you for allowing me to be part of this site the past few years. Now please remove my membership from this site.

Donald Trump denounced Hillary Clinton's recent comments about being familiar with "men who sometimes get off the reservation," calling the remarks "demeaning to men" in a Sunday interview with Fox News. "I thought it was a terrible answer," Trump said on "Fox and Friends." "She said, 'I am used to dealing with' -- and what was the word? Go ahead, she used a certain word. 'Men off the reservation.' And I said to myself that's a horrible expression."

Melissa Harris-Perry has joined Elle.com, where she will serve as editor-at-large. Elle.com editorial director Leah Chernikoff says Harris-Perry “will focus on the intersection of race, gender, politics, and yes, even fashion, telling the often-overlooked stories of women and girls of color.” Harris-Perry left MSNBC after an internal memo became public in February. In the memo, Harris-Perry accused NBC News chairman Andy Lack and MSNBC president Phil Griffin of taking away her weekend morning discussion program. “I will not be used as a tool for their purposes,” she wrote. “I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head.” “Joining...

Apparently, it's not enough that UND's administration is attacking the quality of education by cutting programs and experienced faculty and jacking class sizes. Now, we must also feel under physical attack as well. I look up from my office computer to see two figures in camo with guns outside my window. My first thought is for my students' and my safety: I grab my phone, crawl under my desk and call 911. The dispatcher keeps me on the line until someone can see if ROTC is doing maneuvers. I can barely talk—first, with fear, and then with rage when the...

New video of Donald Trump’s press conference Tuesday evening shows that the Washington Post’s account of an altercation involving Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields could not possibly have happened as Ben Terris reported. In conducting our own due diligence, we have reviewed as much video footage and other evidence as possible, and present it in the interest of transparency. Contrary to what Donald Trump said Thursday evening after the GOP debate, the incident certainly happened. However, the person who made contact with Fields was likely not Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. As Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson said Thursday on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NoMPxomjiw

HANAHAN, South Carolina -- 2016 GOP presidential frontrunner Donald J. Trump tells reporters here that his pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee is now void because the Republican National Committee, along with local and state GOP factions, is stacking debate audiences with donor class officials. "The RNC is in default," Trump said at the press conference. "Just so you understand, the RNC is in default. When somebody is in default, that means the other side can do what they have to do. The RNC is in default." Trump's point is that the RNC has defaulted--through its actions against his...

The dab is dead until further notice. There would be no dabbing on this night for Cam Newton -- the biggest night of his NFL career, a night when the Panthers superstar was attempting to complete one of the greatest seasons a quarterback has ever delivered. As it does for every team that loses the Super Bowl, the end came in an almost violent abruptness. Broncos 24, Panthers 10 in Super Bowl 50 Sunday night at Levi's Stadium sucked the life from every one of the Carolina players, but none more than Newton, who'd been so brilliant all season. Newton,...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, appearing weary of spending his interview time discussing rival Marco Rubio, told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace he isn't privy to the meetings of the press that have declared the Florida senator a big winner in the GOP presidential race. "Chris, there is some secret squirrel meeting that you guys get to where you decide who wins and who loses," Bush said on the program Sunday morning, a day after the latest GOP debate. "Marco Rubio came in third place in Iowa, and he was coronated. I can't control that. I'm just going to...