Free Republic

Four days after he disdainfully uttered the words “America was never that great” from a podium before an audience of feminists, Andrew Cuomo recanted the offensive declaration.  Despite 2 days of intense blowback, Cuomo was not able to force himself to utter the words, “Of course America is great.”  But he did so without providing any video, using a “conference call” to media. You can hear the recanting in this news report from New York City’s Channel 11, WPIX: The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle transcribes: During a conference call with reporters Friday, Cuomo dialed it back, saying he does...

Business interests and police are doing their best to minimize attention to the slide into mob rule of the streets in Chicago’s nicest, most famous neighborhood.  But shoppers, tourists, and ordinary working Joes and Janes can no longer take for granted the freedom to walk around Chicago’s upscale shopping district along North Michigan Avenue near the famous Water Tower. Four times this year, mobs of “urban youths” have taken to “wilding” and attacking random pedestrians while looting stores. The latest instance happened on Tuesday. CBS Chicago reports: A brawl involving dozens of teenagers broke out near Chicago’s Water Tower...

New ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro told reporters that the network would not televise the national anthem before their Monday Night Football broadcast. There was some speculation that ESPN, who hasn't been shy about covering politics, might break with precedent and show the protests of players during the playing of the anthem. But, according to the story in USA Today, Pitano "bristled" at the suggestion that ESPN was a political network. Pitaro, who was hired March 5 following the abrupt departure of John Skipper, told reporters at a media event on ESPN's campus in Bristol, Conn., that the network has not previously...

"They" are preciously called "immigrants," "refugees," "migrants," "undocumented Americans," and other pathetic-sounding names tailored to wrench our hearts – we purportedly cruel, unsympathetic, inhuman Americans.  Luxuriating here, behind our walls of wealth, abundance, and security, we deny them our (stolen) largesse and close up our fat-wracked arms to these noble, sacred, starving, uneducated, illiterate, diseased, violent, and socialist masses from "third-world," countries. Who are these Mexicans, Africans, South Americans, Asians, and others whose feet Nancy Pelosi has washed and the pope kissed?  What is it these luminaries see that we do not?  We – reputedly the most selfish, detestable creatures on...

The Democratic Party has gone off the deep end in many more ways than just pushing socialism. One sign is the fanatical embrace of identity politics, which has become the hallmark of the Party of Obama (POO). Look at Vermont. There, the Democrats' primary race for governor was won by Christine Hallquist. What is unusual is that Hallquist calls himself a "transgender woman." To put it more accurately and without any politically correct gloss, Hallquist is a male pretending to be a woman. His pretending isn't all that convincing, as evidenced by this YouTube clip from Time magazine. CLICK ABOVE...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended the wedding of Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, who has been criticized for inviting him. Mr. Putin gave her presents and danced with her at the event in the southern Austrian province of Styria. Opposition politicians have accused Ms. Kneissl of undermining EU foreign policy with her choice of guest.... Mr. Putin arrived with a bunch of flowers for the bride and was accompanied by a troupe of Cossack singers who performed for the guests. His spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that he also presented the newlyweds with a painting of village life,...

Twitter has temporarily removed an account of Australian anti-war journalist Caitlin Johnstone over "abusive behavior" after she posted a tweet suggesting that the death of Senator John McCain would make the world a better place to live in.

An Arizona father faces a second-degree murder charge after he allegedly hit, stomped and kicked a man who tried to get into a bathroom stall his teenage daughter was using. Melvin Harris, 40, is being held in jail on a $100,000 bond for allegedly killing a man police identified as Leon Leevon Armstrong at a Phoenix QuikTrip convenience store in early August. Harris’ fiancee, Diana Jackson, wonders when she’ll see him again. She says despite the murder charge against him, Harris did nothing wrong.

The city of Lausanne in Switzerland has blocked a Muslim couple from becoming Swiss nationals over their refusal to shake hands with members of the opposite sex. The municipality said it refused to grant the couple’s citizenship application over their lack of respect for gender equality, Lausanne mayor Gregoire Junod said, according to the Guardian. Junod said the municipal commission had questioned the couple several months ago to determine whether they met the criteria for citizenship. However, according to the panel, the couple did not meet the standards for immigrant integration. The stated immigrant integration policy is “living together peacefully...

The New York City Department of Education will fast-track its plan to provide implicit bias training to its employees and mandate their participation, Chancellor Richard Carranza said at a training session in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The department had previously disclosed a four-year plan in which educators could choose to attend the implicit bias trainings. Mr. Carranza said that the department wants every adult in the system to undergo the multistage training in the next two years. The department will roll out a more detailed plan in the next month, he said. “For me, it’s a no-brainer,” Mr. Carranza said. “This...

After spending about $100 on lower-bowl tickets and driving 2½ hours from the Lafayette area, Tracey Hernandez was nervous as she took her seat near midfield of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Friday night. It wasn’t the preseason game the Saints were about to play against Arizona that worried her — the dance instructor hardly watches football. What mattered to her was how her son, Jesse, would fare in his debut as the first-ever male member of the Saintsations, New Orleans’ NFL dance team. The crowd in the stadium was the biggest Jesse had performed in front of since his dancing...

The federal judge who had ordered the government to restart the Obama-era DACA deportation amnesty in full backed off his decision Friday and said the government does not, after all, have to begin accepting brand new applications. Judge John D. Bates acknowledged the legal mess that’s arisen around DACA and said he didn’t want to make it worse, so he issued a partial stay of his own ruling. That means that while illegal immigrant “Dreamers” who already have had DACA protections can apply for renewals, no brand new applicants can apply to start the process. Judge Bates also delayed part...

Broncos general manager John Elway created a stir Friday when he said Colin Kaepernick had a chance to sign with Denver but turned them down. Elway failed to mention that the Broncos wanted Kaepernick to take a major pay cut.... ...Kaepernick seemingly responded to Elway's comments by retweeting a tweet comparing his career quarterback rating to Elway's rating:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's comment saying that America "was never that great" was disgraceful, former NYPD officer Dan Bongino said on Saturday. The New York governor made the remark as a rebuke of President Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan during a bill-signing event on Wednesday. “We’re not going to make America great again. It was never that great,” he said.

The full body camera footage of a traffic stop in March that showed the son of the Denver mayor threatening a cop’s job and cursing at him has been released. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock's 22-year-old son, Jordan, was pulled over March 23 by an Aurora police officer for going 65 mph in a 40 mph zone, FOX 31 reports. A bodycam video of the encounter showed Hancock's immediate anger toward Officer Paul McClendon. He told the cop to pick up the pace and write him a speeding ticket, though the officer warned it wouldn’t be quick because Jordan didn’t have...

The recording shows Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, 59, a geriatric physician in Lakeland, Fla., scuffling with police officers at Orlando International Airport Thursday after arguing with American Airlines employees who had reported him for disorderly behavior.  According to a police report sent to Yahoo Lifestyle from the Orlando Police Department, officers found Epstein at the ticket counter where he began yelling that “police had come to arrest him.” When Epstein was informed that he lost his flying privileges due to his behavior, he went on a rant captured in a video and tweeted by WESH 2 News. As police escorted Epstein from the line, the doctor then removed his backpack, threw his hands in...

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock's 22-year-old son, Jordan, was pulled over March 23 by an Aurora police officer for going 65 mph in a 40 mph zone, FOX 31 reports. A bodycam video of the encounter showed Hancock's immediate anger toward Officer Paul McClendon. He told the cop to pick up the pace and write him a speeding ticket, though the officer warned it wouldn’t be quick because Jordan didn’t have his license on him. Jordan became irate after McClendon asked him why the title of the car was in the name of Denver's mayor. “Because that’s my motherf---er dad,” Hancock replied....

Lyndon Johnson said the word “nigger” a lot. In Senate cloakrooms and staff meetings, Johnson was practically a connoisseur of the word. According to Johnson biographer Robert Caro, Johnson would calibrate his pronunciations by region, using “nigra” with some southern legislators and “negra” with others. Discussing civil rights legislation with men like Mississippi Democrat James Eastland, who committed most of his life to defending white supremacy, he’d simply call it “the nigger bill.” Then in 1957, Johnson would help get the “nigger bill” passed, known to most as the Civil Rights Act of 1957. With the 1964 Civil Rights Act...

Why Silicon Valley is Killing Free Speech Control leads to censorship. August 17, 2018 Daniel Greenfield Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism In one survey, 75% of tech entrepreneurs voted for Hillary Clinton. 8.8% voted for Trump. 83% back higher taxes, 82% support gun control and another 82% are in favor of socialized medicine. Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon employees were 4 out of 5 of Bernie Sanders’ top donors. Cash from Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft poured into the Clinton campaign....

While many in Washington were aghast at the thought that President Trump would even suggest shutting down the federal government in September over funding for the border wall and immigration reform, those of us in the heartland see the logic. If there is even a chance of a Democrat blue wave in November that would allow them to take control of the House, does it not make sense to get the funding for the wall before the election? Why would we, or the president, take a chance on never getting the border wall we all know is essential to controlling...