Free Republic

The Rev. Al Sharpton says Rand Paul’s efforts to engage black voters could present a strategic challenge for Democrats: If the Republican senator runs for president, fewer African Americans may be motivated to show up and vote against him. The civil rights activist and TV host had breakfast with the Kentucky senator last week, and the pair discussed the need for criminal justice reform before disagreeing over how to deal with the immigration system.

Where is the black leadership now that a grand jury has decided not to indict the police officer that killed Michael Brown? Where is Al Sharpton? He advertises himself as a spokesman for the best interests of black America. But he is absent. Where is Jesse Jackson, another popular media personality who says he speaks for black America? He’s missing in action, too. It breaks my heart to see televised images of violence from Ferguson, Missouri juxtaposed next to President Obama, the first black president. The president represents black power beyond anyone’s imagination just a few years ago. President Obama...

The Johnson County moderate, a fixture of Kansas politics for decades, is an increasingly endangered species. Republicans and analysts on both sides of the moderate-conservative divide say the Nov. 4 election results confirm that conclusion. The centrist bankers, lawyers and businessmen who once defined the county’s politics are giving way to younger, more socially oriented conservatives who now play the major role in determining the county’s approach to government. “The old guard just doesn’t have the weight they used to have,” said Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican just elected to a second term. “The fact that the elites...

As Republicans challenge the legality of President Obama's unilateral action on immigration, Democrats are firing back with a challenge of their own. "It is clear that they can complain, they can threaten, they can talk about lawsuits, cutting off funding, shutting down the government, in the extreme, even impeachment. But the real question is: Can they govern? Can they govern?" asked Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. The GOP is weighing their options to undo the president's moves - "a bit of a threat to our democracy," as House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas,...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Looky here. Looky here, ladies and gentlemen. Jeffrey Toobin on CNN has just finished explaining that it is prosecutorial discretion that Obama will use to justify what he's doing tonight. Ashleigh Banfield said, "If the president's actions effectively nullify federal law, then they're unconstitutional. But if they're merely channel enforcement resources to other areas, then it's within his discretion to do so, right? Is the layperson's version of that, if you're going 70 in a 55 zone, the policeman might pull you over. But if you're going 60 he might use that discretion and say, 'I'm gonna...

Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, said Tuesday that Republicans don’t have a mandate after a midterm election cycle in which they took back control of the Senate and picked up about a dozen seats in the House — pointing to low voter turnout and successful ballot initiatives on raising the minimum wage as evidence of a nuanced electorate. Appearing on CNN’s “New Day,” Mr. Ellison was responding to comments from Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, that the American people have spoken and President Obama can listen to them on issues like immigration. “Well, you know, we had a 72-year low...

Tommy Chong, star of such films as Up in Smoke and until this week a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, was the #OneLuckyGuy on Fox News’ Outnumbered (for some reason) Wednesday, and while he was there he weighed in on issues like marijuana legalization (naturally), health care, and immigration. But when the issue of Obamacare “architect” Jonathan Gruber’s controversial comments came up, Chong surprised the show’s co-hosts by comparing it to another hot topic on Fox: Benghazi. Andrea Tantaros and Harris Faulkner were expressing outrage over Gruber’s comments and the Obama administration’s reaction to it when Chong decided...

WASHINGTON — A company that operates at least 13 wind-energy facilities across three states is suing in federal court to block the U.S. government from releasing information to The Associated Press about how many birds are found dead at its facilities. Pacificorp of Portland, Oregon, is seeking an injunction in U.S. District Court in Utah to prevent the Interior Department from releasing information it considers confidential. The Obama administration has said it planned to turn over the material to The Associated Press, which sought it from the Interior Department in March 2013 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The...

--SNIP-- The finances of the Rev. Al Sharpton have a somewhat troubled history. He was indicted on charges of income tax fraud and stealing from charitable donors in 1989, but was eventually acquitted at a trial. In 1993, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to file a tax return for 1986. His eponymous promotional company has no official documents on record with the state. As recently as two years ago, he drew no salary, but he still manages to send his daughters to an expensive and respected private school. Mr. Sharpton has always been studiously circumspect when...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world still isn't close to preventing what leaders call a dangerous level of man-made warming, a new United Nations report says. That's despite some nations' recent pledges to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions. The report looks at the gap between what countries promise to do about carbon pollution and what scientists say needs to be done to prevent temperatures rising another two degrees. The two-degree level is a goal that world leaders set in 2009. "The time window (for reaching that goal) is closing, closing," said United Nations undersecretary for environment Achim Steiner. And the...

WASHINGTON — Two of Texas’ most prominent members of Congress squared off moments ago on the House floor as members prepare to vote on a bill Republicans say will end the EPA’s reliance on scientific studies whose data aren’t fully available to the public. The Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 would require the Environmental Protection Agency to base its rules only on scientific studies whose data can be shared in sufficient details that other researchers can duplicate the research. A vote is expected within the hour, and this post will be updated with its results. The bill, should it...

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who came to prominence as an imposing figure in a track suit, shouting indignantly at the powerful, stood quietly on a stage last month at the Four Seasons restaurant, his now slender frame wrapped in a finely tailored suit, as men in power lined up to exclaim their admiration for him. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hailed him as a civil rights icon. President Obama sent an aide to read a message commending Mr. Sharpton’s “dedication to the righteous cause of perfecting our union.” Major corporations sponsored the lavish affair. It was...

With just two years left in power, President Barack Obama is elevating his efforts to combat global warming as he seeks to leave an imprint on the world that will endure after he's gone. It's a strategy rooted not only in Obama's long-stated support for such efforts, but also in political reality. Two weeks ago, Obama watched his prospects for realizing his goals on education, wages and immigration all but evaporate as voters handed his party a stinging rebuke in the midterms, putting Republicans in full control of Congress for the remainder of his presidency. But on a trip last...

Meteorologist Tim Buckley of WFMY-TV writes on Facebook: All 50 states have low temperatures BELOW freezing tonight. (Monday night) Yes, even Hawaii. Tall mountain peaks there regularly get below freezing, and even get snow. This typically happens a few times during winter, but is very rare this early in the season. Pretty neat!

Statistics can mean different things to different people.... Pretty similar until you compare the following: Democrat Conclusion: Cold weather from global warming causes murder.

Senate Republicans appear likely to use their majority status in the next Congress to attack the science behind climate change in an attempt to undercut environmental policies. But some GOP strategists wonder whether such an offensive might backfire. Questioning — and attempting to delegitimize — climate scientists them has been an oft-used tactic of Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who is poised to reprise his role as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. It was a hallmark of his 2003 to 2007 chairmanship of the panel — and the following six years, when he was its ranking member. As...

The new Congress must take whatever action it can to reverse and stop the harm that it represents; people’s jobs and lives depend on it. The intense cold that many Americans are encountering arrives more than a month before the official start of winter on December 2l. To discuss this, we need to keep in mind that weather is what is occurring now. Climate is measured over longer periods, the minimum of which is thirty years and, beyond that, centuries. We are colder these days because the Earth has been in a cooling cycle for 19 years and that cycle...

The catastrophic predictions do not match up with historical trends For some reason, I don’t find it surprising that Oregon is a hotbed of climate alarmism. Thus, when the Portland Tribune recently published an article describing how Oregon’s “warmer climate imperils our health,” it seemed appropriate to look further into the claims being made. Apparently, climate change in Oregon will lead to “less snow on Mount Hood? [but] we can live with that.” Interesting, given how there has been no significant trend in maximum overwinter snowpack on Mount Hood since records began in 1981. Indeed, according to an article in...

Casey says the evidence is clear that the earth is rapidly growing colder because of diminished solar activity. He says trends indicate we could be headed for colder temperatures similar to those seen in the late 1700s and early 1800s when the sun went into a "solar minimum" — a phenomenon with significantly reduced solar activity, including solar flares and sunspot. .... If "Dark Winter" is right, that means the nation is busily preparing for the wrong calamity. "We don't have 10 years," Casey warns. "We've squandered during President Obama's administration eight years . . . and we didn't have...

Are you a "believer" a "denier" ... or an "agnostic"? When you put together a large group of people who are all certain that they can predict what will happen 100 years from now, a group that demonizes those who stray even a little from their beliefs, a group claiming that if everyone follows them, we will be saved, but if they don't we will be doomed - then in most cases, that group is called a religion. Like most religions, this group also elevates the importance of mankind, so much so that humans are viewed as having more power...