Free Republic

For years, we’ve read a lot of stories about “anti-establishment” Republicans “attacking” their “mainstream” opponents. But the mainstream media narrative rarely runs in the opposite direction. House Leadership GOP Elections The coordinated ruling class surge against constitutional conservatives who don’t know their place gained force last week with both serious and farcical attacks on its presidential contenders. Rand Paul got the viral video treatment for a gotcha moment at an Iowa fundraiser for Congressman Steve King (R-IA)–a compliment of sorts for the senator regarded by many as “Democrat’s Enemy #1.” Senator Paul’s offense is his ability to draw some of...

Texas Governor Rick Perry has been indicted for abuse of power. This is, unfortunately, the headline most Americans will see. They won’t bother to look into the matter any further. Their reaction will be along the lines of “yet another politician has abused his power.” Usually this reaction is accurate. However, each case has to be looked at on its own. In the case of Perry, there isn’t an iota of evidence that he abused his power. In fact, if we look at the facts it becomes clear that he exercised his lawful power under the Texas Constitution. That information...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)FERGUSON, MO (KTVI) – Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at the Greater St. Marks Family Church in Ferguson. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is in attendance and gave the opening speech. Koster said, “You have lost a member of your community at the hands of one of my community. Not just the Caucasian community. The law enforcement community.” Sharpton tells reporters before the speech that he is not a “drive-by” activist and plans to be in Ferguson until the Michael Brown case is resolved. He is critical of release of surveillance video allegedly showing Michael Brown stealing cigars. During the speech...

On St. Paul's East Side, homeowners in the 1900 block of Hawthorne Avenue are in line for property tax increases of 40 percent or more -- an additional $430 on their tax bills. Property owners along the 700 block of Summit Avenue will see just as much in savings. The city's middle-class property owners will feel the biggest bite in their wallet come tax time, and nowhere more so than on the city's East Side. After years of mild tax breaks, the owners of median-value homes in St. Paul likely will do a double-take when "Truth in Taxation" statements arrive...

Representatives Mike Honda (D-Calif), Barbara Lee (D-Calif), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and Jackie Speier (D-Calif) are going on a 10,000 mile bus tour to drum up support for repealing the current ban on federation money being spent for abortions. "The issue is one of simple justice," Lee argued. "Why should the option of escaping an unwanted pregnancy be denied to women who can't afford to pay for it? Human rights shouldn't come with a price tag. Criminals who can't afford a lawyer get one at taxpayer expense. Why shouldn't innocent women be treated as well?" "We should fund...

Hillary Rodham Clinton likes to travel in style. She insists on staying in the “presidential suite” of luxury hotels that she chooses anywhere in the world, including Las Vegas. She usually requires those who pay her six-figure fees for speeches to also provide a private jet for transportation — only a $39 million, 16-passenger Gulfstream G450 or larger will do. And she doesn’t travel alone, relying on an entourage of a couple of “travel aides,” and a couple of advance staffers who check out her speech site in the days leading up to her appearance, much like a White House...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is facing potential rifts with members of his own party in tough re-election contests as he barrels toward a fall fight with Republicans over his ability to change immigration policies. If Obama takes the broadest action under consideration — removing the threat of deportation for millions of people in this country illegally — the short-term risks appear greatest for Senate Democrats in conservative-leaning states. Weeks before the November vote, they could find themselves on the hot seat for their views not only on immigration but also on Obama's use of his presidential powers.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is, to the surprise of all thinking people, right about something: “A spark has exploded,” he said, referring to the protests and violence in Ferguson, Mo. “When you look at what sparked riots in the Sixties, it has always been some combination of poverty, which was the fuel, and then some oppressive police tactic. It was the same in Newark, in Chicago, in Detroit, in Los Angeles. It’s symptomatic of a national crisis of urban abandonment and repression, seen in Chicago.” A question for the Reverend Jackson: Who has been running the show in Newark, in...

Politico treated it the way we treat news stories nowadays, in our celebrity-driven culture in which a beloved actor’s suicide can drive front-page news for a whole week: “Media Matters’ David Brock expands empire,” it reported.David Brock may not be exactly an A-lister, but he is one of a contemporary cluster of insiders who have changed the way the “mainstream media” game is played. Bias, once the offshoot of genteel groupthink, has become progressively, aggressively organized. Advertisement Under the old model, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which played a key role in bringing down Jack Abramoff and...

I've been getting a lot of email from Democratic fundraisers lately. They seem very worried about November's elections. First came the highly publicized "Impeachment Red Alert" campaign, in which the Democratic congressional committee warned that Republicans will impeach President Obama if they win control of the House and Senate. Though much ridiculed, the Impeachment Red Alert effort was a big winner, pulling in $2.1 million in small donations in a single weekend. Despite that success, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's mood seemed to blacken in subsequent days as she asked for more and more money. The subject line of Pelosi's...

I’m a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat my entire life. I used to utter those two sentences with pride and would shout them from the highest rooftops. Now, I’m almost embarrassed to say those words. I almost can’t articulate my political affiliation in public (or on the radio) without immediately offering an apology and an explanation. How did I get here? I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. The more I ask it, the more I come to the realization that I haven’t changed all that much. Sure, I’m a little older … OK, a lot older. I...

The past few years have shown us that our political system is operating like a well-oiled machine, assuming that machine's primary purpose is to function horribly while producing nothing of value.. Stubbornness and disagreement have been raised to art forms, and the American people have made it clear they rate Congress only slightly more favorably than "scorpions in pants." The president isn't viewed much better, with an approval rating hovering around a dismal 40 percent. There's ample blame to go around — leftward, rightward, centerward (which isn't a word, but should be) — but a new poll homes in on...

As she expands her political network in advance of an expected presidential run, Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband have been cultivating an important ally who some believe could become her vice presidential running mate. Former president Bill Clinton invited Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and incoming Obama Cabinet secretary, to the Clintons’ home in Washington last week for a private dinner that friends described as a chance for Democratic leaders from different generations to become better acquainted. Castro, 39, who is scheduled to be sworn in Monday as secretary of housing and urban development, traveled to New...

A Martha’s Vineyard photographer quietly deleted photographs of President Obama dancing during a birthday party after they went viral online. Editorial and fine art photographer Elizabeth Cecil posted two photos of the president on her Instagram account from the party that was closed to the press. The photos featured President Obama dancing and one of him offering a birthday toast to Ann Jordan at a party at the Farm Neck Golf Club. The party included about 150 guests, including former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton. The photo of the president dancing was discovered on Instagram early Thursday...

Obama bundler Jodie Evans, far left, protests in Yemen with al Qaeda tied group al Karama, June 17, 2013. Photo via al Karama. Obama bundler Jodie Evans and Code Pink, the leftist group she co-leads, have been found to be working with a group whose leaders have recently been declared terrorists and al Qaeda supporters by the Treasury Department. This is not the first time the Democratic Party allied group has been caught in bed with terrorists. As this writer has reported over the years, Code Pink works with terrorists, state sponsors of terrorists, the Democratic Party and President Barack...

Breitbart.com reports that b/c of an increasingly hostile political landscape, Democrats are resorting to whining---asking voters to believe they have suddenly "seen the light" and are now conservatives. In districts across the country, Democrats are campaigning as "true believers' in tax cuts, balanced budgets and for rolling back big government's harmful regulations. They're even bleating about guns, fracking and coal....trying to appeal to the conservative heartland. The list of Democrats carving out more conservative positions is too lengthy to mention. In fact, breitbart.com reports, it would be noteworthy to find any Democrat in a competitive election running on the platform...

Evan Goldstein, a social media coordinator for College Democrats of America (CDA) believes those who support Israel’s right to defend herself are “dou#@*bags” who should “go f&^k” themselves. He is secure in this knowledge because he is a perfectly formed liberal Democrat. To be a Democrat in 2014 is to hate America and Israel as our main ally in the Middle East. This hatred must extend to anyone who dares defend America and/or Israel and must be expressed in the vilest most personal manner in order to prove how truly progressive one is. More than this, to be a really...

In a discussion regarding a bill in Louisiana’s health and welfare committee, Representative Katrina Jackson expressed her distaste for the large number of African-American abortions. House Bill No. 388 would require abortionists to provide more information to pregnant women seeking abortion, as well as new regulations for abortion practices. One group arguing against the bill said that it would help minority women, especially African-American women who “don’t have necessarily the same access to contraceptive use that higher income women do.” Jackson strongly disagreed, saying: I’ve heard it thrown around by the young ladies at the table today, that this [HB...

Recess is in full force in Washington, D.C., as national lawmakers vacation around the country, but both political parties are fighting intense political battles on the ground in states nationwide as several statehouses are up for grabs in what’s shaping up to be a landslide pro-GOP election year. “Republicans, who had appeared to hit a high-water mark in control of statehouses in recent years, are seeking to pick off another half-dozen chambers this year, taking advantage of President Obama’s persistent unpopularity, anxiety about the economy, and a history of anemic turnout among Democrats in nonpresidential election years,” the New York...

Two California Catholic universities–Santa Clara and Loyola–want not to cover “elective” abortion in their health insurance policies. That won’t do! After first giving its OK, California may now try to force them. From the San Francisco Chronicle story. The state Department of Managed Health Care is conducting “an in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding coverage for abortion services under California law,” said Marta Green, the department’s chief deputy director. What the department is reconsidering, as first reported by California Lawyer magazine, is whether the universities are violating a 1975 state law that requires managed health plans to cover all “medically...