Free Republic

An Islamist radical recruited to Somalia from Minneapolis inspired the would-be “Texas Terror” killers, who were gunned down in Garland, Texas Sunday night by a sharp-shooting law enforcement officer before they could carry out their mass-murder plot at an art exhibit sponsored by First Amendment heroine Pamela Geller. It’s just the latest example of how and why Minneapolis—and specifically the congressional district of Muslim Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) —has become ground zero for the threat to the United States from Islamist terror groups such as ISIS and Al-Shabaab. ... The terrorist threat emanates from the Minneapolis neighborhood known as...

Baltimore Is Not About Race Government-induced dependency is the problem—and it’s one with a long history. By William McGurn May 4, 2015 For those who see the rioting in Baltimore as primarily about race, two broad reactions dominate. One group sees rampaging young men fouling their own neighborhoods and concludes nothing can be done because the social pathologies are so overwhelming. In some cities, this view manifests itself in the unspoken but cynical policing that effectively cedes whole neighborhoods to the thugs. Opinion Journal Video Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Jason Riley on what prompted the violence and what comes next....

It’s the question Democrats can no longer ignore: Who will replace Hillary Clinton? Martin O’Malley? Toast. Joe Biden? A punch line. Elizabeth Warren? Not ready. Bernie Sanders? Seriously? “We don’t have a backup,” one top Massachusetts Democrat lamented. John Kerry, report for duty. Again. This is not the scenario Democrats really want, but may have to accept if the Clinton campaign continues its death spiral over her family foundation’s shady ties to foreign nations. Even Bill Clinton’s been called in for cleanup, but saying you’ve done nothing “knowingly” wrong isn’t helping. [Snip] But unless Warren runs, there’s no one else...

Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) want every state to offer same-day voter registration for federal elections. The Democratic senators have reintroduced the Same Day Registration Act, which would require states to allow voters to register on the day of an election. Ten states, plus the District of Columbia, currently allow eligible voters to do so, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In addition, the group notes that Illinois is expected to implement statewide same-day voter registration later this year. Advocates argue it can help increase voter turnout, while opponents say it increases the chances for...

Many have speculated that Marilyn Mosby, the chief prosecutor for the city of Baltimore, knew whether she was going to charge the six police officers involved in the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray before receiving the official police report Thursday. Turns out they may have been right. Newly-surfaced video of Mosby speaking to a church group Tuesday morning shows her promising attendees that she will “pursue justice by any and all means necessary.”

Baltimore Received $1.8 Billion from Obama’s Stimulus Law City burned despite ‘massive investment’ implemented by president BY: Elizabeth Harrington May 4, 2015 5:00 am The city of Baltimore received over $1.8 billion from President Barack Obama’s stimulus law, including $467.1 million to invest in education and $26.5 million for crime prevention. President Obama claimed last Tuesday that if the Republican-controlled Congress would implement his policies to make “massive investments in urban communities,” they could “make a difference right now” in the city, currently in upheaval following the death of Freddie Gray. However, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found that the...

Nothing sharpens the focus on the Unbridgeable Crevice separating th*g (the word “thug” is now banned) apologists on the far left from those of us who use words because they mean something than Baltimore’s self-immolation. It’s really a tale of two cities, depending on who’s telling the tale. The borderline-Jacobins at Slate, who believe spanking is child abuse, and personal responsibility is out of fashion, try to explain looting away as a social phenomenon: “Why would anyone burn down the only CVS in their neighborhood?” The reason, I think, is likely the same reason that poor black Americans in cities across...

Submitted by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog, If the U.S. economy really is improving, then why are big U.S. retailers permanently shutting down thousands of stores? The “retail apocalypse” that I have written about so frequently appears to be accelerating. As you will see below, major U.S. retailers have announced that they are closing more than 6,000 locations, but economic conditions in this country are still fairly stable. So if this is happening already, what are things going to look like once the next recession strikes? For a long time, I have been pointing to 2015 as a...

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, whose infamous order to police to "give protestors space to destroy," sheepishly apologized to residents who participated in looting stores, burning buildings, and assaulting passersby for using the term "thugs" to describe their behavior. "My use of the word 'thugs' implied that these people were engaged in criminal acts," she said. "I have since been informed that stealing toilet paper, trashing the businesses of owners who had nothing to do with the death of Mr. Gray, and beating up white people foolish enough to venture into the streets were acts of righteous rage." The Mayor maintained...

Pundits tell us that the Republican Party will never win the black vote. Is there a reason for that? Is it perhaps because conservatives put an emphasis on personal responsibility and the rights of the individual? But does a black man care less about his child’s education than a white man? Does a black man working two jobs to put his child through college care any less about the cost of insurance, or if he has to worry about a politically correct response to the burning question of what he wants out of life? I am a retired military veteran...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Do you want out of the state of Maryland? A new poll shows nearly half of Marylanders say they are fed up and ready to pack up if only they could. Meghan McCorkell explains what has so many thinking about leaving. In a poll of all 50 states, Maryland ranks third for people who say they would rather move somewhere else. We’ve got the beach, the mountains, the O’s and Natty Boh, but some say they’re ready to break up with Maryland. According to a new Gallup poll, 47 percent of Marylanders say they would move out...

Thousands March in Baltimore Cheering Arrest of Police Officers 'No Justice, No Peace, No Racist Police' Chants in Baltimore Saturday, 02 May 2015 06:31 PM Chants of "no justice, no peace, no racist police" echoed through the streets of Baltimore Saturday during a march that organizers billed as a "victory rally" a day after a prosecutor charged six officers involved in the arrest of a man who died in police custody. State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby on Friday charged the six with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray. He died from spinal injuries a week...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declared Wednesday that 11 million immigrants in the country illegally should have an opportunity to stay, wading yet again into his party's contentious immigrant debate. In tone and substance, Bush stands out among the many Republicans lining up for the GOP's next presidential primary, where conservatives who oppose an immigration overhaul often hold outsized influence. As he moves toward a presidential campaign, the brother and son of former presidents has not backed away from his defense of immigrants in the country illegally and a policy that would allow them to attain legal status under certain...

The PUMAs are back on the prowl. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision to run for president has stirred up old feelings for some loyal supporters who refused to accept her defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary. When other Democrats put away their swords and rallied behind Barack Obama, the resisters responded: “Party unity, my ass!” — hence the nickname PUMAs. After seven years in the political wilderness, some are ecstatic at the chance to help elect a candidate that they believe in, and to make history by putting the first woman in the White House. Others are excited but cautious, still...

[Which party governed Baltimore for 50 years? Hint: It wasn't the GOP. This is the result!] Baltimore Riots As Criminal Culture Writ Large By Edward Hudgins The rioting in Baltimore represents criminal culture writ large. It is what happens every day on a smaller scale in poor minority communities: theft, vandalism, and violence. The flames in Baltimore hideously illuminate the fact that the culture of the welfare state creates the criminals and rioters that plague this city in my native state. The cycle of poverty and violenceThe ostensive cause of the riots was outrage at the death of Freddie Gray,...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus cautioned GOP faithful on Friday that they won't recapture the White House if the party gets too obsessed with choosing its nominee while Democrats continue to outpace Republicans on campaign tactics. "We have become a candidate-crazy party to the detriment of all the mechanics," Priebus told hundreds of GOP donors and activists at a South Carolina party dinner. Describing the 2012 nomination fight as a "total disaster" and a "traveling circus," Priebus said the Republican National Committee has learned its lesson....

Friday, shortly after State Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced six Baltimore police officers now face criminal charges for the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)12% said, “I have come here today to thank God Marilyn Mosby and her team saw him [Freddie Gray].”

Six Baltimore police officers face murder, other charges in death of black man BALTIMORE | By Scott Malone and Ian Simpson

As members of the Democratic Party that birthed Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan embrace the Thug Life, gangsters are now officially cool Democrats in riot-torn Baltimore really like gangsters. As radicals and other criminals reduce their once-great city to ashes, left-wing politicians are defining deviancy down. They just can't stop saying nice things about gangsters and when they occasionally slip up and say accurate things about them, they promptly apologize for speaking the truth. That's the way Democrats in Baltimore roll. As the rule of law is dynamited, they genuflect before them, salute them, and pose for photographs...

Cruz guilty of demagoguery Sunday morning I arose early, turned on the news to the headline, “There is no room for Christians in today’s Democratic Party”— Republican candidate for president, Ted Cruz. To say that I was incensed would be an understatement. I could not believe a candidate for president, or anyone in a position of leadership, could make such an assertion. For a person to set himself up in judgment to decide who is Christian and who is not, puts himself in the position of God.... ...Until war’s end, Jews and others were killed by the millions to rid...