Free Republic

He's done it before, but he quadrupled down this time. CNN's serial plagiarist Fareed Zakaria, who insists that former President Barack Obama's administration was "largely scandal-free," contended on Don Lemon's CNN Tonight show Friday evening that Donald Trump owes his whole life, his success and his election to the presidency to "bullsh*tting." As Matthew Balan at NewsBusters observed in early August, Zakaria described Trump as a "bullsh*t artist," and went to the left's favorite characterization of anyone they disagree with or don't like: CNN's Fareed Zakaria ripped Donald Trump with an uncensored expletive on Monday's Wolf program over the billionaire's...

One can argue about whether public officials should be expected to release their tax returns. Frankly, as a former public official at the Federal Election Commission, I believe we’ve gone way too far in denying officials any semblance of a private life. I don’t care what President Donald Trump’s tax returns show, and I don’t think they are any of my (or anyone else’s) business. I am interested in the principles and policies that candidates and elected officials stand for, not how much income they earned or taxes they paid. Others feel differently, of course. But there is no question...

Words matter. Fact: The administration of President Barack Obama surveilled the campaign associates of the PresidentÂ’s political opponent, Donald Trump. Then the classified information gained was leaked to the press - repeatedly. All of which furthered a liberal narrative that Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton. How do we know? Because the New York Times says so. This week White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer went in to considerable detail - specifics - on press reports of Obama spying on Trump. Yet time after time after time the media across the board -...

It was only yesterday when Ed was talking about the decision by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to crack down on “illegal bakers” who were committing the unimaginable sin of making brownies using… flour. As ridiculous as the story sounds, it was only one more of many bricks in a constantly growing wall which should be telling us that this guy needs to go. The people of Venezuela are literally starving to death in the streets while Maduro and his cronies continue to eat well and live comfortable lifestyles. But what, if anything, can we realistically do about it? The editorial...

Remember the date of March 13, 2017. It was the day President Trump was guaranteed his re-election and Republican congressional gains in 2018 and 2020. It's not complicated. Follow along. The Congressional Budget Office released its study of Trump and Paul Ryan's plan to repeal Obamacare and begin to reform our healthcare system. It had many numbers. Only two mattered: taxes and spending.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education must reduce capacity and/or consolidate degree programs at its 14-member schools if they are to survive and prosper, says a scholar at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy. The system is a state-owned group of universities. Its schools range in size from Cheyney University, with just over 700 students, to West Chester University, with more than 15,000 full-time students. But enrollment has been flagging. The number of Pennsylvania high schoolers graduating each year -- which represents the largest pool of State System students -- has plateaued and is expected to fall. That, and...

... In Washington under Trump even so rudimentary an activity as eating has become politicized, weighted with aesthetic and class significance, put under the jurisdiction of social arbiters who declare what is woke and what is haram. “Actually, How Donald Trump Eats His Steak Matters,” proclaims a contributor to Eater.com. “The president of the United States insists that his steaks be cooked well-done. Unfortunately, that’s a big problem.” But why is it a problem, Eater.com? Why should so trivial a detail impress itself on the average person’s consciousness for even a microsecond? Aren’t there far more important subjects that warrant...

Too many of us have forgotten the lessons of the Cold War. Headlines about “the end of the republic” litter political commentary across the political landscape. They usually mark the beginning of a discussion of the merits of Donald Trump as president of the United States, but his ascendency is not the leading sign of a collapse of American society. For that, see a recent poll indicating a tectonic shift occurring in the political preferences of U.S. adults. When you consider current trends in cultural norms and widely held beliefs, you will see that we are headed toward the end...

The election of Donald Trump has caused the political left to go stark raving mad. There is very little civility among today’s liberals. They were so certain that Hillary Clinton would win the presidency that they are unable to accept the reality of a Trump administration and agenda. In the Congress, there was so much anger that dozens of liberal Democrats boycotted the President’s inauguration. This was an unprecedented display of partisan bitterness. From that day forward, Democrats have refused to work with the new President, instead preferring obstructionism. In the Senate, Democrats delayed confirmation votes on the President’s cabinet...

“If you could pick just one thing to reduce poverty, by far you would pick energy,” Bill Gates has said. “Access to energy is absolutely fundamental in the struggle against poverty,” World Bank VP Rachel Kyte and Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Amartya Sen agree. The UN Development Program calls energy “central to poverty reduction.” And International Energy Agency Executive Director Dr. Fatih Birol notes that “coal is raising living standards and lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.” In fact, all fossil fuels are doing so.  Indeed, fossil fuels created the modern world and the housing, transportation, other...

ATLANTA -- From my Skype-seat at the White House briefing room on March 16, 2017, I asked this question: "Many conservatives are worried that President Trump is being led by Speaker Ryan down the wrong path toward health care reform. Please respond to that." White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that "Trump is not going to be led down a path by anyone." I beg to differ. I believe Trump has been convinced that the congressional Republicans’ plan is the best option that can pass the House and the Senate. There are four main problems with this proposed health...

“Fidel Castro is one hell of a guy! You people would like him! Most people in Cuba like him.” (Ted Turner to a capacity crowd at Harvard Law School during a speech in 1997.)Within weeks, CNN was granted its coveted Havana Bureau, the first-ever granted by Castro to a foreign network. Bureau chief Lucia Newman (now with Al Jazeera) assured viewers, “CNN will be given total freedom to do what we want and to work without censorship.” Hard-hitting stories immediately followed. The Media Research Center reported how soon after Castro’s bestowment of a coveted Cuban “news” (i.e. propaganda) bureau, CNN...

On, March 19, 2017, the annual Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade will march through South Boston. However, what will not go reported is the latest assault on the First Amendment against American citizens.How? A homosexual group finally forced its way into this very Catholic event.“Forced” is the key word, people.What happened? How could this happen?!Over the past few weeks, the Allied War Veterans Council (the organizers of the annual Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade) endured vicious attacks in the Boston media from major Boston politicians and other groups to cave in and allow an LGBT group, even though such a...

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump presented a radically different budget blueprint to Congress on Thursday. The new plan would increase defense spending by $54 billion and fund the increase with targeted cuts in other discretionary spending. What makes the $1.1 trillion budget truly unique, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters before the rollout, is that "we wrote it using the president's own words. We went through his speeches, we went through articles that have been written about his policies, we talked to him, and we wanted to know what his policies were, and we turned those...

Readers of a certain age may recall ads for Ivory Soap, which claimed to be 99 and 44/100ths percent pure. If the soap could have reached 100 percent purity, the company would likely have made the claim. Purity, apparently, is what some conservative Republicans are demanding in a health insurance bill, which likely will be voted on this week, unless it is held back because Speaker Paul Ryan doesn't think it has enough votes to pass. Supporters of the evolving House bill emphasize that this is a three-step process designed to get what virtually all conservatives want, a more cost-effective...

At my age I'm pretty sure I don't need maternity care. At her age I'm pretty sure my granddaughter doesn't need health insurance for her end-of-life needs. But what do I know? I'm just a dumb citizen. According to the architects of Obamacare - if you can call the Democrats who designed President Obama's signature failure "architects" - I can't be trusted to buy my own health insurance. The architects of Obamacare in Washington, all Democrats, decided six or seven years ago they knew what the best health plan was for everyone, rich or poor, healthy or sick, old or...

It’s sad to see so many Americans turn into losers, pathetically demanding to be treated as victims, all so the emotional vampires on the Left can feel better about themselves for helping such pathetic sad sacks. Liberals LOVE for people to think of themselves as victims. They love for people to go through life furious, upset over things most people wouldn’t even notice. They need you alienated and angry so they can control you and turn you out at the polls, so they can get their sick little self-esteem boost for helping a poor little mediocrity like you. If you’re...

The current scandal surrounding President Donald Trump’s tweeted accusations that his predecessor wiretapped Trump Tower is proof of what might be called the Salena Zito rule. Zito, of course, wrote the essay in the Atlantic how Trump’s supporters took him “seriously, but not literally,” whereas the press took him “literally, but not seriously.” This is a good way to understand the current state of the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Trump’s wild accusations against Barack Obama. Barring an unexpected turn of events, FBI director James Comey will confirm on Monday before the House Intelligence Committee that...

On Thursday's CNN Tonight, Don Lemon hosted a discussion in which he suggested that black Americans would "lose" in President Donald Trump's budget in spite of Trump asking black voters during the campaign, "what do you have to lose?" As conservative CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Paris Dennard was outnumbered 4-1 -- facing off with two liberals guests, a liberal host and a right-leaning guest who was critical of Trump's budget -- Dennard jousted with Lemon and at one point was admonished by the host to "let other people speak" even though Dennard was not the one speaking at...

In the last 36 hours, CNN and the Fox News Channel (FNC) came to blows following a report by CNN media reporter Dylan Byers that FNC host Sean Hannity whipped out a gun and pointed it at Juan Williams following a heated debate last year on the set of his eponymous show.  Since then, both Hannity and Williams vehemently downplayed the story, suggesting no one was harmed. Williams went as far as to slam Byers for making the story “sensationalized – everything was under total control throughout and I never felt like I was put in harm’s way.”“It was...