Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it can find only four emails sent between former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and her staff concerning drone strikes and certain U.S. surveillance programs, and those notes have little to do with either subject. She asks for a phone call in one, a phone number in another. She seeks advice on .. information leaks, and accidentally replies .. about decorations. The messages also reveal Clinton used an iPad to email while secretary of state .. The four emails were obtained by The Associated Press under a 2013 Freedom of Information Act request ..

Several prominent, openly gay athletes will be among those protesting the new Indiana religious freedom law this week, despite Gov. Mike Pence’s promise to "fix" the law before the Final Four begins on Saturday, according to local activists. Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis and former NBA player Jason Collins are among those coming to the state this week for press conferences or other public events. The effort to keep attention on the law around the college basketball showcase in Indianapolis. Rick Sutton, a veteran LGBT organizer and activist based in Indiana, said those who are upset by the new law...

Ted Cruz’s official campaign isn’t even two weeks old, and already it’s done the nation a favor — by highlighting the duplicity of the “multicultural” left and what it is really after. Ever since Cruz announced his candidacy for president, “Latino leaders” have been stepping all over themselves to declare that not only does he not speak for Hispanics (something only they presumably do) but he’s not even a “legitimate” Hispanic. All of which serves to pull the curtain back on multiculturalism: Defined by liberals, it’s a concept that exists solely to advance liberal objectives. It’s not ancestry that makes...

The largest labor organization in the United States on Tuesday launched a national immigration training plan called "We Rise!" to help Hispanics take advantage of the immigration relief measures announced by President Barack Obama last November. The effort is designed to reach, mobilize and organize immigrant workers in their workplaces and in their communities. The AFL-CIO on Tuesday in Washington began preparing representatives who have arrived from all over the country to support and teach undocumented workers how to request protection under Deferred Action, or DACA, for children born in the United States and under DAPA for parents of permanent...

The White House on Tuesday introduced President Obama’s blueprint for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by nearly a third over the next decade. Mr. Obama’s plan, part of a formal written submission to the United Nations ahead of efforts to forge a global climate change accord in Paris in December. But the plan’s reliance on executive authority is an acknowledgment that any proposal to pass climate change legislation would be blocked by the Republican-controlled Congress. At the heart of the plan are ambitious but politically contentious Environmental Protection Agency regulations meant to drastically cut planet-warming carbon dioxide...

Formerly the "Quinn and Rose Morning Show" thread, our friendly group has continued to meet to start the day as we awaited the return of our favorite morning talk show. Well, the long wait is OVER! Quinn returns to the airwaves tomorrow, Wednesday, April 1st! Join us!

Critics who think the media has an anti-firearm agenda won't like the lineup behind a high-powered, upcoming seminar aimed at training reporters to cover the issue of gun violence. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the vaunted New York institution that hands out the annual Pulitzer prizes, is sponsoring the session through its Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. Also helping to bankroll the event, in Phoenix May 29-30, is Everytown for Gun Safety, the nonprofit, pro-gun control group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. A series of speakers has been lined up and, critics say, it...

Barack Obama on Tuesday shortened the prison sentences of nearly two dozen drug convicts, including eight serving life in prison, in an act the White House said continues Obama's push to make the justice system fairer by reducing harsh sentences that were handed down under outdated guidelines. The effort could lead Obama to grant clemency more often as his second and final term in office winds down. Neil Eggleston, the White House counsel, said many of the 22 people whose federal sentences will be cut short by Obama's action would already have served their time and paid the debt they...

My 13 YO son was at a Scout function last Saturday, a Merit Badge "University". During the Citizenship class, the topic of the 2016 election came up, and one boy shouted out, "I'm for Ted Cruz!" The room (20 boys) erupted with "Go Cruz! Go Cruz!" I wasn't there but my son was right there in the middle of action, naturally.

Hillary Clinton’s lawyers confirmed what many have suspected since her remarks at a U.N. press conference earlier this month: She has wiped her server clean of any e-mails that she didn’t turn over to the State Department. In so doing, Mrs. Clinton has given her critics more reason to suspect that she is up to no good and yet further reason that Mrs. Clinton should keep those lawyers on speed dial. In the ongoing saga of Hillary Clinton’s exclusive use of a private server at her Chappaqua, N.Y., home, the latest bomb was thrown by her lawyer, David Kendall (of...

There has been speculation Wendy Clark might not return to Coca-Cola Co. but instead continue working on Hillary Clinton’s expected presidential campaign, after the senior marketing executive took a leave of absence from the beverage giant in January. But Coke and Ms. Clark confirmed on Tuesday that she will return to her post as North American marketing chief on April 6.

Ted Cruz, a Republican junior senator from Texas, announced last week he would be running for the presidency of the U.S. before even forming an exploratory committee, which is a common first step in a campaign. Cruz has drawn the ire of several Republicans and Democrats alike on Capitol Hill due to his strident style, brash confidence and uncompromising political views — despite the fact he is still in his first term. With his announcement, Cruz has immediately differentiated himself from any other Republican candidate in a very deep field. Other major candidates such as Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rick...

Unsure: 20 Ted Cruz: 18 Scott Walker: 18 Jeb Bush: 16 Marco Rubio: 7 Ben Carson: 6 Rand Paul: 5 Chris Christie: 4 Mike Huckabee: 4 Rick Santorum: 2 Carly Fiorina: 1

If the 19th century English philosopher George Henry Lewes heard Senator Ted Cruz speak as he did Monday at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, then Senator Cruz could convincingly be said to be the inspiration for Mr. Lewes’ quote that “originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism.” Senator Cruz announced at Liberty that he is seeking the Republican nomination for president. Our story does not end there. Cruz’s speech touched on more than campaign promises or party platform. It touched — focused — on the senator’s beliefs, deeply felt, on government’s limited role in relation to man,...

In response to Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s press conference today, please see the below statement from Holly Shulman, National Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee: “Nothing Gov. Pence said today changes the fact he advocated for and signed into law a bill that allows Indiana business to discriminate against the LGBT community under the guise of religious freedom. Attacking the media is no excuse for the fact that Pence was warned this legislation would hurt Indiana’s economy and its image weeks before Pence even signed it into law. The business community is not lining up against RFRA because of...

Speaking in New Hampshire last Friday night, Ted Cruz recalled a snarky aside written by New York Times columnist David Brooks, identifying Cruz and Karl Marx as the two people who "believe that power can be wielded directly by the masses." Being lumped in with Marx is a bit unusual for him, Cruz noted, but he's thrilled to be dismissed as a wacky populist by an Establishment shill like Brooks. Cruz, the junior Senator from Texas and first official Republican presidential candidate for 2016, was keynoting the New England Freedom Conference, put on by Young America's Foundation, a far-right group...

Politico reports, “Ted Cruz thunders about what he calls a ‘fundamentally unserious’ U.S. defense policy, but when he had a chance to weigh in during Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, he rarely showed up. Cruz, who announced last week he’s running for president, has the committee’s worst attendance record — by far.” His spokeswoman responds, “Sen. Cruz is deeply engaged in defense and national security issues. He never hesitates to defend American sovereignty and has established a remarkable track record leading on these matters.” Cruz later chimed in, “It’s not like I’ve been at the beach drinking a pina colada.”...

The blood is in the water. The game is afoot. And the Republicans are brawling. While Democrats are usually viewed as the undisciplined, fractious party, it is Republicans who sharpen their knives and slice each other up when the White House is at stake. The struggle is between two groups within the GOP. The establishment finally recognizes that the party must broaden its base. If the party appeals to only white, Christian conservatives, it will wind up as a regional party, capable of winning Senate and House seats but incapable of winning a national election. We must nominate a presidential...

Hillary is not going to run for president. Oh, she may put her name up. But run, as in the sense of actually campaigning, that’s another story altogether. There’s a line from the first Godfather that’s always stuck in my mind. Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), the family’s deadly enemy who has just taken an almost fatal crack at Don Corleone, bends forward and near-whispers, “Could I have gotten to him ten years ago?” That line has been running through my mind the past several weeks as the e-mail saga has unfolded: Could anybody have gotten to Hillary ten years ago? The...

Listen in to Dana Loesch interview with Presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz coming up next