Free Republic

President George W. Bush on Thursday issued a thinly veiled warning about the state of American democracy under the current president, arguing that "bigotry seems emboldened" and politics is "more vulnerable" to conspiracy theories. Speaking at the George W. Bush Institute's "The Spirit of Liberty: At Home, in the World," a national forum in New York City, the former president warned that the trend in Western countries of moving away from democratic confidence and global engagement is seeping into American culture. Parts of Europe, Bush said, have developed an "identity crisis" as a result of economic stagnation, youth unemployment and...

Former President George W. Bush said Thursday that "bigotry seems emboldened" in the modern U.S. He also warned that the U.S. needs to accept "globalization" and reject "white supremacy." He criticized the “governing class” without specifically mentioning President Trump. "Discontent deepened and sharpened partisan conflicts" in recent years, he observed during a speech for the George W. Bush Institute. "Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication."

Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Breitbart News senior editor-at-large Peter Schweizer, author of “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” discussed the Clintons’ involvement with the Uranium One deal. That deal allocated Russia 20 percent of the United States’ strategic uranium reserves. Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time of the U.S. government’s approval of the deal, has denied involvement in that approval process. That claim according to Schweizer “stretches credulity” and warrants an investigation. Transcript as follows: CARLSON: Peter Schweizer originally...

The Canadian province of Quebec has passed a sweeping ban on face coverings – barring public workers from wearing the niqab or burqa and obliging citizens to unveil when riding public transit or receiving government services – ushering in a law believed to be the first of its kind in North America. The legislation was adopted on Wednesday, capping off two years of work by the province’s Liberal government to address the issue of state neutrality. The resulting law has been condemned by critics who say it deliberately targets Muslim women and will fuel the province’s simmering debate on identity,...

Japan says lunar chasm measuring 50km long and 100 metres wide could be used as a base for astronauts and their equipment.Scientists have fantasised for centuries about humans colonising the moon. That day may have drawn a little closer after Japan’s space agency said it had discovered an enormous cave beneath the lunar surface that could be turned into an exploration base for astronauts. The discovery, by Japan’s Selenological and Engineering Explorer (Selene) probe, comes as several countries vie to follow the US in sending manned missions to the moon. Using a radar sounder system that can examine underground structures,...

Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, purged several long time officials, most of whom had supported DNC vice chairman Rep. Keith Ellison in his bid for the chairmanship. The officials were replaced by Hillary Clinton supporters, riling the progressive wing of the party and demonstrating that the Democrats are in no position to take advantage at the ballot box of any GOP dissension. NBC News: Complaints began immediately after party officials saw a list of Perez' appointments to DNC committees and his roster of 75 "at-large" members, who are chosen by the chair. The removal and demotion of a...

Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer sent a letter to mayors and governors urging them to publicize their stances on impeaching President Trump and call on federal lawmakers to support his removal from office. Steyer addressed the letter to all 50 governors and 2,000 mayors of cities around the country, who he said, “have a duty to speak out.” He accused Trump of “violat[ing] the Constitution, the office of the Presidency, and the trust of the public.” Steyer’s latest letter, obtained by The Hill, comes a week after he penned letters to Democratic congressional offices and Democrats’ House and Senate campaign...

Over two short press appearances, the NFL commish could not stop repeating the same two wordsWithout a doubt this is already an NFL season Roger Goodell can't wait to drop kick into distant memory. As players' political activism increasingly encroaches onto the playing field, ratings are getting blitzed. Over the first six weeks, NFL ratings are down 7.5 percent as compared to last season, per Nielsen. They're down 18.7 percent from the 2015 season. (Commenting last year on the decline, Goodell punted, blaming the presidential election for America's fading interest.) Faced with such awful stats, it's incontrovertible that if Goodell...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ HOISTING AMMO Army Pfc. Harlan Troutman, left, hoists a training round above his head during the Gen. Gordon Sullivan Cup best tank crew competition at Fort Benning, Ga., May 1, 2016. Troutman is assigned to the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 2nd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. MAKING AN ENTRANCE Air Force Staff Sgt. August O'Niell...

Ty Clevenger filed the grievance in New York, where Mr. Comey was a former U.S. attorney and is licensed to practice law. Mr. Clevenger said Mr. Comey’s testimony to Congress that he did not predetermine the outcome of the FBI’s probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is belied by revelations this week that he in fact started drafting an exoneration months before even speaking with Mrs. Clinton. “Insofar as Mr. Comey gave materially false testimony to Congress, it appears that he violated Rules 1.0(w), 3.3(a)(1), and 8.4 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct,” Mr. Clevenger...

Just weeks ago, members of the Jacksonville Jaguars made international news by protesting the U.S. national anthem on foreign soil. Ahead of a game in London, Jaguars kneeled — and owner Shad Khan supported their protest by standing with the team during the anthem.In the interim, an attempt to walk it back: as a mea culpa letter from Jaguars President Mark Lamping to a city of Jacksonville official made clear on Oct. 6. The team, wrote Lamping, “was remiss in not fully comprehending the effect of the national anthem demonstration on foreign soil has had on the men and women...

BERKELEY (KCBS) — Following President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders on immigration, a state senator from the Bay Area says it’s time for First Lady Melania Trump to release her immigration papers. “There’s been various press reports based on legitimate research that indicates that Melania was paid for modeling jobs that occurred weeks before she had a legal work visa,” State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) told KCBS. “We don’t know, we can’t refute that, because we’ve not seen any of the direct documentation from Melania herself that would indicate otherwise,” Skinner went on to say. An investigation by The Associated...

Things got a little heated Monday when a group of young immigrants confronted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at a pro-DACA press conference in San Francisco. Several dozen young immigrants shouted down the top House Democrat, following her recent conversations with President Donald Trump over the future of a program that grants many of them legal status. "We are immigrant youth, undocumented and unafraid," they chanted, taking over a scheduled press conference Pelosi, along with Reps. Barbara Lee and Jared Huffman, organized to call for the immediate passage of the Dream Act, a federal proposal that offered many of the...

A fascinating collection of photos have resurfaced showing the hardships faced by German-Americans at the brutal height of the First World War. As Europe was ravaged by fighting, German immigrants in the US suffered harassment, internment, lynchings - and even the humiliation of being tarred and feathered. Although a little-remembered part of history today, America was wracked by the fear and paranoia that swept from coast to coast during the Great War. The United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 and helped lead the Allies to victory. But before that, many Americans were terrified of the German threat...

Hillary Clinton is desperately trying to disrupt the news cycle after a devastating bombshell report was published exposing her involvement in the sale of 20% of America’s Uranium to Russia after MILLIONS of dollars flowed to the Clinton Foundation. As previously reported, the FBI had evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were involved in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering in order to benefit Vladimir Putin prior to Obama admin handing over 20% of America’s Uranium to Russia, according to a devastating report by John Solomon via The Hill.Who was right in the middle of it all? HILLARY CLINTON. MILLIONS of dollars...

(Nigel Farage at :20) ...the OECD are telling us that if we had a second referendum and we came to our senses and voted to rejoin the European Union, that that could have a significant and positive effect on the UK economy. It's also downgrading its growth forecast for the United Kingdom, down to one percent for next year because of the uncertainty of what'll happen in post-Brexit Britain. Now, this of course is not the first time we've heard from this and many other of these intergovernmental global organizations because they were all part of "Project Fear" during the...

A woman has been detained near Girona by Spain's Guardia Civil police force suspected of collaborating with terrorists through recruiting and sending jihadists to conflict zones. The 21-year-old "formed part of an international network of people loyal to Isis thought to have participated in forums used to recruit women with the goal of sending them to conflict zones," Spain's Interior Ministry (Ministerio del Interior) said in a statement. The woman, who was born in northern Spain, "went through a process of virtual self-radicalisation, consuming propaganda products from jihadist groups containing extremely violent content," the statement continued. It revealed that the...

A new UN report on the mysterious 1961 plane crash that killed UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold in central Africa has concluded it appears "plausible" the aircraft came under attack. Sweden has called "an open wound" the unsolved questions over Hammarskjold's death, which came during the Cold War between Western nations and the Soviet bloc. The latest findings take into account newly-released information from the archives of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Germany and the United States.

A man suspected of arson was arrested at Maxwell Farms Regional Park in Sonoma on Sunday afternoon after he was seen leaving a creek bed where a fire was burning, authorities said. Three Sonoma County Probation officers patrolling the area because of ongoing fires in the region noticed Jesus Fabian Gonzalez, 29, walking out of the creek area and a plume of smoke behind him, Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said. Sheriff’s Deputy John Grohl was called to the scene and extinguished the fire, which was then completely doused by Sonoma Valley Fire Protection District personnel. Gonzalez was wearing a trench...

The arrest of a 29-year-old Latino man this weekend on suspicion of starting a small fire in California’s scorched wine country ignited a firestorm of its own on right-wing media sites whose articles linked him – without evidence – to the catastrophic fires that have killed at least 28 people in the area. Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano forcefully shot down the allegations at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. “There is a story out there that he’s the arsonist in these fires,” Giordano said. “That’s not the case. There’s no indication he’s related to these fires at all. ... I...