Free Republic

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) sparred in an early presidential debate exchange during which Trump confronted the audience multiple times. (SNIP) Trump took another shot at the audience shortly after. The crowd loudly booed Trump when he mocked Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), for having "0%" in the polls before dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Bush.

(Watch video at link) could happen at any time. At least that's what many experts think. There are gross violations of the Constitution and the rights of the people at every turn. It is a daily staple of the news cycle. There have been potential flashpoints on the scale of Lexington Green (which started the American revolution in 1775) over and over again. And people have never been so divided at any time in the collective memory. Between threats of gun confiscation at the federal level, and repeated incidences of SWAT teams and military-like police forces abusing their power against...

Donald Trump has an excuse for funding Hillary Clinton's election to the U.S. Senate from New York: That's how crony socialism is done. You pay off elected officials to become their crony, then you get special consideration for your real estate deals. Please FReepers, explain to me how this isn't precisely what we are trying to STOP in Washington? Do you know what I don't hear coming from Trump? "I'm going to put an end to such games." Rather, it seems like he is proud of how he has played the game, considers it is how he rose to the...

I just finished reading a short piece about The Donald's plan to fix the VA medical care system. It seemed that the corner stone of his plan is to allow veterans to get medical help outside the VA hospital system. He is a little late to that party, it's already policy. I don't know if he just came up with a great idea someone already thought of, or is trying to snag a little credit for someone else's work. http://www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/

Most people in the English-speaking parts of the world missed Putin's speech at the Valdai conference in Sochi a few days ago, and, chances are, those of you who have heard of the speech didn't get a chance to read it, and missed its importance. (For your convenience, I am pasting in the full transcript of his speech below.) Western media did their best to ignore it or to twist its meaning. Regardless of what you think or don't think of Putin (like the sun and the moon, he does not exist for you to cultivate an opinion) this is...

While el Trumpo demands that Iowans quit screwing around and start showing up at the polls for him, he might want to take a trip south to good’ol Texas too. From CBS Dallas Fort Worth: A KTVT-CBS 11 / Dixie Strategies Poll of over 2,000 likely primary voters in Texas shows a pitched battle taking place at the top of the GOP ticket and Clinton dominance on the Democrat side. Statewide, among likely GOP Primary voters, Dr. Ben Carson and real estate mogul Donald Trump are in a virtual tie at 22.93% and 22.17% respectively. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is...

Three years behind schedule and some $200 billion over its original budget, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is finally set to become operational this month. The fighter jet has been in development for nearly 15 years, weathered half a dozen years of testing and experienced myriad hardware malfunctions and software glitches along the way. Once it's declared ready for combat, it will be the most expensive weapons system in world history. It will also be the most advanced in the sky. The F-35, also referred to as the Joint Strike Fighter, is touted as the most lethal and versatile...

"Bush is mesmerized by a common grocery store checkout scanner in 1992. This was LONG after scanners were introduced in 1980. "Some say" this is an "urban legend," but you decide. Sorry, source file was only 160x120, not too sharp."

Many people seem to think that the results of the British general election—a gain of 24 seats for the Tories, giving them a majority—herald a major win for conservatism. They don’t. They herald a major win for the Conservative Party, but just because it calls itself the Conservative Party doesn’t mean it does conservative things. Actually, the full official name of that party is the “Conservative and Unionist Party,” and last night was not a win for unionism either. The Scottish National Party, once a marginal outfit known outside Scotland only because Sean Connery supported it, picked up 50 seats...

Rand Paul will formally declare his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination with a five-state, five-day announcement tour next month, Republicans knowledgeable about the Kentucky senator’s plans told The Washington Times. Mr. Paul will make his announcement first in Louisville at noon on April 7, then head to New Hampshire on April 8, Charleston, S.C., on April 9, Iowa City on April 10 and Las Vegas on April 11. Traditionally, presidential candidates enter the race by declaring in their home state and then flying to at least two of the first four states that hold presidential preference contests the...

Moscow, March 2, Interfax - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will open a high-level event on the subject of protecting Christians on the sidelines of the 28th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. "Russia is seriously concerned by conflicts in the Middle East which has been the center of monotheistic religions since time immemorial. Regrettably, during these conflicts Christians are not only being harassed and discriminated against, but they also become victims of actions which fall under the definition of the genocide," the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Information and Press said. Christians in Iraq and...

... Indeed, until President George W. Bush’s post-9/11 declaration —“Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists” — the Emirati royals really were with both; the UAE played the seemingly impossible game of being friends with both the Americans, for whom Dubai serves as the largest overseas naval port, and the man who had declared war on America. Hardly dyed-in-the-wool jihadis, the Emirati royals likely saw bin Laden as an eccentric buddy — part of their social milieu of Gulf Arab millionaire heirs but with an added frisson of radical chic.” ... “While in the foreign concessions...

House Speaker John Boehner sat down with Bret Baier today for an exclusive interview, covering everything from immigration to ObamaCare to Boehner’s invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Boehner charged the administration with antipathy toward Netanyahu, and he sounded off on plans to sue President Barack Obama over his executive action on immigration. […] Baier asked whether this Congress is Boehner’s “last time around” and if he thinks he can bring all Republicans together. He responded with a laugh and said “I’ll be here for a while,” before adding that he sympathizes with the concerns of the more conservative...

In the Rewrite Lawrence O'Donnell questions several claims made in a Washington Post story written by a law professor about the shooting death of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson. ...

Abstract The Kings of Rome were abolished because of the last King's immorality and tyranny. The replacing government, a Republic, balanced the powers and responsibilities between the people and the upper class. The surrounding tribes recognized the Romans' generosity: some surrendered to Rome because they would be better treated by the Romans than their existing government. As the state grew, the Romans became self-absorbed, and created enemies instead of allies. The upper class used entitlements to absorb the people's responsibilities and gained political superiority by manipulating the law and people’s elected representatives. Slave labor destroyed the peoples' need to...

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell may be one of the most unpopular politicians in the state, but he is probably going to win another term thanks to President Obama. The president is so unpopular - and McConnell has been so effective at tying his opponent to Obama's apron strings - that McConnell's challenger, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, won't say whether or not she voted for President Obama. Twice, she declined to answer.

Halper believes that the Clintons’ effort to in effect keep their friends close while turning enemies into friends has been a masterful and hugely overlooked part of the rebuilding of their machine: "What has been little understood in the past decade, from 2001 to the present, is how successfully the Clintons undertook a systematic, comprehensive, and sustained effort to win over leaders in the GOP, especially figures who were once the biggest critics. In return, both Clintons were able to develop a bipartisan, statesmanlike image that had eluded them through eight years in the White House."

Rasmussen Reports — a polling firm with close ties to Karl Rove and the Bush political organization – has released their “latest” polling on the North Carolina US Senate race. It purports to show Republican Thom Tillis at 45 percent, Kay Hagan at 40 percent, 6 percent for “Other” and 9 percent “Undecided.” (SNIP) The only polls I’ve seen showing Tillis ahead are these Rasmussen surveys, and one from Civitas right after the May primary. Just two days ago, Civitas releases a poll showing Hagan leading Tillis by TWO. Tillis is also woefully behind Hagan in fundraising. And the DC...

<p>Conservative Republicans are still smarting from last Tuesday’s defeat in Mississippi. Evidence seems to be mounting that pro-Thad Cochran allies used rather unsavory tactics to draw out traditionally-Democratic voters to swing the election in Cochran’s favor.</p> <p>But the focus of this post isn’t really those tactics or the legality of non-Republican voters casting ballots in open primaries. Instead, Republicans — both moderate Establishment-types and grassroots conservaitves — should seriously consider the fallout from Cochran’s victory — because of those tactics. They could have broad implications against incumbents, particularly when the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) gets involved in the race.</p>

On Friday, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives continued its wholly political, and ultimately theatrical investigation of the IRS Tea Party-targeting scandal. Chairman Dave Camp's(R-MI) committee brought current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen before the committee to testify as to the loss of Lois Lerner's emails, among other misdeeds. You may argue that Paul Ryan(R-WI) was very aggressive in his examination of the witness, but that entire exchange was mere political theater that will evince nothing at the end of the investigation (snip) The problem may be that to uncover Lois Lerner's email would reveal something no Representative in...