Free Republic

Donald Trump changed a lot of things about the Republican Party, but one of the biggest favors he did social conservatives was refusing to be intimidated by the issues. He took on the abortion lobby, the gender wars, LGBT extremism, the cancel culture -- and never once apologized. Say what you will about his tone or methods, but Trump didn't shy away from the hard questions. After four years of that, most conservatives have lost the appetite for compromise. That's bad news for Republicans who don't have the stomach for those fights -- because there's one thing our movement isn't...

SNIP But that’s not how they came out. The liberal wing of the Court plus Kennedy struck down DOMA, with Roberts dissenting on the issue of standing to sue. Then the Court punted on Prop 8, holding that the plaintiffs (hey, they weren’t a gay couple) didn’t have standing. On the standing issue Kennedy and Roberts were consistent. Kennedy didn’t see a standing problem in either case, Roberts did. Both cases were 5-4. I don’t have the second case in front of me but here’s what I think explains what happened. The liberal wing, voting strategically, didn’t see a standing...

A church minister who pleaded guilty to 35 counts of child abuse, including two charges of raping an 11-year-old boy, has been sentenced to life in prison. The Reverend Simon Thomas, 44, of Hythe, Hampshire, admitted the charges at Southampton Crown Court. The court heard he had used internet chatrooms to groom his victims. A judge said Thomas, a former minister at Hythe United Reformed Church, must serve a minimum of eight years before he is eligible for parole. Thomas, who had worked in Hythe for 10 years and was married, was suspended by the United Reformed Church pending disciplinary...