Free Republic

After fending off attempts to change the Republican Party’s official position on LGBT issues and traditional marriage, a coalition of social conservatives cautiously celebrated an early victory Monday afternoon. Before the Grand Old Party picks its presidential nominee formally, a select set of delegates on the platform committee will spend the week staking out Republican positions on everything from domestic to international issues definitively.

Like a game of whack-a-mole, Hillary Clinton's secret email server scandal continues this week as the former secretary of state has just one more day to explain to a federal court why she shouldn't have to testify under oath about the system. On Friday, the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch submitted a request for permission to depose Clinton, along with two other current and former government officials, as part of the ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit looking into aide Huma Abedin's special employment arrangement with the State Department. 'As the primary driving force behind and principal user of the...

Every so often, history dishes up an awful convergence of events that leave great nations with horrific leaders — who then go on to create even worse crises. If you think Donald Trump is too bizarre, too reckless, too racist, too ignorant, or too contradictory to get elected, think again. By the usual rules of politics, Trump should be lagging Hillary Clinton by twenty points. But he is down by less than five, depending on which poll you read. Clinton just had a terrible week, and so did America. Collisions of racial catastrophe should not play into the hands of...

It’s the Donald Trump veep sweepstakes! Step right up and take your pick . . . The Morning Joe crew had fun playing the game this morning. Mark Halperin pushed Indiana governor Mike Pence, saying he was someone that people would look at and say he was a responsible choice. Harold Ford, Jr. suggested a general, to shore up Trump’s military credentials–and retired General Mike Flynn’s name has been floated. Mika Brzezinski, without naming names, pushed hard for someone with foreign policy experience. Finally, Joe Scarborough made the case for Chris Christie, as a tough, reliable campaigner: someone who is...

Oklahoma’s governor, Mary Fallin, said Donald Trump was “trying to campaign as a racial healer”, as the presumptive Republican nominee tried to paint himself as a unifying force in a country feeling fractured over race, violence and policing. “I think that has been part of his message, if you watched what he said this week,” Fallin told CNN on Sunday, alluding to police shootings of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the murder of five officers in Dallas, Texas. “He talked about how devastating this was for Dallas, how we have to respect our law enforcement and we...

JANESVILLE, WI— Wisconsin businessman Paul Nehlen held a press conference on Saturday in front of Paul Ryan’s border wall surrounding his Janesville mansion. Nehlen demanded that Ryan either build a wall to protect the American people or tear down his own wall that protects Ryan and his family.

After attending a fundraiser for John McCain’s Senate re-election — a campaign in which McCain is locked in a tight race with conservative primary challenger Kelli Ward — Kristol mused on Twitter if McCain would run as an independent candidate in the presidential election. But while Kristol was just speculating, McCain added intrigue to the Stop Trump movement with his surprise announcement that the delegates should be free to vote their conscience at the upcoming Republican Convention

A tense moment during a mostly positive meeting w/ Capitol Hill Republicans: When Flake stood up and introduced himself, Trump told him, “You’ve been very critical of me.” “Yes, I’m the other senator from Arizona — the one who didn’t get captured — and I want to talk to you about statements like that”. … Trump predicted that Flake would lose his reelection, at which point Flake informed Trump that he was not on the ballot this year. (SNIP) Tanner Flake, aka “n@#$erkiller”, used Twitter to threaten the “f*****” who stole his bike… (SNIP) Mariposa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio confirmed...

Sanders gushes, saying the health care proposals “will save lives.” Hillary Clinton reaffirmed her support on Saturday for creating a “public option” within Obamacare and allowing people to enroll in Medicare at age 55. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also called for a substantial increase in funding in medical clinics that serve low-income Americans, fully embracing a proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). While Clinton has long supported the creation of new government-run insurance options and reiterated that support several times this year, Saturday’s statement comes three days before she is scheduled to make her first joint campaign appearance...

Democrat Rep. G.K. Butterfield blamed Republicans for the five officers who were massacred by a racially motivated gunman in Dallas Thursday night. “The Republicans in Congress are refusing to address gun violence in America that targets black men and black women and Hispanic men and Hispanic women and, yes, even police officers,” Butterfield said while flanked by other members of the Congressional Black Caucus — just hours after five officers were shot and killed while trying to protect protestors who were rallying against police brutality....

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton will address thousands attending the African Methodist Episcopal conference in Philadelphia on Friday. The Black Church a familiar stumping ground for Hillary Clinton, and leaders expect Clinton to tackle tough Black issues straight on. Rev. Mark Tyler said she will be addressing many current events. “Not only will she speak about the shootings in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, but she will be able to speak to it in a way that will certainly surprise a number of people.” Rev. Tyler is pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia. His church...

Extending an olive branch to Bernie Sanders and his supporters, Hillary Clinton on Wednesday will announce a plan to make in-state public colleges and universities free for students from families who make less than $125,000 a year. Sanders made free in-state tuition a core plank of his campaign for the Democratic nomination, and Clinton and Sanders discussed the issue in their meeting last month, according to a Clinton aide. Clinton often mocked that plan from Sanders during the primary, saying she didn't want taxpayers to pay for Donald Trump's kids' education. Her plan includes an income cap Sanders' did not....

As a Constitutional lawyer, Texas Senator Ted Cruz knows a thing or two about the law. As a conservative senator, he knows what a tank of sharks Washington, D.C. can be. After today’s announcement by FBI Director James Comey that Hillary Clinton would skate on charges of wrongdoing, in regards to her hiding, destroying, and total mishandling of sensitive emails, Senator Cruz made a strong statement. From his Facebook page, and in its entirety: While I have tremendous respect for the dedicated men and women of the FBI, I have serious concerns about the integrity of Director Comey’s decision, and...

What more do these Congressional Black Caucus goons want? Paul Ryan has already caved and will allow a House vote on gun confiscation. Apparently that’s not good enough for the racist Congressional Black Caucus. They plan to “cause chaos” and are urging other fascist Democrats to join them all over gun control and confiscation. The Congressional Black Caucus wants Democrats to cause disruptions on the House floor next week Fox News learned from a CBC memo. Congressional Black Caucus memo obtained by Fox urges Dems “To be as disruptive to Speaker Ryan as possible” next week on guns House Speaker...

When Hillary Clinton reached an historic milestone earlier this month, becoming the first woman poised to be a major party's nominee for president of the United States, self-avowed feminist Kathleen Graves was unmoved. "I watched her speech and felt nothing," said Graves, a 34-year-old liberal and founder of the Brooklyn-based group Babes for Bernie (Sanders), Clinton's rival for the Democratic Party nomination. "It was sort of like an eye roll, a shrug." Clinton obviously has many Democratic supporters who see her as a highly intelligent trailblazer with the experience needed to hold the Oval Office. But Graves's apathy toward that...

The Ohio river valley was once a foundation of the American economy, and of the Democratic party. For decades, coal- and steel-producing areas in south-east Ohio and south-west Pennsylvania voted Democrat. Union workers, supporting the party of organized labor, counted on steady and well-paid jobs. But the US coal industry has been unable to survive major shifts in the world economy and steel has been subject to mechanization. In recent years, those steady jobs have disappeared. This has turned the region into ripe territory for Donald Trump. In the Pennsylvania Republican primary, the billionaire won a crushing victory, sweeping the...

The willingness of progressive Democrats to fight for every political yard with the tenacity of a Spartan warrior marks a stark contrast between the two political parties. Democrat politicians plow through the Republican lines wielding their political swords on every agenda item, mowing their opposition down with sheer ruthlessness and a winner=take=all attitude regardless of the facts or truth. Far too often, Republicans cower at the sight of Democrat fighters and throw down their weapons even though they hold the principled high ground and Congress. Recently, in the face of the worse terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9/11, Democrats...

On Saturday, Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the FBI regarding the agency’s investigation into her use of a private email server for official correspondence during her tenure as secretary of state. Former FBI Assistant Director Steve Pomerantz appeared on "America's Election HQ" today to give insight on what this interview was like. Pomerantz pointed out that Clinton is the main subject of a criminal investigation, and this three-and-a-half interview was the culmination of a lengthy, "adversarial" process. "They're looking for information, they're looking for the truth, and they're looking to get answered the questions that they have," Pomerantz said....

A recent Quinnipiac University poll has Donald Trump caught up with Hilary Clinton in some key industrial states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania. While the pundits have had a field day analyzing why he’s doing better than expected there, I feel like we keep missing a key point. It’s still the economy, stupid. We’ve talked a lot about the “working class” in this election - mostly in terms of demographics such as gender and race. As a friend of mine said recently, though, the key to that phrase is the word “working.” He’s right. “Working” is the identity a broad base...

Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is just getting started. Or so he has said to worried GOP leaders who fear his rival, presumptive Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is getting the upper hand too early — an edge he might not been able to regain later in the general election contest. The rambunctious billionaire and political outsider stormed his way to the top of the Republican Party in just under a year since his campaign launch last June, becoming the party’s standard bearer and presidential candidate on May 3 when he defeated Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and...