Free Republic

"Consistent. Conservative. Trusted." That's Ted Cruz's campaign slogan. It suggests, among other things, that Mr. Cruz is honest, a man with a moral compass. Campaign slogans are platitudinousness by definition - everyone gets that. But, generally speaking, they communicate something simple and true about the candidate. In Cruz's case, however, the irony is overwhelming. The Texas senator has developed a reputation in Washington as a grandstanding huckster, someone who reliably puts himself above the party. Which is why he's arguably less popular among his Republican colleagues than among the Democrats. It appears that Cruz's reptilian tactics are starting to backfire....

Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina was not quite the train wreck for the not-Trump portion of the party that seemed likely after New Hampshire's multi-candidate pileup. Boosted by Nikki Haley's endorsement, Marco Rubio basically saved his campaign with a second-place finish, while Jeb Bush finished far enough back that dropping out became the only honorable option. But of course Kasich is still in the race, and showing no signs of departing. I haven't ever written about his path to the nomination, mostly because I've never thought he had one. But then again this year has defied reasonable expectations. The...

The global public health emergency involving deformed babies emerged in 2015, the hottest year in the historical record, with an outbreak in Brazil of a disease transmitted by heat-loving mosquitoes. Can that be a coincidence? Over the coming decades, global warming is likely to increase the range and speed the life cycle of the particular mosquitoes carrying these viruses, encouraging their spread deeper into temperate countries like the United States. lready, climate change is suspected - though not proven - to have been a factor in a string of disease outbreaks afflicting both people and animals. These include the spread...

The takeaways from Monday night's Iowa caucuses are clear for Republicans: Ted Cruz was powered to victory by social conservatives and his superior ground game. Donald Trump's supporters — as was widely suspected — were less attached to the political process than their preferred political performer, and he subsequently underperformed his polls. Trump is far from finished, but Iowa was an ominous start for the frontrunner. And finally, the much anticipated Marco Rubio moment is here.

Over the past few years, I've argued that Russia was in much better shape than most people realized. While urgently avoiding praising Putin, I defended his Russia from several attacks. The thrust of my comments was simply that Russia was much more complicated than the "simply evil" narrative that was being woven by perhaps the most diverse coalition ever assembled: Has-been cold-warriors "neocons" eager to have a simple enemy; Protestants angry that Russia doesn't make it very easy to proselytize by negativity; liberals who detest Russia's anti-homosexual and anti-abortion movement; one-world-religion types, who opposed Russia's strong opposition to Islamic terrorism;...

Fort Myers, Fla., NBC affiliate WBBH aired a graphic that was supposed to be from the Department of Homeland Security during Friday's 5 p.m. show, but instead showed a happy eagle with T&A on its chest, grabbing what looked like breasts on the left and a butt on the right.

The popular podcast "Serial" launched its second season Thursday, shining a spotlight on the mysterious disappearance of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — and allowing him to be heard publicly for the first time since he was freed by the Taliban in May 2014. Bergdahl's dramatic rescue in eastern Afghanistan came nearly five years after he deserted his post and was captured, military officials said. Getting him back was part of a complex exchange that involved five Taliban prisoners who were being held at Guantanamo Bay — a move that drew sharp criticism from GOP lawmakers.

New York’s Daily News used to play it pretty straight–a flashy tabloid, to be sure, but one that kept its opinions on the editorial page. Yesterday’s taunting cover, aimed at blaming the Republicans in the wake of the San Bernardino massacre, shows how far it’s moved left.

"Nothing is more true than that people do not live by bread alone; catch-phrases constitute a staple article of diet, especially in a democracy" - George Creel, Chairman of the Committee Public Information The myth of journalism is no match for the reality of what these people truely think of us - how they look down upon all of us.

Its been just a few days since a shooter killed three people and wounded nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, and Republicans have already resumed their baseless accusations against the group. Carly Fiorina has determinedly promulgated the claim, first advanced by the Center for Medical Progress in its deceptively edited videos, that Planned Parenthood sells “body parts” from fetuses. Donald Trump, in characteristically garbled fashion, appeared both to acknowledge that some claims about the videos were false and to cite the videos as a potential motive for violence. Meanwhile, in the House, conservatives say they are...

Earlier generations believe that male enlistment in the military had an equalizing effect; wars brought men from all classes together to fight for a common cause. Newspapers are the modern (much less dangerous) equivalent, in that they provide a common experience for people of all walks of life, as well as a common investment. My 98-year-old mother-in-law, who has a high-school education, reads the same paper that people with letters after their names read. A couple of years ago, I saw "Newsies" on Broadway, a musical based on the 1899 New York newsboys' strike. It was odd to sit in...

Rinelle Harper was left for dead on a Winnipeg riverbank, beaten and sexually assaulted. Omar Khadr was imprisoned in Guantanamo, captured in 2002 by American forces in Afghanistan and charged with war crimes. Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped by Somali criminals, and held hostage for 460 days. The three Canadians have little in common, beyond the recognition of their names from the news. But they have each suffered immensely more than most of us can understand. ... She became a symbol for racist violence against Aboriginal women - though her alleged attacker was himself Aboriginal. That girl on the right is...

There are many things that real people do to become the subject of sympathetic movies. Make a flawless emergency landing in the Hudson River with a disabled jet full of passengers. Survive a devastating storm atop Mt. Everest. Become the most lethal sniper in the history of the US military. Before the advent of the movie “Truth,” no one would have thought broadcasting a shoddy and immediately discredited report that ruined the careers of the journalists involved and gave their storied network a black eye would make the list. In a better world, the bloggers who exposed the malfeasance of...

UN and Oxfam caught bribing media to write crusading climate stories By Ian Wishart News journalists are being bribed by the United Nations and the Oxfam charity to write scare stories about climate change ahead of the global climate treaty negotiations in Paris later this year. Details of the bribes – which take the form of ego-boosting “awards”, global travel in CO2 generating airliners and financial payments – are contained in a news release just published by the UNDP today, an organisation headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Journalists’ codes of ethics prohibit being induced to give...

DoD manual allows journalists to be held as 'belligerents' Aug 26, 3:16 AM (ET) By WENDY BENJAMINSON WASHINGTON (AP) — New Defense Department guidelines allow commanders to punish journalists and treat them as "unprivileged belligerents" if they believe journalists are sympathizing or cooperating with the enemy. The Law of War manual, updated to apply for the first time to all branches of the military, contains a vaguely worded provision that military commanders could interpret broadly, experts in military law and journalism say. Commanders could ask journalists to leave military bases or detain journalists for any number of perceived offenses. "In...

On Monday night, Fox News host Megyn Kelly doubled down in defense of her questions during Thursday night’s inaugural Republican presidential debate.She explained: You may have heard that there was a dustup between yours truly and presidential contender Donald Trump. Mr. Trump was upset with a question I asked him at the debate last week about his electability and specifically comments he had made in the past about women.

AP reporter Matt Lee sparred with a State Department spokesperson who insisted the administration was adequately briefed on a side deal between the IAEA and Iran, despite not having read it. “We haven’t received a written copy of it, but we have been briefed on its contents,” State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said. “So someone with a photographic memory has looked at it and copied everything down in their brain and then repeated it up on the Hill?” Lee asked. The Obama administration has defended this anti-transparency measure, calling it standard practice and objecting to the term “secret deal.”...

It's time for someone on TV to step up and take Donald Trump down — or, at least, put him in his place.. The situation has not risen to the level of Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy. But it's definitely in a league with Katie Couric and Sarah Palin. And every day that Trump gets away with driving the vast majority of political coverage on network and cable TV with his reckless, tabloid-style attacks and unsubstantiated claims is another day that the nation loses in having an informed discussion about where it wants to go in terms of...

Reporter and weekend news anchor Tom Murray is leaving WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) to join the ministry staff at Oak Creek Assembly of God church. Murray made the announcement on his Facebook page Sunday morning, saying he's joining the church staff at the end of August. Murray joined WTMJ in 2007. A Portage, Mich., native, he is the anchor on the station's Saturday and Sunday morning news shows, and a general assignment reporter.... Murray and his wife, Jennifer, are active in Oak Creek Assembly of God's young adult, drama and Sunday school ministries. "My Christian faith is the source of happiness...

Fox News television host Bill O’Reilly sent an anonymous reporter to San Francisco on Tuesday to approach local politicians about the tragic murder of Kathryn Steinle at Pier 14. A segment on last night’s “O’Reilly Factor” shows two supervisors immediately brushing off the television network, while one delivered a terse response. Fox approached Supervisor Wiener at City Hall saying,” I don’t want to be a pest it’s just literally a minute…” Wiener quickly cut off the interviewer saying, “Fox News is not real news and you’re not a reporter.” Wiener told SFGate that “tea party” members are flooding him with...