Free Republic

A volley of U.S. cruise missiles had barely been launched into Syria before the Internet filled up with fact-free theories about the real reason for an international crisis. A popular one on the right-most fringes: The U.S. government actually carried out the chemical weapons massacre in Syria last week — a “false flag” to trick President Trump into retaliating, thus entangling himself in a foreign war. A slightly more convoluted strain on the left: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the chemical weapons massacre to help Trump — distracting Americans from an investigation into Trump's campaign ties to Russia by provoking...

City Controller Alan Hevesi took sides yesterday in a City Council primary slugfest, endorsing Pauline Chu in her contest with veteran Flushing incumbent Julia Harrison. Hevesi, of Forest Hills, cited controversial remarks made by Harrison last April, when she was quoted as saying Asian immigrants in Flushing "were more like colonizers" than other groups that had settled in her district. Chu, an Asian-American who lost a primary to Harrison in 1991, is president of Community School Board 25.

City Controller Alan Hevesi yesterday endorsed Assemblywoman Deborah Glick for Manhattan borough president taking sides in a primary that has split the Democratic Party's gay and black constituencies. Hevesi chose Glick, a lesbian, over her leading opponent in the coming Democratic primary, City Councilwoman Virginia Fields of Harlem, who is black. The move came just two days after Hevesi endorsed Brooklyn Assemblyman Roger Green, who is black, in Green's longshot bid to oust Public Advocate Mark Green in the Democratic primary. Critics accused Hevesi, a likely mayoral contender in 2001, of endorsing Roger Green to avoid political problems with black...

Democratic assemblywoman Deborah Glick of the New York State Assembly has introduced legislation that would fine people who do not vote, and has been promptly criticized on the constitutionality of the measure. Glick's legislation proposes a $10 fine for those who fail to vote without providing a "valid excuse," but she does not specify what a valid excuse would be, the New York Daily News reports.

The U.S. government’s foreign surveillance sweeps up American lawmakers and their staffers so routinely now that Congress is alerted as often as once a month that its employees involved in intercepted conversations have been unmasked and their identities shared with intelligence or law enforcement agencies, Circa has learned. The so-called Gates notifications -- named for former CIA Director Robert Gates -- go to the Gang of Eight leadership team in Congress. 2 of 29 The Gang of Eight includes the House speaker and minority leader, the Senate Republican and Democratic leaders and the bipartisan heads of both chambers' intelligence committees....

If you’re feeling angry about the issues of the day–from Trump’s immigration ban to moves to skirt internet privacy–here’s a new, more productive way to vent: Get paid to set up an activist group. The nonprofit Fight for the Future, which works on keeping the internet free and open, recently announced a campaign to start “A-Teams” (Activism Teams). It’s prepared to offer $15,000 for a month’s startup capital. And it’s enlisting non-traditional types, including journalists, lawyers, advertisers, therapists, nurses, and designers. “There are incubators and accelerators that every year fund companies that change the world. We want to do something...

I know I am not alone in being sick and tired of the nonsensical Russian hacking brouhaha. Give it a rest--please. The only ones still buying into it are brain-dead liberal zombies who take as gospel anything their various propaganda outlets spew out You brought this up [Russian hacking] and you act as if we all know this—and I don’t think we do all know this, actually. ....What’s this about? We all assume we know that Russia hacked the election, and I’m just asking why has not one person, not one explained exactly what that means. I’m getting very frustrated....

Sen. Claire McCaskill At least 41 Democratic senators have publicly committed to filibuster President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, leading to a probable showdown with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.The filibuster might seem like payback for Democrats after Republicans refused to consider the nomination of then-President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, for 293 days starting last year. Unlike Republicans last year, however, Democrats don’t have all that much power. They aren’t in the majority — and McConnell has strongly hinted that he could seek to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court picks if Gorsuch can’t get 60...

Tuesday on The View, host Whoopi Goldberg was adamant that schools needed to provide free birth control to teenagers without parental consent, because they “don’t teach sex education at school.” Whoopi first made this strange allegation on a February 2 show, when she said that a school shouldn’t have to notify parents before putting condoms in the boys' and girls' bathrooms. . . . Whoopi shared an angry mother’s story where the woman found out her 16-year-old daughter received a hormonal birth control implant while on a school trip to a health clinic. While the mother apparently gave her consent...

The Hollywood Reporter took offense Mrs. Trump wore her wedding ring in the picture. “Melania Trump’s official White House portrait puts her 15-carat wedding ring front and center,” its headline blared, adding: “Compared to Michelle Obama’s first official portrait first portrait, which shows the former first lady in the now-famous sleeveless Michael Kors dress in the Blue Room of the White House in 2009, Melania’s portrait has an almost surreal glow about it, not unlike a mall glamour shot

After being thoroughly indoctrinated at one of our Liberal Universities a Texas State University Student perfectly displays what he has learned about the American Constitution. In the eyes of Liberals the First Amendment does not apply to citizens who speak on behalf of Americans in the womb.

I've heard many versions of this story, but I’ll go with the one reportedly told by Dr. Abraham Twerski, a renowned psychiatrist and Orthodox rabbi. (I’ve trimmed and paraphrased it a bit.) The bearded Twerski goes to the airport in his Hasidic garb — the hat, the long coat, the buttoned white shirt. Another Jew, this one modernly dressed, is annoyed by Twerski and unloads on him: “What’s wrong with you? Must you insist on parading around in that medieval get-up as if it were Purim? Don’t you realize how ridiculous you look? You bring nothing but scorn and embarrassment...

Given the apprehension and suspension of the “notorious” playground “menace” Caitlin Miller for committing random acts of make-believe at her Hoke County, North Carolina school, I recently felt compelled to do a soft-target search of our home. Suspecting that our house was riddled with the same type of “weapons” that got five-year-old Caitlin in such trouble, I wanted to make sure that the minor residents with whom I share this home would not find themselves in the same situation as little Miss Miller. Alas, the search of our home—that was cleverly dubbed “Operation Slow and Curious”—had shocking results.

If you’re stressed out about this whole Russian nonsense, relax – Donald Trump didn't do anything wrong, and he's not going be impeached, arrested, or ritually disemboweled. When the truth comes out and it explodes in the Democrats’ soft, girlish hands, we’ll all be laughing and toasting their humiliation with Stoli shots.How do I know this with utter certainty? Because it's all so glaringly obvious, and it’s the only scenario that fits the facts. As Hugh Hewitt says, this scandal has three silos. The first silo is the question of whether the Russians somehow “hacked our election.” The second silo...

Mike Cernovich ????? @Cernovich BREAKING NEWS! Susan Rice requested unmasking of incoming Trump administration officials 35m Mike Cernovich ????? @Cernovich We know it's you @AmbassadorRice. Bloomberg and NY Times both sat on the story to protect Obama. Have a nice time before Congress.

As reported extensively by Breitbart News, ESPN has suffered severe losses in cable subscriptions over the last few years, the repercussion of which will rear its ugly head in the form of significant cutting of on-air talent in the near future. According to comments made Thursday by ESPN’s Jim Miller on SI Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, dozens of employees will soon join the unemployment lines. “The way that I’ve heard it—and I’ve kind of run the numbers on it, I think we’re looking at between 40 and 50 people,” Miller said. “And look, there’s a lot of uncertainty about...

PETA’s shenanigans vary from the absurd to the downright offensive. From likening rape survivors to pigs and cows, to calling Pokémon a form of animal cruelty, PETA’s efforts to “save the animals” always make the headlines—and with good reason: they’re completely absurd. The animal rights group today released a new video to cry over milk, equating the nutritious drink with Nazism. Following the rise in Trump Derangement Syndrome and the progressive left’s hysteria over white supremacism, PETA states: “Did you know that milk has long been a symbol used by white supremacists?” It’s an alternative fact accompanied by an equally...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdG57lgHFaA

WASHINGTON—Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, has told the Federal Bureau of Investigation and congressional officials investigating the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia that he is willing to be interviewed in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution, according to officials with knowledge of the matter. As an adviser to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign, and later one of Mr. Trump’s top aides in the White House, Mr. Flynn was privy to some of the most sensitive foreign-policy deliberations of the new administration and was directly involved in discussions about the possible lifting of sanctions on...

At Skidmore College, where there are no immediately identifiable conservatives, faculty members have started to intimidate liberals with stray thoughts. Robert Boyers, an English professor at Skidmore, recounted a couple of recent episodes in The Chronicle Review on March 24, 2017: • "At my own college, when a senior colleague at a public meeting last fall uttered an expression ('in their native habitat') felt by some to be 'offensive'--though clearly not intended to be so, and followed by a clear apology when a complaint was voiced--there were calls for her to resign from the faculty. And though she is, and...