Free Republic

It’s the morning after. You stayed up late watching election results on TV. By the time you went to bed, the Republicans had won five of the six Senate seats they needed to take control of both houses of Congress. As the networks called each state for the GOP, it felt like a trap door had opened beneath your feet, like a Munch scream, like a nightmare — a nauseating, slow-motion wreck you were powerless to prevent. Too rattled to sleep, you reached for the melatonin. Then, when you wake up in a sweat, the real nightmare begins. Republicans are...

A push by the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson to outlaw online gambling has ignited a bitter civil war in the gambling industry, dividing one of Washington’s most powerful interest groups and posing a major test of the Republican megadonor’s political clout. Mr. Adelson’s effort officially kicked off on Wednesday, when lawmakers, including a senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the businessman and his family, introduced legislation originally drafted with Mr. Adelson’s lobbyist. The bill would close a three-year-old loophole in federal law, banning online gambling — a growing industry that Mr....

Once a top target of conservative groups, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has used his full-throated criticism of President Obama on foreign policy to tamp down the threat of a serious primary challenge. From his perch on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Graham has attacked Obama on everything from Benghazi to Syria to defense cuts to Israel, shoring up his conservative bona fides and helping to quash a potential Tea Party challenge -- he faces a handful of nominal primary opponents, none of whom who have much of a chance. Even though he's likely safe in his June primary even if...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was caught Thursday on a live microphone offering to help the Obama administration pressure Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) into supporting the Senate’s aid legislation for Ukraine. According to multiple reports, Graham, who is facing a tough reelection race this year, was caught on a live microphone after a hearing telling Secretary of State John Kerry, “Let me know what I can do to help you with Boehner.”

KIEV - The man Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast as one of Europe's potential new Adolf Hitlers is a little late for coffee this Saturday morning. Igor Mazur, or Topoyla (Poplar) as he's known because he's 6'7" is the leader of the Ukranian Right Sector at Maidan, Kiev's Independence Square. The Right Sector are the radical nationalists of this Ukranian Revolution. There are others: the right-wing Svoboda (Freedom) Party, for one, which has an actual political following, 12 percent of the vote in the last elections. It used to identify itself as a national socialist movement, just like the...

Though Barack Obama is widely regarded as a weak president, is the new world disorder really all his fault? Listening to the more vocal voices of the GOP one might think so. According to Sen. Lindsey Graham, Vladimir Putin’s move into Crimea “started with Benghazi.” “When you kill Americans and nobody pays a price, you invite this type of aggression,” said Graham. Putin “came to the conclusion after Benghazi, Syria, Egypt” that Barack Obama is “a weak indecisive leader.” Also blaming Obama for Crimea, John McCain got cheers at AIPAC by charging, “This is the ultimate result of a feckless...

As the U.S. Senate took up a bill to provide financial aid to Ukraine, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, rose to object to an IMF bailout Majority Leader Harry Reid attached to the legislation. In the process he blasted Reid for repeatedly demonizing the billionaire Koch brothers - Reid tried to blame the Koch brothers for halting progress on the Ukraine bill. "I'm beginning to think [the Koch brothers] are a character almost out of Dr. Seuss in the majority leader's mind, they are the grinch who stole Christmas in his telling," Cruz said. Cruz accused Reid of "using his...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was caught on a hot mic Thursday telling Secretary of State John Kerry to let him know how he could “help” with House Speaker John Boehner. Screengrab via NBC News Screengrab via NBC News Kerry had just testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the need to provide Ukraine with economic assistance amid its turbulent transition following the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovich. Both House and Senate Republicans have expressed opposition to the proposed bill, mainly over a provision that would give unused U.S. Military money to the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.). Graham was offering...

Dear President Obama, We watched with great interest your recent interview with Bill O'Reilly. Unfortunately, we believe the interview raises more questions than it answers regarding the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi that resulted in the death of four Americans. The American people and their representatives in Congress deserve to know the truth regarding what happened before, during, and after the terrorist attack. For that reason, we ask that you help clarify some of the questions raised by your interview.

In what could be a major turning point in the race to oust Lindsey Graham from the U.S. Senate, most of South Carolina’s grassroots and Tea Party leaders are officially lining up to endorse Lee Bright Thursday morning on the front steps of the State House in Columbia. The announcement is set for 10 a.m. The boost for the upstate Senator comes a little over a month after the Tea Party Convention in Myrtle Beach, where the consensus was that Bright carried the candidates’ debate – and had a clear plurality of support – dynamics that have been supported by...

"...Currently, South Carolina holds its primary election June 10. If no candidate reaches 50 percent, there is a runoff, currently scheduled for June 24. The group filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, contending that the existing system violates the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, passed in 2009, which “requires states to transmit validly-requested absentee ballots to service members no later than 45 days before a federal election,..."

"If these negotiations [with Iran] fail, there are two grim alternatives," said Sen. Richard Durbin, "a nuclear Iran, or war, or perhaps both." Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham returned from the Munich security conference saying that even John Kerry agrees that President Obama's Syrian policy has failed. They are urging another look at air strikes. North Korea is warning that should the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises go forward in March, it could mean war, possibly nuclear war. Philippines President Benigno Aquino III this week compared his country's situation to Czechoslovakia in 1938, and the disputed islets off his...

Upstate Senator Lee Bright’s campaign appears to be gaining steam while incumbent Lindsey Graham looks to be in deep trouble according to a recent poll of likely Republican Primary voters in South Carolina. The big picture results of the survey show that South Carolinians are deeply dissatisfied with Graham, Bright is dominating the crowded field of challengers, and both trends seem to be building. Only 38% of voters said that Graham deserves to be re-elected, while 49% said it’s time for someone new. That someone would appear to be Bright, who polled more than Nancy Mace, Bill Connor and Richard...

Hell-bent on arming opposition forces in Syria—despite strong evidence that they’re run by Islamic terrorists—John McCain displayed behavior unbecoming of a United States Senator during a recent meeting with Syrian Christian leaders touring Capitol Hill. The delegation of Syrian clergy came to Washington to raise awareness among lawmakers of the growing crisis among the region’s minority Christian community. Christians make up about 10% of the Syrian population and they are being targeted and ruthlessly murdered by radical elements of the rebel forces, according to the visiting church officials. They say the media and human rights groups in the west have...

  This Candidate Fights for His ConvictionsHear what Richard Cash, the U.S. Senate candidate from South Carolina, had to say In this week's "On the Campaign Trail" podcast, we are joined by Richard Cash. Richard discusses his campaign for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina where he hopes to replace Republican incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham. Cash's story includes being married for over 28 years, a proud father of eight children, a corporate computer analyst, a full time pro-life missionary, a volunteer youth coach and athletic director, and the founder and owner of two small businesses. In this Podcast, he...

Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted President Obama for the foreign policy portion of his State of the Union address Tuesday night. “The world is literally about to blow up,” the South Carolina Republican told Roll Call. “The world as I know was not remotely described by the president.” “Syria is a contagion … Iraq is disintegrating. The whole region is moving toward chaos, and we’re doing nothing. We’re talking about limiting drones?” he continued. “I hope he will leave a residual force in Afghanistan [so] they can do the job, because if he doesn’t,

THE WORST REPUBLICAN SENATOR Lindsey Graham's sorry record. By Quin Hillyer – South Carolina's Lindsey Graham is a flop. He pretends to be a conservative, but sells out conservatives and insults them while doing so. He pretends to be effective at reaching across party lines, but the only thing he effectively does is help the other party. He inhabits the Senate seat of Strom Thurmond, legendary for great attention to his South Carolina constituents, but Graham spends most of his time trailing behind John McCain like a valet as McCain criss-crosses the country in pursuit of the presidency. He called...

WASHINGTON — For more than a year House Republican leaders have insisted the chamber would act on new immigration laws. And for more than a year, Republicans have done virtually nothing on the issue — despite intense pressure from activists, business groups, and the nation’s changing demographics. And although there are a variety of reasons for inaction, one Republican lawmaker recently offered a frank acknowledgement that for many House Republicans, there’s one issue at play that’s not often discussed: race. “Part of it, I think — and I hate to say this, because these are my people — but I...

Reposted article at Spectator.org. Every bit as relevant today as then. South Carolina's Lindsey Graham is a flop. He pretends to be a conservative, but sells out conservatives and insults them while doing so. He pretends to be effective at reaching across party lines, but the only thing he effectively does is help the other party. He inhabits the Senate seat of Strom Thurmond, legendary for great attention to his South Carolina constituents, but Graham spends most of his time trailing behind John McCain like a valet as McCain criss-crosses the country in pursuit of the presidency. He called Ted...

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS — A Mexican national was executed Wednesday night in Texas for killing a Houston police officer, despite pleas and diplomatic pressure from the Mexican government and the U.S. State Department to halt the punishment. Edgar Tamayo, 46, received a lethal injection for the January 1994 fatal shooting of Officer Guy Gaddis, 24. Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, he mumbled "no" and shook his head. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he took a few breaths and then made one slightly audible snore before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead...