Free Republic

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took a shot at Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., when asked about the possibility of running simultaneously for re-election to the Senate and for the presidency in 2016. "If someone decides to run for president of the United States, you run for president of the United States," Rubio said at the National Press Club. "I don't believe you can run effectively for an office of that magnitude while having some exit strategy in mind."

Been looking at some of the coverage today regarding the Obama Regime's efforts to enrich the communist dictators of Cuba. Among other elements happening is the new importation of cigars....and the press certainly seems quite enamored with Obamugabe for this action. Of course we have been subject for DECADES about the EEEVILS of tobacco... If the media were going to be consistent, we would see them ripping Obama for increasing Americans' exposure to such a DEADLY product. I guess ATTACKING AMERICAN TOBACCO companies is okay, while ENRICHING CUBAN DICTATORS who control Cuban tobacco is even better. American tobacco=bad. CUBAN tobacco=good.

".............Paul has signaled that if he runs for president in 2016, he won’t do it the way his father did, by mostly shunning the GOP establishment. Instead, he is expected to cultivate relationships with Republicans like McConnell, whose help making inroads with establishment donors could be very, very useful. Rubio clearly isn’t shunning the establishment, either. He worked on crafting an immigration reform bill earlier this year, something the establishment wing of the party has been clamoring for in the wake of a disappointing election in which Republicans performed poorly among Hispanics. And he didn’t hesitate to back McConnell, even...

The United States may be about to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, but some Cuban-Americans see that as a grave mistake. Carlos Eire, the T. Lawrason Riggs Professor of History & Religious Studies at Yale University and author of a memoir about growing up during the Cuban Revolution, Waiting for Snow in Havana, pointed out that Cuba has had two illegal arms shipments seized in the past year and a half, one to North Korea, the other to China. In addition, he said: • It has deals with Iran (including sending nuclear experts to Iran); It...

The Rawlings-Blake administration plans to pay Freddie Gray's family $6.4 million as a settlement for civil claims in his arrest and death — an extraordinary payment in a lawsuit against city police. The settlement — which is expected to be approved at Wednesday's meeting of the city's spending panel — will be paid out over two years, according to the mayor's office. The five-member board is controlled by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. The payment is larger than the total of more than 120 other lawsuits brought against the police department for alleged brutality and misconduct since 2011. Gray, 25, died in...

A disturbing trend in recent weeks has convinced Americans that an all-out assault is being waged on our men and women in uniform. From a gas station murder in Houston, to a shooting ambush in New York City and a slaying in Illinois, police officers across the country are afraid to do their jobs because it is apparent that the people they pledged to protect are turning on them. The majority of Americans are not blind to the new dangers police face. A Rasmussen Reports survey reveals that 58 percent would agree a war on police is being waged in the...

A little-noticed lawsuit brought by a Maryland man challenging the state's contorted congressional districts will be heard this fall by the Supreme Court — where it has the potential to open a new line of constitutional attack for opponents of gerrymandering. Stephen M. Shapiro, a former federal worker from Bethesda, argues that the political map drawn by state Democrats after the 2010 census violated the First Amendment rights of Republicans by placing them in districts in which they were in the minority, marginalizing them based solely on their political views. The issue before the Supreme Court is whether a lower...

Two Labor Day Polls Portend ‘Splodey Heads For The Anti-Trump Advocates…. Earlier today Gallup released a poll showing that Trump is the most heavily favored candidate (63% Approval Rating) amid Republicans. A devastating defeat for the establishment GOP (GOPe) who are seeking to push their preferred candidate Jeb Bush. Such substantive favorable opinion of candidate Trump puts the RNC/GOPe in a difficult position as they plot to begin their collective assault against the unpalatable frontrunner. But tonight the news for the Vichy Republican crowd is infinite degrees worse. As they plot the best course of Trump’s annihilation – national polls...

Martin O’Malley on the bandwagon: US should take 65,000 Syrians in 2016 Posted by Ann Corcoran on September 5, 2015 Martin O'Malley As Mayor of Baltimore, O’Malley encouraged diversity as thousands of impoverished refugees were deposited there among Baltimore’s American minority poor. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/baltimore-thousands-of-impoverished-refugees-poured-into-city-in-last-ten-years-fuel-for-the-fire/ It has really been an unbelievable thing to watch—how Leftist politicians the world over are falling all over themselves to invite mostly Muslim Syrians (no mention of the persecuted Christians by O’Malley, or any of them for that matter!) to permanently move into western countries and American communities. Here (at CNN) former Open Borders Governor of Maryland...

The review process under the Corker law never began — by the law’s own terms. To undermine President Obama’s atrocious Iran deal despite the Republican-controlled Congress’s irresponsible Corker legislation, it will be necessary to follow, of all things, the Corker legislation. On Wednesday, Barbara Mikulski became the 34th Senate Democrat to announce support for the deal, which lends aid and comfort to a regime that continues to call for “Death to America.” Under the Corker Roadmap to Catastrophe, Mikulski’s assent ostensibly puts President Obama over the top. After all, the legislation sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker...

Former Gov. Martin O'Malley is calling for the United States to accept at least 65,000 Syrian refugees by the end of next year. O'Malley, a Democratic candidate for president, made the statements after reports of the deaths of a Syrian woman and her two sons who drowned during a voyage from Turkey to Greece, in attempt to escape the war-ravaged nation. Images of the 3-year-old boy's body washed up on a beach, and other images of hundreds trying to board trains in Hungary, have focused world attention on the desperate wave of migration. "The images of poor Aylan Kurdi's body...

Well, I’ve said it a million times: The anchorman of CBS News should attend Democratic fundraisers (as happened). The Supreme Court reporter of the New York Times, a.k.a. the paper of record, should march in abortion-rights rallies (as happened). And PBS news figures should be open partisans. Yesterday, when Senator Barbara Mikulski declared for the Iran deal, meaning that this deal could not be blocked by the Senate, Gwen Ifill spiked the football. “Take that, Bibi,” she tweeted. Aha! Good one, Gwen! The PBS ombudsman has written about this matter disapprovingly. I’m not sure I disapprove. What I disapprove of...

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said on Friday that he will oppose the Iran nuclear deal, making him the third Senate Democrat to come out against the agreement. "This is a close call, but after a lengthy review, I will vote to disapprove the deal," he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. "The JCPOA legitimizes Iran's nuclear program. After 10 to 15 years, it would leave Iran with the option to produce enough enriched fuel for a nuclear weapon in a short time." The opposition of Cardin — the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — is a setback...

Homesick Californians love their In-N-Out Burger -- to the point where, last year, they bought out a delivery service's entire stock of nasty frozen Double-Doubles in less than 30 minutes. Come November, they'll have a better alternative. CaliBurger, a company so similar to In-N-Out that they were sued over a trademark dispute, has announced that they have signed a lease in the Metropolitan, a shopping center at 10000 Town Center Ave., in Columbia, Md. The restaurant, which has locations in Asia and the Middle East, will open in November.

Maryland resident Carlos Anthony Hollins has been arrested and charged for allegedly issuing deadly threats against La Plata residents via his personal Twitter account. “IM NOT GONNA STAND FOR THIS NO. MORE. TONIGHT WE PURGE ! KILL ALL THE WHITE PPL IN THE TOWN OF LAPLATA. #BLACKLIVESMATTER,” Hollins’ now-suspended Twitter account read.

Facing a congressional subpoena, a former State Department staffer connected to Hillary Clinton's private email server has decided to invoke his Fifth Amendment right. Attorneys for Bryan Pagliano, a former State Department staffer who received a subpoena to testify and provide documents to the House Select Committee, wrote the committee notifying Committee chairman, Trey Gowdy that Pagliano would plead the fifth. Gowdy wants Pagliano to appear before the Benghazi Committee to provide documents “related to the servers or systems” operated and owned by Clinton. Mr. Pagliano’s legal counsel told the committee on Tuesday that he would plead the 5th to...

A man who allegedly tweeted a threatening remark against La Plata residents Wednesday afternoon was taken into custody at about 8:47 p.m. without incident by the Charles County Sheriff's Office. Carlos Anthony, 20, of Waldorf was identified as the suspect who reportedly posted the threat of violence on Twitter by the La Plata Police Department. Twitter post stated: “IM NOT GONNA STAND FOR THIS NO. MORE. TONIGHT WE PURGE! KILL ALL THE WHITE PPL IN THE TOWN OF LA PLATA!”

Those putting party over country try to conceal their votes from the public. Democratic senators supporting President Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal with Iran are cowards. They know that a majority of Americans oppose the deal. Thus, they are running for cover to avoid going on the record and voting against a resolution disapproving the deal. A filibuster to block a vote on the merits altogether is the Democratic Senate caucus’s preferred way out. The White House is reportedly pushing the filibuster strategy even though Obama is virtually certain to have enough votes to sustain a veto of a resolution of...

Thus ends a breathtaking performance of Republican failure theater. Once upon a time, knowing that your party controlled both chambers of Congress would have given you great comfort that a terrible treaty negotiated with a terrorist power could never become law in the United States. I think this makes it official: I’m on the Trump bandwagon. Hail Caesar. What’d the GOP get out of all this? What did their huge advantage in the House and their eight-seat majority in the Senate ultimately amount to in terms of concessions? It’s one thing to lose a momentous fight on foreign policy, ceding...

On Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) 2% became the 34th Democrat in the U.S. Senate to support the Iran deal, handing President Barack Obama a veto-proof majority. In so doing, Mikulski drove the final nail into the coffin of the pro-Israel lobby, centered around the once-vaunted American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which had vowed in July to fight the deal “with the entirety of our institutional resources.” AIPAC’s loss proves that the so-called “Israel lobby” was never as strong as antisemitic conspiracy theorists said it was. But AIPAC was weakened even further, and deliberately, by the Obama administration, which...