Free Republic

Donald Trump was asked on “Fox & Friends” this morning for his opinion on the shooting outside Pam Geller’s “Draw the Prophet” contest, and he didn’t mince his words. Brian Kilmeade asked whether he still believed “in freedom of speech, regardless of what they’re talking about — you’ve got to think they could do without being shot, don’t you think?” Trump replied that it’s “very terrible,” but was heartened that the police acted “very strongly” by killing the two suspects. After blaming the “weak action” of the Baltimore police for the destruction of “over 200 businesses in a single night,”...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump debated the use of the term “anchor baby” with a reporter at a press conference in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump debated the use of the term “anchor baby” with a reporter at a press conference in New Hampshire on Wednesday. Trump was asked, “You said that you have a big heart, and that you’re not mean-spirited. Are you aware that the term ‘anchor baby,’ that’s an offensive term? People find that hurtful.”

Donald J. Trump continues to overheat the Republican Party’s speech on immigration. What is his latest protest against political correctness? “Anchor babies.” [Snip] The phrase is as offensive as the word “illegals” for many immigrants who come to America.

Donald Trump continues to bring comic relief and mean-spirited bombast to the Republican campaign trail. But while Trump is a continuing spectacle, he also makes (a tiny bit) more sense than his rivals when he indicts U.S. trade policies or scorns the influence of big money that turns politicians into puppets. Nevertheless Trump, despite his current lead in the polls, isn’t likely to be the Republican presidential nominee. William Galston, the Wall Street Journal’s designated Democratic pundit, last week suggested that there were five “plausible” Republican candidates — Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.), Govs. Scott Walker (Wis.)...

CNN)Donald Trump appeared to contradict his own immigration policy proposal Tuesday, just two days after releasing a detailed outline of his plans. Trump said he wants foreigners who study at American universities to be able to stay in the U.S., but his immigration plan released Sunday would make it more difficult for foreigners to obtain certain visas and green cards that would allow them to remain and work in the U.S. legally.

... I know what it's like to love an author despite his or her controversial statements about real-life political issues. And I also feel that this year's Hugo slate is an unmitigated outrage that has serious implications for the future of speculative fiction. Next week, on Aug. 22, voters will decide if these awards are still about celebrating excellent writing and innovative ideas, or if they are just another blood-drenched battleground in the conflict between white male traditionalists and everyone else. For those who don't follow the genre-fiction awards circuit, here's what's going on. A shifting contingent of science fiction...

A #BlackLivesMatter activist appearing on CNN told host Wolf Blitzer that saying “all lives matter” is actually a “violent statement.” Activist Julius Jones was invited on to discuss the protest movement’s contentious meeting with Hillary Clinton. “Black lives are actively under attack, and we are in a terrible war with our own country. African-Americans are Americans and we’re not treated like that, we’re not treated as if black lives matter.” “And when people say ‘all lives matter,’ it’s a violent statement, because the only time that people say ‘all lives matter’ is in opposition to ‘black lives matter,’ and it’s...

News 9’s Justin Dougherty had a chance to ask presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) his thoughts on the letter when the senator came to Oklahoma City last week. Video at the link. OKLAHOMA CITY - The Nuclear Deal with Iran has topped conversations across the political landscape. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have been outspoken saying this deal is “not based on trust” and  “building a nuclear bomb requires either uranium or plutonium. But thanks to this deal, Iran’s four possible ways to leverage those fissile materials are blocked.” However Republican lawmakers and even some...

Please watch this video. It's short enough, but you'll see some masterful anti-trump propaganda.

There exists among far too many Americans an almost soul-deep determination to treat black people as perpetual victims. A rather absurd example of this sad song was recently written by Washington Post guest writer Raha Jorjani. Jorjani, an immigration defense lawyer in California, asks if black Americans might “qualify as refugees” possessing a “strong claim for asylum protection under U.S. law”: Suppose a client walked into my office and told me that police officers in his country had choked a man to death over a petty crime. Suppose he said police fatally shot another man in the back as he...

Donald Trump went back and forth with NBC host Chuck Todd on Sunday in one of his most combative interviews since announcing his presidential candidacy earlier this summer. In a 37-minute conversation on "Meet The Press," Todd pushed Trump on a wide range of issues with which the real-estate magnate would presumably be confronted if he won the presidency in 2016. It forced Trump to be on the defensive on everything from his college record, to outsourcing, to the US role in NATO.

MARK HALPERIN: The establishment wing of the party is going to have to settle on one or two people by March 1st. And I think today, if you look at, again, the four people the establishment talk about, leave Governor Christie aside, Kasich, Bush, Walker, Rubio. JOHN DICKERSON, FACE THE NATION: How -- HALPERIN: Even Trump hasn't gone after him yet. NOONAN: True. True. JAMELLE BOUIE: -- I think there's a sweet spot for Republican presidential candidates and it's basically, I want to cut your taxes, I don't want to stick it to anyone. And I think Kasich hits that...

Responding to shock videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, government officials in Louisiana, New Hampshire and Alabama (and, most recently, Arkansas) have moved to defund Planned Parenthood. Now the White House has entered the fray, warning these states that defunding may break the law. Through a network of affiliated clinics, Planned Parenthood provides health care services to millions of women across the country, especially low-income and young women who have few options for care.

Black Americans view Hillary Clinton far more favorably than they do any other presidential contender, according to a Gallup survey released Monday. Eighty percent of black adults have a favorable impression of the Democratic front-runner and former secretary of state. Even when taking into account the percentage who view Clinton unfavorably, she still has a 68 percent net favorability rating among black Americans, a group that analysts at the Cook Political Report have called the "overlooked key to 2016." Clinton's favorability rating among black Americans eclipses those of the other Democratic hopefuls. The next highest rating belongs to Sen. Bernie...

Former Newsweek reporter Michael Hirsh is now with Politico, but one consistent threat of his writing has been a fondness for the foreign policy “doves.” His latest Politico piece on the Iran deal is headlined “Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama and the Jews: Why does America’s Jewish community always condemn the presidents who save Israel?” One can imagine Israelis doing a spit take on that headline. This is the same Jimmy Carter who wrote a book trashing Israel for having a racist “apartheid” system that oppresses the Palestinians. They'd also worry this only inflates Carter's massive ego.

In a compelling column, George Will – who knows a thing or two about conservatism – makes the conservative case against Donald Trump. Mr. Will refers to Trump as an “unprecedentedly and incorrigibly vulgar presidential candidate” who is coarsening our civic life. He labels Trump “a counterfeit Republican and no conservative.” And he argues that Trump is an affront to anyone devoted to the legacy of William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of National Review and a giant in American conservatism. Just as Buckley excommunicated the John Birch Society from the conservative movement in the 1960s, so should conservatives today...

“Trumpites” are only “lightly attached to the political process”George Will has written a thought-provoking piece over at WaPo in which he argues that the GOP should purge itself of Trump and Trump’s supporters. Will explains: "When, however, Trump decided that his next acquisition would be not another casino but the Republican presidential nomination, he tactically and quickly underwent many conversions of convenience (concerning abortion, health care, funding Democrats, etc.). His makeover demonstrates that he is a counterfeit Republican and no conservative. He is an affront to anyone devoted to the project William F. Buckley began six decades ago with the...

Dear Democrats: It’s too late to start over. As in, there’s no replacing Hillary Rodham Clinton as your party’s front-runner for the presidential nomination. Not with Vice President Biden — even if he runs. Not with former vice president Al Gore. (I mean, come on.) Not with your ideal rich-person-with-no-record-and-a-fresh-faced-appeal. This may come as a shock to some of you. After all, you argue, it’s only August! The Iowa caucuses won’t be until February! That’s, like, four political lifetimes. Sure. But modern presidential politics isn’t as simple as announcing that you’ve decided to run and watching yourself soar to the...

And it’s perverted of Biden to go along with all Obama is doing to main-street Americans after all his country has done for him Bending himself into proverbial pretzels, Vice President Joe Biden, who won’t call a jihadist a jihadist or a terrorist a terrorist, on Saturday called the slaying of four Marines and a sailor at a Chattanooga reserve center the act of a “perverted jihadist.” “Perverted” should be attached as an adjective to the title of President Barack Obama. It is perverted to get yourself elected as president of a country when your only perverted mission is to...