Free Republic

Addressing the Democratic National Convention on its penultimate night to lay out the case for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, President Obama began by recalling his political debut at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He then described how his family has become so well known to America in the intervening years. He spoke of his time in office, how the presidency has physically aged him, but how his daughters euphemistically note he now looks more "mature." He spoke of everything he is proud to have achieved -- passing ObamaCare, expanding clean energy production, reducing consumption of foreign oil, passing the...

Skilled Obama watchers know that the real subject of any Obama speech is his own magnificence.

Still smarting from his loss in the primary, Cruz says he’ll use his convention speech to outline his own vision of the Republican Party’s future. But will he endorse? One of these days, and maybe soon, Ted Cruz just might have to endorse Donald Trump. But he’ll never concede Trump could have beaten him in a fair fight — and he’ll never accept that Trump’s me-first philosophy represents a sustainable future for the GOP. Above all, Cruz wants to use the big stage in Cleveland to present a non-Trump alternative vision for his party’s future, one rooted in constitutional conservative...

A column by Maureen Dowd entitled The Clinton Contamination is trending on Twitter as I write. Conservatives especially are all — so to speak — a-twitter to have such a reliable leftist voice raised against the left's standard bearer. I've never been a fan of Dowd's but I've always respected her unwillingness to abandon her feminist principles to follow the Clintons down the rabbit hole of abuse and corruption. I wish some conservatives would learn from her example before they ditch their principles to traipse after Donald Trump.But what struck me about the Dowd column was its view of Barack...

President Barack Obama says he was “fat” when he was a kid growing up in Hawaii, as well as “smart alecky.” “If you met me when I was 10 the first thing you would think is, ‘He’s fat,’” Obama said. “I was husky and I was kind of a smart alecky kid.” Obama participated in an interview with Derek Jeter for the baseball star’s new media platform “The Players’ Tribune.

<p>Finally! Thanks be to God!! And thanks to the anonymous videographer who really clamped down over the past few days and cranked this out.</p> <p>As always, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE MIRRORING AND REPUBLISHING MY VIDEOS. I make these things so that the information can get out into the world. There is no copyright concern here. And, as we learned from the Islamic Sexuality video presentation which was censored and scrubbed by YouTube from my channel, the best protection against censorship is mirroring and republishing these videos. So have at it.</p>

There's something else that universities have missed in their diversity checklist. "Because when we teach communism is good, capitalism is bad, when we teach self-actualization is the goal of the academy rather than selflessness and sacrifice and confession, when we teach arrogance and narcissism rather than humility in the classroom, why are we surprised to see a culture that is acting badly?" Oklahoma Wesleyan University President Dr. Everett Piper said to The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas, in a recent interview. He believed that in order to "solve a culture's problem" and attempt to heal the soul, "you might [want] to...

1) Trump has favorability ratings that make him unelectable: The American public is very familiar with Donald Trump and people hate his guts. Trump's current favorable/unfavorable rating is 34/58. Just as a point of comparison, the two biggest landslides in history were against Jimmy Carter (33/58) and Walter Mondale (34/40). Trump is so unpopular with the general electorate that we might as well be running Jared Fogle or Bill Cosby.2) Trump consistently loses to Hillary Clinton in head-to-head polls: Given that so many people know Trump and already dislike him, it's hard to understand why anyone thinks he'll win in...

....." Donald Trump: "I've built an unbelievable company worth billions and billions. I don't have to hear from this man." Norma Desmond: "No-one ever leaves a star. That's what makes one a star." Donald Trump: "We'll have so much winning, you'll get bored with winning." Norma Desmond: "Without me, there wouldn't be any Paramount studio." Donald Trump: "Let's see how much money Fox is going to make on the debate without me, okay?"..............

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served during the Obama administration, has turned into a harsh critic of the president, saying that Barack Obama always thinks he's the smartest person in the room. Gates also bashed Obama for bringing on advisers who do little else but constantly agree with his proposals, fostering a group-think environment where dissenting opinion essentially does not exist, The Free Beacon reports. In other words, there are no "strong" people around the president. And when there is dissent, Obama tries to crush it. Back in October, Politico reported that Obama's advisers urged him to deal with...

President Obama may be going through a minor mid-life crisis, as he's made numerous references to his graying hair over the last few weeks, even at major events with world leaders at the White House. But while Obama has spoken wistfully about the darker hair of his youth, he has also argued that his graying hair is a sign of the experience he's gained as the leader of the free world for the last seven years. Just two days ago, Obama, 54, met with French President Francois Hollande at the White House to discuss joint counterterrorism efforts after the attack...

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The decor at Ben Carson’s home in Maryland shows that Donald Trump may not have the biggest ego among the Republican candidates. On display are awards, certificates, medals, and a painting of himself with Jesus

RICHMOND — The father of the Roanoke TV reporter fatally shot during a live broadcast last summer apologized Thursday for harsh Facebook messages that prompted a pro-gun legislator from southwest Virginia to call law enforcement authorities. "In my grief over the murder of my daughter and my anger over a political system that allows incidents like that to continue, I spoke regrettably," Andy Parker said in a message issued by a gun-control group that has featured him in a $2.2 million TV ad campaign. "I apologize for my words, but make no mistake, I will continue to seek justice and...

http://townhall.com/columnists/kenblackwell/2015/10/23/hillary-offers-disastrous-obamacare-20-n2069866/page/full One thing is clear: our country faces many challenges when it comes to health care. And the last thing Americans need is another misguided leader with failed policies that discourage risk taking and innovation. Yet, after seeing Secretary Clinton’s proposal to address prescription drug costs, we should be deeply concerned about another national health care policy that could have disastrous effects. Clinton’s sweeping proposal combines a number of misguided policies that would undermine access and choice of medicines for patients. It would also destroy incentives to invest in new cures and life-saving treatments. A reckless plan of this magnitude...

Colin CampbellSeptember 23, 2015 Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he will no longer do interviews on Fox News shows because the network has been treating him "unfairly." ".@FoxNews has been treating me very unfairly & I have therefore decided that I won't be doing any more Fox shows for the foreseeable future," the Republican presidential front-runner wrote on Twitter. It wasn't immediately clear what caused Trump to announce the boycott, but he has repeatedly feuded with the network in recent days and weeks. On Monday night and Tuesday morning, Trump released a lengthy tweetstorm attacking hosts Bill...

(CNSNews.com) – GOP presidential candidate Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took a swing at GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump during a speech Thursday at the National Press Club, labeling him a “narcissist.” “Now you may have recently heard and seen that Donald Trump said that the Bible is his favorite book. Yet, when asked, he couldn’t even name a specific or a single Bible verse that was important to him, that had an impact on him. Well do you know why? Well it’s clear, Donald Trump’s never read the Bible. The reason we know he’s never read the Bible, he’s not...

Could US President Barack Obama win a third term in office? He's convinced that he could, but he would really rather not. Obama used his own history of electoral success to rib African leaders who overstay their welcomes by refusing to leave office after their terms expire. In his speech Tuesday at the African Union headquarters, he conceded unfamiliarity with that concept because as a second-term US president, he is constitutionally barred from running again. "I actually think I'm a pretty good president," Obama said. "I think if I ran, I could win. But I can't!" That's just fine with...

Pundits of the left and the right have spilled much digital ink on Donald Trump in recent weeks, increasing in recent days with his unconscionable comments about John McCain. (McCain is not my favorite politician but a fighter pilot who refuses early release from the Hanoi Hilton because other members of our military had been there longer than he had is by any measure a war hero.) ..... But bad policy, bad hair, and a bad attitude aren’t the biggest problem with Donald Trump. Trump’s political differences with the Barack Obama are, in most cases, stark. But I see a...

The right-wingers obsessively document and chastise her every move. Why are conservatives so threatened by a 29-year-old TV showrunner and author? In honor of Memorial Day, Lena Dunham Instagrammed herself in a lacy bra and panty set, and captioned the sultry snap, “I think I will wear it to dinner with some boots & a smile because we are all very lucky to be free.” Dunham clearly presents her exhibitionism as a celebration of personal and political freedoms, but certain fringe elements of the right-wing media have taken the peaceful photo as further evidence of Dunham’s personal war on male...