Free Republic

“Since when if you verbally lean right are you responsible for the left’s physical reaction?” Judge Jeanine Pirro weighed the question in her opening statement Saturday night on Justice, in light of the recent violence seen at Donald Trump rallies. “Since when if you state an opinion are you responsible for someone's reaction?” she asked. “Since when do you have the right to interrupt my First Amendment right to listen to a candidate for the highest office in the land?” “This is America. Not the Soviet Union,” said Judge Jeanine. “Your free speech, if it differs from mine, doesn't mean...

It has been more than 20 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to the leading presidential candidates from both major parties. International trade has emerged as a flash point this election cycle, and NAFTA is the powder keg. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ full-on attack of the deal helped propel him to a major upset victory of Hillary Clinton in the Michigan Democratic primary this month. Even GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has gotten in on the action, calling the trade deal between the United States, Mexico, and Canada...

**SNIP** Based on the Attorney General’s remarks, it’s hard to believe that what was once a Constitutional right to individual thought and belief, may now be one step closer to an Iranian-style regulation overseen by a hierarchy of American mullahs. Then again, the president has already admonished those who contradict his beliefs concerning climate change by warning them if they don’t agree with him “[They]'ll be pretty lonely.” What Obama didn’t expound upon was whether or not a climate change skeptic ends up lonely inside or outside a courtroom. Either way, the problem that remains for America is that our...

Over the long weekend before the Mississippi and Michigan primaries, the sky above Sea Island was black with corporate jets. Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, Napster’s Sean Parker, Tesla Motors’ Elon Musk, and other members of the super-rich were jetting into the exclusive Georgia resort, ostensibly to participate in the annual World Forum of the American Enterprise Institute. Among the advertised topics of discussion: “Millennials: How Much Do They Matter and What Do They Want?” That was the cover story. As revealed by the Huffington Post, Sea Island last weekend was host to a secret conclave...

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” after an extensive questioning from host Jake Tapper on the recent protests and violence at his rallies, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he was not encouraging violence and accused CNN of misreporting. Partial transcript as follows: TAPPER: Now, protests on the campaign trail are obviously nothing new. I have seen one in every previous election I have covered, but in every one I have seen before the leader on the stage tries to lower the temperature, not raise it. Do you ever consider whether you should be trying to lower the temperature...

most Californians now believe that the “High-Speed Rail Authority” has become a boondoggle. The rail authority has not issued about $9.95 billion in municipal bonds approved by voters as Proposition_1A in 2008. All of the bullet train start-up cost so far has been funded from $3.2 billion in federal transportation and stimulus funds, plus $750 million in cap-and-trade money from the state’s greenhouse gas-reduction program Sensing an opportunity to pass an initiative to repurpose the bonds, Republican State Sen. Bob Huff of San Dimas and the Republican State Board of Equalization member George Runner formed the “California Water Alliance” and...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NoMPxomjiw

The security situation in Israel may be tense, but that won't be stopping yet another wave of North American olim from making Israel their new home soon. Arutz Sheva spoke to some of the soon-to-be-Israelis making aliyah with Nefesh B'Nefesh at last week's aliyah event in New York - many of whom said the current wave of terrorism only made them more determined...

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — GOP presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich came out in support of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement during the fourth GOP primary debate hosted by Fox Business, saying the deal is “critical.” “The trade agreement – the TPP – it’s critical to us not only for economic reasons and for jobs because there’s so many people who are connected to getting jobs because of trade, but it allows us to create not only economic alliances, but also potentially strateigic alliances against the Chinese,” Kasich argued in support of the nearly 6,000 page agreement –...

he Georgia campus carry bill is moving forward.  On February 22, the House passed HB859 113 to 59.  The bill has a number of compromises.  It bans guns at athletic events, which would likely pass Constitutional muster.  It also retains a ban on guns in housing, including the privately owned housing of fraternity and sorority houses.  On 11 March, the Senate passed HB859 37 to 17.  From wsbtv.com: Georgia’s state Senate voted to approve a bill allowing licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons on public college campuses. The proposal backed by the National Rifle Association won support from...

CNN’s “Silver Fox,” Anderson Cooper, went fishing with his best “gotcha” lure in his recent interview with Donald Trump, only to have his lure bitten off the line and tossed back on shore without bait, or fish. “I think Islam hates us,” was Trump’s response to Cooper’s rather clumsy attempt to get “The Donald” to lump all Muslims together into some jingoistic, bigoted meatloaf on which the media and the DNC could feast. Trump ignored the bait and countered by suggesting the media do their job (gasp!) and determine the difference between radical and moderate Islam for themselves, rather than...

Last week, the FDA announced it would investigate the use of manure and other biological matter. Manure is animal poop. Rich in nutrients, it's been used by farmers as fertilizer for thousands of years. But the agency is skeptical of the safety of the practice. "The FDA is planning to conduct a risk assessment to determine how much consumer health is put at risk by the use of raw manure as fertilizer in growing crops covered by the final [Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)] Produce Safety rule, and what can be done to help prevent people from getting sick," the...

Donald Trump keeps his lead in winner-take-all Florida, at 44 percent over Ted Cruz's 24 percent and Marco Rubio's 21 percent. In Ohio, Governor John Kasich is tied with Trump 33 percent to 33 percent, in two of the big winner-take-all delegate prizes up on Tuesday. In Florida, home-state Sen. Marco Rubio has been trying to get traction against Trump, but still trails. Sen. Ted Cruz has overtaken Rubio in Florida. In Illinois Trump also leads, 38 percent to 34 percent over Cruz, who is in striking distance, with Kasich back at 16 percent. The findings across the three states...

In Florida, Trump holds a 2-to-1 advantage among likely GOP voters over Marco Rubio, the state's U.S. senator, 43 percent to 22 percent. They're followed by Ted Cruz at 21 percent and John Kasich at 9 percent. In Illinois, Trump gets the support of 34 percent of likely GOP primary voters, Cruz gets 25 percent, Kasich gets 21 percent and Rubio gets 16 percent. But in Ohio, Kasich, the state's incumbent governor, holds a six-point lead over Trump, 39 percent to 33 percent - followed by Cruz at 19 percent and Rubio at 6 percent.

The DC primary was scheduled for June 15, but the RNC said that was too late for their rules so the DC Republican party rented rooms in a DC hotel to hold balloting for president and delegates to the convention. Polling was scheduled for 2-4 PM, although because it falls on the Sabbath they will allow orthodox Jews to vote after sundown. (A number of DC Republicans are orthodox Jews.) I arrived shortly after 1. The line stretched around the block…. It took me an hour and a half to get through the ballot lines and out. One of the...

The most stunning part of this whole storyline is perhaps not that liberals got violent trying to stop him: It’s that Trump’s GOP primary opponents, Sens. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)97% and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, blamed him and not the violent liberals for the chaos. After that, the media spread false reports, Trump noted, that he was supposedly canceling more rallies on Saturday—including one in Cincinnati. Trump wasn’t canceling any rallies. “The rally in Cincinnati is ON. Media put out false reports that it was cancelled. Will be great – love you Ohio!” Trump Tweeted....

A UIC #TrumpRally protester posted a video of himself on Twitter shooting a MAC 10 semi-automatic "assault weapon" (or an Uzi) into the air in Chicago to celebrate the event being canceled. He tweeted the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter along with the video.

I want to say I'm surprised, but I'm not. An anti-Trump protester is seen in the background of CNN's live coverage holding up a Communist flag. I suppose since the left seems to forget the fact that Communism is responsible for more deaths than any other form of government, this guy will get some high fives among the Sanders crowd.

A team of Japanese scientists has found a species of bacteria that eats the type of plastic found in most disposable water bottles. The discovery, published Thursday in the journal Science, could lead to new methods to manage the more than 50 million tons of this particular type of plastic produced globally each year. The plastic found in water bottles is known as polyethylene terephalate, or PET. It is also found in polyester clothing, frozen-dinner trays and blister packaging. "If you walk down the aisle in Walmart you're seeing a lot of PET," said Tracy Mincer, who studies plastics in...

Of course, this didn’t happen. The opposite is true, but you can be sure that would be the headline had conservative opponents of Sanders prevented his rally in suburban Chicago from taking place because of mob threats of violence. This makes Ted Cruz ‘s spineless rejoinder to the violent demonstrations in Chicago so galling to me. Some years ago I wrote here of my contempt for conservatives who flee the forum for fear of getting their spotlessly white togas spattered with mud and blood when their colleagues are being savaged by liars and thugs. This week my White Toga award...