Free Republic

Former Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling was the special guest at a “Breitbart News Patriot Forum” listener event for SiriusXM in New York City on Wednesday.

Cofitachequi: We can’t pronounce it, we don’t know exactly where it is, but the importance of this Native American mound city is clear. North Carolina has the Lost Colony, a 16th-century legend that draws the curious to the longest running outdoor theater production in North America. The desert Southwest has the Anasazi, the native culture that vanished in the 14th century and is celebrated at a dozen National Park Service sites. South Carolina has a combination of the two — Cofitachequi. Ever heard of it? Cofitachequi is mentioned in third-grade S.C. history books, and there’s a diorama about it at...

San Francisco would have to stop entering into contracts with companies based in states that bar civil-rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people under legislation introduced Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors. The proposed ordinance, by Supervisor Scott Wiener, is another effort to increase pressure on North Carolina and Mississippi to rescind recently enacted laws to limit transgender rights.

Reuters data from April 22 finds that only about 40.9 percent of 1,753 respondents say "people should use public restrooms according to the gender which they identify." Meanwhile, about 45 percent of respondents said "people should use public restrooms according to their biological sex."The April 22 results represent an approximate 10 percentage-point increase in the number of people who believe everyone should use restrooms designated for their biological sex in just nine days. According to results obtained by Reuters on April 13, only about 35 percent of 331 respondents felt people should use bathrooms designated for their biological sex, while...

A federal judge on Monday night upheld North Carolina’s voter ID law, the Charlotte Observer reported. Judge Thomas Schroeder issued a 485-page ruling posted online Monday evening, dismissing all claims in the challenge to the state’s 2013 election law overhaul. Schroeder, appointed by George W. Bush, also upheld portions of the law that cut the number of days people could vote early and eliminated same-day registration and voting allowances. "This ruling further affirms that requiring a photo ID in order to vote is not only common-sense, it's constitutional," Gov. Pat McCrory said in a statement. Opponents immediately condemned the decision....

BILL KRISTOL: The only thing that appeals to me is what Reince Priebus just called a dumb idea, which is giving the American people a better choice than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump... I think an independent candidacy is totally doable, I think it will happen. The ballot access problems are not -- STEPHANOPOULOS: -- coming up on the filing deadlines -- KRISTOL: -- oh, Texas, North Carolina. Every other state -- no other state's filing deadlines' before June 27th. You couldn't wait until the convention. You'd have to decide after Indiana, possibly after California. I think there will be...

The reaction has been swift. The singer Bryan Adams canceled his concert in Mississippi in protest against what he called an “anti-L.G.B.T.” law, and the actress Sharon Stone decided not to film a movie there. In North Carolina, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Pearl Jam and Ani DiFranco have canceled shows in response to a law regulating transgender bathroom access. While the celebrity response is drawing considerable attention, the travel industry in each state is more concerned about lower-profile visitors: the everyday tourists who have already begun canceling trips or planning vacations elsewhere. Both states have been hit by hotel cancellations...

In a complicated political season, nobody has more complications to worry about than the half-dozen Republican senators seeking re-election in tight, swing-state contests. Those senators–hailing from Illinois, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina—are being buffeted by big forces largely out of their control as they try to hang onto their seats. Their fate will determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate, where they currently have a 54-46 advantage. The predicament of these GOP senators comes into clearer focus in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, completed just last week, which helps crystallize three big complications they...

Manipulated Conservatives: Transgendered Bathrooms are Trivial As I watch people get involved with dramas over this issue, I think: What is it that we are not supposed to pay attention to? What is it that the elites, the media and the government don't want us to notice? Is it the loss of our history and culture with the change with monies, another knife in the gut by the Obama administration? Is it the subtlest of this election? Is it the lousy depression like statistics in some areas of the country? Is it the invasion of western Civ and our country...

Today, HRC released the following statement on Ted Cruz’s despicable new campaign ad attacking transgender people. “Ted Cruz’s transphobic smear campaign peddles a dangerous brand of hate and ignorance,” said HRC Communications Director Jay Brown. “At a time when transgender women are at a disproportionately high risk for violence and assault, Ted Cruz’s reckless ad puts them at even greater risk. Moreover, what message does Ted Cruz think this sends to transgender youth across this country? We deserve a president who’ll fight to protect the rights and dignity of everyone -- not a reckless, feckless politician who’ll do or say...

On Friday's regular "Shields and Brooks" segment on the PBS NewsHour, pretend conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks slammed the North Carolina bathroom law -- which tries to protect women and girls from men intruding into women's restrooms in state buildings -- as he declared that the law is "so bad now I have to praise Donald Trump" for the GOP candidate's criticism of the law on NBC's Today show. He went on to complain that the Republican party "should have moved on" from "1980s socially conservative culture war politics," and concluded by lauding "moderate" Trump as "not stuck...

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – A North Carolina judge sent a retired Special Forces sergeant to jail for violating probation — then spent the night in the cell with him. News media outlets report Joe Serna, 41, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours in Afghanistan, was diverted to Cumberland County Veterans Court after being charged with driving under the influence and other traffic offenses. The court is designed to help troubled veterans avoid jail time and get the help they need. Serna was told to stay sober and return to the court every two weeks. But when he appeared...

Since the debate over what he said yesterday is still raging, it’s only fair that you get to hear his latest comment about it. Skip to 8:35 of the clip below from last night’s interview on Trump TV.His response to Hannity’s question about North Carolina is a dodge but it’s a dodge with a conservative pedigree. If you’re a Republican who’s been put on the spot about a hot-button social issue, you can’t go wrong saying, “Leave it to the states.” Even righties who disagree with you on the merits will tip their caps at your nod to federalism....

North Carolina is set to host the 2017 NBA All-Star game, but in a meeting with reporters today, commissioner Adam Silver said that the game will have to be moved if recently enacted anti-LGBT laws are not changed. Silver was much more vague when asked about when specifically such a decision would be made, but this is still as clear a rebuke of the North Carolina laws as we’ve seen from him.

KINSTON, N.C. (WNCT) – An unprecedented surge in gun sales is boosting the economy in the East and across the country. The gun industry is booming and last year, the FBI conducted a record-breaking 23.1 million firearm background checks. The National Shooting Sports Foundation says the gun industry added nearly 25,000 jobs last year for a nationwide total of nearly 288,000 jobs. Since 2008, gun industry jobs have increased 73-percent. North Carolina is one of the top-7 states for this growth. That’s something Neuse Sport Shop in Kinston can attest to. Gun sales there have doubled just since last year.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia high school discriminated against a transgender teen by forbidding him from using the boys' restroom, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case that could have implications for a North Carolina law that critics say discriminates against LGBT people. The case of Gavin Grimm has been especially closely watched since North Carolina enacted a law last month that bans transgender people from using public restrooms that correspond to their gender identity. That law also bans cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances, a response to an ordinance recently passed in Charlotte. In the Virginia case,...

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is clarifying — but not stepping back from — surprising comments this weekend in support of former Olympian Bruce Jenner's decision to come out as a transgender woman. "If he says he's a woman, then he's a woman," Santorum told BuzzFeed during a roundtable discussion in South Carolina on Saturday. Santorum continued: "My responsibility as a human being is to love and accept everybody. Not to criticize people for who they are."

Republican Donald Trump says he'd be fine with Caitlyn Jenner using the bathroom of her choice at Trump Tower. (AP File Photo) (CNSNews.com) - Republican Donald Trump, appearing on Thursday's "Today" show, said transgenders should be allowed to "use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate." "So if Caitlyn Jenner were to walk into Trump Tower and want to use the bathroom, you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses?" host Matt Lauer asked Trump. "That is correct," Trump said. Asked for his view on the North Carolina bathroom controversy, Trump said the state has "paid a...

Donald Trump had waded into one of the most bizarre controversies to have roiled American politics, that being whether or not transgendered people should be allowed to use the public bathroom according to the gender they identify with rather the one that biology has assigned them. North Carolina recently passed a law that mandates that people use the bathroom according to which gender is recorded on their birth certificate. The law has caused an uproar in the LBGT community. Some businesses and performance artists have decided to boycott the state, even those who do business and perform in countries that...

Curt Schilling, a former All-Star pitcher and one of the highest-profile baseball analysts on ESPN, was fired from the network Wednesday, a day after he drew intense criticism for promoting offensive commentary on social media. Schilling, who had worked for the network since 2010 and most recently offered analysis on "Monday Night Baseball," was dismissed after sharing a Facebook post this week that appeared to respond to the North Carolina law that bars transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not correspond with their birth genders. The post showed an overweight man wearing a wig and women's...