Free Republic

ALBANY, N.Y. -- It wasn't just Troy police officers showing their support for Officer Chad Klein. As he walked out of Albany Medical Center, he was surrounded by fellow officers and K9s from agencies across the Capital Region. "As dark as Saturday was, today we're on the other end of the spectrum," said Troy Police Chief John Tedesco. Troy Police Chief John Tedesco says there's still shock within his department about what transpired Saturday night, but as dangerous as it may be, his officers have a job to do. "It's concern now for every officer going out the door, is...

When is it outrageous to amend the Constitution? Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, wants to overturn the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. Whether out of panic or sincerity, a number of other Republican candidates have joined the bandwagon. This is probably good politics for the GOP nomination and almost certainly bad politics for the general election. I am inclined against the idea as a matter of public policy, because the costs would outweigh the benefits. But I am far from convinced it is something to be outraged about. It's funny: On countless public policy...

"My job as a journalist is to ask questions from the powerful, and that's what we tried to do," Ramos said, adding that he had on various previous occasions tried to set up an interview with the presidential candidate. (Trump posted a picture of a handwritten note from Ramos to his Instagram account. The note included Ramos' phone number.) In an interview with ABC, Ramos said that another responsibility of being a journalist is to "denounce" the "dangerous words and extreme behavior of Donald Trump." Ramos was asked what he would say to critics who say he is more of...

News anchor Jorge Ramos, who works for Univision and Fusion, was thrown out of a press conference with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Iowa Tuesday night after trying to ask questions about immigration. "You haven't been called...go back to Univision," Trump told Ramos before a security guard forcibly removed him. (Ramos later returned and was able to pose questions to Trump). ... Do You Think Trump Was Directing The Security Guard To Take You Out? "Absolutely. He was in control of the press conference. It is very clear with his body language that he was giving orders and I...

Celebrity ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the former president, but someone with zero experience with or knowledge of Japan, has been taken to the woodshed by the State Department's Office of Inspector General. The OIC issued a blistering report that highlighted the mismanagement and ignorance of the ambassador and her staff, including the use of private emails for official business:

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and senior staff at the U.S. embassy in Japan used personal email accounts for official business, an internal watchdog report said Tuesday -- making Kennedy the latest Obama administration official to run afoul of email security guidelines. The State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) report said it received reports concerning the use of private email accounts for official business, and identified instances where emails labeled "sensitive but unclassified" were sent from or received by personal email accounts.

Even though the gunman is still on the loose, The New York Post’s Bart Hubbuch wasted no time in exploiting the murders of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward for political purposes. Hubbuch blamed the shootings on the NRA and then, quite bizarrely championed New York’s strict gun control claws. The reason this is bizarre is because Bedford County, where the murders took place, is much safer than New York City, where crime is on the rise.

Texas Governor Rick Perry's former chairman Sam Clovis has joined forces with Donald Trump as the race to become the Republican Party's presidential nominee got its first defection last night. Clovis, an influential Conservative activist, college professor and talk-show host is now a member of Trump's team. In a sign that the GOP front-runner is being taken seriously on the campaign trail, Clovis, has become national co-chair and senior policy adviser for the Property tycoon turned politician. Earlier this week, Clovis quit the Perry campaign, after hinting that it was facing a host of difficulties. The Trump campaign relished announcing...

He voted twice for President Barack Obama. He watches as Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, berates the president on a near-daily basis. And yet, he's considering voting for Donald Trump. "He has a history of getting the job done. We need someone as president who can get the job done, and I feel that he’s not afraid to take on the challenges," he said. He is one Republican voter out of 29 that participated in a focus group Monday conducted by pollster Frank Luntz.

Before his bombastic concert-in-the-park performance in Mobile, Donald Trump had come across chiefly as an amusing amateur whose total lack of basic political knowledge and essential reasoning ability had rendered him unwilling to do interviews that he could not phone in from the confines of his office. In Alabama, he broke out, transforming himself in the process into something else altogether. One part Alan Ginsberg, one part Jim Morrison, and one part Roderick Spode, Trump strode onto the Southern stage as might a troubled rock star. This, his insolent upper lip told the camera, was show time. All of which...

Carly Fiorina criticized Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate birth right citizenship, saying, “I do not support amending the Constitution and frankly in this regard honestly, I think Donald Trump is acting like the politicians he excoriates.” “Let’s hold a bright, shiny object out here, let’s amend the Constitution and end birth right citizenship. It is not going to happen,” Fiorina, appearing on “Morning Joe” Wednesday, continued. Mike Barnicle: Do you believe in birth right citizenship? Carly Fiorina: I think it is in our Constitution. I do not support amending the Constitution and frankly in this regard honestly, I think Donald...

When the World Trade Center’s South Tower collapsed, just before 10 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, photographer Stan Honda was in lower Manhattan, taking pictures of the incomprehensible scene.

The 'dust lady' of 9/11 dies: Iconic survivor Marcy Borders, 42, succumbs to stomach cancer which she blamed on ash from the Twin Towers attack Marcy Borders was a 28-year-old Bank of America worker when she fled the 81st floor of 1 World Trade Center after the first plane struckShe was on the ground when the second plane hit on September 11, 2001AFP photographer Stan Honda took a photo of her running for safetyBorders became known as 'dust lady' and her picture became iconicShe fell into a spiral of depression and addiction but became sober in 2011In August 2014 Borders was...

From Gabriel Sherman writing for New York Magazine: When it comes to dealing with rogue states, Fox News has a firm editorial philosophy: You don’t negotiate. Roger Ailes is learning that the same logic applies to a rogue candidate. Last night, Donald Trump took to Twitter and blew up the uneasy truce Ailes had brokered with him two weeks ago following Trump’s attacks on Fox star Megyn Kelly after the first GOP debate.

The New York City offices of Rentboy.com were raided by US federal agents on Tuesday – and several staff arrested including the chief exec. The website claims to be the world's largest online directory of male escorts.In an affidavit filed in a Brooklyn court ahead of the swoop, US Department of Homeland Security special agent Susan Ruiz claimed the business had been facilitating prostitution for the past 18 years. Seven of the dot-com's staffers, including CEO Jeffrey Hurant, were promptly arrested and charged with flouting state laws against the world's oldest profession.Agent Ruiz alleged that Rentboy.com knowingly allowed male prostitutes...

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy was singled out by the State Department's watchdog for using a personal email account to conduct official business. Kennedy, who has served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan since 2013, "used personal email accounts to send and receive messages containing official business," according to a State Department inspector general report made public Tuesday. Other senior embassy staff also used personal email accounts to handle government communications, occasionally transmitting information marked "sensitive but unclassified" on commercial accounts ... The embassy in Tokyo has no records management policy, nor does it enforce federal regulations that dictate how federal records...

The rumblings are beginning. Just as the Democratic party considers drafting a 2016 challenger into take on a floundering Hillary Clinton, GOP voices are speaking up about shaking up their primary race as well. Conservative stalwarts Bill Kristol is leaving the door open for an “October surprise,” even suggesting the possibility that a business person, such as a “saner and sounder” version of Donald Trump, could emerge. Now enter a man who knows a thing or two of drumming up attention (and selling papers) - Rupert Murdoch. Just as massive stock drop has many investors eyeing the financial headlines, the...

Republican Donald Trump is pulling away from the pack in the race for the party's U.S. presidential nomination, widening his lead over his closest rivals in the past week, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Friday. Republican voters show no signs they are growing weary of the brash real estate mogul, who has dominated political headlines and the 17-strong Republican presidential field with his tough talk about immigration and insults directed at his political rivals. The candidates are vying to be nominated to represent their party in the November 2016 general election. Nearly 32 percent of Republicans surveyed online said they...

It’s not your fault. It’s the ratio. To all the young, college-educated women out there who feel like Donald Trump will probably become president before they find a decent, eligible man, take comfort. According to author Jon Birger, you’re not imagining things. In “Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game,” out today, Birger, a former writer for Fortune and Money magazines, crunched demographic, census and other data to show that it really is historically rough out there for the ladies.

Social media is having field day at Donald Trump’s expense after a BuzzFeed News reporter posted a photo of clothing from the business mogul’s signature collection.