Free Republic

It is well established that between ears of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) there is a Rube Goldberg machine gone haywire, judging by his impulse to summon a fabrication or absurdity for almost any occasion. To wit: He compares climate activists to flat-Earthers, blames President Obama for the 2008 economic crash, claims ISIS is "literally nailing Christians to trees" (not true), asserts that cities with the toughest gun control laws have the most crime, estimates there are "111,000 agents" at the IRS (missed by a factor of 10), and believes that George Soros is plotting to shut down golf courses throughout...

<p>Despite 6-1/2 years of horrid governance and dozens of acknowledged scandals, several of which a few of the credible remaining outposts of liberal thought have actually agreed are scandals, David Brooks, the New York Times's resident fake conservative, asserted on Friday's PBS NewsHour, as if it's an indisputable fact, that "President Obama has run an amazingly scandal-free administration, not only he himself, but the people around him."</p>

A Syrian Christian fighter has beheaded an Islamic State group (IS) militant to avenge people "executed" by the jihadists in northeastern Syria, a monitor said on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the incident took place on Thursday in Hasakeh province, where IS holds large areas of the countryside. According to the monitor, the Christian fighter, a member of the minority Assyrian community, found the jihadist in the local village of Tal Shamiram. "He took him prisoner and when he found out he was a member of IS, the Assyrian fighter beheaded him in revenge for abuses committed...

Washington (CNN)The heavy flooding that's overwhelmed Texas and killed more than 30 people has put Sen. Ted Cruz in a bind on climate change.The Republican presidential contender has held two press conferences over the past two days to address the flooding and the government's response. At each one, he was asked about the impact of climate change on natural disasters like the Texas flooding, and at each one, he dodged the question."In a time of tragedy, I think it's wrong to try to politicize a natural disaster -- and so there's plenty of time to talk about other issues," he...

Washington Post writer Jannell Ross tried to hang racism, white supremacy, biker culture, and gun rights around Texas Republican necks in a literary lynching so stuffed full of wrong presumptions that if words were mathematical, Ross’ article would prove that gravity makes things fall up. Here’s the key takeaway from the article.  Whites are free to be either law-abiding citizens or dangerous Harley-riding savages, while blacks are slaves to the white man, whether he’s the cop in uniform or the gun-wielding biker.  And #blacklivesmatter when one black man dies at the hands of police and the rioters are called “thugs,” but nine...

Today, a burrito bowl ... tomorrow, the Oval Office? Hillary Clinton made a Chipotle pitstop in Maumee, Ohio, on her way from New York to Iowa Monday, with security video showing her and longtime aide Huma Abedin sporting shades as they put in their orders. General Manager Charles Wright told the Daily News Clinton was in his restaurant at about 1:20 p.m. Monday, ordering a chicken bowl with guacamole, a chicken salad, and a blackberry Izze. Wright said Clinton did nothing to attract attention to herself — and it worked. "She wasn't, like, obvious and no one made a scene,"...

In anticipation of Hillary Clinton‘s presidential announcement later today, Republican strategist Ana Navarro criticized the former secretary of state for supposedly embracing the idea of a woman president too much. “I don’t need her to drown me in estrogen every time she opens her mouth,” Navarro said on CNN. “Listen, every time she opens her mouth it’s about the granddaughter, and Chelsea’s wedding, and the yoga routines.”Navarro ultimately insisted Clinton “needs to stop being focus-grouped to death.”Watch the video below, via CNN:

How can the religious community live in peace and harmony with the LGBT community? New York Times columnist Frank Bruni has the solution. Just rewrite the Bible. In his April 3rd column, “Bigotry, the Bible and the Lessons of Indiana,” Bruni, himself gay, recognizes that Christian beliefs are not necessarily grounded in hatred. The problem, he claims, is that, “Beliefs ossified over centuries aren’t easily shaken.” Bruni, for his part, wants to shake us free from our fossilized faith. According to Bruni, who evidences little or no understanding of how believers view the Scriptures (namely, as God’s inspired Word), if...

San Francisco activist Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate Super PAC Monday announced the billionaire Democrat will wage a campaign to put Republicans on the “hot seat” about climate change and spend “what it takes” for an aggressive new high-tech “war room” to track — and attack — GOP candidates in 2016. The program, based at the NextGen headquarters in the Financial District — with satellite offices in Washington, D.C., and other cities — aims to make climate change a “top tier” issue next year. It will focus its firepower on turning environmental concerns into a “wedge issue,” especially with young voters,...

Full Title: Judge dismisses libel suit by conservative video maker relating to telephone charade at Mary Landrieu's officeWASHINGTON -- A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a libel case filed by a conservative video maker James O'Keefe, who disputed a news account of his misdemeanor conviction for trying to gain access to then Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office in 2010. New Jersey Federal Judge Claire Cecchi ruled last week that the coverage by Main Justice, which covers the Department of Justice, and the online publication's founder, Mary Jacoby, was protected under the First Amendment because "as a whole," it...

When Republicans criticize Barack Obama’s foreign policy, their critiques usually break down into two broad themes: America’s enemies no longer fear us, and America’s allies no longer trust us. The part about our enemies fearing us is usually a reference to Russia – conservatives believe quite earnestly that Russia’s military expansionism over the last few years is a consequence of Vladimir Putin sizing up the president and determining that he’s a weakling. No less an authority than Peggy Noonan made this very argument just last Friday, lamenting “a Russian president who took the American’s measure and made a move, upsetting...

For nicotine enthusiasts, 2015 will be remembered as part of a golden era. Less than 10 years after they were introduced in the United States, e-cigarettes have gone relatively unregulated by health agencies, with companies and users making their own rules in a nicotine-laced Wild West. E-cigarette companies have been advertising their products to adults and children alike, claiming to help smokers quit while simultaneously promoting lollipop-flavored liquids. But now health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and even city-based public health departments are starting to fight back—not in the form of regulations, but with their own...

Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, native of Canada, junior senator of Texas and lover of Wagner, has thrown his hat into the ring to be the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. But it's not his hat that many recoil from so much as it is the head beneath it. Let's talk about the elephant in Ted Cruz's presidential campaign: his face. OK, it's symmetrical in its composition, not too pudgy or gaunt -- all in all, a fine face, really. Some might even say he has the face of an angel. Not me, mind you, but some. Like the...

An American blogger turned down the offer of a lifetime this past weekend: getting paid to do nothing. The slight catch was that he had to publish articles written by someone else on his blog and claim them as his own—no big deal, right? According to the blogger, David Swanson, after giving a talk at an anti-war event in Washington DC on March 20, he was approached by a young man with a thick Russian accent who introduced himself as Alexsei G. Padalko. This man showed Swanson his business card, which identified him as an air attaché assistant for the...

In a preview of the 2016 campaign, all five late night comics on Monday night mocked Ted Cruz, hitting the Republican as anti-immigrant, regressive and stupid. CBS host David Letterman didn't bother with a joke. Instead, he lectured, "Here's what I find interesting about Ted Cruz, he was born in Canada. His father fled to the United States from Cuba. Yet, Ted Cruz is against immigration. Isn't that odd?" He then sneered, "Ted Cruz could be president of the United States and if you thought the Secret Service was drinking before –" On TBS, Conan O'Brien hammered, "[Cruz] pledged to...

You’ve probably heard the old statistical theory that if you gave a million monkeys typewriters that they'd eventually pound out the complete works of Shakespeare. Now we know, thanks to the Internet, that this isn't true. The evidence can be seen by anyone who spends any time on Facebook, where sentient intelligence seems to have been replaced by boring insipid images. Facebook has gradually risen to a level of stature that’s taken on a dimension that’s even bigger than a posted photo of Kim Kardashian’s rear end. This premiere social media platform has evolved into an online political playground that...

The FBI is investigating the hanging of an African-American man whose body was found Thursday (March 19) in Mississippi, CNN.com reports. The man's body was discovered hanging from a tree in the woods behind the residence where he had been living, CNN said. He had been missing since early this month. It is unclear if it is a suicide, or if the man was killed by someone. 

The hanging death of an African-American man who had been missing since early this month and was found Thursday by local authorities in Mississippi has drawn the scrutiny of the FBI and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The sheriff's office in Claiborne County, Mississippi had organized a search for the man, who had been missing since March 2 and reported missing March 8. Authorities found the body hanging from a tree in the woods behind the residence where he had been living. It is unclear if it is a suicide, or if the man was killed by someone.

A lawsuit is expected to be filed in California today over the amount of arsenic in some of the best-selling wines in the country. CBS News reports laboratory testing by Denver's BeverageGrades found some wines have as much as time times the maximum level of arsenic the Environmental Protection Agency allows for drinking water. The EPA doesn't regulate wine as it does water, and there are no federal labeling requirements to disclose what's in wine.

TLC is becoming the latest network to explore transgender life. The cable network has handed out a straight-to-series order for All That Jazz, a docuseries following 14-year-old transgender activist Jazz Jennings, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The 11-episode series will feature Jennings — dubbed "The New Face of Transgender Youth" — in her daily life, juggling her foray into high school while navigating how a transgender teen approaches dating and sleepovers all while avoiding male puberty. Jennings, who has been featured on 20/20, The Rosie Show and was named one of the 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014 by Time...