Free Republic

The conservative blog RedState experienced “mass firings” Friday because of what its parent company, Salem Media, characterized as a decision influenced by finances. But one writer who was laid off said she is skeptical of that characterization, adding that she believes the website is effectively trying to silence voices that are not, in their view, sufficiently supportive of President Trump and his policies... “If this is a decision just strictly made for money purposes, they would want to keep the ones who were bringing in the most [page] views,” Wright said... Indeed, Mediaite obtained RedState’s traffic report for the month...

I wrote at RedState for 12 years, from shortly after its founding in 2004 to the end of the 2016 primaries, and I continue to value many of its current and former writers as friends, so it is with a lot of sadness that I learned of this morning’s summary firing of its Editor-in-Chief, Caleb Howe, and about half of the site’s writers. The site will go on, and has retained a number of talented people who will still be worth reading, but this clearly marks the end of an era and the end of the site’s distinctive grassroots anti-establishment...

Apparently the firings were done according to two criteria: Cost of contract and support for Trump. People whose contracts were expensive were almost all fired. People whose contracts were less expensive were either kept or fired depending on how pro- or anti-Trump they were.

Conservative outlet RedState fired most of its staff Friday while its owner, Salem Media, froze the site, citing an inability to "no longer support the entire roster of writers and editors." "The site name will linger, but RedState is all but dead now. I have invited the fired writers here," Erick Erickson, a RedState founder who left the site in 2015, wrote in a blog post. Fired staffers said the cuts focused on writers who have been critical of President Trump. RedState had often distinguished itself since 2016 as a home for Trump critics within the GOP. RedState staffers were...

Salem Media, owner of the influential conservative outlet RedState, froze the site on Friday and dismissed many of its writers. Bloggers were locked out of their accounts -- some just temporarily, while the cuts were made, and others permanently. Erick Erickson, the site's longtime editor who left in 2015, tweeted about what he called the "mass firing" on Friday morning. "Very sad to see, but not really surprising given Salem's direction," he wrote. "And, finally, after all these years, they've turned off my account." RedState writers work on contract and are paid based on the amount of traffic to their...

Salem Media, owner of the influential conservative outlet RedState, froze the site on Friday and dismissed many of its writers. Bloggers were locked out of their accounts -- some just temporarily, while the cuts were made, and others permanently. Erick Erickson, who founded the site 13 years ago, and left in 2015, tweeted about what he called the "mass firing" on Friday morning.

Minneapolis When Donald Trump stopped off in Minnesota the Sunday before the election, it raised eyebrows. No Republican had won the state since Richard Nixon in 1972. But two days later, the outcome was in doubt until late in the night. Hillary Clinton’s 1.5 point margin over Trump was the narrowest victory for her party there since Walter Mondale barely won his home state over Ronald Reagan in 1984.

It’s ironic to think with Republicans holding the presidency as well as control of the House and Senate the conservative movement would still be in need of a national leader. The election of Donald Trump effectively made him the head of the Republican Party. For conservatives who accept the reality of the Trump presidency but who reject him as a conservative leader, people like Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell haven’t exactly been inspiring. There is one person who balances the task of delivering to conservatives intellectual leadership, without making it all about himself and that is Nebraska...

Many in the progressive world, believe that our founding fathers were racist. As their evidence they point to Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution: “ Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.” To the liberals, the 3/5th figure is an indication that our founding fathers...

I don't know much about these guys, their staff or their particular brand of politics. But I sense some sort of group-think mindset that comes off like they're some kind of political cult. Am I over-reacting? I was being critical of some of the neverTrump entries. I thought it was pretty mild. Apparently someone else did not. No explanation was offered.

The weekend's last RedState Gathering panel tried to keep a stiff upper lip in the face of the Trump Revolution. Only reality kept getting in the way. Katie Pavlich, a Townhall editor and Fox News contributor, spoke what was probably on many attendees' minds Sunday. She clearly didn't take any joy in putting it out there. "There aren't as many conservatives in the country as we thought there were," Pavlich said during the last of three intellectually packed days in Denver. The rise of Donald Trump, compounded with avowed socialist Bernie Sanders, made that all too clear over the past...

Radio host Glenn Beck had a dire message for those hoping to hear a pep talk at the Red State Gathering of Republicans in Denver on Friday. “The GOP is over,” said Beck, hours before his keynote speech that was supposed to unify conservatives at the conference. Beck spoke at the gathering, meant to organize grassroots Republicans operations just 90 days from the November election. He scolded conservatives as more and more Republicans try to distance themselves from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Denver — Some 500 conservative activists convened here over the weekend for the annual RedState Gathering, an event that traditionally functions as a pep rally for the Republican grassroots. This year, though, it felt like a funeral. The mood was decidedly dour as attendees spoke — from the main stage, at their tables, and over adult beverages — in disbelieving tones about the state of the presidential race and the inadequacies of their party’s nominee, Donald Trump. The event offered a unique window into how conservative activists are coping with 2016, and how they might hope to pick up the...

Paul Ryan hopes to survive his primary contest against conservative businessman Paul Nehlen on Tuesday. Then on Friday he will headline the #NeverTrump Redstate Gathering in Denver, Colorado. Speaker Paul Ryan, TV host Glenn Beck, and Lyin Ted Cruz will headline the August Redstate #NeverTrump conference in Denver.

Even if you only occasionally frequent law commentary online, you have probably heard of Ilya Shapiro of the CATO Institute, as he is one of the most prominent voices on libertarian perspectives on the law today. Shapiro took it upon himself to respond ... to recent comments made by Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld.

Noted #NeverTrumpers Glenn (Cheeto-face) Beck, Lyin Ted Cruz, Ben Sasse, Paul Ryan, Nikki Haley, Carly Fiorina, Ken Cuccinelli, Katie Pavlich, Guy Benson, Hugh Hewitt and Erick Erickson are the featured speakers at the annual RedState gathering in Denver in August.

I have said repeatedly, over and over, ad nauseum that I do not believe Donald Trump will win the Presidency. Yes, it has always been possible, but it has been very, very improbable that this would happen. I have also said repeatedly that events can change things. And events are now changing things rapidly. Those rapidly changing events are a staggering intervention into the political process by aggressive Trump supporters I never anticipated and only in the last few months realize they were there. They have mobilized, are unwavering in their support, and will say and do anything to get...

As a Constitutional lawyer, Texas Senator Ted Cruz knows a thing or two about the law. As a conservative senator, he knows what a tank of sharks Washington, D.C. can be. After today’s announcement by FBI Director James Comey that Hillary Clinton would skate on charges of wrongdoing, in regards to her hiding, destroying, and total mishandling of sensitive emails, Senator Cruz made a strong statement. From his Facebook page, and in its entirety: While I have tremendous respect for the dedicated men and women of the FBI, I have serious concerns about the integrity of Director Comey’s decision, and...

The Western Conservative Summit, organized by the Centennial Institute of Colorado Christian University, convened this weekend, with luminaries speaking including prospective GOP nominee Donald Trump, Senators Ben Sasse and Tom Cotton, former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, TV star Phil Robertson, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, radio hosts Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, and Erick Erickson, and Daily Wire Editor-in Chief Ben Shapiro. The video of Shapiro's previous appearance at the summit two years ago is the most widely-viewed video of any speech ever given at the summit, and this time was no different; of all the speeches given, Shapiro's speech was...

Realville, as Rush often says, is where he lives. That’s a place without blinkers or rose-colored glasses. That’s actually where we all live, though some of us prefer to deny it. That is, until reality bites. Then our wishful thinking or willful ignorance dashes upon the hard rock of unforgiving reality. The crackup always smarts. Thus is the case with the 2016 presidential election. There’s Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. In other words, there’s Column A and Column B. That’s the choice. Column C is fairyland. Come November, tens of millions of voters will flock to the polls to choose...