Free Republic

Here's an exchange from Bernie Sanders's appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sunday: CHUCK TODD: Are you a capitalist? @BernieSanders: No. I'm a Democratic Socialist. And, in those five words, Sanders showed why — no matter how much energy there is for him on the liberal left — he isn't getting elected president. Why? Because Democrat or Republican (or independent), capitalism remains a pretty popular concept — especially when compared to socialism. A 2011 Pew Research Center survey showed that 50 percent of people had a favorable view of capitalism, while 40 percent had an unfavorable one. Of socialism, just...

Trump says people will turn off tomorrow's Democratic primary debate – because he's not in it! 'I think people are going to turn it on for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep,' Trump told a Fox News audience Claimed 'a person at CNN' said that 'we have to put Donald Trump in this debate. We're going to die with it' First two GOP debates drew 24 million and 23 million viewers, largely on the strength of Trump's participation Hammered Obama for '60 Minutes' appearance: 'I watched his performance last night and I thought it was terrible' Tuesday's first...

Star Parker appeared on CNN the morning after the Democratic candidate debate to discuss just how much liberals care about black lives. The other guest was Patti Solis Doyle, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager. And Star didn’t waste time getting to the bottom line. “Well, we had five, white, wealthy liberals trying to convince us — to one-up each other — that black lives matter so much to them that they’re going to do more of the same: big government. They’re going to have more policy to trap them in poor communities. They’re going to have more policies to trap...

PROVIDENCE — Protestors marched in Providence Monday afternoon in support of the "black lives matter" movement. A group of about 50 people gathered outside of a Providence Dunkin' Donuts on Atwells Avenue, where an employee last week wrote "black lives matter" on a police officer's cup of coffee. For about an hour, they carried signs and posters in support of the movement. Several told NBC 10 News they believe the employee didn't do anything wrong. Activists also said they feel the Providence Police Union overreacted to the incident and that the phrase, "black lives matter," isn't anti-police, but pro-African American...

The latest New Hampshire poll shows a far more engaged electorate continuing to be a thorn in the side of the 2015/16 GOPe scheme to anoint Jeb Bush. In addition, the ruse candidates, Fiorina and Rubio have exhausted their media-fueled surge and remain static alongside Jeb Bush at 8%.John Kasich’s ground game and almost exclusive attention to New Hampshire has garnered him a position just above Jeb, Carly and Marco. However, the vulgarians are determined to Make America Great Again!Gravis Marketing, a nonpartisan research firm, conducted a random survey of 1,035 registered voters in New Hampshire regarding the presidential election...

After my last two columns on Donald Trump, several people have written to ask what I think about some of the other Republican presidential candidates. So I thought I’d address that question this week. Hey, I’m nothing if not responsive to my readers. Please excuse me if I don’t mention everyone. I’ve only got 500 words. Ben Carson. No question, Dr. Carson is manifestly the smartest person in the race, on either side. His slogan should be, “It’s just politics, folks. Not brain surgery.” I don’t necessarily agree with him on every issue, but I believe he’s a man of...

Of nearly 460 people who voted, about 38 percent cast a peanut for Trump. Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon, came in second with about 24 percent of the peanuts. Nearly all candidates - even Joe Biden, who has not announced whether he’ll run - found fans at the fair. Lincoln Chafee, the former U.S. senator and governor of Rhode Island, was “still looking for his first vote,” noted guest announcer Gary Black, the state’s agriculture commissioner. For that matter, so were Republicans Georgia Pataki and Jim Gilmore. For Democrats, Hillary Clinton ended the day with 64 legumes stacked up in...

The union called the move "unacceptable and discouraging." A Rhode Island police union is outraged over what a Dunkin' Donuts employee wrote on an officer's coffee cup. According to Go Local Prov, a Providence police officer purchased a coffee Friday night from a local Dunkin' Donuts. A Facebook post (which does not appear to be public) from fellow police officer William O'Donnell claims that the employee was "immediately rude, and didn't appear to want to serve" his co-worker who was in uniform. Upon leaving, the unnamed police officer noticed that his coffee had "#blacklivesmatter" scrawled across it in marker. (IMAGE-AT-LINK)...

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump is holding his ground- at least compared to where he was in the state six weeks ago. Trump leads with 26% to 21% for Ben Carson, 12% for Carly Fiorina, 10% for Marco Rubio, 9% for Ted Cruz, 6% for Mike Huckabee, 5% for Jeb Bush, 4% for John Kasich, and 2% for Chris Christie. Rounding out the field are Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal at 1%, and Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Rand Paul all at less than 1%. Trump's 26% is almost identical to his 24% standing...

Mayors from eighteen U.S. cities signed a letter to President Obama saying they are willing to take even more refugees than what has been proposed by the administration. “We will welcome the Syrian families to make homes and new lives in our cities,” wrote the mayors, all of whom are part of the Cities United for Immigration Action coalition. “Indeed, we are writing to say that we stand ready to work with your Administration to do much more and to urge you to increase still further the number of Syrian refugees the United States will accept for resettlement.” “This is...

But Ms. Raimondo was able to revamp her state’s pension system, keeping some of the traditional structure while lowering the cost, and surviving lawsuits by workers and retirees who called her moves unconstitutional. Mr. Emanuel’s attempts to rein in pension costs, in contrast, have been thrown out by a judge, leading to his appeal this week for a big tax increase

The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released,News Channel 10 reports. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Officials with the Pawtucket Red Sox say the baseball club will end its pursuit for a proposed stadium on waterfront land in downtown Providence. PawSox Chairman Larry Lucchino said in a statement Saturday that the group tried hard to make the deal work, but Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo determined the land was not suitable for a new ballpark. A spokesman for House speaker Nicholas Mattiello said Friday that negotiations between the state and the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox had stopped. “It is disappointing that negotiations have ended at the I-195 property. I thought...

While the press has been completely obsessed by el Trumpo so that they can damage and dismantle the Republican party, they have tried their best to ignore the growing mutiny in the Democrat party. But it burst into their faces Saturday morning when the Democrat National Committee chair, Debbsters Whats-her-face Schultz was HECKLED by an entire crowd demanding more debates among the leftist presidential candidates

Two Labor Day Polls Portend ‘Splodey Heads For The Anti-Trump Advocates…. Earlier today Gallup released a poll showing that Trump is the most heavily favored candidate (63% Approval Rating) amid Republicans. A devastating defeat for the establishment GOP (GOPe) who are seeking to push their preferred candidate Jeb Bush. Such substantive favorable opinion of candidate Trump puts the RNC/GOPe in a difficult position as they plot to begin their collective assault against the unpalatable frontrunner. But tonight the news for the Vichy Republican crowd is infinite degrees worse. As they plot the best course of Trump’s annihilation – national polls...

In a challenging field of competitors, Fox News Channel’s Andrew Napolitano has a strong entry for the most laughable legal analysis of the Indiana religious-freedom law. In an April Fool’s Day op-ed that he evidently means to be taken seriously, Napolitano argues that state Religious Freedom Restoration Act laws are unconstitutional. Napolitano’s core claim is that the Supreme Court, in its 1997 ruling in Boerne v. Flores, ruled that the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act is unconstitutional. In Boerne the Court ruled that Congress lacked the constitutional power to apply the federal RFRA against the states. Napolitano accurately summarizes...

BUSH: changed Rating from No Action to VERY HARMFULCARSON: from No Action to VERY GOODCHRISTIE: from No Action to GOODCRUZ: from No Action to VERY GOODFIORINA: from Unhelpful to VERY HARMFULJINDAL: from No Action to VERY GOODPERRY: from No Action to UNHELPFULRUBIO: from No Action to VERY HARMFULTRUMP: from No Action to EXCELLENTIn addition, the following candidates stuck with the positions (and Ratings) that they had previously staked out. (Santorum and Paul deserve special recognition for taking strong stands long before Trump stirred the media's interest this past week.)EXCELLENT: SantorumVERY GOOD: Paul1st STEPS: GrahamNO POSITION: Chaffee, WalkerUNHELPFUL: Biden, Clinton, Sanders,...

The summer has not been kind to Hillary Clinton. The drip-drip-drip of revelations about her possible misuse and mishandling of classified information threatens to become a deluge in the fall. They have taken a serious toll on her reputation — and even more notably, her treatment by liberal media figures who surely would rather she be elected even if the Risen Christ were to be the Republican nominee. Democrats are worried — so worried five donors who raised millions for President Obama as well as Obama’s chief Florida strategist have both sworn off Hillary and joined an effort to draft...

Dear Democrats: It’s too late to start over. As in, there’s no replacing Hillary Rodham Clinton as your party’s front-runner for the presidential nomination. Not with Vice President Biden — even if he runs. Not with former vice president Al Gore. (I mean, come on.) Not with your ideal rich-person-with-no-record-and-a-fresh-faced-appeal. This may come as a shock to some of you. After all, you argue, it’s only August! The Iowa caucuses won’t be until February! That’s, like, four political lifetimes. Sure. But modern presidential politics isn’t as simple as announcing that you’ve decided to run and watching yourself soar to the...

There is a haunting familiarity to the arguments defending Planned Parenthood’s sale of body parts from aborted babies for medical research: an echo of another era of medical innovation amid moral ambiguity. Then, as now, the response of cultural leaders — especially religious leaders — is a story about the corruption, and potential renewal, of Western civilization. Today we’re told there is no other way to achieve the research results we desire, because fetal tissue is a “uniquely rich source” of stem cells, which provide invaluable clues to human development. Second, we’re led to believe that research on aborted babies...