Free Republic

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is again stoking racial division, but this time his primary target isn't white Americans.In several social media posts and a "private video" for black "street organizations" in Charleston, S.C., Farrakhan chastises black Christian leaders for being too close "to their former slave masters" and being fearful of gangs.Farrakhan had intended to travel to Charleston to promote his upcoming "Justice, or Else!" rally in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall, Oct. 10. He found, however, that black Christian pastors in the city were not interested in his message of racial discord after the shooting of...

South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney announced his support for Rand Paul's presidential bid Monday, saying the Kentucky senator's dovish foreign policy and anti-establishment message is "falling on receptive ears" in his home state. Mulvaney, who rode to Congress on the Tea Party wave in 2010, cited his growing dissatisfaction with Republican leaders as a leading reason for endorsing Paul, who holds the No. 10 spot in the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings. House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have become the targets of heavy criticism on the campaign trail recently for failing to advance conservative legislation...

An F/A-18 fighter jet aircraft has crashed west of Naval Air Station Lemoore. The crash, which happened Monday, was north of Highway 198 in a dirt field just east of the Kings/Fresno county line, about two miles west of NASL, according to Adam Barresi, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. The pilot reportedly ejected from the aircraft in mid-air, parachuted to the ground, landed and walked over to emergency responders on scene, according to Kings County Fire Chief Bill Lynch. Lynch said the crash happened around 4 p.m. The pilot's name wasn't immediately available. The parachute was reported as...

Republican presidential candidate and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told American Muslims on Fox Monday that, despite what GOP rival Ben Carson said, it was their country too. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, was asked on Sunday by NBC host Chuck Todd if a President's faith mattered — and whether he thought Islam was consistent with the Constitution. "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation," Carson told Todd. On Fox, Graham noted that he had served with American Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. "So, I want to let every American Muslim serving in uniform know...

FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The fall gun show at the Florence Civic Center revealed a new demographic for sales Sunday afternoon. Vendors who were there say women are buying more guns, hunting and participating in the shooting sport. Stan Davis is the owner of S&R Gun Sales. He attends the gun show in Florence in the spring and fall. However, this year he’s noticed a difference in people who are buying guns. “I have seen an increase in ladies, coming in and buying small arms for themselves, getting signed up for CWP classes,” Davis Said.

The Sept. 11, 2012 terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was a "crisis" and "terribly tragic," but not necessarily something that could have been foreseen, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "So, my view on this is, we have to learn things. And we are always learning. We learned after Beirut. We learned after Tanzania and Kenya. We have learned after Benghazi, but we're not going to be able to represent the United States working out of hermetically sealed tanks. We are going to have to be out in the world."...

Regarding the Benghazi attack: Within hours of the attack, JSOC had determined the identities of the leaders, who were linked to the Ansar al-Sharia militia group. Delta dispatched a team to Libya to hunt them, and by Friday, September 14, three days after the attack, JSOC was briefing US Special Operations Command that it was tracking the militia leaders responsible for the attack, had photographs of them (which were included in the briefing) and information that they had been calling an Islamist figure in jail in Iraq.

Republican presidential candidate and South Carolina Senator Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he would have stood up to the questioner who told fellow Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American” on Friday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC. Graham was asked, “What would you have done?” He answered, “Stand up to the guy. I had this happen to me in Iowa where a guy used the n-word and was very derogatory toward President Obama and Muslims, and I said,...

Most folks probably think of the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank as just that – a bank that finances major highway and bridge projects. S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston and a member of the Infrastructure Bank (STIB) Board of Directors, described the bank, created by the Legislature in 1997, as a “funding arm” in a recent (Charleston) Post & Courier story. But in addition to providing funding to the state Department of Transportation and local governments, STIB in recent years also has assumed the role of a general contractor or project manager, paying millions of dollars directly to certain companies for...

Last week, National Review’s Jim Geraghty published what may be the most insightful essay yet [1] on the difference between the conservative movement and Donald Trump and his followers. Geraghty has noticed a telling reticence on Trump’s part to utter such words as “freedom” or “liberty.” By contrast, Geraghty notes that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker used the word “freedom” six times in the 179-word announcement of his plan to replace ObamaCare, and Ted Cruz used “freedom” twice and “liberty” eleven times in his announcement speech at Liberty University, not counting references to the university itself.The reason for this lack of...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top aides have belatedly turned over more than 100,000 pages of emails they had kept on personal email accounts, or accounts tied to Mrs. Clinton’s server, the government told a federal judge late Friday. Huma Abedin turned over an estimated 23,000 pages of emails, Philippe Reines gave back 70,000 pages of messages and Cheryl Mills returned somewhere in the neighborhood of 11,870 pages, the Obama administration told Judge Rudolph Contreras in a court filing.

The six-hour Republican conclave here is (finally) over and we have all the details over at our premium site and in the printed paper Saturday. Some highlights and leftovers that didn’t make the main story: Yes, the news early in the day was that Donald Trump bailed at the last minute, but judging purely from audience reaction, the 10,000 activists here for the Heritage Action Presidential Forum were equally enamored of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former CEO Carly Fiorina. Cruz got the warmest welcome when introduced while Fiorina left the stage to thunderous applause. Cruz was clearly more relaxed...

[SNIP] Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush triggered boos when he defended his early support for the Common Core education standards, a policy developed by state leaders in both parties that has become a target of tea party ire. "I'm for higher standards, and Common Core standards are higher than the standards that exist," Bush said before being interrupted by boos. "If South Carolina wants to be without Common Core standards, great, just make sure the standards that you apply are higher than the ones before you had Common Core. Standards matter. Accountability matters." [SNIP]

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) -Protesters gathered outside the Bon Secours Wellness Arena where Republican presidential candidates spoke Friday at the Take Back America Presidential Candidate Forum. The protest included Confederate flag supporters from Columbia and individuals from around the Upstate. They told FOX Carolina that they were protesting the removal of Confederate monuments earlier this summer after nine people were killed in a shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Many of the protesters are affiliated with the S.C. Constitution Party. They are calling for the impeachment of S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, but say that's unlikely. Haley was...

Heritage Action for America will host a presidential candidate forum on Friday, September 18, 2015, at the Bons Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, SC. The event will be hosted and moderated by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and Heritage Action’s CEO Mike Needham. The list of confirmed candidates includes: Mr. Donald J. Trump; Dr. Ben Carson; Gov. Jeb Bush; Sen. Ted Cruz; Sen. Marco Rubio; Carly Fiorina; Gov. Scott Walker; Gov. Chris Christie; Dr. Rand Paul; Sen. Rick Santorum; and Gov. Bobby Jindal. Read more: http://therightscoop.com/watch-live-trump-cruz-and-9-other-gop-candidates-in-presidential-candidate-forum-at-345pm-et/#ixzz3m7fCYehF

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton burst into laughter when asked Thursday about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saying she should be prosecuted for using a private email account and home-based email server for official business as secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton kept shaking her head and chuckling when asked on CNN’s “The Situation Room” about the possibility that Russia, China or even 18-year-olds would have hacked into U.S. national security secrets that were stored on the email server in the basement of her home in New York.

Link to video of Ted Cruz at the Heritage Action Take Back America Presidential Forum.

Heritage Action Forum: Take Back America Bon Secours Wellness Arena 650 North Academy Street Greenville, SC 29601 Friday, September 18, 2015 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Heritage Action Candidate Forum

Donald Trump canceled his appearance Friday evening at a major campaign stop for the GOP presidential field in South Carolina as he faces criticism from both Republican and Democratic candidates over his failure to address claims that President Obama is a Muslim and "not even an American." Trump’s campaign announced in a statement Friday he no longer plans to speak at the Heritage Action Presidential Forum at the Bon Secours Arena in Greenville.

Just hours before he was expected to speak, GOP front-runner Donald Trump canceled a trip to South Carolina for the Heritage Action Presidential Forum because of a "significant business transaction" that is delayed, his campaign said in a statement. The campaign said Trump had to changes his plans because "a significant business transaction" that is delayed. "He sends his regrets and looks forward to being with the great people of South Carolina."