Free Republic

The rise of populism has triggered an increase in anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, anti-Muslim hatred and other forms of intolerance, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Friday. The new U.N. chief told several hundred people, including Holocaust survivors, at the U.N.’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust that “a ‘new normal’ of public discourse is taking hold, in which prejudice is given a free pass and the door is opened to even more extreme hatred.” Guterres, who as Portugal’s prime minister spurred Parliament in 1996 to revoke a 16th century letter expelling all Jews from the country, said people like him who grew...

Madonna says Donald Trump’s presidential win has left her with the same type of broken heart she feels after a bad breakup. The singer opens up in a new interview about the president elect, sharing her feelings about “being stuck in a nightmare.”

I just received an email from Donna Brazille. I replied as follows: Dear Ms. Brazille, Thank you for your New Year wishes. But, I just finished rearing 3 children on my own, without government assistance. I made tremendous sacrifices to do that without government support while the education system was demonizing me and destroying my family. My relationship with my liberal daughter will never be restored. She is a citizen of the state, not my daughter. You stole her from me and broke my heart. But you will never break my spirit. What does the Democrat party have to offer...

Secretary of State John Kerry delcared Wednesday that Israel "can either be Jewish or democratic" but "it cannot be both." Here's a transcript: "The truth is that trends on the ground, violence, terrorism, settlement expansion and the seemingly endless occupation, they are combining to destroy hopes for peace on both sides and increasingly cementing any reversible -- an irreversible one state reality that most people do not actually want. Today, there are a similar number of Jews and Palestinians living between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea. They have a choice. They can choose to live together in one...

Press Releases 12.15.16 Pelosi Statement Calling for an Independent Investigation of Putin’s Interference in U.S. Elections San Francisco – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released this statement today reiterating the need for a bipartisan, independent review following recent reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal involvement in U.S. elections. Pelosi, the longest serving Member of the House Intelligence Committee, is a former Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “Elections determine the future our children will inherit. Given the alarming magnitude, seriousness and scope of Russia’s efforts to undermine U.S. elections, we must have an independent, bipartisan investigation to protect...

After eight years of Obama's Leftist socialist progressivism, a rebellion of the Silent Majority took place, with Donald Trump being chosen by them to lead their movement During the last eight years we have experienced a non-violent coup d’etat attempt against the American Way. Under the banner of Fundamental Transformation, the political-media cabal of the Left attempted to absolutely dismantle everything from free market capitalism to heterosexual marriage to physiological sexual identity at birth to judging people by the content of their character.

French Environment Minister Segolene Royal, representing her government at a tribute for Fidel Castro in Cuba, defended the late communist leader’s human rights record on Saturday, questioning whether the regime imprisons dissidents. The former socialist presidential candidate called Castro a “monument of history” and a “symbol of a very deep friendship between Cuba and France.” […] Asked about the human rights violations denounced by the United Nations and dissidents, Royal said the island had “religious freedom” and “freedom of conscience.” …

During a shouting matching Thursday night between top aides of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the President-elect’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway summed up a key reason for why my Democratic Party lost – and will likely continue to lose. “There’s a difference for voters between what offends you and what affects you.” To understand what she meant, look to the recent developments in Indiana. Millions of voters in the Rust Belt are in awe as 1,100 of their fellow blue-collar workers at Carrier narrowly missed being laid off. Instead of training Mexican replacements, these Hoosiers are celebrating an American paycheck....

PARIS — President François Hollande stunned France on Thursday when he announced that he would not run for a second term in next year’s presidential election. In a televised address from the Élysée Palace, Mr. Hollande said that he was “aware of the risks” of a candidacy that would not “rally” enough people to it. “I have thus decided not to be a candidate in the presidential elections,” Mr. Hollande said. Mr. Hollande, a Socialist, ended weeks of speculation about his intentions to participate in a re-election bid that few observers thought he could win. He has had some of...

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday fended off a challenge to her long leadership reign, defeating Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) in a closed-door vote prompted largely by Donald Trump’s unlikely ascension to the White House. Pelosi got 134 votes to Ryan's 63 — winning 68 percent of the votes after declaring before the election that she had the support of two-thirds of the caucus. The victory sends a message that while there's a growing appetite for major changes in the party's leadership structure and messaging tactics, it's not strong enough to loosen Pelosi's grip on a liberal-heavy group...

French President François Hollande on Saturday called for the embargo that “punishes” Cuba to be “lifted definitively” following the death of Fidel Castro. […] “Even if I have repeatedly denounced human rights abuses in Cuba, I have always believed that the embargo was an unacceptable, unilateral decision,” he said. “Fidel Castro was a great figure of the 20th century. He aroused much hope with the Cuban revolution. There have also been disappointments.” …

Cheer up, American millennials! I mean, seriously, CHEER THE **** UP! Oh, I know you’ve had a rough week ever since Donald Trump won the election. But it’s time to get a grip. STOP crying. STOP taking personal days off work to ‘process’ what happened. STOP huddling with your equally distraught buddies in Starbucks over your Venti Iced White Chocolate Mocha. STOP howling away on social media about how unfair life is and how it’s the end of the planet as we know it. STOP updating the exact number Hillary won the popular vote by, because it doesn’t bloody matter....

On Friday, I almost assaulted a fan of my work. I was in the Philadelphia International Airport, and a man who recognized me from one of my appearances on a television news show approached. He thanked me for the investigative reporting I had done about Donald Trump before the election, expressed his outrage that the Republican nominee had won and then told me quite gruffly, “Get back to work.” Something about his arrogance struck me, so I asked, “Who did you vote for?” He replied, “Well, Stein, but—” I interrupted him and said, “You’re lucky it’s illegal for me to...

Seattle Socialist councilwoman Kshama Sawant told protesters to shut down Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC. Sawant told the crowd of organized anti-Trump protesters that the movement against President-elect Donald Trump is just beginning.

MANCHESTER, N.H. —New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte conceded the Senate race to Gov. Maggie Hassan Wednesday evening. he concession announcement comes after Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan declared victory in the closely-watched U.S. Senate battle against the Republican incumbent. "I just spoke with Gov. Hassan to congratulate her on her election to serve in the U.S. Senate," Ayotte said in a statement. "I wish Gov. Hassan, her husband, Tom, and their children, Ben and Meg, the very best." Hassan is pledging to work with President-elect Donald Trump "when it's in the best interest of New Hampshire and the country," and she...

Several years ago, I was at a large luncheon function sitting next to the long-time editorial page editor at the paper where I worked as a special projects reporter. Right before the speaker arose, this editor turned to me and said, “I don’t understand how you can be a conservative and a Christian. Seems like by what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, you should be a liberal Democrat.” Setting aside that this man was himself an atheist, and the Biblically clear moral issues surrounding abortion and homosexuality, did he have a point? It’s relevant because that train...

Actress Susan Sarandon on Thursday tore into the Democratic National Committee (DNC), calling it "completely corrupt." “After my experience in the primary, it’s very clear to me the DNC is gone,” she told CNN's Carol Costello. “Every superdelegate is a lobbyist. The way that the system is set up in terms of trying of having superdelegates — you could win a state and not get the delegates. It’s crazy.” Sarandon backed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for the Democratic nomination. She said she still respects Sanders even though he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. "Look, Bernie has said ‘don’t ever listen...

Among the curiosities spewed from John Podesta's email by WikiLeaks is an intriguing memo to a group of billionaires that outlines the real goals of the Democratic Party's progressive wing. Turns out they don't want to rig an election, they want to rig the whole system — demographics, politics, the media, everything. The idea that the Democratic Party is the party of the "little man," as the old term would have it, is one of the great fallacies of our time, as this memo clearly shows. The Democratic Party has been captured by the interests of a handful of left-leaning...

A University of Virginia professor has taken a leave of absence from the school after he came under scathing attack over the weekend for likening the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ku Klux Klan. Douglas Muir, who teaches at the school, commented on Facebook that he believed that Black Lives Matter was the 'biggest' racist organization since the KKK. Muir, who lectures at UVA's Engineering School and who also owns a restaurant in the area, was responding to a Facebook post that included a photograph of a recent appearance by BLM co-founder Alicia Garza in Charlottesville, the campus newspaper...

In 449 B.C., the Roman government passed the Law of the Twelve Tables, regulating much of commercial, social, and family life. Some of these laws were reasonable and consistent with an economy of contract and commerce; others prescribed gruesome punishments and assigned cruel powers and privileges given to some. Other regulations fixed a maximum rate of interest on loans of approximately 8 percent. The Roman government also had the habit of periodically forgiving all interest owed in the society; that is, it legally freed private debtors from having to pay back interest due to private creditors. The Roman government also...