Free Republic

Church and state cross swords in Italy over immigration, autonomyROME – An unusually direct and public clash between church and state is unfolding in Italy, where both Pope Francis and the country’s bishops are perceived to be challenging the center-right government over both migration and proposals for greater regional autonomy.In a clear sign of those tensions, the leader of Italy’s far-right anti-immigrant Lega party took to Facebook late Wednesday evening to ask his followers, “What do you think of the bishops’ attacks?” – provoking a predictable cascade of critical replies.Typical was the reaction of a follower who wrote, “They would...

The largest organization of socialists in America cheered Vice President Kamala Harris’s pick of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate for 2024, saying it showed they and the left “are a force that cannot be ignored.” “Harris choosing Walz as a running mate has shown the world that DSA and our allies on the left are a force that cannot be ignored,” Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) boasted on X. The Uncommitted movement, in which DSA members played crucial roles nationally and in multiple states, pressured the Democratic establishment into choosing a new candidate and backing down...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro's use of military force to maintain political power after an election in which the opposition seemed to have won by more than 30 percentage points, Americans across the United States have expressed their extreme relief that socialists rigging elections is a phenomenon confined to Venezuela. According to numerous US citizens, socialists cheating in elections and undercutting the will of the people is an "unimaginable abomination." Over 98% of Americans polled say they are "incredibly grateful" that it could never happen in America. "Oh, yeah, it's absolutely tragic what's going on down there,"...

For the first time since Donald Trump was indicted in the spring of 2023, he has lost his grip on the news cycle and — temporarily at least — his message. Instead of commanding morning-to-night media attention, the former president and his allies suddenly find themselves reacting to their opponents. It’s an unfamiliar experience for Trump, who has monopolized America’s televisions, newspapers and smartphones for more than 12 months through indictments, primary victories, 34 felony convictions, an assassination attempt and a Republican National Convention at which he was celebrated as a quasi-religious figure. In the three days since President Joe...

Vice President Harris is racing to lock down support for her White House bid, just hours after President Biden announced that he would no longer seek reelection. Harris on Sunday spoke with the chairs of three key coalitions on Capitol Hill: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.) of the New Democrat Coalition. All three have backed Harris for the nomination. She also spoke with Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) — ”She is ready to win in Wisconsin!!!” he said on the social platform...

The Middle East Children's Alliance announced Tuesday the third annual Ride for Palestine, held in Madison on July 21. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., MECA said riders will assemble at the Tenney Park Pavilion on Madison's east side. Riders will then depart on an eight-mile, casually-paced ride at 11:00 a.m., using Madison bike paths. There will be a refreshment break at Olin Park. Riders will return to Tenney at around 12:15 p.m. MECA said there will be activities for guests of all ages at Tenney Park during and after the ride, including live music, poetry, bike decorating, kite making, and temporary...

Socialists are desperate to save their power base from Donald Trump, and we are naïve if we think they will let an honest election stop them. Robert Kennedy Jr. stated that Biden is more dangerous to democracy than Donald Trump. Robert is misguided; Biden is senile and does not pose a threat to anyone. It’s the entire Democrat party that’s the greatest threat to our democracy. During the 1960 presidential debates, Robert’s uncle, John Kennedy, highlighted the ideological difference between the Democrat and Republican parties. “We have a different philosophy for achieving the same objectives,” he said (emphasis added). The...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a week of campaign stops, interviews and insistence that he is the best candidate to confront Republican Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has done little to soften the push for him to exit the 2024 race. Biden has weighty options before him this weekend that could set the direction of the country and his party as the nation heads toward the November election with an energized GOP after the Republican nominating convention to send Trump back to the White House. The standoff has become increasingly untenable for the party and its leaders, a month from the...

WASHINGTON — As more and more Democrats call on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, a key group of allies on Capitol Hill, remain largely supportive of the president but concerned that the ongoing pressure may prove fatal for his campaign and damage the party overall. “I have loyalty to Biden, no question about it,” said longtime Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. “As things stand, I want him to win. But if he says, ‘You know, I’ve been listening and chatting with people and I don’t want to go any further,’...

Talk about a mask-off moment. On Wednesday, the Democratic Socialists of America yanked their endorsement of progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, bestowed just a week prior, for the sin of . . . acknowledging the reality of antisemitism within the pro-Palestine movement. The DSA’s national apparatus had tentatively given the endorsement June 23, on the condition that AOC completely toe the group’s line on Israel, which apparently means staying dead silent on the issue of rampant leftist Jew-hate. The group listed several supposed indiscretions in their indictment of AOC, including her vote affirming the Jewish state’s right to exist last...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy, an ambitious young Democrat from Connecticut, went on television Sunday with a carefully worded warning to President Joe Biden about the viability of his campaign. “This week is going to be absolutely critical; I think the president needs to do more,” Murphy said. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. said Biden had to “reassure the American people that he can run a vigorous campaign to defeat Donald Trump.” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a senior member of the Democratic leadership team, put out a statement that passed for fighting words, saying that the president “must do more...

Last night’s debate made clear what DSA and the hundreds of thousands of voters who supported Uncommitted in the primaries have been saying for months: Biden must drop out. Biden was elected in 2020 because young people, people of color, and the working class rejected Donald Trump’s far-right politics. It was these voters who prevented a second Trump term with the highest turnout in an election in decades. Yesterday, these same voters witnessed a man who is unfit to lead. During the debate, both candidates repeatedly fought to appear the most pro-cop, pro-war, and anti-immigration, and ignored questions on issues...

The New York City Council adopted a massive $112.4 billion spending plan Sunday in a 46-3 vote – with the dissenting votes coming from three Democratic socialist representatives. Mayor Eric Adams – who negotiated the deal with Council leadership – applauded the action, which saw the only opposition from council members Tiffany Caban, Shahana Hanif and Alexa Aviles. The new fiscal year 2025 budget runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. “Our administration’s mission is clear: Protect public safety, rebuild our economy, and make this city more livable — and this budget is a direct testament to that...

New York “Squad” Rep. Jamaal Bowman is being accused of lying about his positions on Israel — publicly suggesting one thing and then allegedly flopping while privately groveling to a radical socialist group. Bowman — who is in the fight of his political life against Democratic Party challenger George Latimer — previously publicly condemned a heinous anti-Israel protest supported by the Democratic Socialists of America “in the strongest possible terms.’’ He seized on the moment to crow that he had let his DSA membership lapse after a previous falling out with the group for visiting Israel and voting for defense...

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu is predicting that President Joe Biden's $167 billion student loan forgiveness plan is actually going to come back and bite him. Just this week, Biden cancelled another $7.7 billion for 160,000 Americans, in a push that critics view as an attempt to 'buy votes' ahead of the 2024 election. But Sununu tells DailyMail.com in an exclusive sit-down interview this week that no debt is actually being wiped out. 'We've just transferred it to somebody else. Somebody still carries that debt...and it's still to be paid by all of America.' 'The political benefit that Biden thinks he's...

EVERYONE IN AMERICA Knows things were better under President Trump – no matter what garbage the media is pushing. And EVERYTHING is worse under Joe Biden. The Marxist left is destroying the country. And it’s not likely to get any better as long as Democrats hold on to power. Last week President Donald Trump announced he will hold a rally in South Bronx, New York this Thursday to “highlight the horrendous effects Crooked Joe Biden’s presidency had had on our economy,: according to a statement released by the former president’s campaign Friday. This announcement comes after President Trump delivered remarks...

Some interesting statistics. What a grim reminder of what happens in the world while America's back is turned. https://www.communiststats.com/

Scuffles in BrusselsSo, I was in Rome recently chasing down information for a book and noticed that, at the time I’d be heading back home, a National Conservatism Conference was being held in Brussels. I decided to stop in to see how NatCon would fare in the “capital” of the European Union. As has been widely reported, under pressure from “antifa” forces, Brussels’ mayor foolishly forced Concert Noble, the initial venue, to cancel. And again, with the Sofitel. Ultimately, we gathered at the Claridge, where the Tunisian Muslim owner was (unsuccessfully) pressured by the mayor, his wife threatened, and warned...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A Christian who faced persecution for her faith in Communist Romania in the 1980s and barely survived an assassination attempt orchestrated by dictator Nicolae Ceausescu warns that the undermining of parental rights in the U.S. today echoes Ceausescu’s totalitarian government. “It’s the same system that the socialists use in order for parents to be put in jail that the students, kids, will be taught in school to report their [parents] to school,” Virginia Prodan, a human rights lawyer who grew up in Communist Romania but came to the U.S. after President Ronald Reagan secured her release... She raised the...

If you had told the average person that an anarchist or an airman had set himself on fire to protest Israel’s campaign against Islamic terrorists, you would get two very different reactions. Unsurprisingly the media led with the data point most likely to produce a favorable reaction. And Aaron Bushnell cynically played the same game, wearing (the wrong) uniform to his Hamas suicide attempt rather than the Antifa red in which he had been previously photographed. The Washington Post gets around to admitting that Bushnell was an “anarchist”. Less than two weeks before Aaron Bushnell walked toward the gates of...