Free Republic

The Supreme Court as we once knew it—as a national institution that could at least sometimes stand apart from partisanship—died last year. The ongoing fight over its corpse spilled into public view last week. On Thursday, 53 United States senators—every member of the Republican caucus—wrote a “letter” to the clerk of the Supreme Court assuring the justices that the Republican Party has their back. The Democrats, the senators told the Court, pose “a direct, immediate threat to the independence of the judiciary.” The spat is about guns. The Court has granted review in a Second Amendment case entitled New York...

"In a memo to staff, chairman David Bradley wrote that even though they have had “exceptional growth” in print and digital subscriptions since September, when they introduced a paywall, there has been an “overnight and and near-complete undoing of in-person events and, for now, a bracing decline in advertising.” The cuts represent 17% of staff. Bradley also announced play cuts for executives and a general pay freeze for the rest of the year. He wrote, “I was to tell our departing colleagues how deeply sorry I am. If we saw any prospect that your jobs souls return in a reset...

The Atlantic hit piece on President Donald Trump last week used four anonymous sources to allege that he had disparaged dead World War I soldiers two years ago. Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin then claimed to have “confirmed” parts of the story — though not its main allegation — based on two anonymous sources. The entire story failed to meet basic journalistic standards. But it is a sign of things to come — particularly if Democrats win in November, which is the Atlantic‘s goal. Two, or even four, anonymous sources can be used to claim absolutely anything. The Atlantic described...

The Atlantic launched a fall-campaign fusillade with anonymous sources claiming President Donald Trump callously trashed America's war dead as "losers" and "suckers," and it is being celebrated by the pro-Biden news media. The Atlantic is "respected" and "venerable" and "at the zenith of its influence." Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg lauded his magazine bosses as "excellent owners who value editorial independence and integrity." That's ridiculous. After the article came out, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held a press briefing and called first on Edward-Isaac Dovere of The Atlantic. Dovere said, "(I)n a call convened by your campaign, Khizr Khan" -- a Biden...

Why The Atlantic’s smear of the president as disrespectful of fallen soldiers does not hold up. I had never met Donald Trump when I began serving in his White House. I took the job expecting that I would never meet him. My (former) role—head of communications at the National Security Council—is not one whose occupant traditionally interacts with the president all that much (my immediate predecessor notwithstanding). The NSC comms director’s “principal,” as we say in the flak trade, is the national security advisor, not the president. The president has higher-ranking aides to look after his interests. Plus, the top...

The Atlantic magazine raised eyebrows on Friday when it published a piece calling for the abolition of the Nobel Peace Prize after President Trump was nominated for the prestigious honor. The president's name was submitted for the 2021 prize by Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde, who cited Trump's role in brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Trump has since earned a second nomination from Swedish lawmaker Magnus Jacobsson for overseeing an economic deal between Kosovo and Serbia. The nominations, however, apparently didn't sit well with the liberal magazine, which declared Friday that "peace had its...

All happy families are alike; some unhappy families are unhappy because of Fox News. You might have come across the articles (“I Lost My Dad to Fox News” / “Lost Someone to Fox News?” / “‘Fox News Brain’: Meet the Families Torn Apart by Toxic Cable News”), or the Reddit threads, or support groups on Facebook, as people have sought ways to mourn loved ones who are still alive. The discussions consider a loss that Americans don’t have good language for, in part because the loss itself is a matter of language: They describe what it’s like to find yourself...

The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg scored the first post-impeachment interview with Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on Monday and asked what he described as the “key question”: “Does he believe that Trump is an asset of Russian intelligence?” Vindman’s answer largely regurgitates left-wing conspiracy theories about Russian influence (original emphasis):