Free Republic

Last month, I wrote about some important legislation in Florida that would modernize that stateÂ’s harsh alimony and child custody laws. Florida is lagging behind many states which have updated these laws to reflect the fact that most women now work outside of the home and that children need both parents to thrive, regardless of whether their parents are living together or apart. Sadly, Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) capitulated to intense lobbying by liberal special interest groups and vetoed the bill. The bill had immense support, passing both houses of the Florida legislature by super-majority margins. The governorÂ’s office...

A lot of very smart political people predict that Donald Trump will arrive at the Republican convention in Cleveland shy of the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination on the first ballot. Here’s why I don’t think that’s the way it will play out. To begin with, you’ve got to understand Trump’s mentality—and I believe I understand him better than most people outside his immediate family. I’ve known Trump for 35 years, met with him on numerous occasions, talked to him on the phone countless times, traveled with him, and written two lengthy magazine cover stories about him. One...

Last month, two men were caught on video climbing over the border wall with Mexico and into the United States, carrying with them two large back packs apparently loaded with illegal drugs. The climbers, who were also caught on government surveillance approaching the wall in Mexico before even setting foot on it, easily scaled down into the U.S. within a few yards of not one, but three U.S. Border Patrol vehicles. The Border Patrol officers, although clearly aware of the illegal fence climbers, did nothing. The men re-scaled the wall back into Mexico only after realizing a media crew was...

Cooper Confronts Trump Over Colorado: Rules Are Rules, 'Didn't You Just Get Outplayed?' Anderson Cooper started tonight’s Trump family town hall by going one-on-one with Donald Trump himself and grilling him over his complaints about the “rigged” system in Colorado.

Just a heads up, Trump and his family (including Melandia) is being interviewed by Anderson Cooper right now on a CNN Townhall.

As Donald Trump attempts to distract from his campaign's myriad failures in Colorado by cynically stirring the "rigged corrupt game" pot, one of the public faces of this phony outrage is a gentleman who earned himself prime Drudge real estate when he dramatically burned his voter registration card on camera -- claiming that he was wrongfully turned away from the state party convention because he's a Trump fan. It's a disenfranchisement conspiracy cooked up by the elites, he argued, torching his Republican documentation in protest.  The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway was skeptical of the man's version of events and dug into the back story....

The Associated Press is out with new polling pitting Democrat Hillary Clinton against Republican Donald Trump. Clinton beats Trump in every category among the general electorate, including on the questions of who is best to create jobs, who is better on international trade and who can "Make America Great Again," which of course is Trump's campaign slogan. First, the criteria:

After spending two columns excoriating Donald Trump without ever speaking about his behavior, but rather focusing on policy issues, I feel compelled to defend him on two matters. That is despite it becoming ever more so challenging to defend Mr. Trump for anything based on positions he has taken on various policies. The first is the issue of violence at his rallies and the second is his being “Nazified” by some elements. Not to be namby-pamby or perceived as a member of the chorus, but some of the things that come out of Trump’s mouth about the protesters is just...

I constantly hear that only Donald Trump supporters can understand the Trump phenomenon, as if it were inaccessible to nonbelievers, like the secret knowledge of ancient Gnostics. But I don't believe it's a matter of comprehension. Trump supporters are so tired of the ruling class and are so adamant about a handful of issues that they seem willing to overlook even monumental flaws in their candidate, so long as he will carry the torch against Washington -- at least on those major issues. They aren't just willing to ignore flaws; they don't care about them, because things are so bad...

Despite Hillary Clinton's holding what her campaign advertised as a "town hall" in Brooklyn, NY on Tuesday afternoon, the media had trouble referring to it as such because she fielded zero questions from the audience. Perhaps Clinton had no time to talk to attendees because she was too busy criticizing and insulting her Republican opponents. She accused Trump of "peddling prejudice and paranoia" and called Ted Cruz's plan to surveil Muslim neighborhoods "shameful," "offensive" and "dangerous." She saved her praise for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's effort to "keep crime down" and beamed about the state's new...

telling insight into yesterday's speculation-igniting, closed-door meeting between Donald Trump and top officials at the Republican National Committee -- via the New York Times: (GRAPHIC-AT-LINK) It's almost as if surrounding yourself with unsuccessful people actually isn't a wise way to run a presidential campaign, a realization that may belatedly be dawning on Trump. Turning to a new Politico report, is the Republican frontrunner aware of these realities? The math is difficult as it is -- particularly if he loses Wisconsin and especially if his South Carolina delegate haul is actually in some danger. And as we've discussed previously, Team Trump...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is threatening to skip CNN's town hall interview Tuesday night over the network's treatment of him. "Wow, @CNN has nothing but my opponents on their shows," he wrote on Twitter. "Really one-sided and unfair reporting. Maybe I shouldn't do their town-hall tonight!"Trump and rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich are scheduled to be interviewed by the network in Wisconsin, one week before the state's primary.Trump has repeatedly threatened during his campaign to skip big events — and he's followed through at time.

LONG BEFORE Tuesday's terror attacks in Brussels, it was clear that Belgium had become a breeding ground for Islamist extremists. Hundreds of Belgian Muslims — as many as 500, according to one estimate — have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for ISIS, making Belgium by far Europe's leading supplier of foreign jihadists. Last November's horrific slaughter in Paris was masterminded by a Belgian radical, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and at least four of the men who carried out those attacks were from the Brussels district of Molenbeek. One of them was Salah Abdeslam, who was captured in Molenbeek, after an intense...

The next big event in the GOP primaries comes on April 5th in Wisconsin — the focus of one of the chapters in my upcoming book Going Red. The book focuses on Brown County as a key target for the GOP in the general election, and a bellwether for the critical northeastern quadrant of the state. Green Bay anchors Brown County, and it will take significant attention in this area to run up a big enough lead to take the state. Presidential candidates will need to spend some time in Brown, especially the Republican nominee. Donald Trump will get a...

Trump is interviewed by Hannity. Topics include the presidential race, delegates, GOP, general election, Hillary Clinton, immigration, economy, Israel, Iran, trade, etc.

Please enjoy this Supreme Court-related segment from yesterday's Media Buzz wherein liberal panelist Tamara Holder (a) misunderstands my initial point completely, (b) offers several misstatements about history and the constitution, and (c) interrupts my final answer with a question -- the response to which she was not prepared for, via Right Sightings: Guy Benson Schools Tamara Holder on Media Spin of SCOTUS Nomination In these circumstances, one must pick one's spots, so I chose not to correct Ms. Holder on her Bork comparisons, which were incorrect both regarding the year in which that confirmation battle took place (she was off by nearly...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told CNNÂ’s Dana Bash today that the Senate would not confirm Judge Merrick Garland, who was nominated by President Obama earlier this week, in the lame duck session. Senate Republicans have been adamant that the next president, whoever that may be, should decide this nomination. This has drawn the ire of Democrats who feel that Republicans are skirting their constitutional obligation to advise and consent on judicial nominations, despite the fact that the Constitution doesnÂ’t say the Senate must consider a nominee upon recommendation by the president. Yes, Senate Republicans can sit on their...

Donald Trump has predicted there will be riots in the streets if he is not crowned victor at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer. Given his exhortations to his supporters to "knock the crap out of" anyone disrupting his rallies and his promise to "pay for the legal fees," I'll take him at his word. Trump's comments are what sociologist Robert K. Merton called a self-fulfilling prophecy: "a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true." Trump likes to play the tough guy, and his rallies have become a...

After years of pushing unwelcome candidates on an unhappy conservative base, the GOP Establishment has been soundly defeated in 2016. But some establishment players still dream of John Kasich or Paul Ryan emerging from the wreckage of a contested convention. Donald Trump pointed out that there would be riots if he entered the convention with a big lead and the party leaders denied him the nomination. Ted Cruz agrees and thinks the idea of a convention would be "an absolute disaster." Cruz added that "The way to beat Donald Trump is at the ballot box." Cruz, of course, is the...

I miss Ronald Reagan. Even his harshest critics must admit that he had an unflagging belief in the general goodness of the average human being, a commitment to the American experiment and faith in the ability of most people to make decisions in their own best interests without undue meddling by officious busybodies. Above all, Ronald Reagan -- like a number of other truly great American political leaders from both sides of the aisle -- had the ability to inspire Americans to see the best in themselves and their neighbors. We are stronger as a people, better as a...