Free Republic

History judges a leader exclusively through his actions and their ultimate results rather than through fleeting words. It appears that U.S. President Barack Obama is finally putting the brakes on his mouth after flooring it down Hope-and-Change Highway for most of his tenure. Remember the Syrian crisis that dominated chatter for months before all but vanishing? Recall how critics were talking about grievous incompetence and even possible impeachment? Fast-forward to today, and just try to start a conversation with, "Obama really botched the situation in Syria." Now that the Russians have overseen a plan for the destruction of that country's...

A juror in the George Zimmerman trial claims the case ruined her life and says she's had death threats made against her children, lost friends, her job and will soon lose her home as a result of it. The juror, a 36-year-old mother of eight who only identified herself as Maddy during an interview on Inside Edition Thursday, was the only juror who showed her face when she appeared on Good Morning America in July. Since then, Maddy says, she's lost her job as an aide at a nursing home and she and her husband have had to sell most...

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday said the Justice Department has not decided whether to file federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Martin in an incident that captured national interest, was acquitted of murder charges in July. But the Justice Department could still pursue a federal civil rights case. Holder said the agency’s investigation is under way. “I'm not sure exactly how much longer that will take, but we will get to a point where we are able to make a...

Rather than addressing the crucial issue of reducing its own monstrous size before it crushes our society, the federal government held a hearing Tuesday as part of an attack on Stand Your Ground laws — an explicitly state matter. Fortunately Ted Cruz (R-TX) was at hand to lay utter waste to the liberal control freaks who have theatrically played the race card in their attempt to exploit the Trayvon Martin shooting as a means to undermine states’ rights and our individual right of self-defense. Cruz began by offering his condolences for [Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina] Fulton’s loss, but quickly moved...

After a government semi-shutdown, the disastrous rollout of HealthCare.gov and the looming budget crisis coming again in January, you’d think the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate would reserve his limited time and resources to focus on fixing these critical issues the federal government has already messed up. You’d be wrong. Senator Richard Durbin, the second most powerful man in the Senate, will hold a special hearing this week on state self-defense laws and the death of Trayvon Martin. (PJ Media has extensively covered the Trayvon Martin incident. See, “Justice for Trayvon, Race Hustler Style,” or Bill Whittle’s fantastic revelation about...

Trayvon Martin's mother says states should clarify their "stand your ground" self-defense laws. Sybrina Fulton is telling a Senate committee Tuesday that the laws, which generally eliminate a person's duty to retreat in the face of a serious physical threat, are confusing and inconsistent. She says neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman "got away with murder" in the 2012 killing of her son, largely because of Florida's policy.

Killing two birds with one stone is an understatement for what the Reverend Al Sharpton did on his MSNBC show “Politics Nation” Tuesday evening, as the civil rights leader accused Texas Sen. Ted Cruz of “politicizing” the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012 during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law at the center of the trial. Although Florida’s ”Stand Your Ground” law – which allows people the right to use deadly force to defend themselves in a dangerous situation – was not used by the defense in the trial of Martin’s alleged killer,...

10/29/13 - Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in early 2012, appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a hearing regarding the controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws. When it came time for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to speak at the hearing, he informed the still-grieving mother that Stand Your Ground laws actually benefit African-Americans as much as, if not more than, they do whites. Cruz began by offering his condolences for Fulton's loss, but quickly moved on to defend the trial by jury process that found Zimmerman not guilty of murder. He...

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, former Pennsylvania Senator and 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum bashed Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), saying that Cruz’s crusade against Obamacare had ben counterproductive. “I would say in the end, he did more harm. I think it was not his objective," Santorum said. He continued: "I think his objective was a laudable one. I think he didn't do a very good job of planning it out. I think it's one thing to have a goal and another thing to have a plan to get you to that goal…Unlike the Democratic party who has a leader,...

An all-out melee broke out at a South Florida car dealership, leaving one female employee with a bloody face. Surveillance and cell-phone video cameras caught the ordeal that occurred last Wednesday, in its entirety. The screaming and arguing began in an office but would then lead outside and escalate from bad to worse.

DETROIT – Detroit’s chief financial officer has apologized for a comment he made about “someone in a hoodie” that a city employee said was racially insensitive. Jim Bonsall, who was hired to help the city turn around its finances amid the largest public bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, on Thursday apologized in a statement issued by the office of state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr, saying that he didn’t intend to offend anyone. Orr’s office says Bonsall has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation. “I apologize and am sorry for having offended co-workers over comments I made...

Event aims to give parents practical knowledge about best practices when raising Black children The Black Parent Initiative is hosting its 4 th Annual Parent Symposium on Oct. 19. The symposium, entitled “Breaking the Cycle-Closing the Gap; Saving Our Boys,” will be held at Marshall High School from 10 am to 3 pm. It’s designed to provide parents and community members with practical knowledge about best practices when raising Black children.

An active duty combat veteran is dead, a victim of black mob violence. The soldier, who has yet to be identified, had been celebrating his safe return from combat and his imminent release from the military. He was walking to his hotel early Saturday morning near a Seattle area military base where KOMO-TV news picks up the story: A group of men in a car drove by and someone inside shouted a racial comment toward the white soldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said. “One of the soldiers yelled back something about the suspects treating combat soldiers with disrespect,” Lt. Chris...

LAKEWOOD, Wash. - A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier was stabbed to death in a parking lot at the 12500 block of Pacific Highway Southwest around 2:30 a.m., officials say. 20-year-old Tevin Geike was walking with two other soldiers along Pacific Highway SW when a group of men drove by and SHOUTED A RACIAL COMMENT toward the soldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said. "One of the soldiers yelled back something about the suspects treating combat soldiers with disrespect," Lt. Chris Lawler said. . . . ."The initial remark that started the encounter seemed derogatory in nature, said Lakewood police Lt. Chris...

LAKEWOOD, Wash. - A 20-year-old active-duty soldier was stabbed to death in a parking lot at the 12500 block of Pacific Highway Southwest around 2:30 a.m., officials say. Three soldiers were walking from Joint Base Lewis-McChord along Pacific Highway SW when a group of men in a car drove by and someone inside shouted a racial comment toward the white soldiers, the Lakewood Police Department said. "One of the soldiers yelled back something about the suspects treating combat soldiers with disrespect," Lt. Chris Lawler said. The vehicle turned around, and five black males got out of the car and confronted...

1). Don't go to stupid places with stupid people to do stupid things. Simple but often ignored. Listen, we do not live in a fair world where everyone respects everyone else. Nor where everyone gets along. You may in fact be totally color-blind in a socio-ethnic sort of way, but not everyone is. So even if your liberal sociology professor thinks it is a cool thing to take a stroll at midnight through a ethnically homogenous part of town (different ethnicity that you), it is still a stupid idea. 2). Always have a method to defend yourself. Even if it...

The US government shutdown enters its fifth day, a week after the horrific carnage by a mentally ill African-American man in which he kills a dozen people before he is cut down by police. An emotionally unstable African-American woman crashes a security fence near the White House and leads a hair-trigger alert cops on a high-speed car chase before she is mowed down by cops using overwhelming force. On Friday, another man, also African-American, pours gasoline on himself in front of the Capitol sets fire to himself in a rare attempt at self-immolation in the United States. It is not...

Raleigh, N.C., citizens are on alert after two cases of black mob violence in two nights in their downtown. The attacks are the latest in a series of episodes of racial violence in the area. The local ABC affiliate was the only media outlet to report that last Tuesday, a group of at least 15 black people stalked and beat a homeless woman after she saw them coming and tried to get out of their way. In contrast to most cases of black racial violence, local journalist Kelli O’Hara actually identified the mob the way victims and the police did:...

Allen West, beloved Tea Party candidate, is telling D.C. bloggers he’ll take a run at Marco “Speaks With Forked Tongue” Rubio’s Senate seat in 2016. “If I see people are not taking our country down the right path, God will set my feet on the right path,” said the Colonel. (1) Rubio’s fatal mistake was to coax the Tea Party into backing him–and back him they did, right into the Senate’s front door–and then promptly putting in with old guard, Senate liberals who were playing him for a fool. This mistake just may doom his re-election bid. It’s something you...

The Senate Judiciary postponed their hearing on "Stand Your Ground" laws on Tuesday morning, after the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard one day earlier. "Stand Your Ground" came into national prominence last year after George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida, where the law allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves. Martin's mother was expected to testify, along with the parents of Jordan Davis, another unarmed, black teenager killed in Florida. RT's Meghan Lopez talks to Jordan's father Ron Davis and his lawyer, John Phillips, about the controversial legislation.