Free Republic

In a nine-word per curiam decision, eight justices of the United States Supreme Court have revealed they are deadlocked in a 4 to 4 divide on the new immigration procedures of the Obama administration, with its executive decision to not deport the immigrant parents of children born in the United States (thus citizens) and give them legal status but less than citizenship in the process. The State of Texas, joined by 25 others states, filed a lawsuit to block this executive action, which affects between 4 and 5 million immigrants in the United States. The case was before the Supreme...

GOP Officials in Utah and much of the state are running to Hillary, and they been against any type of criticism of Barack Obama. WHY? Why is Utah (and the Mormons) so quick to attack Trump and support Hillary? Why have they been so quiet to the crazy moves Obama has made?

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus tapped former congressman Enid Mickelsen to chair the all-important rules committee during the convention. Just two weeks ago, Enid had this to say about the presidential race: Ryan Struyk @ryanstruyk Enid Mickelsen just named chair of GOP convention rules panel. Here's what she told Salt Lake Tribune two weeks ago. She has also spoken approvingly of the idea that the rules could be changed to allow delegates to vote for someone other than a candidate they are bound to by result of primary or caucus. It's unkown if Trump was consulted about the choice.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney can't bring himself to bear with the choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump saying Saturday that the choices are breaking his heart. "Either choice is destructive," Romney said ... [Snip] The former Massachusetts governor has come out strongly against Trump. In an interview Friday, Romney said: "I don't want to see a president of the United States saying things which change the character of the generations of Americans that are following. Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation, and trickle-down racism, trickle-down bigotry, trickle-down misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily...

Mitt Romney laid into the large and rambunctious group of 2016 Republican candidates here on Saturday, arguing that they deserved a share of blame for the rise of Donald Trump. During a question-and-answer session with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer before around 250 Republican donors gathered here for the Romney-hosted Experts and Enthusiasts summit, the former Massachusetts governor said this year’s group of primary candidates misplayed their hand. By spending months attacking each other and ignoring Trump, he argued, they made a severe tactical error that allowed Trump — who Romney has criticized as a "con man" and a "fraud" —...

The panty-wadding on the part of anti-Trump Republicans is reaching comic proportions. The latest example involves a fantasy based on a third-hand report. It all began when sportscaster Robert Costa gave a friend-of-a-friend third hand account in a tweet of something Donald Trump supposedly had said, off the record

Cry me a river. Failed 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was reportedly in tears when he told attendees of his Summit, which has been described as a “safe space” for the “Never Trump” smart set, that seeing Trump as the Republican nomination was breaking his heart. One wonders if Romney is really sad that Trump’s candidacy has resonated with working Americans more than his inflexible and robotic campaign ever did. Romney also reportedly ripped Ted Cruz and John Kasich for not taking on Trump harsh enough from the outset. But where was “tough guy” Romney when Trump was rising...

On Friday afternoon, at an exclusive Republican donor retreat here hosted by Mitt Romney, frustration boiled over. During an off-the-record question-and-answer session with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Meg Whitman, the billionaire Hewlett Packard chief executive officer, confronted the speaker over his endorsement of Trump. Whitman, a major GOP giver who ran for California governor in 2010, compared Trump to historical demagogues like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and wanted to know how the speaker could get behind him. At another discussion session during the day, which featured top Romney alumni Stuart Stevens and Matt Rhoades, Ana Navarro, a Republican contributor...

Donald Trump can be an effective president, and he’s going to win with you or without you, Republican Chairman Reince Priebus told several hundred of the party’s top donors and strategists Saturday. Trump is setting a dangerous example for Americans by promoting “trickle-down racism,” and the party must look beyond this presidential election to find its future, the 2012 nominee Mitt Romney told the same group later that morning. Delivered within moments of each other at Romney’s annual business and politics summit at a five-star ski resort, those opposite messages were enough to cause whiplash. That’s a hazard of being...

Freshman Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) is trailing Democratic candidate and attorney Doug Owens by 6 points in a rematch for her targeted House seat, a new poll finds. Owens received support from 51 percent of likely voters compared to 45 percent for Love, according to the Salt Lake Tribune/Hinckley Institute poll conducted by SurveyUSA found. Four percent said they were undecided or supporting a third-party candidate. Love’s campaign questioned the poll’s unexpected results. "I don't believe the numbers to be honest with you," strategist Dave Hansen told The Salt Lake Tribune. "The numbers just do not make sense." Owens embraced...

The Weekly Standard published “An Open Letter to Mitt Romney” on Tuesday night, begging the former Republican presidential nominee to launch a third-party bid. “[T]hese are extraordinary times, and your nation still has need of your service. I respectfully implore you to run for president as an independent candidate in 2016,” Jay Cost wrote. Cost slams presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s “Nixonian paranoia” of “enemies” and calls her Republican counterpart, Donald Trump, “a sympathizer with the nativist ‘alt-right.’ ” “They do not see Americans as Americans,” the letter continues. “They see each of us as potential allies or foes,...

As part of a final biology exam, Utah Electronic High School asked students to determine whether a woman in a specific situation should have an abortion. The multiple choice question presented a scenario in which a 40-year-old woman is pregnant and has discovered that the child has Down syndrome. According to the scenario, the doctor has recommended that the baby be aborted. Students are asked to choose between the following options: A. The parents should wait until the baby is ready to be born, then re-do the genetic tests to see if the results have changed. B. The parents should...

Whatever else is going on at the Secret Service, they've got the Obama Administration scandal playbook down pat, which is really depressing. 1. Lie about what happened - They not only misled the public about how far Omar Gonzalez penetrated the White House, they apparently were less than forthcoming with Congress. According to CBS News, "a congressional official told the Associated Press that Senate Judiciary Committee staffers who were briefed a week after the incident by the Administration were never told how far Gonzalez made it into the building." At today's hearings, House Oversight chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) referred to...

The Secret Service leaked sensitive personal information to the press about Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz as the Utah Republican was investigating the beleaguered agency, an inspector general's report said Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General issued a report on Wednesday that accused Secret Service Assistant Director Edward Lowery and other agency officials of plotting to leak information about Chaffetz, including his unsuccessful attempt to join the organization. The leaks were a highly unusual breach of decorum. Lawmakers often battle with agencies, but the fights mostly stay above board and focus on...

A Secret Service official’s allegedly deliberate decision to embarrass Rep. Jason Chaffetz could “give pause” to other lawmakers who have applied for federal jobs, cautioned former House Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation into the U.S. Secret Service’s disclosure of the personnel files of Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has resulted in discipline for 41 agents. The leaker has also resigned, according to a statement by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. The conduct of 57 Secret Service personnel was reviewed, including 11 in the Senior Executive Service level, the highest levels of government. Of those, 41 are receiving some level of discipline....

Every year, millions of people travel to Utah to take in the beautiful and peaceful scenery in Zion National Park. According to a new study, however, the geographic stunner was formed by a massive prehistoric landslide that was far from tranquil. The study, published Thursday in the Geological Society of America, said the park’s flat valley floor owes its creation to the collapse of a wall of Navajo Sandstone that was almost 900 miles high. Weak layers in the underlying Kayenta Formation sent debris shooting across the canyon at speeds that likely reached 90 miles per second. It's believed that...

They’re coming for your home. Right now. I suggest you save it. I can guide you, but you must do exactly as I say. Except, this isn’t The Matrix. You’re no actor, like Keanu Reeves, playing a distraught programmer-hacker named “Neo.” Nor am I an actor, like Laurence Fishburne, playing your guide “Morpheus.” This is real life, baby. Your home or apartment—and the neighborhood in which you live—is under siege. “Agents”—sans black glasses and black business suits—who work for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have written a new regulation called “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) that...

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, of Utah, who shied away from the spotlight but earned a reputation as someone who knew how to get things done in Washington, has died. He was 82. Bennett assistant Tara Tanner said he died Wednesday from complications of pancreatic cancer and a recent stroke. The Republican was first elected in 1992 and was widely seen at home as politically moderate, which at times put him at odds with Utah’s highly conservative Republican base. His middle-of-the-road reputation led to his ouster in 2010 at the state convention by delegates fueled by tea party anger. …

Before he died May 4 from complications stemming from pancreatic cancer and a stroke, former GOP Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah asked his wife, Joyce, and son, Jim, if there were any Muslims in his hospital. If so, he wanted to "go up to every single one of them to thank them for being in this country, and apologize to them on behalf of the Republican Party for Donald Trump." Joyce and Jim Bennett shared this story with The Daily Beast, as well as other tales involving his disgust with "Donald Trump's xenophobia" and proposal to ban Muslims from...