Free Republic

Full title: Obama: Attitudes About My Presidency Among Whites In Northern States Very Different From Southern States; "I Seem Foreign" President Obama speaks about his legacy in a CNN special hosted by Fareed Zakaria that was broadcasted on the cable network Wednesday night. In this segment Zakaria examines if race played a part in early opposition to the Obama agenda. (snip) "There are people who dislike me because they think I'm a liberal," the president told the CNNer. "I think there is a reason why attitudes about my presidency among whites in northern states are very different from whites in...

You can't make this stuff up! BROOKLYN, NY — The 2016 election was a shock for liberal elites. They could not fathom how America could possibly vote for Donald J. Trump and shun the presumptive next President of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Given the polling, predicting a Clinton victory was not ridiculous. If one trusting nothing but the polling data, a Clinton electoral college win seemed like a pretty safe bet. But Americans defied expectations at the polls, and Trump won several “blue” states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Overall, Trump carried 3084 counties and Clinton won just...

The University Town Center Mall in Sarasota, Florida, has issued a very specific directive: "For choral groups, the Mall prefers no clearly recognizable Christian music, such as carols sung in English, spirituals or gospel." In a memo sent out to area groups who are normally invited to perform seasonal music, the upscale shopping mall leaders have in effect banned any music that could be recognized as "Christian." . . . . . . .

WASHINGTON — In a unanimous vote Saturday, the Alexandria City Council has decided to change the name of Jefferson Davis Highway, a roadway named for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. “I could honestly say, personally, raise my taxes to pay for it, to satisfy my parents, my grandparents,” Councilman Willie F. Bailey Sr. said. The council discussed the possibility of changing the name to Patrick Henry but tabled the discussion for later. An advisory committee did not recommend name changes for all the streets in Alexandria named after Confederate soldiers but has now opened the door for neighbors...

Jerry Coleman, a former fighter pilot who played in six World Series as an infielder for the Yankees

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox canceled a David Ortiz bobblehead promotion Tuesday night when the figurine turned out to be "racially insensitive," said team president Sam Kennedy. The bobblehead depicts Ortiz addressing fans at Fenway Park following the Boston Marathon bombings, but Kennedy said it didn't much resemble the retiring slugger and was not fit for distribution. Kennedy saw the final version of the bobblehead for the first time Tuesday afternoon after they were delivered. "My two immediate reactions were first, it was a really inaccurate portrayal of what he looks like," Kennedy told The Associated Press. "My personal...

Yankees say A-Rod's last game will be on August 12th; will then assume role as special advisor and instructor.

It was 75 years ago today when New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio hit a single in a 13-1 drubbing to the Chicago White Sox. That hit was the first step in what became a hitting streak which hit 56 games. This record still stands 75 years later. As I write this, I am watching the Boston Red Sox-Houston Astros game. A short time ago, Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. hit a single to extend his hitting streak to 21 games. It’s nothing to sneeze at as Bradley is rapidly emerging was one of the premier players...

Curt Schilling was recently fired by ESPN in large part because of his frequent social-media activity, specifically controversial memes and comments shared by the former pitcher. So when reports circulated online that ESPN had cut Schilling’s memorable “bloody sock” performance in the 2004 ALCS from its Sunday airing of a “30 for 30″ documentary about that Red Sox-Yankees showdown, it was no surprise to see him weigh in quickly, and strongly.

The Yankees star told ESPN.com that he will hang up his cleats after the 2017 season when his contract with the team runs out.

Luis Arroyo, a stoutly built left-hander with a baffling screwball who was an All-Star in each major league, pitched in two World Series and as a reliever helped Whitey Ford achieve his finest season with the Yankees, died on Wednesday in Guayanilla, P.R. He was 88. His daughter, Milagros, said the cause was cancer. Over all, Arroyo had a middling career, spending all or part of eight seasons in the major leagues with four different teams. But in 1961 he was the best reliever in the game, a prototype of the late-inning specialist now known as a closer.

Brunei, Somalia and Tajikistan ban Christmas In yet another sign of increasing Islamist intolerance around the world, the celebration of Christmas has come under attack in at least three countries this year: Following in the footsteps of the English Puritans who banned Christmas in the Middle Ages, Brunei, Somalia and Tajikistan are now clamping down on the Christian festival. Now, the announcement from Somalia, which is struggling to get back on its feet after decades of civil war, is possibly the least surprising. The country is officially under sharia'h law; it has almost no native Christians; and Islamist militants still...

Greensboro resident Hal "Skinny" Brown, who pitched in the major leagues for 14 seasons, has died at age 91 ... Brown, who was 6 feet 2 and 180 pounds during his playing days, compiled a record of 85-92 with a 3.81 earned-run average in 358 appearances with the Chicago White Sox (1951-52), Boston Red Sox (1953-55), Baltimore Orioles (1955-62), New York Yankees (1962) and Houston Colt .45s (1963-64) ...

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia announced he is checking himself into an alcohol rehab center. The team released the shocking statement Monday, one day before the Yankees start their postseason against the Astros in the wild-card game.

NEW YORK -- There was an old-school vibe as the New York Yankees celebrated their wild-card-clinching win in the home clubhouse in the Bronx. Rap songs from Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys played on the stereo system. The song "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" blasted at one point during a very happy, but subdued, champagne celebration. The song seemed appropriate because this Yankee team is an overachieving bunch that has exceeded most expectations. "No one thought we would go anywhere this year, but we have come together the last eight months and it's been...

Reihan SalamSeptember 25, 2015 I live in a small slice of Brooklyn wedged between Brooklyn Heights, one of New York’s most prosperous neighborhoods, Dumbo, a relatively new neighborhood that is essentially a forest of condominiums catering to financiers, techies, and “creative professionals,” and Farragut Houses, a sprawling public-housing complex that borders the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Though you won’t find gated communities in this part of Brooklyn, you will find buildings with doormen, which is of course a quite similar phenomenon. The retail establishments catering to affluent professionals don’t formally exclude poor residents, but their high prices do the work of...

<p>Just saw on MLB.TV that Yogi Berra has passed away at age 90.</p>

President George W. Bush's pitch at Yankee Stadium during the World Series after 9/11.

Alex Rodriguez has signed two of the largest contracts in MLB history. He's currently making $21 million this season, and still has two more years left on the monster deal he signed in 2007. While he has spent his record $400 million in career earnings lavishly at times (he's really into houses and fine art), he has also used it to invest in several business ventures. Here is how A-Rod makes and spends his money.........

Yogi Berra may not be uttering his famous “Yogi-isms” anymore, but the Yankee icon summed up this day best years ago when he said, “I want to thank you for making this day necessary.” Lawrence Peter Berra, best known as Yogi — or Yog by his close friends — celebrated his 90th birthday on Tuesday at the New Jersey museum that bears his name, surrounded by close family and such New York baseball luminaries as Joe Torre, Ralph Branca, Willie Randolph and Mickey Rivers, to name a few. And he even received a call from former mayor Rudy Giuliani wishing...