Free Republic

There’s a very disturbing trend unfolding in Biden’s upside-down America. Political dissidents—Americans who refuse to conform to the regime—are being targeted, harassed, imprisoned, and even killed. It’s increasingly feeling like Joe is channeling his inner Kim Jong-Un. This isn’t the America we know, yet here we are, up against one of the most tyrannical governments to ever seize power. In another horrific nightmare, a Trump supporter has been fatally shot by federal ATF agents during a raid at his home, leaving his family and friends shocked, horrified, and bewildered. ... While we struggle to understand what happened to this man,...

It turns out House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had a quiet mentor who helped pull off the biggest accomplishment of his rocky seven months with the gavel — defying his right wing to pass a vital aid package for Israel and Ukraine. John Boehner — an establishment Republican who was speaker a decade ago chronologically, but an eon ago in the GOP's radical evolution — has become a surprising tutor to the novice, full-MAGA speaker.

Louisiana lawmakers gave final approval to a piece of legislation that would allow judges the option to sentence someone to surgical castration if they are convicted of specific sex crimes. This includes certain crimes against a child younger than 13. According to the New York Post, several states, including Louisiana, can order these criminals to receive chemical castration. The current piece of legislation goes a step further (via NYP): The bill received overwhelming approval in both of the GOP-dominated chambers. Votes against the bill mainly came from Democrats, however a Democratic lawmaker authored the measure. The legislation now heads to...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he would “not attend” a speech given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Republican and Democrat lawmakers invited Netanyahu to speak before a “Joint Meeting of Congress.” Sanders issued a press release on Saturday describing Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and stating that he “should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote a letter addressed to Netanyahu on Friday, inviting him to speak before a “Joint...

America's most insane occupational licensing law is about to get a whole lot better. Louisiana is the only state in the country that requires florists to be licensed by the government. A bill that is now on the way to Gov. Jeff Landry's desk sadly won't change that fact, but it will eliminate the mandatory test that prospective florists in Louisiana must pass before being allowed to earn a living by placing different types of flowers together in an arrangement. Going forward, obtaining a florist license will require only the payment of a fee to the state. The bill cleared...

House Speaker Mike Johnson joined other top congressional Republicans in blasting former President Donald Trump’s historic felony conviction Thursday as “a purely political exercise” and “weaponization of our justice system” by President Biden. “Today is a shameful day in American history. Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon,” Johnson (R-La.) railed minutes after a Manhattan jury announced it found the Republican presidential candidate guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said Friday he has signed a first-of-its-kind bill making abortion pills controlled substances into law. The law puts the abortion pill regimen -- mifepristone and misoprostol -- in the same category as opioids and other addictive medications. "Requiring an abortion inducing drug to be obtained with a prescription and criminalizing the use of an abortion drug on an unsuspecting mother is nothing short of common sense," Landry said in a statement posted on X. "This bill protects women across Louisiana and I was proud to sign this bill into law today." The law makes it illegal...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for Louisiana to use a congressional map in this year's election that includes two majority-Black districts. The court granted emergency requests filed by an unlikely alliance of Republican state officials and civil rights groups, who were united in asking the high court to block a lower court ruling that invalidated the most recently drawn map. State officials had said they needed to have the map finalized by Wednesday to meet bureaucratic deadlines and avoid "disarray."

In December 2022, Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a pro-life bill that aimed to make the workplace more accessible to pregnant women by requiring employers to provide accommodations to pregnant workers under The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This bill was implemented at the end of June 2023.However, the Biden administration is manipulating the bill’s language to require that employers provide accommodations for abortion. The PWFA requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations to a worker’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless the accommodation will cause the employer an undue hardship.” However, the...

A First Communion service in Louisiana erupted in panic when a 16-year-old armed with a rifle attempted to storm the church through a back door. But parishioners spotted the teen and swarmed him — holding him outside until police arrived and arrested him. The terrifying scene unfolded at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville — which was full of parents with young children who were there for the rite of passage in the church. The incident was streamed live on the church’s website Saturday morning as Fr. Nicholas G. Dupré led the faithful in prayer from the altar. In...

Churchgoers thwarted a teenager armed with a rifle from entering a Louisiana church full of children Saturday in a service that was being livestreamed, authorities said. Police were called to St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville, 20 miles south of Lafayette, at 10:35 a.m. when the 16-year-old suspect tried to get in via the back door.

Lawmakers in Louisiana are considering a bill that would hit back against abortion coercion via chemical abortions, and abortion advocates are angry about it. Senate Bill 276 was introduced by State Senator Thomas Pressly in honor of his sister, Catherine Herring, whose husband, Mason Herring, slipped abortion pills into her drink without her consent. Their child survived, though she was born premature, uses a feeding tube to eat, and requires multiple therapies. “She is a special needs child,” Catherine said. “Every day is a struggle for her. This impacts us on a daily basis, even now.” Mason was sentenced to...

Louisiana AG sues Biden’s Dept of Education over rule forcing radical LGBT dogma on public schoolsWhile the lawsuit works through the courts, Louisiana leaders are telling state education officials not to comply with the Biden administration's new dictates. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced that her office is suing the Biden administration over its effort to force widespread recognition and accommodation of LGBT ideology on public education, arguing the White House is actually facilitating “discrimination” rather than ending it.In February, President Joe Biden’s U.S. Department of Education (DOE) submitted to the U.S. Office of Management & Budget its finalized Title...

The long-simmering feud between Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is set to boil over this week when the Georgia Republican moves to force a vote on the GOP leader’s ouster — which is all but certain to fail. Greene — who filed a motion to vacate against Johnson in March — is vowing to force a vote on her removal resolution this week, a long-time-coming for the GOP rabble-rouser who has dangled the ouster mechanism over the Speaker’s head while sharply criticizing his legislative decisions at every turn. Her gambit, however, is poised to fall...

An aspiring medical student was left brain dead last month when his friends pushed him into a Louisiana lake knowing he couldn’t swim — and then looked on while doing nothing to save the drowning man, according to a report. Shocking video shows the group casually peering into the water moments after they shoved Christopher Gilbert off the dock at Lake D’Arbonne in Farmerville on April 14. At least one woman can be seen slowly entering the water before abandoning the rescue mission. It was another 10 minutes before a patron at a nearby restaurant intervened and yanked Gilbert back...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mick Jagger briefly waded into Louisiana politics, taking a verbal jab at the state’s conservative governor, as The Rolling Stones performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The band had finished “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” during Thursday evening’s set when Jagger began talking about inclusion, according to New Orleans news outlets. “We want to include him too,” Jagger said of Gov. Jeff Landry. “Even if he wants to take us back to the Stone Age.”

An unlikely friendship has formed between a nine-year-old Louisiana boy and a multimillionaire businessman after the child confused him for a homeless man and offered him his only dollar. When a fire alarm in his building awoke television personality and sporting goods brand owner Matt Busbice in April, he grabbed some random mismatched clothes and headed outside. After placing an order at a coffee shop down the street, Busbice went onto the patio to quietly pray, security footage from the shop, shared with WBRZ, shows. That was when Kelvin Ellis Jr. wandered by and saw Busbice standing in the corner...

A Louisiana teacher sexted her students, bought them booze at local dives and had sex with "at least one" of them, local police said. In March, police launched an investigation over complaints that 35-year-old Alexa Wingerter was having "inappropriate relationships" with and "sending inappropriate photographs and messages" to her male students at Slidell High School. After the Slidell Police Department "conducted multiple interviews and executed several search warrants," Wingerter was charged with prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and student, as well as unlawful purchase of alcoholic beverages on behalf of a person under 21.

Louisiana Supreme Court voted to allow residents to secede from crime-ridden, Democrat-run Baton Rouge and create their own city. They plan to call the new city St. George. It will have 100,000 people, one of the largest populations of any city in the state. These people want a safe city. The Baton Rouge residents have fought for a decade to split from the city to form their own suburb following a state Supreme Court ruling.

Louisiana sues Biden administration over new Title IX rules protecting transgender students'Do not comply' with the new federal rules, state officials tell local school districtsLouisiana's Republican governor and attorney general sued Democratic President Joe Biden Monday over new federal rules that bar discrimination against students on the basis of their sexual and gender identity.Gov. Jeff Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and state Education Secretary Cade Brumley railed against the new policy at a press conference, saying the rules attack the historical precedent of Title IX, which they argued is meant to protect only "biological women" from discrimination. The officials ordered...