Free Republic

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Rob SchwarzwalderThe rioting in Baltimore is disturbing to all Americans, as the unresolved cause of Freddie GrayÂ’s death while in police custody should be, as well. It is right that political and religious leaders, community groups, business organizations, and law enforcement officials are commenting about all the causes and effects of the riots. But one thing seems missing from the discussion, a factor whose omission is unacceptable. ItÂ’s called fatherhood.The rioting is inexcusable but should not be wholly surprising. It is likely that the great majority of it was been done by young...

Fox is lowering the curtain on “American Idol,” ending a series that dominated television throughout the 2000s and made stars of the likes of Simon Cowell, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. The network announced Monday that “American Idol” will go off the air after its 15th season next spring. The cast from the past seasons, with Ryan Seacrest as host and Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. as judges, will return for a season-long celebration of the show’s history. “American Idol” faded over the past few years, eclipsed in the music competition genre it pioneered by “The Voice”...

The Guggenheim museum in New York has been accused of racism after allegedly banning a mostly-black high school after students reportedly spat and threw objects. The group of around 80 students from the Science Skills Center High School in Brooklyn were allegedly thrown out of the Upper East Side gallery for disruptive just 20 minutes into their visit last month. One student allegedly spat over the side of the museum's iconic spiraling ramp and another was accused of throwing a penny from the top of the walkway, which is claimed to have hit a security guard. A spokesman for the...

Veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh is vigorously defending a controversial new story that claims the White House lied about crucial details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.Hersh's story, published in the London Review of Books on May 10, alleges that the US government misled the public about many of the details surrounding the 2011 raid on bin Laden's compound in Abottabad, Pakistan.Relying largely on a single anonymous source, described only as a retired senior US intelligence official, Hersh claims that Pakistani intelligence officials were aware of and actively hiding bin Laden.He claims that the intelligence tip that led...

President Obama was swept into office in 2012 because Republicans went along with the notion that the Left really wants what’s best for America—they just go about it differently. On the back of a foreign policy triumph of the “Arab Spring” (in scare quotes because it was neither Arab not spring; rather it was trading a set of strong-man dictators for a worse cabal of death-loving terrorists) and Osama bin Laden’s death, Americans were duped into believing the Left had something to contribute to U.S. interests. It’s well known that the Obama administration, including current Democratic queen-elect Hillary Clinton, lied...

Noting that he’s “perhaps the most progressive member of the United States Senate,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) described today how, as president, he would do socialism in America. “When we talk about Democratic socialism, I think it is important to realize that there are countries around the world, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, who have had social democratic governments on and off for many, many years. And we can learn a whole lot from some of those countries,” the 2016 Democratic presidential contender said on CBS this morning. “For example, the United States is the only major country on earth...

-excerpt- Richard Fowler, a liberal radio talk show host, insisted that the cartoon contest was like “going into a theater and yelling out fire. … Freedom of speech comes with limits. This is a clear limit.” Furthermore, Mr. Fowler assured us, “If they never had that event, the jihadis would have never shown up.” Really? So, we should tell battered women that they should just learn to make the sandwich perfectly, so as to not incite a beating? -excerpt- As a reminder, you can yell fire in a crowded theater — when there’s a fire. Arguably, the culpability comes when...

We in Michigan have been talking about fixing our roads for years. "Just fix the damn roads," was the mantra Michigan lawmakers heard over and over from their constituents. Now the refrain sounds more like "just don't fix the damn roads this way." Voters overwhelmingly voted "no" on Proposal 1 - the statewide road funding ballot initiative that would have raised the state's sales tax from 6% to 7% in order to change the way fuel is taxed in Michigan. The changes in fuel tax would have generated new road funding. See vote tallies here. Now it's back to the...

Jeb Bush says that he would have authorized the 2003 war in Iraq — just like his brother did. “I would have, and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody,” the former Florida governor told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Saturday after delivering the commencement address at Liberty University in Virginia. “And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got.”

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cuban President Raul Castro paid a call on Pope Francis at the Vatican Sunday to thank him for working for Cuban-US detente and later said he is so impressed by the pontiff he is considering a return to the Catholic church's fold. "Bienvenido!" Francis said in his native Spanish, welcoming Castro to his studio near the Vatican public audience hall. The Cuban president, bowing his head, gripped Francis' hand with both of his, and the two men began private talks. The meeting lasted nearly an hour, as the Argentine-born Francis and Castro spoke in their native...

A woman who went missing during a half-marathon claims to have survived by covering herself in dirt and drinking her own breast milk after being lost for 24 hours. Susan O’Brien, 29, took a wrong turn during a 12.5 mile fun-run through Rimutaka Forest Park in Wellington, New Zealand, and found herself alone as a night of high winds and rain closed in. Dressed only in lightweight running gear, O’Brien told media Down Under that she scooped out a hole in the earth to keep warm and fed herself with breast milk to keep her strength up in the cold...

I don't usually post conversion stories, most of which on here seem to be aimed at proselytizing, but I found this one spiritually very moving.

Foundations are being laid now in my children that have crossed the threshing floor of My heart and will for all my children of light , for to partake of my cup you must enter into me in all fullness and truth therefore obey my statutes and “ live “ my words to you given upon the foundation of my kingdom “ My heart “ , for truly as I send my sent ones and speak through my prophets , the oracles shall reveal themselves to all those that receive me in the manner I choose to come, for many...

The official story of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden reflects American derring-do. US forces snuck deep into Pakistan to conduct a commando raid on the world’s most-wanted terrorist less than two miles away from Pakistan’s premier military academy. The Pakistani government vehemently protested the action afterward, but America finally got the top terrorist of the network that conducted the 9/11 attacks. Barack Obama took credit for making the call on the dangerous incursion, and reminded voters repeatedly during the 2012 election that he was the man who got bin Laden.Four years after the raid, a new version...

A Dundalk man continues to recover after being violently beaten by a group of teenagers. Now a 17-year-old is facing attempted murder charges, a 15-year-old is charged with assault and more arrests are expected. Meghan McCorkell has more on the brutal attack. Richard Fletcher is out of the hospital, but he suffered extensive injuries. We want to warn you: some of the video and images you are about to see are very disturbing. Horrifying cell phone video shows a group of teens surrounding 61-year-old Richard Fletcher, kicking and hitting him again and again until he drops to the ground. He...

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake made all the right noises Monday night as she discussed her city’s response to the unrest enveloping it after the unexplained death while in police custody of Freddie Gray, but she lost more than a few critics willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when she said that “anyone who wants to add to the calls for peace in our city is welcome” – including Al Sharpton.

Many savvy political analysts believe the Democrats have a built in advantage in the Electoral College. Democrats have won four of the last six Presidential elections, and in all six races, they have won a collection of 18 states plus the District of Columbia, now totaling 242 Electoral College votes. These states include all of the New England states except New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. Democrats have won 5 of the last 6 Presidential contests in New Hampshire, Iowa, and New Mexico, three...

I've been seeing this fake Cruz "news story" making the rounds on Facebook and it's already bamboozled some of my less-sharp pals. There's a fake USATODAY website out there (usatoday.com.co), with the look of USATODAY, that claims Ted Cruz stated that U.S. Military veterans should "self-fund via sales of cookies, like the Girl Scouts."

This interview by Mark Halperin with Ted Cruz is a shocking example of liberal double standards. Cruz, a Cuban American, was targeted by Halperin for being an "inauthentic" Hispanic - I guess because he's a conservative Republican. But the insulting, demeaning questions by Halperin asking Cruz to "prove" his genuineness elicited a ringing denunciation from Rueben Navarette: Watching Mark Halperin of Bloomberg Politics interview Cruz recently, I wasn't just uncomfortable. I was actually nauseated. As a journalist, I felt embarrassed for Halperin. As a Hispanic, I felt like I was watching a college fraternity have fun with racial stereotypes,...

I will meet with not just our allies and our friends, but I will initiate tough diplomacy with our enemies. That includes Syria, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. I would meet with them, and I would meet with them without preconditions. — Barack Obama, May 16, 2008 On all of these issues, but particularly missile defense, this can be solved, but it is important for [Putin] to give me space. . . . This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility. — President Obama to Russian president Medvedev, March 26, 2012 The former promise was uttered...