Free Republic

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President... -Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution This is a passage that has weighed heavily upon us in recent years. There are those among us, known commonly as "Birthers" who dispute the eligibility of various politicians to be President or Vice-President of the United States. The most popular target of the Birthers is Barack Obama, of course, but of late, Birthers have been training their sights on...

A man who told police he was stabbed with a screwdriver in a Palo Alto parking garage by is now accused of making up the story. Over the summer, 19-year-old Jesus Cabrera told police he was verbally harassed by three white men, authorities said. He said the men made disparaging remarks about his ethnicity, and police in turn investigated the incident as a hate crime. He was arrested Friday after police say he admitted to making up the story. Police say Cabrera now claims he was stabbed by a rival graffiti crew in East Palo Alto while he was tagging...

Months after a hearing on sexual harassment at the Environmental Protection Agency, one of the House’s top government watchdogs has delivered on his promise to protect the youngest members of the federal workforce. The Federal Intern Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, unanimously passed the House on Monday.

Watching the opining of Big Time Lib on Special Report panel trying to get us to forget he carried water for the Demonrats, Libs and Obammmma for years...so Ailes gave him a home...great.

A federal judge on Tuesday certified a class action lawsuit against the IRS for its political targeting, advancing the cause of more than 200 tea party groups who said they were denied their First Amendment rights by the tax agency's actions. Edward Greim, one of the lawyers advancing the tea party groups' case, said the certification is a major step because it means the judge has agreed that the IRS did systematically target more than 200 groups for special scrutiny.

Iran has taken two small U.S. Navy ships into custody, Pentagon officials said Tuesday, creating a diplomatic scramble just hours before President Obama's State of the Union address. A senior defense official said two U.S. Navy riverine craft were going from Kuwait to Bahrain when they encountered Iranian military vessels. Ten American sailors were taken into military custody, the official said. "They ran into some type of an issue, and were picked up by the Iranian craft," the official said, who added the issue is not yet understood. "Subsequently, U.S. and Iranian government officials have discussed the situation and negotiated...

Iran has captured two U.S. Navy vessels and at least 10 Navy personnel, according to multiple news reports. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is tweeting about cheese. The Pentagon and the White House are apparently working to “resolve” the Iranian hostage situation, but have not released any details about what the resolution might look like.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We have the State of the Union show tonight. And this is itself, ladies and gentlemen, yet another opportunity. I mean, look at what Obama's gonna do. His official guest is going to be a Syrian refugee. Not some hero that the seat has traditionally been occupied by since Reagan started this tradition after the airline crash, Palm 90, Air Florida, into the Potomac. One of the rescuers was highlighted by Reagan -- invited to watch a State of the Union show -- and he was pointed out. Ever since then, every State of the Union address...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A 23-year-old, Graham Patton, has both eyes blacked out, his nose swollen and bandages all over his face following an attack in South Memphis. "I mean he doesn't even look like the same person at all," Neysa Anderson, the victim's stepsister, said. Police said the attack happened on Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the Pendleton Pines Apartments near Pendleton and Ketchum. According to officers, Patton took a walk outside around 11 p.m. when two men he did not know came out of nowhere. "Something along the lines of 'hey white boy what are you doing around here? You're...

One of the men given the death penalty was an Iranian convicted in absentia, and the other was a Kuwaiti who was in court. Other suspects were given sentences ranging from five to 25 years, and three were found innocent. Tensions between Shi'ite-ruled Iran and Sunni-ruled Gulf countries have escalated since a diplomatic dispute between Tehran and Riyadh erupted after Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric this month.

Following the explosive revelation on Channel 2 TV, that central Jewish and Arab leftist activists have a policy of handing over to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Arabs who approach them and wish to sell land to Jews, leftists have been claiming that the PA does not execute such people. The denials are meant to refute claims made by the central figure in the televised investigative piece, Ta'ayush's Ezra Nawi, who boasted on hidden camera that the men he handed over to the PA were tortured and then executed. Leftist journalist Haggai Matar published an article that claimed that Nawi was...

In the accounts of a German theologian and a Brazilian bishop, Francis's plan to allow local exceptions to the norm of clerical celibacy. Beginning with the Amazon by Sandro Magister ROME, January 12, 2016 - An exchange of letters, a conversation, and an innovation already become law confirm the intentions of Pope Francis to extend the presence of married clergy in the Catholic Church, as already anticipated in this article from www.chiesa: > The Next Synod Is Already in the Works. On Married Priests (9.12.2015)

The Philippines' top court cleared the way for U.S. troops to deploy to the Southeast Asian country, approving a contested defense pact that stands to enhance American power in the region at a time when China is asserting itself more forcefully. Tuesday's ruling ended months of speculation about the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, designed to revitalize the 65-year-old U.S.-Philippine alliance two decades after American forces pulled out of the country. The 2014 pact had been stalled for nearly two years by a legal challenge. The Supreme Court's 10-4 decision came hours before U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Secretary...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iran was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two small Navy boats after the boats had mechanical problems and drifted into Iranian waters, but American officials have received assurances from Tehran that they will be returned safely and promptly. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the riverine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the U.S. lost contact with them.

The University of Southern California (USC) is forcing students to complete an online training course and fill out a questionnaire detailing their sexual history before they can register for classes. USC sent out a campus-wide email explaining that the course was "mandatory, and you must complete it by February 9, 2016. If you do not complete the training by this date you will receive a registration hold until the training is complete," according to Campus Reform’s Anthony Gockowski. Some of the questions are: 1) What percentage of your peers do you think has sex (including oral) at least once a...

Officials in Virginia’s largest jurisdiction want to close public schools during the Super Tuesday presidential primary elections, saying they fear supporters of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump could cause mayhem at the polls. The concerns stem mainly from a Republican Party of Virginia requirement that the March 1 primary voters affirm they are Republicans before voting for a presidential candidate.

If you'd told most Americans a year ago that Bernie Sanders would be a serious threat to Hillary Clinton in January 2016, they probably would have laughed. (Or asked who Sanders was.) If you'd told them that Sanders would be arguing that he was a better candidate than Clinton because he was more electable, the reaction would have been even more incredulous. She was cautious, sure, and a bit more conservative than some Democrats, but surely she was more palatable to voters than an acerbic democratic socialist from Vermont. That is, however, exactly the state of the Democratic race on...

HUDSON, N.H. — Ted Cruz on Tuesday went further than ever in needling Donald Trump, suggesting Democrats are behind the billionaire's questions about his citizenship. Speaking with reporters after a rally here, the U.S. senator from Texas was asked what he thought of Trump citing Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe's analysis that Cruz might be ineligible to be president. Trump has pounced on Cruz's Canadian birth to cast doubt on whether he is a natural-born citizen.“I will say it is more than a little strange to see Donald relying on as authoritative a liberal, left-wing, judicial activist Harvard law professor who is a...

JMO, David Bowies's greatest song, especiallsy where he sang "the queer got sick at the sight of that".

Marco Rubio is widely considered one of the most talented communicators in the Republican party, but he hasn't won the hearts of the Evangelical voters who dominate the Iowa caucuses and the South Carolina primary. Ironically, many say it's in part his relative restraint when it comes to talking about matters of faith -- a contrast with the loud, proud declarations more typical of the country's Evangelical denominations -- that has prevented him from making greater inroads with one of the party's most important constituencies. That, of course, is a stark contrast with Rubio's biggest rival, Ted Cruz, the son...