Free Republic

Nobody wants to have dinner with Jeb Bush. At least, that’s the sense you’d get from reading the comments on his posts encouraging Facebook users to sign up for a chance to dine with him. The Bush campaign’s official page sponsors a post from time to time that encourages users to hand over their names and email addresses in exchange for a chance to eat dinner with the former Florida governor.

According to multiple reports, firefighters were battling a large blaze at a gun range in southwest Tarrant County on Saturday afternoon. Reports posted on Twitter showed heavy smoke rising from a facility identified online as On Target Firearms Training Academy on Highway 377 southwest of Benbrook. Tarrant County Sheriff's Office spokesman Terry Grisham told WFAA the structure was "fully involved."

Field & Stream: Q&A: Donald Trump on Guns, Hunting, and Conservation https://t.co/RFR63RSq38 pic.twitter.com/WkvIrTSSGy— Field & Stream (@FieldandStream) January 22, 2016 Some news to report out of Las Vegas where Donald Trump sat down with Field & Stream magazine for an interview during the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s annual SHOT Show.First up, the GOP front-runner came out against letting states control public lands now run by the federal government saying, “I don’t like the idea because I want to keep the lands great, and you don’t know what the state is going to do”:This is what they’re talking about, with...

From the Eventbrite website: Only a few days left until the caucuses! Let's get fired up! Join Glenn Beck, special guest Senator Ted Cruz, Congressman Steve King, Bob Vander Plaats, and David Barton for this inspiring campaign rally! Doors open at 6:00 PM. This is a FREE event with limited space...Tickets are required for entry. WHEN Saturday, January 23, 2016 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CST) - WHERE Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center - 205 W 4th Street Waterloo, Iowa 50701

[UPDATE: It turns out that Cruz actually is insured and always was, as his campaign disclosed late Friday. This makes his remark about his losing his coverage because of the Afforable Care Act look even more like pure political spin. Read on, and see more below.] Essentially, Cruz's coverage lapsed because his 2015 carrier, BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, ended its individual PPO plans for 2016, including the family plan that covered the Cruz family. The carrier decided to move entirely to HMO plans for the individual market. And Cruz didn't manage to sign up for a new 2016 plan by...

Hey kids, what time is it?* According to former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, it’s time for Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice to do their jobs and charge Hillary Clinton with mishandling classified information — at the least. Nodding to the expansion of the FBI’s probe into areas of corruption, Mukasey argued in Friday’s Wall Street Journal that the 1300-plus pieces of evidence already on hand more than justifies initial charges — and cites David Petraeus as a precedent: No criminality can be charged against Mrs. Clinton in connection with any of this absent proof that she had what...

Donald Trump has opened up a marginal lead over Ted Cruz in the voting on the Free Republic Caucus thread.  Yesterday's vote revealed a 51.88% to 45.31% preference for Trump. The Free Republic Caucus (daily) has been up and running for four days now.  The first day was the 20th, and we're in the midst of voting on the fourth day now.  Over 300 people have participated each day. The Free Republic Caucus has been instituted to determine what the preference of FReepers was.  It is being run each day leading up to and into the Caucus and Primary season,...

The capital of Iowa has long had a reputation as one of the least hip, least interesting and least dynamic cities in the Western world, a dull insurance town set amid the unending corn fields of flyover country, a place Minneapolis looks down on and the young and ambitious flee as soon as they graduate. "Usually you are born here or marry into here or get transferred here," says local entrepreneur Mike Draper. "Not many people come to chase their dreams. If they did, you'd be like, 'What, you want to be an actuary?'" But unbeknownst to many outside the...

Published on Jan 23, 2016 Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush had a sharp answer Saturday when asked to respond to Donald Trump's tweet suggesting the governor needed his "mommy" to come in and rescue the campaign.

Trump is at the top of the polls, and that may not change. Nevertheless, he will not receive my support. I am rather tired of a screeching establishment requiring that we support whomever is the current frontunner, and telling us we need to "get in line", like robots. That kind of talk is groupthink, much like Obamamania. It has no place in conservatism. Trump is the kind of candidate who appeals to base emotions and the thirst for popular appeal. We should never treat candidates as celebrities. But increasingly, we do. I once thought that those on our side of...

"Walk . . . with patience" (Ephesians 4:1-2). Patience is crucial to our testimony. The virtues of Ephesians 4:2-3 enable the church of Jesus Christ to have a powerful witness. Many think the key to evangelism is following a specific course or method, but according to Jesus, the greatest way to get people to believe the gospel is through our love and unity (John 17:21). Though evangelistic methods are important, often they aren't as effective as they could be because of the church's poor reputation among unbelievers. If the church were full of people who had genuine humility, gentleness, and...

Dear FRiends, We need your continuing support to keep FR going strong. FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who enjoy and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No one trying to control us. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. We are self-funded, fiercely independent and enjoy our freedom to speak plainly in the support of God, family, country, liberty!! But we cannot exist...

"[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Eph. 1:17). Your inheritance in Christ is so vast and profound that you cannot comprehend it apart from God's enabling. The late newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst invested a fortune in collecting great works of art. One day he read of an extremely valuable work that he determined to add to his collection. His agent searched the galleries of the world but to no avail. Finally, after many months of effort...

VERO BEACH -- Des Moines Republicans who vote for Ted Cruz on Feb. 1 might have been encouraged by Vero Beach residents Tim and Laura Zorc to back the Texas senator's presidential bid. The Zorcs, a politically active family who spent a snowy December holiday break bunking with scores of campaign volunteers, can watch the Iowa caucus results knowing their canvassing in the bitter cold helped deliver votes that might win Cruz the state in a razor-sharp primary with GOP rival Donald Trump. "I think we helped inspire and motivate other volunteers and also people who worked on the campaign,"...

A number of U.S. experts on policy and migration have shot down fears of the shootings in Paris and the sex attacks in Cologne happening in America, noting that a direct link with the influx of refugees has not been established in either case, and affirming that America has a strict vetting system. There has been significant debate in the U.S. over the question of whether 100,000 refugees fleeing war and terrorism should be allowed into the country. Some notable voices, such as evangelical preacher the Rev. Franklin Graham, have directly suggested that attacks, such as the major shootings in...

The Port of Calais has been closed this evening after a storm of migrants broke into the harbour. More than 100 migrants stormed the site and some have even made it on to ferries in a desperate attempt to reach Britain. It came after a protest organised by French leftists to support migrants living in squalid conditions in the northern city of Calais drew around 2,000 people, according to organisers.

Did America's Founder Make A Mistake? My question is for liberals but of course, anyone with an opinion is welcome to comment. Did the founders err by limiting the legislative powers of the new government? The Progressive Movement supports the premise that man's nature has improved since the founder's ratified the Constitution. The improvement means there is no longer a need to limit the powers of the elected. The founders gave the government just enough power to perform its primary function of protecting the people's rights, and no others. The Federalist Papers reasoned that limiting legislation powers would limit the...

Life as a Trump spokesperson has got to be a degrading existence. Your job, essentially, is to defend every public utterance of a guy who changes positions every half hour, but refuses to ever admit that he has ever been wrong. As the Right Scoop notes, part of the job description of being a Trump spokesman is literally believing that Donald Trump has never been wrong, even when Donald Trump disagrees with previous things Donald Trump has said. Supporters of other candidates do not have to do this. Rubio's supporters don't have to say that Rubio was never involved in...

President Barack Obama is set to face the gauntlet as the Supreme Court gears up to hear a case that challenges the President's use of executive power, has the potential to wreck havoc on the 2016 Presidential election, and may go beyond judicial power by granting states more rights and control than the national government on a notoriously federally controlled area of law and politics-immigration. Twenty-six states are challenging the President's executive actions relating to immigration implementations made in 2014 as an abuse of power and an attempt to circumvent Capitol Hill on policy making. To date, the case is...

In an interview for the inaugural installment of @katiecouric, the new Web show hosted by Katie Couric, Glenn Beck said that he thinks "John McCain would have been worse for the country than Barack Obama." Beck, the Fox News personality, radio host and author, also said that he may have voted for Hillary Clinton over McCain had Clinton been the Democratic nominee in 2008. "I can't believe I'm saying this, I think I would have much preferred her as president and may have voted for her against John McCain," Beck told Couric.