Free Republic

Vladimir Lenin said, "There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel." I can't think of a better description of Ted Cruz's relationship with the DC-Wall Street Establishment - Cruz being the scoundrel of course. Cruz's claim of not being a tool of the political elite is like Bill Clinton telling the world, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Webster's definition of a scoundrel is a dishonest or unscrupulous person, and Cruz has become quite adroit at saying one thing while his...

Candidate Donald J Trump will be holding two events in Iowa today. The first in Marshalltown at 6:00pm (Eastern), the second in Iowa City at 8:30pm (Eastern) Mr. Trump is anticipated to have a few people joining him to give their endorsements and show their support. The first event is at the Marshalltown Community School District Roundhouse Gymnasium at 6:00pm:

Locks and bars didn't stop East Chicago Councilman Robert Battle's inauguration. The newly sworn-in Battle can retain his public title and annual salary of $42,356 a year despite being held in Porter County Jail on federal drug and homicide charges.

A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday denied a request for an injunction to stop the city from removing four monuments related to the Confederacy. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that the New Orleans City Council's 6-1 vote in December to take down monuments to Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, P.G.T Beauregard and a white militia group that led a rebellion against the state's integrated, Reconstruction-era government did not break the law or violate the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.

Attorney general says huge sum in Najib Razak’s personal bank account was donation from Saudi royal family and not linked to troubled state fund 1MDB Malaysia's attorney general said on Tuesday that $681m transferred into prime minister Najib Razak's personal bank account was a gift from the royal family in Saudi Arabia, and there were no criminal offences or corruption involved. Scandal-hit Malaysian PM Najib Razak says conscience is 'absolutely clear' Read more The involvement of the Saudi royal family is an unexpected twist in a scandal over the mysterious funds transfer and the troubles of indebted state fund 1Malaysia...

When the publisher of National Review Magazine, Jack Fowler, called and asked me to write 300 words on why I oppose Donald Trump for president of the United States, my first thought was about the derision that was sure to come from Trump supporters. I was not disappointed, or rather I am disappointed that no one who reacted negatively rebutted any of the arguments I, or the other contributors, made about why we think a President Trump would not pursue conservative goals. Sounding like Trump, I was called a "loser" and someone for whom one writer said he had "lost...

Joe Arpaio, the hard-line anti-immigration sheriff from Maricopa County, Ariz., will appear with Donald J. Trump in Iowa on Tuesday and endorse his candidacy, according to Mr. Trump’s campaign. Mr. Arpaio, who espouses some of the Republican Party’s most conservative views about undocumented immigrants, will appear with Mr. Trump in Marshalltown, a month after appearing with Mr. Trump in Arizona. Mr. Trump has made combating illegal immigration a staple of his candidacy, including a proposal to build a wall at the southern border. “I have great respect for Sheriff Arpaio,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “We must restore law...

A rescued gray Tabby cat from northern Arizona takes pretty impressive selfies. And he's become an Internet sensation, of course! The fine-looking feline named Manny has been dubbed "Selfie Cat" after photos he apparently takes of himself using a GoPro have gone viral on his owner's Instagram.

Everyone loves to deal with moderates, especially when they represent a rare shift toward moderation for a rogue state. The trouble is that the concept of a moderate is relative. In dealing with the former Soviet Union we heard the term "Politburo moderates" over and over. Reaching out to this fabricated species was an excuse for being nice to despicable governments. In the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reaching out to "moderates" among the ayatollahs' inner circles has been a constant dream of American officials for the past 30 years. These moderates are supposed to be the...

We know there are planets orbiting other stars near to our Solar System, and many of these stars are similar to our own. In the future, should mankind wish to leave the Solar System, we'll have a huge choice of stars we could travel to, and many could have the right conditions for life to thrive. But where would we go and how long would it take for us to get there? Just remember, this is all speculative and there is currently no benchmark for interstellar trips. That being said, here we go! ... The question of how long would...

Bob Dole, the former senator from Kansas and the 1996 Republican nominee for president, made it clear in a radio interview with the Michael Smerconish Show on Monday how much he really dislikes Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Dole said that right now he's a "Jeb Bush man," but added that he thinks Donald Trump would be a better president than Ted Cruz because Trump would make deals and compromise with Congress. Here are some of things Dole said about Cruz: "I don't think Ted is a Republican, he's a conservative extremist." "He uses the title Republican because there's no conservative...

Not long after billionaire George Soros forecast a so-called hard landing for the Chinese economy, Beijing fired back by calling out the high-profile investor, warning him of betting against its currency, according to media reports Tuesday. “Soros’ challenge against the renminbi and Hong Kong dollar is unlikely to succeed, there is no doubt about that,” said a government official in an opinion piece widely cited by several media outlets. The article headlined, ”Declaring war on China’s currency? Ha ha,” was published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party which is widely viewed as Beijing’s propaganda...

Defense Minister Ya'alon: 'ISIS Enjoyed Turkish Money for Oil' Comments come as Israel and Turkey are trying to mend ties after years of animosity. Gili Cohen , Reuters and Michele Kambas Jan 26, 2016 7:11 PM Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Tuesday that Turkey supports terror instead of combating it, permitting ISIS to enjoy "Turkish money for oil." He said that normalizing fraught relations between Israel and Turkey was contingent on Ankara's ceasing these activities, in comments that could hinder attempts to mend fences between the two countries. Speaking after a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Panos Kammenos, Ya'alon...

Donald Trump has defended Vladimir Putin after a British public inquiry found the Russian president "probably" sanctioned the assassination of Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London. Mr Trump waded into the case saying he had seen "no evidence" of Mr Putin's involvement, adding: "They say a lot of things about me that are untrue too." The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination has previously said he felt a "great honour" when Mr Putin praised him as an "absolute leader". .. But Mr Trump told Fox Business: "Have they found him (Mr Putin) guilty? I don't think they've found him guilty....

While the media attention is directed to the refugee crisis in Germany, France’s highways in Normandy are descending into complete chaos and lawlessness.

This is one of those ah-ha moments when several political variables seem to reconcile simultaneously. For those who doubted the Earlier Tripwire, here's the evidence. There is a Super-PAC called "Stand for Truth" registered out of Lexington Kentucky headed by a guy named Eric Lycan. [Here's the link - search box "Stand for Truth"] Mr. Eric Lycan was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's lawyer during his re-election campaign against Matt Bevin. Lycan also has deep tentacles within the entire GOPe apparatus, including the Chamber of Commerce. You can confirm identity from the filing paperwork and the reported contact information which...

FBI agents have interrupted what federal prosecutors describe as a planned mass shooting at a Masonic Temple in Milwaukee, it was announced Tuesday. Samy Mohamed Hamzeh, 23, has been charged with possessing machine guns and a silencer. According to the criminal complaint, Hamzeh had been under investigation since September 2015. He originally planned to travel to Jordan to attack Israeli soldiers. He later changed plans to attack the Mason Temple in Milwaukee. Hamzeh was recorded making comments about the planned attack with automatic weapons. "They are all Masonic; they are playing with the world like a game, man, and we...

During Richard Nixon's presidency, Democrats repeatedly excoriated him for running roughshod over the Constitution's limits on executive power - and they were right to do so. Nixon's view that presidential authority was almost limitless, summed up in his famous statement caught on tape, "If the president does it, it's not illegal," was completely at odds with the Constitution's provisions for the scope of executive power in Article II. The president does not get to change the Constitution to suit his desires. At least, he shouldn't. Compared with Barack Obama, however, Richard Nixon was a minor leaguer when it comes to...

Today, the Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill to authorize the farming, and production of industrial hemp in the state for commercial purposes, setting the foundation to nullify in practice the unconstitutional federal prohibition on the same. The vote was 98-0. Introduced by Del. Brenda Pogge (R-Norge), House Bill 699 (HB699) would amend current state law on hemp by removing a provision that authorized the licensing of hemp farming only upon approval of the federal government.

HOUSTON, Texas - Today, the Cruz for President campaign announced the endorsement of Dana Loesch. Loesch is an author, radio and TV host and a leading conservative voice across the country. She hosts her award-winning, nationally syndicated daily radio show, The Dana Show: The Conservative Alternative and also hosts Dana on The Blaze television network.Dana Loesch Endorses Ted Cruz on The Dana Show (Audio)"Dana is a fearless conservative who is not afraid to confront the liberal media bias head on," said Cruz. "She is a passionate fighter for liberty and an important voice for conservatives. I am thrilled to have...