Free Republic

The head of the European Commission says he wants an official commemoration of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who led Germany to reunification and was a strong backer of the continent’s unity. Jean-Claude Juncker told Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he will personally push for a “European act of state” for Kohl, who was chancellor from 1982 to 1998, but didn’t give details. […] Juncker said that “without Helmut Kohl, the euro would not exist.” …

Sergei the Russian Colluder explains exactly how the Russians did it...

Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. That is not a complicated sentence. Nevertheless the fact conveyed in that sentence came as a monstrous shock to many of the best political minds, pundits and reporters in the whole United States. The greatest brains, the wiliest strategists, the most experienced campaign advisors were in so deep for the Hillary win that they assigned to it a certitude normally associated with the mutterings of Fate. I still receive merriment from the memory of election night, when a bare hour before the polls were closing such oracle-organs as The New York Times and its compeer...

After six seasons and increasing popularity among conservative viewers who appreciated star Tim Allen’s truthful depiction of today’s political climate, ABC canceled the highly-rated family sitcom Last Man Standing in May. According to a report in the liberal-leaning Heatstreet, “Many therefore suspect the decision was made partly because Allen, the star of , is a high-profile conservative and plays a right-of-center character on the show. In the weeks prior to the cancellation, Allen had attended Donald Trump’s inauguration and described the feeling of being on the political right: ‘You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody else believes....

The Truth: Federal ICE agents took part in a raid on more than a dozen of convenience stores in the St. Louis area, and 35 men were arrested on charges related to selling illegal cigarettes and synthetic drugs. Reports about the arrests surfaced in local St. Louis-area media reports immediately after ICE convenience store raids in May 2017, and those reports filtered into fringe publications after a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release a list of 35 people with Arabic names who were indicted.Sources with knowledge of the investigation said the raids were also tied to the illegal sale of...

I have to write about Philando Castile, the 32-year-old black man who was shot and killed by a Minnesota police officer last July. I have to compose myself, sit at this laptop and write something profound about another black life taken by a police officer, another officer found not guilty for killing a black person.

President Donald Trump pointed out that the latest Rasmussen poll shows his latest approval numbers are higher than Barack Obama’s poll numbers. The latest Rasmussen presidential tracking poll has President Trump at 50% approval. This is despite the vicious non-stop attacks by the liberal mainstream media. Barack Obama averaged 47.9% approval in the liberal Gallup polling.

Author of 18 books and numerous articles, clergyman, preacher, winner of the American Book Award, ubiquitous television and radio personality, regular college lecturer, Georgetown sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson is a go-to man on race issues. Dyson’s new book, Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, is cheered by Toni Morrison for its “profound cultural analysis,” and its “guidance for moral redemption.” With literary grace applied to a story of American racism that itself can reduce a person to tears, Dyson calls upon white America to accept blame for the condition of black America. Beyond that, he asks...

A Jesuit scholar with expertise in Islam is explaining why Muslims are terroristic and is warning members of his faith not to be taken in by the “liberal-left ideology” that advocates “tolerance” and “concessions.” The verdict and warning comes from Egyptian Greek Melkite Jesuit Father Henri Boulad, who was interviewed by the National Catholic Register. First, the reason for the terrorism is simple, said Boulad, 85, whose relative, Father Samir Khalil Samir, also is a Jesuit scholar of Islam. The Quran orders Muslims to inflict “terror.” *snip* The church should not defend Islam “at all costs” and seek to “exonerate...

On the morning of June 8th, 2017, I was openly carrying a Glock 17 in a Fobus retention holster. I had to get some medical tests done. I did not have any problem where I had blood drawn. There were no "gun free zone" signs on the door. Next I went to the Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) to get a chest X-ray.  It serves as a place to have medical tests done for the entire area. It is part of the Yuma hospital complex.  They have banned guns on their facility ever since the concealed carry shall issue...

My Dad corrected me. On April 27, he turned 89, not 90. I am extremely grateful that Dad is still mentally sharp, still preaching at his church the second Sunday of every month. As I have grown older, I have come to realize Dad's qualities I took for granted. I am a political activist black conservative. I tour the country with the Conservative Campaign Committee working to elect conservatives in special elections. Dad, on the other hand, is a lifelong Democrat. However, I did convince him to vote for Trump. It has taken years to convince Dad that the Democrats...

On August 15, 1969 more than 400,000 people flocked to a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, for “3 days of music and peace.” Woodstock became a cultural icon representing the spirit of many of the young generation at the time. Check out some pictures from the event to see how crazy it actually was! Peace Out Wallkill, Hello Bethel Woodstock was originally supposed to take place in Wallkill, Orange County, New York. However, the town board quickly passed a bill stating you must have permit in order to host any event over 5,000. A permit was applied for but...

Supporters of Sen. Kamala Harris have been calling me to ask if she’s coming across as too strident in her questioning of Justice Department officials testifying before the Intelligence Committee. “You know, she seems kind of mean,” one caller said. “She’s not mean,” I said. “She’s just being Kamala.” Unlike many politicians, Harris did not work her way up the ladder in the glad-handing world of city councils and the Legislature. She came into the Senate via the courthouse, first as a front-line prosecutor and then district attorney in San Francisco, followed by six years as state attorney general. She...

President Trump is going to shield from deportation those young people who were brought to the United States illegally by their parents, the so-called Dreamers. He is to be commended for doing so. In the decision announced late yesterday, the president has made good on his pledge, made two months ago, that he is “not after the Dreamers.” Indeed, he said in April, “The dreamers should rest easy.” Pointedly, he drew a bright line between those young people who did not willfully break the law, and others. He made it clear that “we are after the criminals.” President Trump was...

The ACX Crystal, a container ship, collided with USS Fitzgerald, and seven U.S. sailors were found deceased inside a damaged berthing compartment. “A number of Sailors’ bodies that were missing from the collision between USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) and a merchant ship have been found,” the US 7th Fleet said in a news release on June 17, without specifying the number. However, CNN reported that all of the seven missing sailors’ bodies were tragically found in USS Fitzgerald’s flooded compartments. The tragedy unfolded on June 16 and ignited a massive search effort by the Japanese Coast Guard and U.S. Navy....

Pope Francis has long railed against corruption and the mafia, but now the Vatican is considering developing a whole doctrine around excommunicating corrupt and mafia-tinged Catholics. The Vatican this week hosted its first conference on corruption and organized crime, inviting 50 prosecutors, U.N. officials, bishops and victims of organized crime for a day of talks. Organizers said in a statement Saturday that the time had come to develop a new legal doctrine for the Catholic Church around 'the question of excommunication for corruption and mafia association.'

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron writes on aleteia.org, that Alec Ryrie's book “Protestants” caused him to look differently at Martin Luther, “for at the core of Luther’s life and theology was an overwhelming experience of grace". He calls Luther’s “religious movement” a “love affair”. And, “Luther was a mystic of grace, someone who had fallen completely in love.” In realty Luther was a drunkard, who called the Mass “the greatest and most terrible abomination” of all “papal idolatries” (Schmalkald Articles). He said things like: “Christ committed adultery first of all with the women at the well about whom St...

You have to admire Democrats; they have their positions dug in and impenetrable, whether even they believe in them or not. If a right-wing Trump-supporting extremist had shot up a Democratic Party congressional baseball practice, they would have used the incident as incontrovertible proof that we need more gun control. As it happens, a left-wing Bernie Sanders fanatic shot up a Republican congressional baseball practice, so...they use the incident as incontrovertible proof that we need more gun control.

When it comes to the topic of abortion in films, the older the audience, the more likely they are to see pro-choice messages. Is Hollywood pushing a pro-choice agenda? Americans seem to think so. Sure, movies like The Cider House Rules, Dirty Dancing and Fast Times at Ridgemont High make a strong case for legalized abortion, but pro-life groups have praised the likes of Arrival, Juno and even the raunchy comedy Knocked Up — all movies where lead female characters choose to give birth rather than abort. When push comes to shove, though, moviegoers see more pro-choice messages in films...

This week, we learned that former FBI Director James Comey will probably be a witness in any proceeding brought by his close friend Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Rod Rosenstein, a former Mueller staffer, appointed Mueller because Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who handed the oversight of this matter to his Deputy Rosenstein, had recused himself and that recusal was based on a misreading of the law by career Department of Justice attorneys. Sessions’s recusal, moreover, was engendered by illegal leaks. And the investigation by Mueller is being fanned by more of them. James Comey At the center of the narrative is...