Free Republic

President Trump called reporters into the Oval Office to announce he was signing an executive order imposing new sanctions against Iran. Trump called the sanctions, which will target the financial resources of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, “hard-hitting." “We will continue to increase pressure on Tehran,” Trump said Monday. “Never can Iran have a nuclear weapon.”He said the executive order “will deny the supreme leader and the supreme leader’s office and those closely affiliated with him and the office access to key financial resources.”

Jesus confronted the money-changers and challenged believers to give to the needy. But, would he support socialism?Increasingly, Americans think he would. In fact, a recent Barna poll found that more Americans think Jesus would prefer socialism (24%) than those who believe he would prefer capitalism (14%). The other 62% responded neither or not sure, but the poll still reveals a disturbing trend.Last Saturday, Micah Conkling, a Christian writer and podcaster, argued on my radio program that socialism is the political and economic system that best fulfills the Golden Rule. Not surprisingly, Conkling is a Millennial, the most pro-socialist generation America has ever...

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is back in the spotlight and no—it’s not because she spewed anti-Semitic tropes again. Omar has done everything under the sun to become one of the Hill’s most controversial lawmakers. From her rendition of the Protocols of the Elders Of Zion to seemingly siding with the Somali militiamen who were shooting at American troops during the 1993 raid that was immortalized in the book and film Black Hawk Down, Omar has always taken the wrong position, even arguably the anti-American position. But her latest scandal revolves around her marriage history and the allegation that she committed immigration...

A recent Journal of Social and Personal Relationships study found that nearly 90 percent of survey respondents are not interested in dating transgender people. In a Psychology Today article on the study, coauthor Karen Blair implies these findings demonstrate significant discrimination—or at least an unwillingness to be inclusive—in dating. However, instead of pointing out the obvious truth that biological cues are foundational for sexual and romantic attraction, the author goes to great lengths to convey sympathy for the exclusion of transgenders in the dating field as if it’s merely a social justice issue. This is yet another avenue progressives are...

Chuck Todd: “If you could have one do over as president, what would it be?” President Donald Trump: “Well, it would be personnel.” Todd: “Who is it?” Trump: “I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. That would be my one”

Oregon Senate minority leader Herman Baertschiger said his caucus remains defiant in its efforts to stall proposed cap-and-trade legislation. "My caucus and I continue to stand firm and remain out of the state," he said, criticizing media reports that claimed Republican senators, who fled the capitol to avoid voting on the bill, have been coordinating with militia groups. "The peaceful rallies on the steps this weekend were done by Oregonians who will be directly impacted by the gas and emissions tax or House Bill 2020. Democrats were reactionary to rumors and lacked the courage to face these Oregonians by closing...

In case you missed it on Friday, Bernie Sanders confirmed that his single payer healthcare proposal would encompass illegal immigrants -- meaning that millions of people who violated the law to illegally enter sovereign US territory would be eligible for full access to the American healthcare system, courtesy of taxpayers' largesse.  The Vermont Socialist, who honeymooned in the Soviet Union and flew a Soviet flag in his mayoral office, told a Miami audience late last week that his plan would "absolutely" cover non-citizens living inside the United States illegally.  How many of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates can dare disagree...

At least two people were fatally shot and others burned to death following an argument at a golf course in Santa Maria, California. The Associated Press reports that two shooting fatalities were 70-year-old Kurt Bracke and 78-year-old Richard Hanen. One of the men was found dead in the clubhouse, and one was found lying in the grass. The gunman fled to his mobile home, which quickly burst into flames. The fire spread to other mobile homes in the park as well, and three people, including the gunman, were found in the rubble. Police reported a situation where ammunition was sporadically...

President Trump announced a new money raising platform Monday morning aimed at hauling in cash for the 2020 presidential election. I am pleased to announce the launch of https://t.co/D1MY2aPC7f. This new platform will allow my campaign and other Republicans to compete with the Democrats money machine. This has been a priority of mine and I’m pleased to share that it is up and running! #KeepAmericaGreat— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2019 According to the website WinRed, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee "is a joint fundraising committee composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the...

On June 18th, over 7300 voters in Coral Springs, Florida went to the polls in a Special Election to cast their votes for the individual they wanted as their new City Commissioner. The former Commissioner, Dan Daley, left the seat vacant, after he won his own Special Election, for Florida State House. Out of the six candidates in the Commission race, one, Khurrum Wahid, raised far more money than any of the others. But for many voters, Wahid, a terror-linked lawyer, represented a danger to society, and therefore, he was soundly rejected. Khurrum Basir Wahid, a South Florida attorney,...

John Colter accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition, 1804-1806. Colter then traveled the mountain wilderness alone for months, being considered the first "mountain man." In 1807, Colter became the first person of European descent to see the Teton Mountain Range and traverse the area that became known as Yellowstone National Park. His description of bubbling mudpots, geysers and steaming pools of water, resulted in the area being named "Colter's Hell." In 1809, hundreds of Blackfeet captured John Colter. His friend, John Potts , was riddled with bullets and hacked to pieces. Wanting to make a sport out of killing...

True to form on the intersectionality front, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a bill to extend the idea of reparations to LGBT people. While far more limited in scope than frequent calls for slavery reparations to black Americans, the proposal blames the U.S. government for withholding benefits same-sex couples allegedly should have received before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). On Friday, Warren re-introduced S. 1940, the Refund Equality Act, which would allow same-sex couples to amend past tax returns. According to a report from the Joint...

The Coolidge Reagan Foundation, which had previously lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission contending that the dossier of dirt thrown at Trump was compiled by a foreigner at the behest of the Clinton campaign, and, therefore, a violation of regulations prohibiting accepting anything of value from a foreign source, has now filed a lawsuit. Federal Election Commission Chairman Ellen Weintraub called the lawsuit “merit-less. They might have had a case if Clinton had won, but now the issue is moot. I mean, what damage has the plaintiff suffered? Regardless of whether Secretary Clinton committed a crime or not,...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Islamist president of Turkey, attained national office after first serving as mayor of Istanbul, the mega-city that contains roughly 20% of the population of Turkey and which accounts for a third of that nation's GDP.  Now the city that birthed his national career has rejected the his party's candidate for mayor in a stinging rebuke. Bloomberg reports: Turkish opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu won the redo of the Istanbul mayor's race by a landslide on Sunday, in a stinging indictment of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's economic policies and increasingly autocratic ways. According to state-run Anadolu news agency, Imamoglu...

A South Carolina man found dead in a pond with “bite marks” on his body Saturday may have been killed by an alligator, authorities said. A police helicopter discovered the body in a large pond on Kiawah Island while conducting a search for a man who had been reported missing hours earlier, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Police said they suspect the body is of the missing man based on appearance, although it has yet to be confirmed. The man first went missing at 10 a.m. Saturday. The helicopter was called in after police dogs tracked...

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says moving away from the term "owner" makes sense -- telling TMZ Sports, "We moved away from that term years ago." We broke the story ... multiple NBA teams (including the Clippers and 76ers) have stopped using the title owner because they feel it's racially insensitive in a league where the majority of the players are black. When we saw Silver out in NYC, we asked if he supported the decision and how the league office is handling the issue.

I thought it was satire, something cooked up by his political enemies. You couldn't put out a less attractive video than the one Gavin Newsom did for illegal aliens on Twitter, advising them himself on how to obstruct ICE from any deportation maneuvers.  And sure enough, he wasn't hacked — it really was blue-checked he. Leave aside the fact that he's the governor of a U.S. state, supposedly there to represent the interests of that state's citizens rather than those of the foreigners who come here without papers, quite illegally, and run up the tab using his state's services.  They're his constituents, too, now, in fact,...

A watchtower dating from the time of the Kingdom of Judah (8th century BCE - during the reign of King Hezekiah) was recently uncovered by archaeological excavations carried out by IDF soldiers, together with the Israel Antiquities Authority... The tower, whose dimensions in antiquity are estimated to have been 15 x 10.5 ft, was erected on a high elevation site, and served as an observation point on the Hebron Mountains... It was built using very large stones, weighing some 8 tons each. Its height today reaches around 6 ft. According to Sa'ar Ganor and Valdik Lifshitz, excavation directors on behalf...

Leftists, particularly in Bill De Blasio's New York, are always trying to shove people into public transportation. Never mind that the subways are full of robbers, gropers, stinkers, and pushers, never mind that the public buses are horrible to ride, crowded, jerky, slow, complete with atrocious customer service. (An exception, of course, is made for illegals, with drivers licenses now being issued to that crowd, the better to get their votes). But everyone else is expected to ride the bus.  And sure enough, bus conditions are pretty horrible even as New York's bus service is now losing money. The problem? A...

Politics stops at the water’s edge, as Arthur Vandenberg famously asserted during the Truman administration. But apparently not if the water in question is the Strait of Hormuz. And not if the politician in question is Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D – CA 43). After President Trump pulled the plug on the Iran counterstrike, you’d think that the move dovish Democrats would all be breathing a sigh of relief. (At least for a little while.) But Waters decided that she would lay into the President, claiming that the confrontational situation was our fault in the first place. Trump, you get...