Free Republic

Four years ago, Donald Trump’s candidacy was the craziest thing any of us had ever seen. But since then, his opponents have gone so far off the deep end that they have made him seem the sensible alternative. For whatever reason – jealousy? bad advisers? – Mitt Romney hasn’t come to the realization the rest of us have: that President Trump is now the thin orange line between order and chaos. Happy enough to accept the president’s endorsement last year, Romney quickly turned on him to become a virtue-signaling headline-chaser. He began his Senate tenure with an attack piece in...

President Trump announced on Wednesday that conditions have been met between Turkey and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for what he called a " permanent ceasefire" between the two sides and that the United States is lifting sanctions on Ankara that were implemented following the invasion of northern Syria. Speaking at the White House, Trump said that while a "permanent ceasefire" will be tough to maintain in the volatile region, he hopes that it will last and end the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds. "I do believe it will be permanent," he said. "This was an outcome created...

A Dallas, Texas jury on Tuesday awarded custody of a seven-year-old child to his mother, who has the boy dress as a girl while in her care because she believes he is transgender. The child’s father, Jeffrey Younger, has been fighting the child’s mother, Anne Georgulas, in court to prevent her from ultimately chemically and possibly physically castrating the child, which is now the politically correct way to treat gender dysphoria.Younger says young James is comfortable as a boy while in his care, choosing boy clothes, preferring his male given name to his mother’s transgender moniker “Luna,” and describing...

Shopping malls have always been a hangout for bored teenagers or families looking for something to do on a rainy day. They've probably also been around a lot longer than you might think. Long before Americans made malls their own, residents of ancient Rome met in the marketplace to buy goods and catch up on the latest gossip. In Victorian times, arcades with covered walkways became the precursors to today's malls. With the rise of the suburbs and automobile culture in the mid-20th century, what's generally accepted as the first enclosed mall in the country opened near Minneapolis in 1956....

The House will vote today on the SHIELD Act, a Democrat-led and misguided effort to deter foreign interference in American elections. While both parties agree that foreign interference, especially online, was a serious issue in the 2016 election, in fact, the GOP has its own bill, this Democratic effort fails in two major ways. First, it threatens First Amendment protections on free political speech, and second, it fails to address the major issue in 2016 interference. Free Speech Limitations One of the major problems with the SHEILD Act regarding free speech is a provision that allows the federal government to...

House Republicans briefly shut down a closed-door meeting Wednesday by storming the room where lawmakers were questioning a Defense Department official involving the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Over a dozen Republican lawmakers gathered outside of the private meeting room Wednesday and told reporters that they would try to enter the closed-door deposition regarding the official impeachment inquiry into Trump. The House intelligence, foreign affairs and oversight committees are leading these proceedings after allegations that Trump asked Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. “We’re gonna go and see if we can...

GLENS FALLS — The Friends who Support President Trump group will hold a rally on Friday. The event will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. outside the office of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, located at 5 Warren St. in Glens Falls. People are asked to bring flags, signs or banners to show support for the president. The rally was previously planned to take place at the intersection of Route 29 and Route 4 in Schuylerville.

A new cotton plant that was genetically engineered to produce an edible seed has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Photo courtesy of Cotton Incorporated EVANSVILLE, Ind., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The cotton industry hopes to launch a new market for a genetically modified cotton plant whose seeds are edible for humans. The push comes after the Food and Drug Administration OK'd the modified plant for human consumption in late September. Cotton groups called it a historic decision -- one that could change the industry forever and potentially help feed millions of people. "The humanitarian aspect of...

“The life force is beginning to stir again," said the narrator of a 1946 documentary film called "A Defeated People." The film’s main purpose was to explain to the British and American peoples what was being done in the reconstruction of Germany after World War II—and what still needed to be done by both the Allied powers and the Germans themselves. "[W]e can't wash our hands of the Germans, because we can't afford to let that new life flow in any direction it wants." This episode considers some lessons from the rebuilding and reeducation of Germany and Japan that remain...

The Seattle Public Schools Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee (ESAC) released a rough draft of notes for its Math Ethnic Studies framework in late September, which attempts to connects math to a history of oppression. The framework is broken into four different themes: “Origins, Identity, and Agency,” “Power and Oppression,” “History of Resistance and Liberation,” and “Reflection and Action.” The committee suggests that math is subjective and racist, saying under one section, “Who gets to say if an answer is right,” and under another, “how is math manipulated to allow inequality and oppression to persist?” Jason Rantz of KTTH in Seattle...

Democratic 2020 hopeful Tulsi Gabbard criticized the lack of transparency in her own party’s impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women dinner at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington on Tuesday night, Gabbard said a lack of clarity could “undermine the integrity” of the investigation. “Pursuing impeachment for partisan reasons is bad for our country,” she said. “It will be extremely divisive for an already divided country. I looked at the complaint and was very concerned. We need to get to the bottom of it."

Federal spending programs that are "designed to transfer income ... to individuals or families" are set to hit a record $3,223,943,000,000 in fiscal 2020, according to projections published by the Office of Management and Budget. These so-called "payments for individuals" (as the OMB calls them) are projected to account for 67.9% of all federal spending this fiscal year and consume 14.4% of the nation's gross domestic product. In its Historical Table 6.1, Composition of Outlays, the OMB reports the annual amounts spent on "payments for individuals" going back to fiscal 1940 in both current year and constant fiscal 2012 dollars....

In 1977 country singer Johnny Paycheck popularized a song entitled "Take this job and shove it." Take this job and shove itI ain't working here no moreMy woman done leftAnd took all the reasonsI was working for You better not try to stand in my wayAs I'm walking out the doorTake this job and shove itI ain't working here no more The rest of the lyrics can be found hereYesterday Donald Trump likened the treatment being inflicted on him by the House Democrat Secret Police as a "lynching."It was met with much derision- "fury" even. “That is one word that...

MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” closed out Wednesday’s show with a segment on author Joel Stein’s new book, “In Defense Of Elitism,” culminating in him calling hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough “the worst” for being so-called “boat elite.” Stein kicked off the segment describing how he visited the “town in America with the highest percentage of Trump voters, and I thought I would teach them a lot and they would teach me a little.” He also sought to answer a question from Mike Barnicle on why those people “feel such resentment toward people like us and where we like and how...

For a second time in three months, President Donald Trump is headed to Pennsylvania to promote his support for the natural gas industry, making clear that he sees his pro-industry policies as a boost to his chances of winning the battleground state. As some of his leading Democratic opponents are calling for a fracking ban, Trump has been eager to cut a contrast, touting his support for a sector he says brings economic benefits to rural pockets and jobs to construction union workers. But pipeline politics might not be so clear-cut. In the suburbs that might be key to his...

Since April, I’ve witnessed the ongoing destruction of the University of Tulsa (TU) by a cadre of wealthy and powerful people affiliated with the billionaire George Kaiser. Kaiser is the controlling shareholder of the Bank of Oklahoma Financial (BOKF), which handles much of TU’s business and is the corporate trustee of its $1.2 billion endowment. Frederic Dorwart, the chairman of TU’s board of trustees, is BOKF’s general counsel and president of the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF). TU President Gerard Clancy sits on BOKF’s board; Steven Bradshaw, BOKF’s CEO, sits on TU’s board of trustees. TU trustee Chester Cadieux III...

More than a few exasperated pro-Trump folks have been asking, “What’s taking the Justice Department’s Inspector General so long to release his findings?” The answer? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter when it’s released and it won’t matter what’s in it. Listen, I hate to be Debbie Downer here but the anticipation surrounding this report is rooted in the hope and sincere belief that its pages contain such shocking detail of government abuses and corruption within our intelligence agencies the nation will roil as one with cries for justice and vindication for Donald Trump! Sorry. It’s not going to happen....

A U.S. Military Academy cadet who vanished last week has been found dead, officials said Wednesday. The body of 20-year-old Kade Kurita was discovered Tuesday night at the West Point military post in New York, where the four-year federal service academy is located. Officials said the cause of death is under investigation, but foul play is not suspected. “We are grieving this loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to Cadet Kurita’s family and friends,” Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, 60th superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, said in a statement Wednesday. Kurita had been missing since Friday evening when...

This week evangelical pastor John MacArthur haughtily told Beth Moore to, “Go home,” when questioned regarding his thoughts about her. Then, as if this heartless comment wasn’t cringe-worthy enough, he compared Beth Moore’s sacred ministry call to that of a salesperson peddling jewelry on television. Here’s the thing: MacArthur’s stinging discourse regarding Beth Moore, wasn’t really about Beth Moore. He was disparaging every woman who has ever answered the call to ministry. In one clean swoop, he maligned Huldah, Deborah, Miriam, Priscilla, Phoebe, and Junia … and you. John MacArthur owes you an apology. But a far weighty matter is...

California’s tax plan is “so egregious” that residents of every socioeconomic background are leaving the state, host of Fox Business Network’s Charles Payne said Wednesday. California Democrats have raised taxes on high-income families again and again. While the left claims the measure doesn’t impact taxpayer migration or hurt state tax revenue, a new study conducted at Stanford University finds the opposite. The report reveals a 2012 income tax increase drove away many high earners. As a result, the state only netted about half the revenue gains it expected. The increase in 2012 jumped from 10.3 percent to 13.3 percent and...