Free Republic

PENTAGON – President Trump "went off script" during his call on Sunday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before he announced that the U.S. would withdraw all troops from northeast Syria ahead of a Turkish military operation in the region, a well-placed senior U.S. military source told Fox News on Wednesday. During the phone call, Trump had talking points, according to the source: “Tell Erdogan to stay north of the border." “He went off script," the source said.

Will the American raid Conference USA? The Mountain West?The American is already stronger than the Atlantic Coast Conference, and arguably, the Pac-12. By most computer rankings and by most top-25 votes, the American has 5 of the top 30 football teams in the nation (Cincinnati, Central Florida, Navy, Memphis, Southern Methodist). They may replace their worst two teams with two more top-25 teams. That would be 7 of the top 30 football teams. Three of the four weakest teams in this new conference would be among the largest universities in the nation, and two of those among the fastest growing...

Family Radio, the theologically conservative radio station once headed by controversial author and radio host Harold Camping, will be moving from its longtime California headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee. A new headquarters is presently under construction in Nashville, with the move expected to take place sometime in January of next year. Meanwhile, Family Radio has sold multiple stations that were losing money and will host their first on-air fundraiser in more than 30 years this week, on Oct. 29-31, called Vision 20/20. Richard Whitworth, senior director of Marketing at Family Stations, Inc., explained in comments to The Christian Post that the...

Today’s Cryptogram Courtesy The Arkansas Gazette Today's Cryptogram goes out to all the pretty women out there who love this daily puzzle. BZUC OAEWU FJ TKFCUY BFPZ BAFCVDUJ, FP FJ EYKAEGDU. PZUAU FJ EC NCJMUEVEGDU YEBC FC ZEMMH KDY EOU. —QFWPKA ZNOK You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be...

“I look sleepy? Dam, I took five No-Doze before coming to the studio.”

< SNIP > Biden, a lifelong Catholic, stopped by St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence on Sunday, but was denied holy communion by the Rev. Robert E. Morey, local newspaper the South Carolina Morning News reported. “Sadly, this past Sunday, I had to refuse Holy Communion to former Vice President Joe Biden,” Morey told the newspaper in a statement. “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the Church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.” < /SNIP >

Labor camps, ecological ruin, shortages of everything from aspirin to toilet paper, and the ever-present risk of that midnight knock on the door -- what's not to love about communism? At least, that's what one out of three Millennials must think, according to a new survey conducted by Victims of Communism and YouGov.But it gets better... er, worse. Not only did 30% of the 23-38 age cohort have a "favorable" view of communism, 70% said they'd be happy to vote for socialism. What they don't know -- actually, you're gonna need a longer list -- is what Lenin himself...

Ben Rhodes, President Obama's national security adviser, said on Monday that Obama sought to use the United Nations as a vehicle to isolate and pressure the Jewish state. Rhodes, speaking at the anti-Israel group J Street's annual conference in Washington, D.C., discussed efforts by the former administration to weaponize the U.N. to force Israel into concessions to the Palestinians. Obama, near the end of his tenure in office, drew sharp criticism across the pro-Israel community for permitting the United States to abstain from a U.N. vote criticizing what it described as Israeli settlements. The U.N. was allowed to proceed with...

Taiwan News, established in 1949, recently carried an article saying President Xi's daughter, having graduated from Harvard in 2014, is now back there. And that it is likely for her own safety.  The safe space movement at Harvard peaked in 2016 and is still doing things to make its students feel less threatened.  But Xi Mingze would not feel threatened by old paintings of long -dead white men, as some other Harvard students are. Her father charmed his way to the top job in China and once there consolidated his position by eliminating his rivals in an anti-corruption campaign.  Then he had...

Democrats and their media propaganda arm have been telling us since President Trump took office that “The walls are closing in.” First it was the Mueller investigation, then every fake news story from the media, from Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen being in Prague to Don Jr. calling his father about the Trump Tower entrapment meeting with some Russians.Every “bombshell” revelation about Stormy Daniels or Omarosa meant that “the walls are closing in.” Mueller’s report, despite the best efforts of Andrew Weissman and his merry band of partisans, was a dud. As was the Ukraine phone call, with whistleblowers and Rep....

It looks like Israel will be heading to a third election. It seems both sides, Netanyahu’s right and Gantz’s left-center cannot get the 61 votes needed to get a majority in the Knesset. There is one villain in this, and one victor.The reason Netanyahu could not get a victory is that Avigdor Lieberman refuses to throw his weight behind a Netanyahu coalition, unless the special privileges tendered to the religious right are done away with. For years, the religious right have wrested a lot of concessions from the Israeli state, such as draft exemptions and control of marriage. Secular...

Virginia holds state-legislative elections this year, and the outlook is cloudy for the state GOP, despite this year’s earlier scandals of Governor Ralph “Blackface” Northam, allegations of sexual assault against Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and another blackface scandal involving Mark Herring, the state’s attorney general. If Virginia Republicans have a lousy year, many outside the state will wonder how they could fail to capitalize on the series of scandals. But the state party has been sailing into headwinds throughout the cycle. On November 5, Virginians will vote in elections for all 40 seats in the state senate and all 100...

There are a lot of very conservative Houston fans and it will be interesting to see if the crowd responds to the crowd booing Trump in Washington a couple nights ago. Also, I bet Houston will defeat Washington tonight and if they can run the score up they will do it.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reportedly mulling over a return to politics and may be seeking to regain his old Senate seat in Alabama. The former Republican lawmaker may be seriously considering regaining the seat won by Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in a special election in 2017, Republican sources with knowledge of the situation said, according to Associated Press. (DoD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro/Released) Sessions has reportedly made some phone calls about the possible bid for his old seat, according to the anonymous sources. If he does, in fact, decide to run, he...

A bipartisan budget watchdog released a report Monday detailing options for how the federal government could pay for "Medicare-for-all," the health care plan popular with 2020 Democratic presidential contenders — and its findings show there would be no way to fund the expanded health program by simply raising taxes on the rich. The report, published by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, examines a variety of potential ways to raise the estimated $30 trillion over 10 years necessary to fund "Medicare-for-all," including a 32 percent payroll tax, a 25 percent income surtax and a 42 percent value-added tax. These...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Music in The Bible) Psalm 10 Psalm 10[a] 1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?     Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,     who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;     he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. 4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;     in all his thoughts there is no room for God. 5 His ways are always prosperous;     your laws are rejected by[b] him;     he sneers at all...

Kamala Harris scolds Trump for remarks on Baghdadi death: It was like he was commenting on a 'video game' Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., praised the U.S. military and intelligence community for the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but called out President Trump for his "extraordinary" reaction to the successful mission. Speaking Monday on NBC's "Late Night" with Seth Meyers, the 2020 presidential contender argued that Trump's remarks after the raid proved he "does not fully appreciate the importance of the job." "That press conference was extraordinary. You would think that he was talking about watching and giving...

President Trump took a swipe Tuesday at a White House official who plans to testify behind closed doors that he reported concerns about the July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the heart of Democrats' impeachment inquiry. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who serves as a director on the National Security Council (NSC), is scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees Tuesday morning. His prepared opening statement, obtained by Fox News, expresses concern over Trump's request to have Ukraine investigate political opponents, but Trump dismissed him as one of a collection of witnesses...

A White House national security official will tell investigators Tuesday that he listened to Donald Trump's call with Ukraine's new president Volodymr Zelensky and 'did not think it was proper.' The president began his day on Twitter swinging at the man, Alexander Vindman, an Army lieutenant colonel who was awarded a Purple Heart in Iraq, saying he had 'never heard of' him but insisting he is a 'Never Trumper.' Vindman is expected to testify in the House impeachment inquiry that he twice raised concerns over the Trump administration's interest in having Ukraine investigate Joe Biden and his son. He will...

The locals knew him as Abu Mohammed Salama, an animal feed wholesaler who lived in a compound on the edge of Syria’s border with Turkey, on the outskirts of a town called Barisha. Salama was friendly enough, residents said Monday, but mostly kept to himself. So they were surprised to learn about his secret life as the commander of an extremist group affiliated with Al Qaeda — and even more surprised to learn that he had been harboring a rival extremist, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the founder of Islamic State. “Who would come here — to a village with nothing?” asked...