Free Republic

NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly dismissed the idea that journalists interview top government officials to score "political points," pushing back on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's remarks following a clash between the pair after an interview last week. Kelly, co-host of NPR's "All Things Considered," wrote in a New York Times op-ed on Tuesday night that being able to hold powerful people accountable is "both a privilege and a responsibility." "There is a reason that freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution. There is a reason it matters that people in positions of power — people charged with...

January 29 2020 Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Sm 7:4-17 That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said: “Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the present, but I have been going about in a tent under cloth. In all my wanderings everywhere among the children of Israel, did I ever utter a word to any one of the...

The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump continued with the first day of opening arguments by the President’s defense team. Day 6 included White House counsel Pat Cipollone’s preview of the defense, deputy counsel Mike Purpura presentation on the evidence, and Jay Sekulow, the president’s personal attorney, speaking about the details surrounding Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Speakers used digital slides, graphics, and video during their presentations.The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump continued with the first day of opening arguments by the President’s defense team. Day 6 included White House… read...

Jack Burns, one of the original writers for The Muppet Show and a comedy partner to George Carlin, has died. The writer, actor and comedian was 86. The funnyman was living in senior care for the past two years and celebrated his 31st year of sobriety in December, manager Peter Santana on Tuesday told The Hollywood Reporter. Burns died Monday of respiratory failure in Toluca Lake. Kicking off his career as one half of a comedy duo with George Carlin, Burns performed with Carlin — who would go on to become the first host of Saturday Night Live and film...

Lev Parnas, the former Rudy Giuliani associate who has been thrust into the center of Congress’s impeachment proceedings, got a ticket to attend the Senate's trial on Wednesday but won't be able to attend due to his ankle bracelet, his lawyer said. Joseph Bondy, Parnas’s attorney, said his client had received tickets to attend Wednesday’s proceedings from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer's office confirmed it offered the tickets. “Although we couldn’t arrange to have Lev Parnas watch the trial with us because his GPS ankle monitor is not allowed, Lev will join us in DC tomorrow to show...

CNN anchor Don Lemon on Tuesday night addressed a segment from the weekend that drew criticism from President Trump in which the host laughed after a guest mocked supporters of the president. "Ask anyone who knows me," Lemon said at the end of his show Tuesday while addressing the segment. "They'll tell you: I don't believe in belittling people ... for who they are, for what they believe or where they're from." Lemon said that while he found the "joke" from the guest to be funny at the time, he "didn't catch everything that was said." "I was laughing at...

The two lawmakers suggested in a letter to Attorney General William Barr that the footnotes contradict key claims made in Inspector General Michael Horowitz's declassified version of his spy abuses investigative report. Two top Republican senators on Tuesday alleged that claims made in a report from Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz mischaracterized evidence about the government’s secret surveillance of the Trump campaign during and after the 2016 presidential election. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., wrote to Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday demanding that the Justice Department declassify four footnotes in the inspector...

Javelin is a US-made, man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile. It destroys bunkers, tank, trucks and low flying helicopters. When the gunner determines the target, coordinates are sent to the logic gob, which locks on the target. After launch and during flight the crew run like hell from the firing position. The missile is equipped with imaging infrared seeker to deliver an 8.4 kg tandem shaped charge. A precursor warhead detonates any ablative armor, then the primary warhead penetrates the base armor. Javelin is capable of destroying any main battle tank in the world today.

OKLAHOMA CITY, January 28, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The City of San Francisco and the State of California have gained notoriety over the past few years for banning city employees from paid work trips to states with conservative values, and now the Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has decided to return the favor. Stitt issued an executive order last week banning state-funded travel to California, citing the Golden State’s intolerance of pro-life neighbors, KFOR reported. “California and its elected officials over the past few years have banned travel to the State of Oklahoma in an effort to politically threaten and intimidate...

A trio of moderate Senate Democrats is wrestling with whether to vote to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial — or give the president the bipartisan acquittal he’s eagerly seeking. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Doug Jones of Alabama are undecided on whether to vote to remove the president from office and agonizing over where to land. It’s a decision that could have major ramifications for each senator’s legacy and political prospects — as well shape the broader political dynamic surrounding impeachment heading into the 2020 election. All three senators remain undecided...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says its officers seized $900,000 in counterfeit money from the International Falls Port of Entry. The agency says the counterfeit money was found in a commercial rail shipment that originated in China. Officers found 45 cartons of counterfeit $1 bills with a fake value of $900,000 last month during a customs inspection. The Secret Service was contacted and determined the currency was counterfeit. “CBP officers strive every day to protect the United States from a variety of threats,” said Jason Schmelz, Pembina Area Port Director. “Those threats don’t always come in the form of...

Renée Cross, senior director of the Hobby School of Public Affairs, said Democrats overreached in painting the Fort Bend district as a bellwether and cast doubt on whether the result serves as an accurate forecast of the November 2020 results. “I think the Democrats to a certain extent shot themselves in the foot with that because the expectations were so high,” she said. “If you look at voting history for the last 10 years, to think they were just going to flip this seat in a special election in January after we had so many elections the last few months,...

The headlines going around this evening, all to the effect that “McConnell doesn’t have the votes!”, are misleading when you read down into the stories themselves. Republicans sound much calmer and more resolute about ramming through an acquittal verdict without witnesses than they did 24 hours ago, in the first flush of the NYT’s story on Sunday night about Bolton’s book. McConnell doesn’t have the votes yet but as of Tuesday night Collins and Romney remain the only two Republicans willing to say it’s highly likely they’ll vote to call witnesses. Murkowski is interested in hearing from Bolton but...

Cnn putz buys a clue.

The Congressional Budge Office announced today that the deficit will exceed $1 trillion this year and will continue to widen each year over the coming decade: The U.S. government’s budget deficit is projected to reach $1.02 trillion in 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as the federal government continues to spend much more than it collects in tax revenue.A combination of the 2017 tax cuts and a surge in new spending has pushed the deficit wider. This year would mark the first time since 2012 that the deficit breached $1 trillion, a...

Christendom Is the Solution for the Emptiness of our Nihilistic Society Grave moral problems are tearing the country apart. For many, this is apparent in the form of broken homes, procured abortion, shattered communities and lost Faith. Many people get it right when pointing out the problems. However, they get it wrong when looking for solutions. Some get it wrong because they look for solutions that address symptoms, not causes. Others search for a way out that involves the least possible effort. In these politically correct times, people are told not to offend anyone by their proposals. Thus, they automatically...

VANCOUVER—For Susan Sorrenti, the introduction of a new coronavirus to Canada is a stark reminder of the deadly virus outbreak that could have been prevented in Ontario, but instead threatened her life. After all, of the health care staff who handled SARS patients on the other side of the country, only one got the virus. When a pneumonia patient was transferred to the hospital where Sorrenti worked as an intensive care nurse in 2003, she recalled being assured that the patient did not have the mysterious new SARS virus. Unprotected by a respirator mask and suit, she was among the...

It may just be a coincidence. But the deadly coronavirus outbreak now sweeping the world began 30km from China’s most advanced viral research laboratories – the Wuhan Institute. The Washington Times quoted former Israeli intelligence officer Dany Shoham as claiming The Wuhan Institute of Virology is part of a secret biological weapons program. “Certain laboratories in the institute have probably been engaged, in terms of research and development, in Chinese (biological weapons), at least collaterally, yet not as a principal facility,” he asserted without corroborating evidence. Mr Shoham says he was a Mossad lieutenant colonel specialist in biological and chemical...

Solemn Requiem Mass according to the traditional Roman Rite offered for the murdered King Louis XVI of France. The King was America's first ally and it may reasonably be argued that without his aid, we might not have won our War of Independence.

WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE on Tuesday issued statements welcoming the Trump administration's peace plan. "The Kingdom reiterates its support for all efforts aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive resolution to the Palestinian cause," said the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The kingdom appreciates the efforts of President Trump's administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, and encourages the start of direct peace negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, under the auspices of the United States," the statement reads. It also called to resolve any disagreements with...