Free Republic

Once again, it was mission impossible. And once again, it was mission failure. Bernie Sanders is still standing. Time is running out to stop him. In their debate last week, the other Democrats aimed to make themselves his top rival for the nomination by viciously attacking each other. The net effect was that they were all damaged and Sanders waltzed to a smashing win in the Nevada caucus.

If the Democratic confrontation last week in Nevada was “The Godfather” of debates, last night’s South Carolina debate wasn’t “The Godfather Part II” — a worthy followup to a great original. No, it was “Exorcist 2: The Heretic.” It was “Smokey and the Bandit 3: Smokey Is the Bandit.” It was “True Detective Season 2.” Who made the South Carolina debate the worst sequel ever? Here are the nominees:

When former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley abruptly submitted her resignation in October 2018, she stayed mum about her next move, only assuring that she would not challenge President Trump in 2020 primaries for the Republican nomination. So, what has Haley been doing since she left her post? As a strong believer in term limits, Haley explains her decision to leave the administration in her memoir, "With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace.” She wrote 2019 was her first year in 14 years as a private citizen, free to “sleep in” and “get to read...

A man charged with raping an 11-year-old girl in Maryland was living in the United States illegally, authorities said. Jonathan Coreas-Salamanca, 20, was arrested along with Ivan Reyes Lopez, 19, earlier this month at the high schools they attended in Montgomery County, Md., WJLA-TV reported. Both men are charged with second-degree rape. Coreas-Salamanca, a citizen of El Salvador living in the U.S. illegally, faces additional charges of sexual abuse of a minor and a third-degree sexual offense.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg sparred right out the gate during Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, as the former New York City mayor slammed Sanders and claimed Russia is “helping” him get elected. During the first question of Tuesday night’s CBS News/ Twitter debate in Charleston, S.C., Sanders was asked about the economy. “The economy is doing really great for Mr. Bloomberg and other billionaires,” Sanders said. “For the ordinary American, things are not so good.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reacted Tuesday to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., praising some aspects of the Fidel Castro regime in Cuba -- a regime which some of his relatives escaped in order to seek a new life in the U.S. Rubio said on "Hannity" that Sanders has "gotten away with -- for years -- saying that he's a socialist. He's actually not a socialist, he's a Marxist ... and Marxism is based on the belief that no person has any value as an individual. Your value is that you're a member of a class. Second, Marxism is based on the...

Bernie Sanders faced sustained attacks from all sides in Tuesday night's rowdy Democratic debate, as the self-described democratic socialist, now the race's undisputed frontrunner, parried multiple claims that his sweeping plans were little more than an expensive path to a "catastrophic," Corbyn-esque downballot rout for Democrats in November. The forum, coming ahead of Saturday's primary in South Carolina and next week's pivotal Super Tuesday contests, was easily the most contentious of the primary season to date, as candidates frequently sparred with the moderators and ripped into each other on spending, foreign policy, and more. Fears have spread among the remaining...

CBS anchors Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King began moderating Tuesday night's Democratic debate, and Twitter critics were quick to say they "lost control" of the candidates. Before welcoming additional moderators, the CBS Evening News anchor and the CBS This Morning co-anchor helmed the debate, but many on social media knocked their inability to keep the candidates in line. "These moderators might be the weakest moderators I've seen in a debate. They have absolutely no control over who is speaking and they are forcing candidates to steamroll them if they want any speaking time. This is a trainwreck," writer Josh Jordan...

At the Penny Arcade Expo East Coast (PAX East) later this week, several gaming studios will be showing off their latest games and ideas, providing expo goers with a sneak peak into what to expect from unreleased games. Among the gaming studios will be Ireland-based Larian Studios, which will reveal eagerly anticipated gameplay of Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian’s Creative Director Swen Vincke will be playing live on stage with a special guest, revealing more about the story, mechanics, and the answers to much-asked questions. With seating for 1000 people, expo goers won’t have to worry about finding a space to...

They flailed their arms, talked over each other and at one point called for backup, asking fact checkers to come to their rescue. The last debate before a crucial stage of the primaries was an often unruly affair as the Democratic presidential contenders powered past the moderators in a scramble to take credit and occasionally dodge blame on a range of subjects. Distortions ensued. […] JOE BIDEN: “A hundred and fifty million people have been killed since 2007, when Bernie voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability.” THE FACTS: Biden vastly overstated gun deaths. The Centers for Disease Control...

Criminal manipulations by elite Arrington spooks for Roberts FISA quislings noted, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr says an uncurbed, clean no change, reauthorization thing is a best thing, because its’ our turn… Note the import of AG Barr’s position. He is not saying the system *cannot* be abused; and he is not saying that reform isn’t needed to prevent systemic abuse; only that he can give assurances under his tenure FISA data collection and exploitation will *not* be abused. Bait and switch,,, November of last year added to the FISA, “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf”...

**DRUDGE POLL** WHO WON DEM DEBATE IN CHARLESTON BIDEN BLOOMBERG BUTTIGIEG KLOBUCHAR SANDERS STEYER WARREN Vote

“I want to end it if the pain gets unbearable,” 63-year-old Melanie S. tells Lukas Radbruch, a doctor at University Hospital Bonn, who has also been serving as the president of the German Association for Palliative Medicine since 2014. She has end-stage lung cancer, and fears she could suddenly lose the ability to swallow and this suffocate while fully conscious. This possibility has led Melanie S. to consider assisted suicide. But so far, paragraph 217 of Germany’s criminal code prohibits assisted suicide. The law was adopted in 2015 by Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, to prevent associations or individuals from turning...

When I was a registered midwife in Australia (for just over 3 decades, interspersed with time in Indonesia), I learnt many interesting things. Attitudes to the presence of a male in the profession were open and warmer in Catholic hospitals than in public hospitals. Generally speaking Catholic hospitals had a touch of warmth in most things compared to the secular places. Vietnamese people were also very open to a male presence in midwifery compared with any other ethnic group. The Vietnamese men were the ones least likely to be uncomfortable if the midwife was a male. It was probably a...

Something has gone wrong in Britain. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has found that pedophiles in the British government were allowed to prey on children for decades, and political institutions turned a blind eye to the systemic abuse. The inquiry was commissioned to determine whether or not Westminster “turned a blind eye” to the abuse, and the inquiry ultimately came to the conclusion that safeguards “failed significantly” in preventing the pedophilia from occurring and being properly investigated. “It is clear that there have been significant failures by Westminster institutions in their dealing with, and confrontation of, allegations of...

When Sebastian Arcos and family members tried to travel from Cuba to the United States, authorities stopped them in what turned out to be a sting operation to arrest one of his uncles, who had advocated and fought for Fidel Castro’s revolution more than 20 years earlier. That was Dec. 31, 1981, and for trying to leave the island nation, Arcos was jailed for a year. His uncle spent seven years in jail. His father, also a political supporter of the communist revolution and like many other citizens soured on the broken promises of democracy, was imprisoned for six years....

The economic indicators all show the economy is booming. Unemployment is at record lows. The stock market is seeing record highs. Wages are up, and taxes are down. Stifling regulations are being lifted. Everything seems to be working just fine. There is much truth in this perception of a boom. Part of this can be attributed to less government interference and taxation. Unnecessary government regulation and spending always hurt the economy. When markets are freer, profits tend to come galloping back. And much has galloped back. However, beneath the surface, major problems threaten the boom. These problems have long plagued...

President Trump knew that it was unreasonable and unsafe for the US economy to be so dependent on China. He was ridiculed for his tariffs which now appear to have prevented a major economic catastrophe due to US companies moving their operations out of China over the past couple years. Last night, Melissa Francis from FOX Business Network, was on Tucker Carlson Tonight and she shared this observation: Because he [President Trump] started this trade war that was costing companies money, they went out and set up different ways that, well maybe we can get this from here, here’s our...

Did the Department of Justice leak or arrange the leak of Michael Flynn’s call with Sergey Kislyak to get around the FBI’s efforts to keep secret the investigation of Flynn? One of the great mysteries of the Trump-Russia saga that remains unsolved three years later, or at least uncharged, is who leaked Gen. Michael Flynn’s calls with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. As incoming national security advisor, Flynn spoke with numerous foreign officials in the lead-up to inauguration. This included a conversation with Kislyak on Dec. 29, 2016 in which they discussed, among other things, measures taken by the Obama administration...