Free Republic

In early January the United States killed General Qassim Soleimani, a top commander of Iran’s al-Quds Force, in an airstrike at Baghdad’s International Airport. The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Seven people were reportedly killed in the airstrike. Following the death of Commander Soleimani Democrat Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) lashed out at President Trump for assassinating the Iranian al-Quds terrorist leader who was responsible for the deaths and maiming of HUNDREDS of US soldiers. It soon became apparent why Murphy was sooo upset with Soleimani’s death. Senator...

Under widespread criticism for praising the achievements of an authoritarian dictatorship, Bernie Sanders last week defended himself by praising another authoritarian dictatorship. Seeking to explain his decades-long defense of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s education and healthcare policies, the Democratic presidential frontrunner cited China’s combination of authoritarian rule and economic growth as praiseworthy. “China is an authoritarian country, becoming more and more authoritarian,” Sanders said during a CNN town hall meeting Monday night. “But can anyone deny, the facts are clear, that they have taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history?” He made the same point...

The Canon of Repentance of Saint Andrew of Crete. Read in American English on the first Lent Monday. This canon is to be recited during the first 4 nights of the Great Lent. The Great Canon of St Andrew, Bishop of Crete, is the longest canon in all of our services, and is associated with Great Lent, since the only times it is appointed to be read in church are the first four nights of Great Lent (Clean Monday through Clean Thursday, at Great Compline, when it is serialized) and at Matins for Thursday of the fifth week of Great...

An illegal alien fined $280 for leaving two law enforcement officers dead after a negligent driving accident has since been driving freely in the United States, an investigation by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) finds.

True fasting is putting away evil deedsSt. Basil the Great The meaning of fasting consists not simply in refusing meat and dairy products, but most importantly in profound self-knowledge, repentance, and the struggle with the passions. “Let us tear every unrighteous union,” the Church hymns call to us on these days. “If we refrain from meat but devour our neighbors, this is a mockery of the fast,” says patristic wisdom. The true meaning of the fast is clearly revealed in one of the stichera: “Let us abandon bodily passions, and grow the gifts of the soul…” “The Springtime of repentance”...

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide a lawsuit that threatens the Obama-era health care law, but the decision is not likely until after the 2020 election. The court said it would hear an appeal by 20 mainly Democratic states of a lower-court ruling that declared part of the statute unconstitutional and cast a cloud over the rest. Defenders of the Affordable Care Act argued that the issues raised by the case are too important to let the litigation drag on for months or years in lower courts and that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New...

Washington (CNN)Pete Buttigieg is weighing whether to endorse Joe Biden after exiting the Democratic presidential race late Sunday night and later speaking on the phone with the former vice president and former President Barack Obama. An endorsement for Biden is likely, two people close to Buttigieg say, but whether he makes the decision before Super Tuesday is unclear.

CNN host Brian Stelter and his network go after Fox News, constantly, claiming their hosts and analysts are cronies working for President Trump. But Stelter has been caught in his own conflict of interest predicament. The Reliable Sources host, along with two of his reporter colleagues, was seen at a party with disgraced former Democrat congresswoman, Katie Hill in New York over the weekend, according to Page Six. This, after Stelter has had Hill on his show and his network has worked overtime to try to rehabilitate the Democrat’s tarnished reputation. Page Six’s Oli Coleman reported Saturday that Stelter and...

In liberal billionaire presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s attempt to buy the White House, recent data show that he’s averaging tens of millions of dollars spent plastering the airwaves and the internet with ads. Advertising Analytics’ latest report revealed that the liberal billionaire 2020 candidate has been spending an average of $37.4 million on TV, radio and digital media per week since he announced his candidacy in November 2019. There was one qualifier: “[H]e [Bloomberg] was only off air the week of Christmas.” [Emphasis added.] The report noted that Bloomberg “has nearly doubled the cumulative total” spending of the Democratic field,...

HOW TO INSTALL THE AR-15 LOWER PARTS KITInstalling the lower parts kit in your AR-15's lower receiver should take less than two hours for first-time builders. This guide will illustrate how to perform each assembly and install step with pictures and written instructions. We strongly recommend finding the right tools before you get started, lest you end up with missing roll pins and springs that flew off into the carpet, never to be found again (you don't want to put a pause on your install half-way through). This guide is applicable for both a finished 80% lower (AR-15, AR9, and...

Top Republican: 'There won’t be a report' from John Durham Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News last week what he believes will come out of the secretive inquiry, often called the "investigation into the investigators." “This is not going to be a Mueller report; there won’t be a report,” the Georgia Republican said, referring to former special counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report. Collins said he believes the public will hear about the progress Durham has made when there is an indictment. “When he’s ready to charge people, he’ll charge people," Collins said....

Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by Barry Goldwater. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. Barry Goldwater was one of the most Constitution-adhering politician and 1964 Republican presidential candidate, whose views birthed the start of another principled constitutionalist, Ronald Reagan. All hints, along with the answer, are provided in the first reply comment below, using filtered font to prevent accidental spoilers. Please refrain from disclosing the full answer in comments to prevent spoilers.To solve the puzzle: Enter the letters in the top half (letter columns) of the puzzle into the...

Amy Berman-Jackson, the judge who presided over the trial of President Trump's friend Roger Stone, rejected his lawyers' request that she recuse herself from deciding whether Stone is entitled to a new trial. Since Stone was convicted it has been discovered that Tomeka Hart, the jury foreman at the trial, was a prolific anti-Trump tweeter and poster prior to being selected as a juror. Seth Ginsberg, an attorney for Stone, argued that "such a biased person should not have been allowed on the jury. It is the prospective juror's duty to reveal any prejudices she might have toward the defendant...

In Memoriam… Eight years ago today we lost Andrew Breitbart. Three weeks before his death he delivered a message that still resonates today.

A Tulsa man uses his nearly quarter-million-dollar car to show support for President Trump. There's no hiding Steve Currington's political stance. Currington, who also goes by Lambro Steve, put a pro-Trump wrap on his $240,000 Lamborghini a couple weeks ago. He's driven it all around Oklahoma and says he purposely made it over the top to get a reaction out of people. "I just wanted a picture of Trump that was funny. I have a lot of humor in my life, and I felt like that was him going 'Haha! I'm winning!'" he said. Currington has all different nods to...

Woo hoo!! It's $8k to reach the yellow this week, then a mad dash to the green!! Click and git 'er done!! Thank you very much!! God bless.

Fr. James Martin: Pope Francis supports LGBT, wants to ‘move on’ from abortion The Jesuit's recorded talk at a liberal parish was peppered with justifications for homosexual ministry and criticism of 'fundamentalist' Catholics. MINNEAPOLIS, February 25, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― An LGBT activist priest told an audience in a dissident Catholic parish that Pope Francis supports his LGBT ministry and that the pontiff wants the Church to “move on” from its fight against abortion.  Fr. James Martin, S.J. was recorded giving these and other illuminating thoughts on January 9 during a talk at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in...

Iran has been accused of failing to clamp down on coronavirus contamination after alarming videos of worshippers licking a shrine emerged online. Clips shared on social media show people licking the doors and burial mound inside the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom, defying token advice by the health ministry. Worshippers in the videos brazenly state they 'don't care what happens', even if they catch or spread the infection which has killed at least 54 in the country. Iran's hardline clerical establishment has refused to shut down Qom despite the holy city suffering the brunt of the outbreak and pilgrims spreading...

Two recent letters to this newspaper have reminded readers of Richard Nixon’s actions during the Vietnam War: how he escalated the terrible conflict and expanded it into Cambodia and Laos before finally agreeing to the long overdue settlement that ended it. The year of 1968 was unforgettable to history. There were so many events happening then: the war in Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the Tet Offensive, the riots after King’s murder, the unrest at the Democratic convention after Kennedy’s slaying where Humphrey took the nomination from Eugene McCarthy, the presidential campaign between...

Employees at Bloomberg LP allege that Mike Bloomberg allowed a toxic work culture where he called a woman 'dog face', allowed an editor to continual give female staffers massages and is now championing the woman he allegedly called 'fat' in his presidential candidate campaign. Those who spoke out against the alleged workplace abuse were repeatedly ignored. Bloomberg's presidential dreams appeared to hit a very abrupt snag during the Nevada Democratic Debate when Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused him of allowing discrimination and sexual behavior at his 1981 company. He vehemently denied it, saying: 'I have no tolerance for the kind of...