Free Republic

State Dining Room  4:18 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much, everybody.  A lot of progress is being made, as you see.  And we’re reopening our country, and it’s very exciting.  And it should have never happened.  This plague should never have happened.  It could have been stopped, but people chose not to stop it.  It’s a very sad thing for the world — 184 countries, at least.But it’s a great honor to have you with us, friends of mine who have been truly great business leaders and are great business leaders.  And you’re opening up your company...

Kamala Harris’ first significant political role was an appointment by her powerful then-boyfriend Willie Brown, three decades her senior, to a California medical board that has been criticized as a landing spot for patronage jobs and kickbacks. Then 30, Harris was dating 60-year-old Willie Brown, at the time the Democratic speaker of the California State Assembly, when he placed her on the California Medical Assistance Commission in 1994. The position paid over $70,000 per year, $120,700 in current money, and Harris served on the board until 1998. The medical commission met twice a month, and Harris, a United States senator...

Families are the foundation of our communities and our country.  All children deserve a stable, supportive, and loving home in which to grow, thrive, and realize their full potential.  During National Foster Care Month, we honor the selfless men and women who open their homes to nurture at-risk children and promote healing, unification, and family-based empowerment.Foster care plays a critical role in providing young people who have had to be removed from their homes a critical place of refuge.  It is an invaluable resource for keeping children safe in temporary circumstances and providing stability, direction, and comfort to our...

A South Los Angeles pastor was arrested Tuesday outside the home of Mayor Eric Garcetti on suspicion of felony stalking after several days of demonstrating on the Windsor Square block.

Older Americans are cherished and invaluable members of our society, deserving our utmost respect, gratitude, and admiration.  During Older Americans Month, we pause to draw upon the wisdom, spirit, and experience older adults bring to our families, our communities, and our Nation.  We also recognize that during this time of crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we can persevere and prevail by emulating the resolve, tenacity, and determination of America’s more experienced individuals who have endured and overcome life’s most challenging times.Older Americans have built our economy, defended our freedom, and shaped our Nation’s character.  They have raised families and...

Many on the left have accused originalism of being nothing but a cover for conservatives’ preferred policy outcomes, but Vermeule’s proposal illustrates how restrained originalists have been. “The Republic” often alarms first-time readers. Not only is Plato’s dialogic style foreign to us, the character of Socrates makes bizarre and even wicked proposals as he outlines a supposed ideal polity, such as a communism not only of property, but also of wives and children. Many readers, including some philosophers, have taken Plato literally and seriously, and therefore condemned him as a proto-totalitarian. Something similar seems to have happened in response to...

PROTECTING OUR OLDER PEOPLE: President Donald J. Trump is ensuring the safety and well-being of America’s seniors during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. President Trump is making sure our senior citizens remain safe and have access to the healthcare resources they need during the coronavirus pandemic.In addition to the supplies we have already distributed, FEMA will send supplemental shipments of personal protective equipment to all 15,400 Medicaid and Medicare-certified nursing homes in America.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing States with $81 million from the CARES Act to increase their inspections of nursing homes at this...

TGIFF! Its Fiddle Friday and we have Little Nancy Rowland by Howdy Forrester. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

In 2014, The Atlantic wrote a piece by Conor Friedersdorf entitled, “In Defense of Naked Joe Biden.” Friedersdorf objected to what appeared to be leaks from the U.S. Secret Service about Biden’s behavior when he’s out of the public eye. Author Ronald Kessler wrote in his book, The First Family Detail, that “Agents say that, whether at the vice president’s residence or at his home in Delaware, Biden has a habit of swimming in his pool nude. Female Secret Service agents find the behavior offensive.” It’s not okay that Harvey Weinstein did it. It’s not okay that Charlie Rose did...

“Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit” (Proverbs 1:12 KJV).

On Sunday, Andrew Adonis, a member of Britain's House of Lords and onetime cabinet minister, took aim at the idea that the coronavirus pandemic was causing a crisis of capitalism.

Pritzker’s edicts allow people to stand in line to buy whiskey at a liquor store (and pay the taxes) but forbids them to kneel together in a church. One day he reacts angrily, defensively when he’s challenged by legitimate questions — like where his wife has been during the stay-at-home order. And at other times he speaks in soft tones, a billionaire who never worried about paying his bills, wanting to be liked. Even watching him on screen at his carefully stage-managed daily news briefings, you get a troubling sense of softness there, like watching John Travolta play gangster John...

A tourist walked into a pet shop and was looking at the animals on display. While he was there, another customer walked in and said to the shopkeeper, "I'll have an AutoCAD monkey please." The shopkeeper nodded, went over to a cage at the side of the shop and took out a monkey. He fitted a collar and leash, handed it to the customer, saying, "That'll be $5000." The customer paid and walked out with his monkey. Startled, the tourist went over to the shopkeeper and said, "That was a very expensive monkey. Most of them are only few hundred...

It’s May 1st, also known as “Labour” Day or International Workers' Day around the world. Governor Grunhilda (GG) celebrated by extending her lockdown order through May 28th, thus insuring that the workers remain free to become wards of the state rather than work. GG seems to have adopted the Irish Labour Party’s motto, which I’m guessing means something other than the obvious in Ireland Most Michigan workers were not amused, nor was the State legislature which is controlled by Republicans, normally considered the anti-worker party: Republicans in the legislature are threatening to create an oversight committee to investigate the lockdowns;...

Special Dispatch to the New-York Times. CHARESTON, Monday, April 30. Upon the adoption of the Minority Platform, the delegations from Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas and Florida, embodying 37 1/2 votes, retired from the Convention, after filing with the Clerk protests which had evidently been prepared with great care in advance.

Humorless, intolerant leftist academics are a force to be reckoned with on many college campuses, and a new case at the University of North Texas (UNT) pushes the envelope. After earning his PhD in mathematics from Baylor University in spring 2019, Nathaniel Hiers found employment at UNT. He began teaching full-time as an adjunct faculty member in the fall semester—three sections of linear algebra and one of calculus. The mathematics department thought highly enough of Dr. Hiers that, in November, it notified him that he was invited to renew his contract for the coming semester. Hiers promptly emailed back to...

The media and Democrats were enraged when Brett Kavanaugh warned that their unethical behavior against him might have consequences. They should have listened. Brett Kavanaugh was a very difficult Supreme Court nominee for liberals to oppose. He had a stellar reputation, an impeccable record, and a genial disposition. While members of the Resistance held a protest on the steps of the Supreme Court minutes after President Trump announced him as the pick to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, their early efforts to keep him off the bench showed little promise. All that changed in mid-September 2018, when the Washington...

Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday that his preliminary plan for easing COVID-19 restrictions would permit businesses to reopen to varying degrees on May 20, assuming the increased availability of testing and a continued reduction in hospitalizations and illnesses due to the novel coronavirus. The governor said that hospitalizations fell for an eighth consecutive day, a key metric. But his advisers warned that social distancing and other protective measures would continue indefinitely to guard against a resurgence of a disease blamed for 2,257 deaths in Connecticut. There were 933 new cases and 89 deaths recorded Thursday, reminders that the state must...

Ramadan is upon us, and many Americans -- not least the millions who were denied church access during Easter -- are wondering: will mosques experience the same ban or will the usual double standard prevail? Among those wondering is America’s president, Donald Trump. Recently asked at a press briefing why he retweeted a tweet by author Paul Sperry -- “Let's see if authorities enforce the social-distancing orders for mosques during Ramadan (April 23-May 23) like they did churches during Easter” -- Trump said: I would like to see that… I would say there could be a difference. But we’ll have...

Every year May Day is used to mark many things - from the coming of spring in the Northern Hemisphere to the fight for workers' rights. This year many rallies have been scaled back because of coronavirus lockdowns, although some have taken place on the streets and online. Here are some of the events that have marked the day.