Free Republic

California’s Legislature is considering a wealth tax on residents, part-year residents, and any person who spends more than 60 days inside the state’s borders in a single year. Even those who move out of state would continue to be subject to the tax for a decade—a provision that calls to mind the Eagles’ famous “Hotel California” lyric: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” The California Constitution probably allows a statewide wealth tax on residents, but any effort to create a tax capable of reaching across state borders is likely to run afoul of...

Is it time for Joe Biden to start hiring a food taster? Seems the buildup is out there for Kamala Harris to become the Democrats' next president. Take the word of professional bloviator, Tom Friedman, President Obama's past and maybe present golf buddy, who wrote a particularly ridiculous New York Times column, headlined: Kamala Harris Deserves a More Important Job SNIP Too smart? This person who couldn't get into a top tier university even with a dad who taught at Stanford? Who flunked the California bar? Who giggled like this when asked if she was a socialist? 'Smart' isn't the...

With two vaccines ready for mass distribution, Democrats have announced that skin color will play an important role in deciding who gets first dibs. In 1969, when Charles Manson’s followers brutally murdered seven people, their goal was to create racial tensions sufficient to spark a race war (“Helter Skelter”). With their current approach to the COVID vaccine, one based on race, not need, the Democrats apparently hope to continue what Charles Manson started. SNIP Americans will understand making decisions based upon societal needs and health risks. But if you want to bring Charles Manson’s Helter Skelter to fruition, the Democrats...

“‘Dr. Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title ‘Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.’ A wise man once said that no one should call himself “Dr.” unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc.” (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 11, 2020.)Alas, no such “feelings of fraudulence” pricked at the conscience of the regime whose lifetime craving was the destruction of...

Democrats’ reverence for criminals and their disdain for the working class hits peak insanity under Minnesota’s Governor Walz. Across America, the Wuhan virus has allowed Democrats to implement some of their long-desired plans for “reforming” America in a properly Marxist mold. One of the most hallowed plans, which academia promotes, is “de-incarceration” (i.e., ending prisons). The other one, although it’s kept hush-hush, is to end that pesky, morality-driven, hard-working, freedom-loving middle class. Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz is working on both issues, with disastrous results for good people. That’s why this arrogant societal manipulation could soon prove to be the Democrats’...

Today, America finds itself in a place not so different from what the thirteen colonies faced 246 years ago. In 1776, 56 brave patriots signed their names at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence — a document that spelled out the specifics as to why the thirteen colonies were making a break with England and King George. Signing that document was treason against the British, and every single man, some with names you know — Benjamin Franklin, Sam Adams, and of course John Hancock — and some you may not, such as Thomas McKean, Button Gwinnett, and Arthur Middleton,...

The novel begins with Rubashov's arrest at his flat in the middle of the night, an arrest he had been expecting: he is dreaming of being arrested when he is awakened by the knock at his door. *snip* During the course of the novel, Rubashov is questioned by two interrogators: his former friend, the sophisticated and worldly Ivanov, and a younger man, the thuggish Neanderthal Gletkin (a character who is thought to have inspired Winston Smith’s tormentor O’Brien in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four). His first interrogator, Ivanov, tells Rubashov: “There are only two conceptions of human ethics, and they are at...

Forcing Donald Trump from the presidency while half of all likely voters believe the election was stolen from him (including a stunning one-third of Democrats) would backfire on Washington spectacularly. Even as the president's legal team continues to dispute election results in battleground states with large numbers of questionable mail-in ballots and election anomalies, Establishment Washington is pushing Donald Trump out the door. What it failed to accomplish through four years of Deep State sabotage and bipartisan efforts at thwarting the MAGA agenda, the D.C. Club may have finally succeeded through good old-fashioned vote fraud. The District of Corruption is...

Throughout his presidency, President Donald Trump seemed to consider himself better suited for a throne than the Oval Office. But judging by his all-hours tweeting, it’s possible the only throne he could find was made of porcelain. So perhaps it's no surprise that after spending four years denying climate change and rolling back environmental protections, one of his last moves as his administration circles the drain is to mandate that showers and dishwashers be allowed to use excessive amounts of water. Unlike his regulatory rollbacks at the Environmental Protection Agency, where the polluters who helped elect Trump simply handed him...

WASHINGTON - The definition of a scandal changes quickly in Washington. Over the course of four years, the nation’s capital has careened from crisis to crisis. There was the travel ban, the investigation into Russian interference in an election, the firing of an FBI director, a 35-day government shutdown, dismissals of Cabinet secretaries via tweet, impeachment and a historic pandemic that forced the president to be hospitalized. And then there was the Glamour interview. Jen O’Malley Dillon, President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign manager and incoming deputy chief of staff, referred to congressional Republicans as “f——ers” in a conversation with the magazine....

Reviewing the history of pandemics, including the three Black Plagues of Africa (541 A.D.), Asia/Crimea (1347), and China (1894), we find that neither ancient nor modern medicine has produced a "cure" for Yersinia pestis. From 1918 to 1920, the "Spanish Flu," a distant cousin of COVID-19, "jumped species" (bird to human) and killed 50 million worldwide, including approximately 675,000 in the USA. Again, no cure was ever found — just resilient human genes. An enlightening 1998 PBS documentary (Influenza 1918) contained conclusions from health care professionals regarding the effectiveness of face masks. Here's a segment from the 20-page original transcript....

Russia was "pretty clearly" behind a devastating cyber attack on several US government agencies that also hit targets worldwide, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Microsoft said late Thursday that it had notified more than 40 customers hit by the malware, which security experts say could allow attackers unfettered network access to key government systems and electric power grids and other utilities. "There was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of US government systems," Pompeo told The Mark Levin Show on Friday. "This was a very significant effort, and I think...

Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's outgoing administration is planning to close the two remaining US consulates in Russia, media reports said Friday, as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office amid high tensions with Moscow. The US will close its consulate in the far eastern city of Vladivostok and suspend operations at its post in Yekaterinburg, CNN reported, citing a December 10 letter sent to Congress from the State Department. The move comes in "response to ongoing staffing challenges for the US Mission in Russia in the wake of the 2017 Russian-imposed personnel cap on the US Mission and the...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 233 judges confirmed. 3 Trade Court judges 173 District Court judges 54 Circuit Court judges 3 Supreme Court justices This week the Senate confirmed Thomas Kirsch, Trump's 54th Circuit judge in less than four years. Obama had 55 in EIGHT years. There are four District judges left on the floor. The remaining judges in committee will expire with the Congress, pretty much all are worthless anyway. The only judge still in committee that SHOULD be confirmed is 1st Circuit nominee Raul Arias-Marxuach. He was brought in for a hearing on Wednesday...

On Thursday, Dec. 17, Trump supporters started flooding social media with claims that a woman named Ruby Freeman had been arrested by the FBI for crimes related to election fraud in Atlanta, Georgia. "Ruby Freeman (the Democrat suitcase blonde-braid woman in GA) has been arrested! She has acknowledged to law enforcement and investigators her role in the Fulton County methods of GOP witness complaints and the after hours ballot scheme count," wrote Mona Fishman, a Trump supporter, on Twitter. The rumor included additional claims of Freeman intentionally "mishandling" ballots, implicating Dominion officials for their role in the alleged election fraud...

Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi trained or fought with an Islamist militia in Libya... His cousin Abderahman Forjani told police Abedi travelled to Libya during its 2011 revolution and "obtained a job locating Gaddafi supporters". Abedi had been involved in "raids during that period" and images showed him with weapons, rocket launchers and military vehicles, a court heard. ... The inquiry into the attack was told police concluded Abedi had been involved with the February 17th Martyrs Brigade. The information was revealed during the evidence of Det Ch Supt Simon Barraclough, from Greater Manchester Police, who was the senior investigating...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Peter Navarro releases 36-page report alleging election fraud 'more than sufficient' to swing victory to Trump https://washex.am/3nwaBCe. A great report by Peter. Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!

WASHINGTON, D.C. December 15, 2020 – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) today urged immediate action from Facebook to eradicate anti-Muslim bigotry from the platform and demanded Mark Zuckerberg implement six measures to combat bigoted content. In a letter signed by 29 colleagues, Dingell cited instances of anti-Muslim content on Facebook and recent reports showing the role of the platform in inciting violence against the Muslim community. “Facebook cannot celebrate the success of its platform, while ignoring its role in elevating the dangerous, deadly content targeting Muslim people,” said Congresswoman Dingell. “In Christchurch, New Zealand, a terrorist attack that stole the lives...

A motorbike loaded with explosives blew up in east Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 11 people at a religious ceremony, officials said. "The explosives detonated at a gathering in Gilan district of Ghazni province," said provincial governor's spokesman Waheedullah Jumazada, adding that at least 11 people were killed and 20 wounded. He said the wounded included children. Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian confirmed the blast at a house where a Quran recitation was being held, but said 15 people were killed. No group immediately claimed the attack. Taliban and Afghan government forces have regularly clashed in Ghazni. ...

@RandPaulLBJ biographer Robert Caro on election fraud: "Johnson received the votes of the dead, the halt, the missing and those who were unaware that an election was going on.” Sound familiar? How Johnson Won Election He'd Lost - The New York Times (1990)