Free Republic

Former President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated second impeachment trial began on Tuesday, just a little more than a month following the riot at the U.S. Capitol Building during Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results. In his opening statements, lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) played a video montage of the events that occurred on January 6, including the speech by Donald Trump in which he encouraged his supporters to march to protest the results at the Capitol. Shortly after the montage aired and began working its way across the internet, Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) tweeted footage claiming it...

Staff ReportState lawmakers brushed aside criticism from government accountability groups and citizens this week, moving forward with a bill that would extend the process of sending unrequested ballots to all registrants on California’s poorly maintained voter rolls. In a letter of opposition, the Election Integrity Project California (EIPCa) included the preliminary numbers of deceased or relocated individuals who actually “voted,” an indication of irregularities and potential fraud. “In November 2020, well over 440,000 questionable ballots were sent to registrants likely deceased or moved, and that 24,000 registrants were sent 2 or more ballots,” Ruth Weiss, EIPCa director of legislative oversight...

Photo via Gage SkidmoreRecently, RedState reported on a CNN article that included a very interesting passage regarding the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who passed sometime after the Capitol riot on January 6th. Though a story that he had been beaten to death by a fire extinguisher had spread far and wide in the media, it turns out that an investigation found no signs of trauma on his body, nor have investigators been able to find any video of him sustaining wounds that could have taken his life. The latest theory by investigators is that he may have...

The clauses in the Constitution governing expulsion and exclusion from Congress, impeachment, disqualification from public office, and pardons are obscure and have rarely been interpreted by Congress or the courts. Yet these clauses are interrelated and can lead to striking and provocative conclusions. Any member of Congress who assisted the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol can be not only expelled from Congress but also excluded upon reelection. Short of conviction by the Senate in the impeachment trial, former President Trump can be disqualified from holding any federal or state office if the Senate makes a finding of fact that...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R–Utah) recently introduced a universal child allowance in an effort to reform federal welfare programs. That goal is worthy, but his means would be counterproductive. For all intents and purposes, he's proposing a kid-centric version of entrepreneur and aspiring politician Andrew Yang's "basic income." According to Romney's summary of his own plan, "The Family Security Act would provide a monthly cash benefit for families, amounting to $350 a month for each young child, and $250 a month for each school-aged child." To his credit, the senator's new proposed entitlement wouldn't be unfunded. Romney would "pay for" the...

David Ismay, the Baker administration $130,000-a-year climate change undersecretary, has resigned “immediately” citing his incendiary comments. In a resignation letter he shared with the Herald today, Ismay writes: “It is with great regret that I submit my resignation, effectively immediately, from the position of Undersecretary for Climate Change in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.” The resignation letter is addressed to his boss, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides, and is dated Wednesday, Feb. 10. Ismay heads out the door after a series of questionable comments about forcing homeowners, motorists and fishermen to prepare for hard...

By the time America gets back to work, and traffic jams, gas prices under the Biden administration could be heading back to $4 thanks to new climate regulations, the president’s shutdown of energy mining on federal lands, and overseas production cuts. Industry experts believe that as the coronavirus vaccine becomes widely available, offices will start to fill up, as will gas stations. But the supply may not be there because of production cutbacks, Biden’s new rules, and moves overseas to slow production to match low usage. The result could be an “oil price trap” for the new president, according to...

It’s impossible to watch Tom Brady‘s tequila-induced Lombardi Trophy throw without feeling that same visceral unease triggered by peering over the ledge of a tall building. The pit in the stomach gets even larger when considering a couple of basic realities. First, that was the real trophy, not some replica or replacement given to players for partying purposes. Second, as Simms (who lived in Tampa) pointed out on Thursday’s PFT Live, the water in that area of the Hillsborough River is 80 feet deep.

At American Experiment.org, my colleague Isaac Orr demolishes the Green New Deal fantasy. One basic problem is that wind turbines don’t work when the weather gets cold, which can be fatal in the North, especially when we are experiencing a brutal cold snap: Temperatures are below zero in many parts of the state, but wind energy is missing in action. According to data from the regional grid operator, the wind is providing just 1 percent of the current electricity on the grid, and solar is providing just 0.31 percent. Coal currently accounts for 55 percent of generation, natural gas accounts...

The San Francisco Unified School District's Board of Education has recently been criticized for several decisions, including possibly renaming 44 schools and voting to do away with the merit-based admissions system at Lowell High School. The board made its latest controversial decision on Tuesday night, when it rejected a parent volunteer who was supposed to be appointed to the Parent Advisory Council. The reason: his race. Seth Brenzel is a white, gay man. The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) tried to defend its selection of Brenzel as a possible new member during Tuesday's school board meeting. The PAC advises the board...

I was listening to Conservative morning AM radio in Chicago this morning and a guest talked about his group of resisters against the Illinois Governor's lock down of Illinois restaurants. His group is 'REBEL DINERS'. Each week, more and more diners join his group and have dinners at restaurants that are struggling with all of the restrictions. 👍 🇺🇸 He is encouraging people to form similar groups nationwide. ABOUT REBEL DINERS The Illinois Governor announced on October 20th, 2020 that a new round of stronger restrictions going into place that Friday. All six counties surrounding Chicago will not allow indoor...

The latest finds were made during preliminary studies of the area, before 18 months of full archaeological excavations are expected to begin later this year, Leivers said. Foremost among the latest finds are several graves, unearthed just to the southwest of the Stonehenge circle, that are thought to be from the Beaker culture, which is named after their practice of burying the dead with bell-shaped pottery drinking vessels. The Beaker people lived in Western Europe between 4,800 and 3,800 years ago, beginning in the Chalcolithic period when the first copper tools came into use. In one of the graves., the...

KEESEVILLE — State troopers disguised as construction workers issued 26 tickets Tuesday in the “Operation Hard Hat” initiative on the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87) near the Clinton-Essex County line. The New York State Police Troop B and state Department of Transportation announced the news Thursday. Operation Hard Hat is a joint initiative of the two agencies to crack down on work zone violations and highlight the importance of safe driving through active construction and maintenance zones. They say this initiative, like past ones, was successful, and they plan to do more later this summer.

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell was ridiculed online on Wednesday after she tried calling Sen. Ted Cruz out on a literary reference, only to get it wrong herself. While speaking about the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump on America's Newsroom, Cruz referenced Shakespeare, saying 'It's reminiscent of Shakespeare [in] that it is full of sound and fury, and yet signifying nothing.' The line is from Macbeth, one of the most famous plays William Shakespeare ever wrote.

BREAKING: President Biden has terminated the "national emergency" at the southern border first declared by Trump in 2019 and says “no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall.” — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 11, 2021 JUST IN – Biden ends the state of emergency – declared by Trump – on the border with Mexico. — Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) February 11, 2021

CNBC is reporting that Americans are growing angry with Democrats over a proposal to shift income thresholds that might disqualify millions from a new round of $1,400 stimulus checks. The network states that “dozens of people” reached out to them to express frustration that Congress is considering lowering the income eligibility threshold for the third round of stimulus payments. ... “Many … say Democrats would be reneging on their campaign promise to provide $2,000 in direct relief payments to struggling Americans if they send them to fewer people,” they write. Last week news surfaced that some Democrats and President Biden...

Yet few of our leaders are very worried about the existential crises left unaddressed by their obsessions with the ghost of Trump. Take the debt. It is now nearly $28 trillion, and it is growing by almost $2 trillion a year. No one in D.C. talks about reducing the annual budget deficit. Nor do officials find ways to balance the budget. The idea of paying off the monstrous debt remains a fantasy.

Maybe it’s just me, but I am starting to come to the conclusion that Nancy Pelosi just doesn’t like former President Donald Trump. She seems to have been the driving force behind Trump Impeachment II.Jeff Charles of RedState calls it: “the Democrats’ new production of ‘An Impeachment Story Part II: Maybe It’ll Work This Time.’”Impeachment is a Constitutional provision to potentially remove a sitting president. But, of course, now Trump is a private citizen. Where is the Chief Justice? He is supposed to preside over a legitimate impeachment hearing. But Chief Roberts will have nothing to do with this farce.Kentucky...

House Democrats have blocked an amendment that would have banned American taxpayers' stimulus funds from going to entities that are controlled or owned by the Chinese Communist Party. The budget amendment was introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). It sought to ban money from Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package from going to entities tied to communist China.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a new study on face masks Wednesday, touting the benefits of individuals wearing two masks instead of one to prevent transmission of the novel Wuhan coronavirus. The study, conducted entirely on mannequin models in a controlled environment, not any human subjects, concluded double masking was about 95 percent effective at reducing particle transmission. Then came the typical culprits taking a single study that promotes their narrative to amplify its findings across the internet. CNN followed suit, along with the Washington Post, the New York Times, and all the rest. The study, not based...