Free Republic

In the wake of Russia’s misadventure in Ukraine and the United States’ and NATO’s likewise disastrous pullout from Afghanistan, it’s worth speculating: is it possible that militaries can destroy things, devastate territory, and kill people but not control them? It may be that a unit of combat power has come to cost too much for them to purchase enough units to do the job. That is, the tendency among military professionals, civilian officials, and lawmakers is to procure the latest shiny bauble in small numbers rather than unglamorous, lower-tech implements in bulk.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that President Joe Biden was “confident” his son Hunter Biden did not break the law. Anchor George Stephanopoulos said, “We know the Justice Department is intensifying its investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son. I assume the president has had no contact with the Justice Department about that?”

Editor’s Commentary: There was a time not so long ago when I would lambast “Chicken Littles” for claiming we’re on the verge of an economic collapse. I’ve been hearing it for decades and I’ve made a habit of pushing back. Even as recently as 2020, I railed against those who were buying up all the face masks, flour, and hand sanitizer because I thought the unhinged reaction to the pandemic was destructive, not to mention my annoyance of having to go to the grocery store several days in a row to find out they still had no toilet paper. This...

(There's a video at the site)Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said Russia has already experienced a “strategic defeat” in its invasion of Ukraine. “If you step back and look at this, this has already been a dramatic strategic setback for Russia, and I would say a strategic defeat,” Blinken told co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked about additional sanctions the U.S. may impose on Russia. Blinken said Russia has already failed in the three main goals it had at the start of its invasion of Ukraine. “They had three aims going into this....

The more contagious omicron subvariant BA.2 has become the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S., but international health experts are putting an increased focus on a new hybrid variant that may even be more infectious. The XE variant is a recombinant, meaning it is comprised of genetic material from two other strains, which in this case are BA.1, the original strain of omicron, and BA.2, known as "stealth omicron." According to an epidemiological update published March 29 by the World Health Organization, estimates show XE is 10% more transmissible than BA.2, however the findings require further confirmation.

A new report claims President Joe Biden has told people he wants former President Donald Trump to be prosecuted.The leak was published in the New York Times on Saturday as Democrats mount increasing pressure on the Justice Department to take action against Trump and people within his orbit in relation to the Capitol riot. At focus are Attorney General Merrick Garland and his "deliberative approach," as the report put it, which is causing frustration.

For about 10 minutes this week, it was like the good old days for state-run media — they thought they had finally gaffed him this time, Donald J. Trump, the great orange whale that the Captain Ahabs of fake news have been pursuing all these years. Gaps in the White House phone logs of Jan. 6! Worse than Watergate! It was a bombshell, the walls were closing in, it was a turning point, a tipping point, breaking news, the beginning of the end, whistleblowers, dark clouds, monumental implications, a watershed. Until, as always, it wasn’t. Instead it was yet another...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Sunday said he is concerned about the more than seven-hour gap in then-President Trump’s phone logs from Jan. 6, 2021, at around the time when the deadly attack on the Capitol was taking place. Asked by co-anchor Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union” if he agrees with a federal judge’s ruling that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election were likely criminal, Hogan said he did not have sufficient information to make a legal determination, but did claim that Trump “was involved in stirring up” the violent riot.

The large NATO ‘eastern flank’ country of Poland now says it’s “open” to hosting nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Russian aggression. A fresh weekend statement from Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Jaroslaw Kaczynski urged a tougher united Western stance against Moscow. Specifically he said Poland stands open and ready to deploy US nuclear weapons on its soil. This is the same ruling party politician who previously called for a NATO ‘peacekeeping’ mission in Ukraine, which other Western leaders have rejected given it would mean a direct shooting war with Russia. “The eastern flank must be much better protected in...

The U.S. Department of Justice task force targeting assets of Russian oligarchs has seen evidence of attempts to evade those sanctions or move assets in anticipation of possible sanctions, the unit's chief said on Friday.Andrew Adams, a veteran prosecutor tapped to lead the department's new "KleptoCapture" force last month, told Reuters in an interview that the level of cooperation between countries on probes into oligarchs' ill-gotten gains had reached an "all-time high" in the wake of Russia's assault on Ukraine -- potentially helping prosecutors track down their efforts to hide wealth....The unit's name is a play on the word "kleptocracy,"...

Western officials expressed outrage on Sunday at videos and images emerging from Bucha, a town near Kyiv, that appeared to show civilian bodies scattered on the streets after Russia withdrew its troops from the area in recent days. Footage posted by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and photographs from The New York Times and Agence France-Presse showed the bodies of men in civilian clothes lying on the streets of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv. Images show some bodies with their hands bound behind their back. Russia’s Ministry of Defense called the images “staged,” saying in a statement Sunday that “not a single” civilian...

BUCHA, Ukraine — The Russian forces that were intent on overwhelming Kyiv at the war’s start with tanks and artillery retreated under fire across a broad front on Saturday, leaving behind them dead soldiers and burned vehicles, according to witnesses, Ukrainian officials, satellite images and military analysts. The withdrawal suggested the possibility of a major turn in the six-week war — the collapse, at least for now, of Russia’s initial attempt to seize Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and the end of its hopes for the quick subjugation of the nation. Moscow has described the withdrawal as a tactical move to...

“Nowadays, you go out there and you see people from Colorado, from Utah, from Texas,” said Salazar, who lives on the west side of Mount Taylor, which is considered a prime shed-hunting area in northwestern New Mexico. It’s no wonder. Although antlers are not easy to find, they’re essentially money on the ground. A fresh, brown antler from a bull elk, for example, can fetch as much as $18 a pound. “If it’s got some super big size to it ... I’m gonna pay pretty much whatever the [shed hunter] is crazy enough to ask for it if I’m crazy...

February 27, 2022 was senior day at the University of Connecticut. In honor of their senior Dorka Juhász, who is from Hungary, the national anthem of Hungary was played prior to the playing of the United States national anthem. The players were all on the court. That's class. The South Carolina women's basketball team plays UConn today for the National Championship. I am a UConn fan but regardless of who was playing South Carolina, I'd want UNSC to lose. Led by its coach Dawn Staley, the UNSC women's team hates the United States of America and refuse to stand or...

THE Bold and the Beautiful fans were left in shock after Finn was shot during Friday’s episode. The cliffhanger ending has viewers fearing the worst, that Finn is dead and actor Tanner Novlan is leaving the series. Fans had been worried that Steffy Forrester, played by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, would be exiting the soap, but now many are concerned it’s actually her husband Finn who might be departing. Dr. John "Finn" Finnegan told his villainess mother, Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), he'd consider giving her a chance down the road to have somewhat of a relationship with him, but that didn't...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Police say six people are dead and at least ten others have been injured after a shooting early Sunday morning in downtown Sacramento. Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference that police were patrolling the area at about 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire. When they arrived at the scene, they found a large crowd gathered on the street and six people dead. Another 10 either took themselves or were transported to hospitals. Authorities don't know whether one or more suspects were involved and are asking for the public's help in identifying who is...

President Biden wants his Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute former President Donald Trump and people within his orbit over the January 6 Capitol Riot, and has expressed frustration in private over the AG’s lack of action on the issue. “As recently as late last year, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, according to two people familiar with his comments,” the New York Times reported Saturday. “And while the president has never communicated his frustrations directly to Mr. Garland, he has said...

TROSTYANETS/LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin threatened on Thursday to halt contracts supplying Europe with a third of its gas unless they are paid in roubles, his strongest economic riposte so far to crushing Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine. The continent’s biggest recipient of Russian gas, Germany, called the ultimatum for Friday “blackmail”. But Moscow did offer a mechanism for buyers to obtain roubles by sending foreign currency to a Russian bank. The energy showdown has huge ramifications. Europe wants to wean itself off Russian energy but that risks further inflating soaring fuel prices. Russia has...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the Democratic Party finds itself in a nervous place heading into the midterm elections, blaming a messaging problem for the public’s lack of knowledge on the positives coming out of the Biden White House. “I do think handwringing is part of the Democratic DNA. That seems to be in style whether we’re in or out of power,” Clinton told Chuck Todd on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning. “We’re in power, and there still is handwringing going on.” Clinton said the Republican Party “has now gone to the extreme and are saying...

The SPD leadership also wants to discuss a possible solution for the controversial vaccination obligation at its closed meeting which began today. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wrote today on Twitter after the start of the retreat, "among other things, compromises on the general vaccination obligation with the other democratic parties in the Bundestag are being worked on." The Bundestag is to discuss on Thursday finally on the vaccination obligation, a decision for one of the country's currently discussed different models is not currently foreseeable...