Free Republic

Presidential Address

Amid a renewed debate over gun control after the Texas and Buffalo mass shootings, Pennsylvania Republican governor candidate Doug Mastriano is defending and amplifying past comments comparing gun restrictions to policies in Nazi Germany under Adolph Hitler. On May 31, The Forward, an independent Jewish publication, published a story with a video showing Mastriano making the comparison during a 2018 Republican candidates forum for the then-13th Congressional District. “It’s appalling to me anytime there’s a shooting the left will jump on that as a way to advance an agenda to remove our right to bear arms,” Mastriano said. Doug Mastriano...

What do the movies "Street Car Named Desire" and "Gone with the Wind" have in common? They both won an Academy Award for Vivian Leigh, the protagonist in both movies. But there are even more striking similarities. Vivian Leigh (an English actress) basically plays the same character in both movies: a coquette-like, love-smitten Southern Belle. The only real difference is that as Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" stood up to a harsh world, Blanch Dubois in "A Streetcar Named Desire" was brought down and crushed by the same world. Both characters revered landed property and the high manner...

Graham Filler, a state legislator in Michigan, describes two recently enacted civil forfeiture bills as a "reform" that closed a dangerous "loophole." In reality, the new laws open a dangerous loophole by authorizing forfeiture of cash carried by travelers at Michigan airports without a criminal conviction. That change represents a substantial reversal of reforms that Michigan enacted in response to complaints about a system that allows police to seize and confiscate property based on little more than a bare allegation that it is somehow connected to criminal activity. "Traveling with cash is not a crime," notes Institute for Justice senior...

Pope Francis: Don't make Bishop McElroy a cardinal - he knew about McCarrickBishop Robert McElroy (right) is to be made a cardinal in August, despite his inaction on allegations against notorious ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick.We all have a responsibility to speak up when serious wrongs are being brought to our attention, but McElroy didn't.SIGN this petition to demand Pope Francis not reward a bishop who failed to report allegations against McCarrickThe Bishop of San Diego was told about serious sexual wrongdoing by McCarrick in 2016 when psychotherapist Richard Sipe, who had interviewed numerous victims of McCarrick, sent him a detailed...

Former White House counsel John Dean, who was imprisoned for his role in the Watergate scandal, Thursday on CNN’s “The Lead,” estimated that “about 30% to 35% ” of the U.S. population was “very hardcore” and “authoritarian.” When asked to compare Watergate to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Dean said, “Particularly with the forthcoming hearings for January 6, we really need to understand what was one event, what was the other event, and how they play off of each other. A president abusing power versus a president trying to stay in power. We’re going to see Nixon, in a...

Pope announces pro-LGBT Brazilian bishop will be elevated to cardinal'There needs to be a dialog on the rights of shared life between people of the same sex who decide to live together. They need legal support from society," Archbishop Leonardo Steiner said in a 2014 interview. ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis will elevate a pro-LGBT Brazilian archbishop to the rank of cardinal. The pontiff has named 21 new cardinals to be elevated to the sacred college at a consistory in August. Included among them is Leonardo Steiner, O.F.M., secretary general of the National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil, the archbishop...

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is warning the US that they have become instigators in the Russia-Ukraine war. “We believe that the U.S. is deliberately pouring oil on the fire. The U.S. is obviously holding the line that it will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian,” Peskov recently told reporters, according to Reuters. Peskov’s warning comes shortly after Russia deemed most “unfriendly” nations as “hostile,” and with good cause. In an interview with PBS, Peskov said that President Biden’s suggestion to remove Putin from power was taken as a personal insult as the people of Russia, not the president of a...

We will not rest until we’ve taken weapons of war out of circulation in our communities,” Jones said.

President Biden speaks to the nation following a spate of mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Tulsa, and will call for congressional action to address the issue of gun violence.

DeSantis’s decision is in response to the Rays politicizing recent shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde ahead of a matchup with the Yankees in May. Here’s what the Rays posted before the start of the game: (at link) The decision follows DeSantis’ response to Disney earlier this year. In April, DeSantis revoked Disney’s special tax and self-governing privileges after the company injected itself into the debate over a Florida parental rights law, inaccurately dubbed as “Don’t Say Gay.” DeSantis is giving a voice to the people who do not want their sports and children’s companies on the front lines of the...

RACINE, Wis. (AP) — Police say a shooting at a cemetery south of Milwaukee Thursday afternoon resulted in multiple victims. Racine police said on social media that numerous shots were fired about 2:30 p.m. at Graceland Cemetery in Racine, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Milwaukee. Area residents said they heard 20 to 30 shots, the Racine Journal Times reported.

A funeral was being held for Da'Shontay L King Sr. at around 2.30pm Thursday at the Graceland Cemetery in Racine, Wisconsin when a gunman opened fire Racine, Wisconsin police said it remains an active shooter situation as the gunman remains on the loose All of the victims were members of King's family, but their conditions remain unknown at this time King, 37, was shot and killed by a police officer on March 20 Police are now investigating the shooting

May U.S. auto sales: Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru post declines behind choked supply chains, tough comparison to robust May 2021 Acura 6,460 18,153 -64.4% Honda 69,031 158,662 -56.5% American Honda 75,491 176,815 -57.3% Hyundai brand 59,432 90,017 -34.0% Hyundai Motor America 63,832 93,745 -31.9% Kia Motors America 57,941 80,298 -27.8% Hyundai-Kia 121,773 174,043 -30.0% Mazda N.A. 15,312 42,187 -63.7% Subaru of America 42,526 56,558 -24.8% Lexus 21,767 29,724 -26.8% Toyota 154,223 212,447 -27.4% Toyota Motor N.A. 175,990 242,171 -27.3% Volvo Cars USA 9,372 13,221 -29.1% Total 7 Reporting OEMs 593,898 865,515 -31.4% Note: Ford Motor Co. resumed monthly...

RINO Arizona Governor Doug Ducey recently vetoed a key election integrity measure that would require County Recorders to cancel voter registrations of unqualified electors. Only legal votes count, and HB2617 sponsored by State Representative Joseph Chaplik would have helped to ensure that only legal voters can vote. The bill is summarized, Requires a county recorder to cancel the voter registration of a person for whom the county recorder receives and confirms information that the person is not a U.S. citizen, has been issued a driver license or nonoperating license in another state or is otherwise not a qualified elector. Outlines...

DALLAS -- A man broke into the Dallas Museum of Art and caused more than $5 million in damage, including smashing three ancient Greek artifacts before he was arrested, police said. Brian Hernandez, 21, is charged with criminal mischief of more than or equal to $300,000, which is punishable by five years to life in prison. He was booked Thursday into the Dallas County jail with bond set at $100,000. Jail records list no attorney for Hernandez. According to police, Hernandez used a metal chair to break into the museum about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday and began a destructive rampage. He...

OPEC+ and its allies agreed Thursday to increase oil production more than expected, opening the door for Saudi Arabia to ramp up its own output if wartime sanctions force Russia to pump less... The OPEC+ decision comes after sources told the Financial Times that Saudi Arabia is prepared to pump more. Concern over a more dire supply squeeze for crude oil has emerged since the European Union announced its partial Russian oil embargo on Tuesday, as well as a ban on insurance for Russian cargoes that could limit Moscow's exports to markets outside the EU.

A Yahoo News/YouGov poll has found that 61 per cent of Trump voters think Americans are being deliberately replaced with immigrants as part of a political agenda. The survey found that a majority of Trump supporters agree that “a group of people in this country are trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants and people of color who share their political views.” 69 per cent of Trump voters are also either very or somewhat concerned that “native-born Americans are losing economic, political, and cultural influence in this country to immigrants.” Yahoo News describes the view as a “core tenet of...

Witness report: My wife and I had just stepped out of our condo when we observed lights hovering in the sky, in a V shape formation. The lights were glowing and would turn off and on, reappearing elsewhere in the sky. I managed to obtain video and a still shot of the objects using my cell phone. Attached is a video of what we observed along with a still shot. According to social media, news outlets were reporting that these objects were being seen all over Florida for the past 1-2 hours, prior to my wife and I seeing them....

There’s an incredible election story developing in Georgia right now — in the same week that the U.S. Federal Government has been forced to admit that Dominion Voting machines (used in all of Georgia’s counties) are vulnerable to hacking and should be fixed! According to the local paper Decaturish: DeKalb County (GA) just released the results of a hand count in the District 2County Commission primary race — and the hand count revealed such massive discrepancies between the May 24th machine results and the June 1 hand count that it has flipped the race! Here are the initial May 24th...