Free Republic

MSNBC host Katie Phang made the obligatory disclaimer that "we all respect the First Amendment."But in the same breath in her interview of Dem Rep. Eric Swalwell aired on her Saturday show, Phang suggested to Swalwell that there should be "congressional oversight, regulations, some type of gatekeeping" of Fox News.And just like Phang with her phony expression of devotion to the First Amendment, Swalwell piously professed, "I don't want to get into the business of telling troops what they can and cannot watch." But he proceeded to suggest just that: I don't want to get into the business of telling...

As the next presidential election approaches, the leader of the Republican Party, and America, is Donald Trump. In 2015, the Republican Party was dead. There was no clear leader and little enthusiasm even as the end of Barack Obama’s presidency was on the horizon. Republicans suffered convincing losses in the two previous presidential elections, and a Bush versus Clinton rematch reincarnate was plausible for a time. The party’s 2014 midterm election gains were more of a referendum on Barack Obama than an endorsement of the Republican Party. But the key reason those scenarios were short-lived was because of Donald Trump....

Last year the U.S. Senate surprised everyone and unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would have kept the country permanently on daylight savings time. Not many bills get the thumbs up from every senate member, so there was a sense that switching clocks twice a year had met its final Waterloo. But then the measure went to the House, where it died. So here we are again, ready to do the time change tango tomorrow, March 12, leaving many to wonder if the business of clock changing will ever come to an end. What is Happening Between Fox and...

Yesterday, along with many, many others, I mentioned a major financial concern: The problems of two small banks on the West Coast are rippling across markets and causing new investor concerns about some of the country’s largest financial institutions.Why? Three words: rising interest rates [italics added].The Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to bring down inflation helped set the stage for major problems at two California lending institutions — SVB Financial (SIVB) and Silvergate Capital (SI) — as an outflow of deposits forced both to sell assets at a loss. Those assets were bonds.BOOM! BOOM! POW! Friday it happened: Silicon Valley Bank...

OLYMPIA — A bill that would strip single-family zoning regulations from neighborhoods across the state to allow duplexes or fourplexes to be built passed the Washington state House of Representatives late Monday. The measure, which passed 75-21 with bipartisan support, is aimed at alleviating the housing shortage by encouraging builders to put more people into existing city neighborhoods rather than encouraging urban sprawl. The bill requires cities between 25,000 and 75,000 people to allow two units per lot anywhere and four units on lots within one half-mile of a bus stop . Cities with more than 75,000 people or with...

Besides spending America into bankruptcy, Joe Biden's legacy as president can be summed up with: If President Trump built it, he broke it. Which brings us to the Middle East. According to Reuters:DUBAI/RIYADH, March 10 (Reuters) - Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed on Friday to re-establish relations after years of hostility that had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria.The deal, brokered by China, was announced after four days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing between top security officials from the two rival Middle East powers.Let's stop right...

According to a report, sources close to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis say that privately he has indicated he plans to run for the GOP nomination for president in 2024. But, despite his intentions, a Florida law could complicate things for him. DeSantis has certainly been following the playbook of a potential presidential candidate, including writing a book and traveling across the country, particularly to key states on the primary schedule. He plans to visit Iowa on Friday and then Nevada on Saturday. DeSantis is expected to make his announcement following the end of the legislative session in May. Though publicly...

The peasants are rising up again. In Belgium, farmers flooded the streets of Brussels last week with over 2,000 tractors to protest their government’s plan to limit nitrogen emissions. For these farmers, almost everything is at stake — not only their livelihoods, but also their way of life. Of course, the rest of us also have a big stake in all of this: fewer productive farms means less food in the world. How much less? We’ll get to that presently. In a quirky inverted sort of way, what is happening now has been a long time coming. In 1968, Paul...

Are you a White man? Do you own a personal vehicle and drive around as you please? Well, you’re a racist, and you’re killing the planet. For a member of the academic class, there’s a burden to bring something intellectually-worthwhile to the table. When you have nothing to offer (like the vast majority of college professors), you simply invent new scholarly-ish terms. Instead of “pedophile” or “child predator”, academia offers us the softer “minor-attracted person.” Instead of “sexual mutilation” or “medical malpractice”, we get “gender-affirming care.” And now, drum roll please…Cara Daggett, a professor at Virginia Tech and a “climate...

VIDEOIt's like a South Park comedy bit. ROKU deposited 26% of its cash reserves, $487 million, into Silicon Valley Bank ...Annnnnd it's GONE!

Via Yahoo! Finance: "U.S. drugmaker Pfizer is ready to launch its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for both older adults and pregnant women in the United States and Europe later this year, executives said on Thursday. Both Pfizer and British drugmaker GSK have RSV vaccines they hope to launch in the United States and Europe this year, pending regulators’ approval. [emphasis added] “We are anticipating approval in both the U.S. and Europe in time for rollout in the fall,” Kena Swanson, Pfizer head of viral vaccines research & development, told a media briefing at the company’s biggest manufacturing and packaging...

This is one of my favorite weekends of the year - the weekend we get to turn the clocks ahead by an hour and thus regain the hour of sunlight that we lost back in October or whenever it was we had to move those clocks behind, thus plunging ourselves into early darkness every afternoon. It seems like whenever we do that, it starts getting colder each day. That hour of sunlight really makes a big difference, in my humble opinion. So it is no coincidence that as we get our extra sunlight back starting on Sunday, it will start...

Title is mine. (Original title is incoherent.) The video itself is a good explanation on taxes to someone who should know these things. See video at link.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for all Hispanics residing in the United States to vote against Republicans, saying "they are a corrupt, inhumane, and hypocritical party. They say they are for freedom, yet they actively harass the entrepreneurs who facilitate the movement of people and merchandise across this border. Now, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) is calling for US troops to enter Mexico and kill these entrepreneurs." Graham defended himself by pointing out "I've been a leading proponent for getting our troops to engage in the fighting in Ukraine to help preserve their borders, but people have criticized me...

Clayton Morris interviews Tucker Carlson and covers J6 video controversy, State of Journalism, personal attacks, and more.

“The Woman--and the Man--at the Well” (John 4:5-30, 39-42) Acceptance is a big idea in our culture these days. Every weird subgroup wants to be accepted as normal. More than that, they demand to be celebrated and approved, even if what they’re proud of is really something to be ashamed of. And if you don’t approve, if you don’t celebrate them, then you are a bigot and some sort of “-phobe,” and you need to be canceled. So the challenge is how to accept people in love without approving of what they’re doing that’s wrong. And our Gospel reading today...

This weekend, we witnessed another assault on a public figure by an increasingly aggressive element of American politics. The book signing event was disrupted and Steve Forbes was assaulted by protesters who did not want others to be able to speak with or hear him. The fact that this was a literary event is particularly fitting given the effort of many to prevent free expression in our society. Ironically, the book is titled “Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation.” Forbes was present at a book signing for the new book written by authors Bethany Mandel...

The FBI may have abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to spy on the very congressman tasked with overseeing FISA, according to revelations at a congressional hearing Thursday. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said at a committee hearing that he has reason to believe that he is the unnamed congressman who, a recently declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) admitted, FBI agents wrongfully conducted a search on. LaHood is leading a working group tasked with oversight and renewal of Section 702 of FISA, Fox...

[Catholic Caucus] Who Am I to Judge? Francis Attacks ViganòIn his March 10 InfoBae.com interview, Francis lamented about a "resistance" of "the bad kind.”For him, there is “good resistance” where "a good project it is seen and discussed.” Francis has shown that for him all "resistance" is "bad resistance" which he confusedly defines as “that which is discussed here and goes backward looking for betrayal” - while he betrays Holy Scripture and goes backward to the 1960s.Francis is so angry at Archbishop Viganó that he openly names him - a new low in the history of the papacy - calling...

Testifying with Michael Shellenberger before a House Subcommittee was one of the more surreal experiences of my life. I expected serious attacks and spent a nervous night before preparing for them. Then the hearing began, and an episode of Black Adder: Congress broke out. The attacks happened, but it was more farcical horror and a parade of self-owns that made me more sad than upset. The Democrats made it clear they were not interested in talking about free speech except as it pertains to Chrissy Teigen, seemed to suggest a journalist should not make a living, and finally made the...