Free Republic

Exit, Lori Lightfoot; enter, Brandon Johnson — and the song remains the same. Or does it?It’s hard to imagine conditions in Chicago getting more desperate than under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, but new Mayor Brandon Johnson — in office less than a week, as I write — is already doing his damnedest to make everyday life and business survival in one of the country’s most iconic cities even worse.But imagine, we must.As reported by The New York Post, the iconic Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) opened in 1898, only 27 years after the infamous Great Chicago Fire. Proud Chicagoans heralded the...

You hear it everywhere. "The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt." Yes, but: It’s not true. By the most basic definition of default — not making agreed-upon payments to those you owe — the U.S. has defaulted, arguably on multiple occasions. Why it matters: The talking point on the pristine U.S. credit record is a key bit of rhetoric for those arguing that not raising the debt ceiling — which would ultimately mean missing payments the government owes — represents an unprecedented economic risk. But in reality, the U.S. has failed to meet obligations in the past. What they're...

Robert Gates, who served as Secretary of Defense under Presidents Bush and Obama from 2006-2011, appeared on “Face the Nation” Sunday and told moderator Margaret Brennan that he thinks the biggest threat to the nation isn’t white supremacy, it’s not China or Russia or climate change—it’s the political polarization of our country. It’s not the first time we’ve been so divided, he says, but there’s something new about our latest rifts :MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you think the biggest threat to United States is right now?FORMER SEC. GATES: I think it is the polarization in the country. And, you know,...

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has become the latest far-left organization to issue a “travel warning” for Florida, claiming that the state and its Governor Ron DeSantis are “openly hostile to African Americans.”In a press release this weekend, the organization declared the travel warning was a “direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis’ aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools” after he banned the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.“Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” the release reads....

The Harvard Harris poll conducted online between May 17-18 among 2,004 registered voters has some fascinating takeaways that don’t look good for Joe Biden and the Democratic narrative pushed by the liberal media.Most believe that the Trump-Russia collusion and the Steele Dossier are fake stories.To start:Majorities of Americans say it’s *false* that Trump colluded with Russia. The Steele Dossier is also “false.”In other words, they view the story the US media aggressively centered for 3 years as a hoax and a fraud, yet NBC and CNN won’t even air this view. pic.twitter.com/wqULHK4Rd9— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 21, 2023Most also believe...

Divorce usually isn’t a good idea, and that’s especially true of a nearly 250-year-old continental nation. The notion of a national breakup has long simmered as a fringe argument, but it is increasingly popular in certain precincts of the political right and has gained at least some traction with partisans of both sides. A recent survey by the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia found that about 50 percent of Donald Trump voters and 40 percent of Joe Biden voters agreed to some extent with the proposition that the country should split up, with either red or blue...

British intelligence expressed skepticism about the FBI's investigation into the Donald Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia in 2016, and eventually became so concerned it stopped cooperating, according to evidence made public in Special Counsel John Durham's recent report. Durham released his 300+ page report on the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion probe on Monday, representing the culmination of years of investigations. That report excoriated the FBI for pursuing the investigation without possessing any significant evidence of wrongdoing. Intelligence officials in the United Kingdom evidently shared Durham's assessment contemporaneously. File - Durham Report: https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2023-05/durhamreport.pdfDurham highlighted an exchange between an intelligence...

It’s back, it’s forth, debt ceilings negotiations are on, they’re off—the discussions between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden are a constantly changing drama. After they both issued contentious statements Saturday, McCarthy on Sunday said he had spoken to the president by phone as Biden returned from the G7 summit on Air Force One.Both sides have been accusing the other of being intractable in negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says we could hit as soon as June 1, causing “economic chaos.”Evidently, they’re on slightly friendlier terms after the phone call, and they’ve...

Sounds like LGB is tired of taking the fall for TQ+ … and boom. Hey, we can hardly blame them when the media and most of the Left spend every waking moment hiding behind their movement to push a movement claiming gender is just a social construct. LGB is based around the idea of TWO SEXES, that men are men and women are women. Not entirely sure why TQ gets lumped in with them but sounds like they’re done being the ‘front man/woman’ for a movement they disagree with. Take a look at this thread from The LGB Group: Trans...

On the 21st or perhaps the 20th of May in 1525, the peasant rebel Jakob Rohrbach — more commonly known as Jäcklein (“Little Jack”) Rohrbach — was chained to a stake and burned alive as the nobility celebrated its victory in the German Peasants’ War. Rohrbach was by history’s acclamation the most bloody-minded of the peasant revolutionaries — for Jakob perhaps had learned the lesson of the Jacquerie that rebels against the lords must vanquish or perish. (Jakob Rohrbach was literate.) When the peasantry rose to shake Germany, Rohrbach was elected a leader in the environs of Weinsberg, in Baden-Wuerttemberg....

In backing Scott, the Senate minority whip becomes the highest-ranking congressional Republican to back the South Carolina senator. And he joins his South Dakota colleague Sen. Mike Rounds in backing Scott, who is popular among Senate Republicans. Some members of House leadership have already indicated they support former President Donald Trump’s campaign. But Thune is making good on his hopes of turning the GOP away from Trump and presenting a more forward-looking vision for the party. Thune recoiled from Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, famously declaring that his election challenge would go down on the Senate floor like...

Always follow the money...

Update from Ukraine | Bakhmut may become a Rat trap for Wagner | No way to run | Positive scenario https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fxJoNEx2l8 ****NEW SUMMARY Military MAPS & COMMENTS here: Invasion Day 452– Summary May 21, 2023 Jerome News The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the last 48 hours, as of 2023 – 22:00 (Kyiv time). https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-452-summary/ *** Greatly appreciate the viewer controlled Map magnification tool to use on each Front map!

Former President Trump's second-term governing plans are coming into clearer focus, as he lays out a vision for a dramatic expansion of federal power — particularly the presidency. Why it matters: In public statements, videos and posts on his campaign's website, Trump complains about Washington's "swamp" — but lays out a plan that would give him, as president, more control of virtually every facet of life in America. Zoom in: Trump's plans go well beyond the provocative promises he made during his recent CNN town hall — to pardon nearly all of the convicted Jan. 6 rioters (there have been...

[Catholic Caucus] Record-breaking participation in upcoming Chartres pilgrimage forces organizers to closeLe Forum Catholique reports:Notre-Dame de Chrétienté, the association that organizes a large pilgrimage to Chartres every year at Pentecost, has recorded a participation rate in 2023 that has never been equaled in the past. No less than 16,000 pilgrims are preparing to travel from Paris to Chartres on May 27, 28 and 29.Neither the motu proprio Traditionis custodes, nor even the rescript published on February 21, 2023 restricting the use of the Tridentine rite to which Notre-Dame de Chrétienté is attached, are holding back the faithful. On the contrary,...

Anheuser Busch continues its desperate attempt to recover from the controversial promotion with influencer Dylan Mulvaney, with the company now set to buy back unsold, expired cases as sales continue to dip. Mulvaney, 26, posted herself drinking Bud Light at the start of April 2023 using the hashtag #budlightpartner. She posted the content to coincide with the NCAA March Madness tournament before joking she didn't know what sport she was promoting. The disastrous marketing bid has seen sales for the American flagship beer plummet 26 percent, despite Anheuser-Busch reporting first-quarter earnings of $1.65billion and with conservatives everywhere professing to boycott...

On Friday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) wrote the FBI demanding they turn over a document alleging a bribery scheme involving then Vice President Joe Biden. The document in question is not classified. Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday said the FBI is poised to turn the damning document over to the Oversight Committe. But later today the FBI told Republicans to pound sand – the agency penned a letter to Comer they will not be turning over the document. ..... Snip..... The Daily Mail reported Speaker Kevin McCarthy has declared the FBI is poised to hand over a...

There are many reasons why so many US public schools remained persistently closed for well over a year, but at the top of the list is Randi Weingarten. She is the President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and served as the self-appointed and media-anointed spokesperson for teachers’ unions throughout the pandemic. Weingarten appeared regularly across national media outlets for well over two years, relentlessly touting the dangers of public schools and the risk to teachers from in-person instruction. She also painted anyone who advocated for schools to open as heartless and cruel. Now that it’s become clear what...

An autistic woman from New Mexico suffered 'torture' before she died at the hands of her caregivers, who were paid by the state to care for her in their own home, according to officials. Mary Melero, 38, had lacerations and bruises across her body and bed sores so severe they exposed her bone when she was discovered in the back of a van at the port of entry in El Paso on February 27, as her caregivers tried to take her to Mexico for treatment. Authorities also described marks on her body that were consistent with being restrained for a...

CARRIZO PLAIN NATIONAL MONUMENT, Calif. — The roads are still rutted where rainwater carved them and farms are still flooded down the valley, but here in California's largest remaining grassland, the benefits of the state's destructively wet winter are on full display. And they're spectacular.