Free Republic

I know that the main reason communist countries do not hold elections is because those in power realize they would be voted out of power by the people who don’t like to be starved, tortured, oppressed, shot, or have their guts cut out of their insides. Communists love power and, as long as they can control the military, they can keep it. Elections are for “useful idiots.” And there is actually some truth to the final sentence in the above paragraph—at least in the eyes of communists. And, as much as I hate to agree with them about anything... Chicago...

Let our customer's voices be heard. In just three weeks, 3,882 dealerships reflecting the voice of our customers, representing all major vehicle manufacturing brands spanning 50 states, called on the President of the United States to tap the brakes on the proposed Electric Vehicle Mandate. Below is the letter and list of the dealerships that signed. A Letter to the President Dear Mr. President, We are auto dealers from across the country who collectively sell every major brand in the U.S. We are small businesses employing thousands of Americans. We are deeply committed to the customers we serve and the...

For a third year in a row, the Biden Administration has laid it on thick in marking November 20 as ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance’ (TDoR). “Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, we grieve the 26 transgender Americans who were killed this year,” Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced in a video that quickly went viral last week. In a press statement on the same day, Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the event as “a day to commemorate the transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming persons who are targeted and killed for living authentically and courageously”. (snip) Even so, the Biden...

I've just finished reading the hilariously terrible book "What's Left Unsaid" by Melissa DeRosa, secretary to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (New York) that is so unself-aware, so arrogant, so embarrassing that I have to review it. I only read it in the first place because I wanted to interview Cuomo on my Substack, figuring that after his defenestration, he'd be a fun interview. But I'm willing to sacrifice that possibility just to wallow in the awfulness of this book. (Plus, recent press reports say he's thinking of running for mayor of New York, so it's topical.) Most dumbfounding, DeRosa brags...

The 10-month-old baby held hostage in Gaza has been killed, according to Hamas, as Israel’s prime minister vowed to return to all-out war. Kfir Bibas, the youngest person to be taken hostage, died in captivity alongside his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother Shira, Hamas said in a statement. In a video statement, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said there had been questions over whether Israel would return to war after “this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted”. On Wednesday, Joe Biden called on Israel to show restraint. “To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing and...

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Vivek Ramaswamy’s national political director is leaving his campaign this week to join former President Donald Trump’s re-election effort. Brian Swensen was a member of Ramaswamy’s New Hampshire team, playing an active part in the campaign’s efforts across the state. He was also planning a trip to Nevada in the upcoming weeks to check on the campaign’s efforts there. The news was first reported by The Messenger. A person familiar with the matter tells NBC News that Swenson exited the campaign on good terms. Mike Biundo, a partner with the consulting firm Ascent Strategic Group who once...

FIRST ON FOX: A bank investigator responsible for detecting and combating money laundering warned in 2018 of "unusual" and "erratic" activity related to more than a dozen wire transfers of large sums of money to accounts belonging to Hunter Biden. In an email released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, a Bank Secrecy Act manager raised concerns that the payments did not appear to correspond to "any services rendered," as well as Chinese efforts to target children of politicians. The investigator suggested the bank re-evaluate its relationship with the client. The payments from China ultimately funded a $40,000 check...

Ten members of the banking community are working with the New York Innovation Center (NYIC), which is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to explore the feasibility of the regulated liability network (RLN) — an interoperable digital money platform. The proposed RLN would use distributed ledger technology to improve financial settlements and would include central banks, commercial banks and regulated non-banks, the participating firms said Tuesday (Nov. 15) in a press release. “The 12-week PoC [proof of concept] will test a version of the RLN design that operates exclusively in U.S. dollars where commercial banks issue simulated...

Hamas has said it will release a number of Russian hostages in a gesture of thanks to President Putin for his support. As negotiations with Israel over prolonging the current truce continue, Hamas political bureau member Moussa Abu Marzouk wrote on X, according to Russian news agency Tass: "We have not released any of the Israeli men that are in Gaza, with the exception of Russian Roni Krivoi, whom we released as a token of appreciation for Russian President Putin's stance. Several other Russians will be released today outside of the truce deal." The acknowledgement of Russian support follows Hamas...

“They will see the Son of Man Coming on clouds of heaven. . . . Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:30, 34) AMIGO: The Second Coming! Now that will be a glorious day. BIBLIANO: What if I told you that the “Second Coming” already happened? AMIGO: I’d say you were completely nuts. (Under his breath: And I would unfriend you on Facebook.) BIBLIANO: This text certainly seems to say that Jesus taught that He would return in his own generation. Right? AMIGO: Well, “this generation” must mean some...

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the former GOP House speaker, said that if former President Donald Trump secures the Republican nomination in 2024, as most assume he will, he ought to designate political rival Nikki Haley as his vice president. “If I was a political person, and I was going to advise somebody, you’re going to pick the vice president that’s about addition, not subtraction. So you’re not going to pick somebody that already equates to you,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Andrew Ross Sorkin. “Now if I was picking for purely political decisions, what it looks like today is the anti-Trump vote is...

Piers Morgan claims King Charles and Kate Middleton are the members of the royal family named in Omid Scobie’s “Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival” as the two “racist” royals who were concerned about the darkness of Prince Archie’s skin color. The brash “Piers Morgan Uncensored” host made the statement Wednesday on the program after Scobie’s book was pulled off shelves in Holland on Tuesday because of the “royal racists” errorless being included in the Dutch version of it.

Brazil "has intensified defensive actions" along its northern border as it monitors a territorial dispute between its neighbors, Guyana and Venezuela, the country's defense ministry said on Wednesday. "The Ministry of Defense has been monitoring the situation. Defensive actions have been intensified in the northern border region of the country, promoting a greater military presence," it said in a statement. Brazil's push to move more military resources north comes amid rising tensions between Venezuela and Guayana over an oil-rich region known as the "Esequiba," which constitutes over two thirds of Guyana's total land mass. Venezuela's claims on the Esequiba, which...

President Biden stunned listeners Wednesday by bragging about his ability to launch nuclear weapons — before calling Donald Trump a “congressman” and seeming to forget the names of the current Chinese and South Korean leaders. “Now look, my Marine carries that, but it has the code to blow up the world,” the 81-year-old commander-in-chief said while introducing himself to factory workers in Colorado. “This is not nuclear weapons, is it?” Biden added while touring South Korean company CS Wind’s facility in Pueblo, touted by the White House as the largest wind tower manufacturer in the world. Moments later, Biden blundered...

Christianity Today blames the decline of church attendance among liberals on Trump. An article titled Trump-Era Controversies Had a Measurable Effect on Church Attendance at Christianity Today presents church attendance data from researcher, Ryan Burge, and posits a direct correlation between the Trump presidency and a marked decrease in church attendance among Democrats, particularly moderates and left-leaning evangelicals. This theory, presented rather speculatively, suggests that Trump’s election and subsequent actions created a “ripple effect” in American society, alienating self-described Democrats from their congregations and further imples that the political climate under Trump was so polarizing that it led to a...

Shannen Doherty doesn’t mince words. “I don’t want to die,” she asserts as a sliver of Los Angeles sunshine falls across her face on the set of her PEOPLE cover shoot four days before Thanksgiving.The actress — who is best known for her roles on the hit ’90s TV show Beverly Hills, 90210 and later, Charmed — is characteristically candid, upbeat and dry-witted as she opens up about her Stage 4 breast cancer that has spread to her bones.As she continues to receive treatment, the 52-year-old is more determined than ever to keep moving forward. “I’m not done with living....

Nearly 90 House Republicans say they plan or are likely to support voting to expel George Santos from Congress. That means it’s a near-certainty the indicted lawmaker will be out this week. A POLITICO internal whip count has found that more than 75 House Republicans say they plan to vote for Santos’ expulsion, while a dozen say they are likely to support his removal. If all Democrats vote to boot him, as expected, then lawmakers will reach the two-thirds vote threshold required to remove the New York Republican from the House.The vote would set a new precedent. The House has...

LANSING – Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a slate of new gun control bills into law on November 20 that confiscate firearms and ammunition from people in Michigan who have been convicted of both violent and non-violent misdemeanors under new legal definitions of “domestic violence misdemeanors” established in the new laws. These bills, passed by the democrat-controlled state house and senate, broadly expand the category of misdemeanors considered to be “domestic violence” to include many infractions that are clearly not violent, allow law enforcement to confiscate all firearms from anyone convicted of these misdemeanors, and prohibit anyone convicted of these misdemeanors...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently halted Florida’s “Protection of Children Act,” a law designed to prevent children from attending sexually explicit live performances, including drag shows. This ruling, coming after a federal district court sided with an Orlando drag bar, Hamburger Mary’s, marks a significant setback in efforts to safeguard minors from potentially harmful content. SB 1438, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, criminalizes allowing children to witness sexually explicit live performances.

After being told the economy is great (given the Biden admin's begging companies to lower prices, it isn't), this refreshingly honest bit of reporting from CBS News throws a wrench into the gaslighting the administration's been doing: Americans need an extra $11,400 today just to afford the basics. https://t.co/t79U2FLqFv — CBS News (@CBSNews) November 29, 2023 An extra $11,000 dollars. Insane. CBS writes: The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of...