Free Republic

On this, the second day of the abortive 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, police inspector Javert is faux-executed — and mercifully released — by his longtime quarry Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s classic Les Miserables. Hugo’s monumental novel is structured by the implacable policeman’s pursuit of Jean Valjean, an absconded ex-con with a heart of gold. Fate brings them together accidentally at the barricade of the (historical, but now forgotten) student uprising — Javert to spy on the student revolutionaries, who unmask him, and Jean Valjean to keep an eye on his adoptive daughter’s idealistic lover. Jean Valjean’s timely contribution...

For a variety of reasons, the United States Supreme Court has a constitutional obligation to take up President Trump’s criminal case following his unlawful conviction in New York state court. First and foremost, federal issues permeate this case. While it was never a case that should have been brought in any court in the first place, this case especially should not have been brought in state court, where jurisdiction patently does not exist. The driving legal issue was purportedly a campaign finance law violation which fell within the gamut of the Federal Election Commission. Bragg flimsily paired that charge with...

My friend Daniel Greenfield, the outstanding contributor over at FrontPage Magazine, is no Pollyanna. If you’re a religious reader of Greenfield’s work, as I am, you’ll know he’s one of the most brutally honest and savage critics of the Left that we’re blessed to have, and in that brutal honesty, he’s credibly accused of presenting current circumstances as dire.To which Greenfield has a defense: Current circumstances are dire.Interestingly enough, though, Greenfield’s excellent new book Domestic Enemies: The Founding Fathers’ Fight Against the Left contains a quite optimistic look at the future of America. (RELATED: The Spectacle Ep. 115: The Left’s...

What makes someone instinctively defend a monster? I don’t mean a legal defense, to which everyone is entitled. Nor do I mean exonerating someone after the facts are known. I’m talking about instinctively defending a monster purely out of some inexplicable affinity with him. That was the spectacle du jour on social media yesterday, when an official Israeli account posted a video of female soldiers as they were taken hostage. The Hamas terrorists taunt and salivate over the women, some of whom are bloodied from the attacks. There was nothing ambiguous about what the fatigue-clad barbarians meant or intended. Nevertheless,...

With the arrival of a new, highly contagious fungal infection in NYC, health experts are sharing what you need to know to keep yourself safe. An unidentified NYC man in his 30s was diagnosed with the first US-reported case of Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII, a rare, sexually transmitted form of ringworm. Details of his infection were shared Wednesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology. “The first thing to note is that we do not have evidence this infection is endemic in the US or even widespread in the US,” Dr. Avrom S. Caplan, who led the study of the man’s case,...

Yesterday, we started to see a new push by Democrats to claim that Republicans are trying to take away your right to birth control! The bastards will not stop until you ‘uterus havers’ ... ... (they don’t dare say women) ... ... are barefoot and pregnant and forced to stay in the kitchen, or something. And we don’t think we have to tell you this isn’t true. Most Republicans we know not only think non-abortifacient birth control should be legal, but they have personally used it. But Democrats are determined to bang that drum regardless of the facts: .@JoeBiden and...

Those who would abolish religion and prohibit the free exercise thereof, are themselves religious. Those who would replace religion with the cult of reason, and sacrifice the soul before the altar of science, are unreasonable in the extreme: they are political extremists whose religion is politics.This religion, with contempt for one nation under God, is in opposition to our civil religion. This religion, with contempt for the idea of God, that God exists, that God is true, that God is just, is without mercy. This religion, with contempt for the sons of Abraham, and of all who are children of...

Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney called one of President Biden’s top aides last month to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s action against Israeli leaders — a case his wife, Amal Clooney, worked on, according to three people familiar with the conversation.Clooney called Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, to express concern about Biden’s denunciation of arrest warrants sought by ICC prosecutors for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, especially his use of the word “outrageous.” The prosecutors also sought warrants for top Hamas leaders.The actor was also upset about the administration’s...

President Biden has been trying to frame the November election around two subjects: his legislative accomplishments and former President Trump’s fitness to serve.But Biden’s own vulnerabilities have been getting in the way. High among them for many voters is a sense that the country is in chaos, fueled in part by images of an overwhelmed southern border that have flooded television screens and social media feeds since he took office.“The fentanyl that is coming across the border is coming into our communities,” said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, where Biden is down by an average of 6...

Yayha Sinwar, the Gaza-based leader of Hamas, has reportedly rejected any ceasefire that would require the terror group to disarm, according to the Wall Street Journal — making a new hostage deal almost impossible. The Journal reported Thursday: Hamas’s leader in Gaza told Arab negotiators that he would accept a peace deal only if Israel commits to a permanent cease-fire, affirming the militant group’s position in his first response to a proposal introduced by President Biden to end the eight-month war. “Hamas will not surrender its guns or sign a proposal that asks for that,” Arab mediators said Hamas leader...

On Wednesday, the Georgia Court of Appeals made a decisive move in the racketeering case involving former President Donald Trump. With an official order, the court has halted all proceedings. It's because of the pending ruling on the defendants' motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case. The appeals court directed Judge Scott McAfee hit the breaks on the case until this matter is resolved. This decision comes in the wake of concerns surrounding Willis' impartiality. In March, McAfee ruled that despite "a significant appearance of impropriety” due to her romantic involvement with special prosecutor Nathan...

Four Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, will arrive in Havana next week, Cuban officials said Thursday, citing “historically friendly relations” between both nations and as tensions escalate over Western military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Cuba’s foreign ministry said in a news release that the ships will be in Havana between June 12 and June 17, noting that none of them will carry any nuclear weapons and assuring their presence “does not represent a threat to the region.” ... The officials said that the Russian military presence was notable but not concerning. However, it's taking place...

Are Caitlin Clark's fellow WNBA players unfairly targeting the star rookie, or is the most-hyped young player in the league's history simply paying her dues? One of the most respected voices in women's college basketball and the sport as a whole, longtime UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, is squarely in the former camp. "Is she facing the rookie challenge, the rookie hardships that are inherent with being a rookie? Yes," Auriemma told reporters Tuesday, via ESPN. "She's also being targeted." The debate over how Clark's opponents are treating her cranked up after Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter body-checked Clark to...

You can see ‘ol Joe with his eyes closed. Jill looks over at him, realizes he is asleep and as inconspicuously as possible, leans over and with her shoulder, nudges him in the shoulder and pokes him in the thigh with her finger.What a disgrace to The Greatest Generation……..and America.

Bailey Anne, the newly crowned Miss Maryland USA, joined DC News Now on Wednesday. She is the first trans woman to hold the coveted title, along with being the first Asian-American and military officer’s wife to represent the state. Anne told morning anchor Cory James her history-making win was her first pageant. She said the moment she learned she won was a “whirlwind because I knew it was bigger than me. I knew that it was going to mean a lot for all the LGBTQ kids out there who might feel like they don’t belong in a box – like...

Rampant inflation and President Joe Biden’s favoring of left-wing policies are contributing to a lack of progress on his landmark infrastructure law, analysts told the Daily Caller. Two and a half years after Congress ratified the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in November of 2021, there has been very little concrete progress on new roads or bridges. The trillions of federal dollars the Biden administration has poured into the economy may actually be hindering the completion of the infrastructure that Biden promised to build, analysts told the Caller.

Nathan Baskind was killed in action shortly after D-Day. A year-long investigation found his remains and ensured his reinterment under a Star of DavidBy Andrew Lapin June 6, 2024 Growing up, Samantha Baskind’s father would sometimes mention his “Uncle Nate,” who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He called Nate “a great Jewish American war hero,” often just around Memorial Day, Baskind recalled. “He would always use that exact same phrase.” There’s a family picture of Nate in his mid-twenties, just before shipping off to war, holding Baskind’s father as a toddler. But the family knew nothing of his...

Chris and Eric Weinstein discuss Eric’s encounter with Jeffery Epstein. When did Eric meet Jeffrey Epstein? What stood out to Eric Weinstein about Jeffrey Epstein? Why does Eric Weinstein think Jeffrey Epstein is a construct?

Outspoken comedian Roseanne Barr stopped by The Michael Knowles Show to share some of her opinions about the activist co-hosts on “The View,” and she did not hold back with her criticisms. As expected, Whoopi Goldberg and crew were elated after former president Donald Trump was found guilty in the Manhattan hush-money case. Every single co-cost, including those who identify as Republicans, seemed to support the verdict that’s been criticized by many legal experts. Barr, who stars in the new DailyWire+ animated comedy “Mr. Birchum,” joined Knowles on Tuesday to discuss the new show along with other topics. She told...

Defense bosses found themselves in hot water with Navy Seals vets after marking the start of June with a Facebook post celebrating the beginning of Pride Month. The post on the official page of Naval Special Warfare Command was also posted to the US Navy Seals and SWCC page, according to Libs of TikTok. It spelled out the watchwords of 'dignity, service, respect, equality, pride', in rainbow-colored letters emblazoned with the command's badge of an eagle gripping a rifle and a trident. Attempts to restrict those who could comment failed to stem a wave of hostile reaction who accused the...