Free Republic

When Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon executed an ill-conceived invasion of Iraq in 2003, was it really pursuing American defence? All but a handful of unreconstructed Iraq hawks would disagree. So it’s welcome news that President Trump has restored the Defense Department’s original name, the Department of War.Talk of renaming the DoD has roiled Republican circles for some time. During the 2024 GOP primary, Nikki Haley brainstormed about changing the name of the Department of Defense to the “Department of Offense”. That was an unmistakable throwback to circa 2003 neoconservative blowhardery, and a good reminder of why the Haleys of the world...

The central bank put its own independence at risk by straying from its narrow statutory mandate.As we saw during the Covid pandemic, lab-created experiments can wreak havoc when they escape their confines. Once released, they can’t easily be put back. The “extraordinary” monetary-policy tools unleashed after the 2008 financial crisis have similarly transformed the Federal Reserve’s policy regime, with unpredictable consequences. The Fed’s new operating model is effectively a gain-of-function monetary policy experiment. Overuse of nonstandard policies, mission creep and institutional bloat threaten the central bank’s independence. The Fed must change course. Its standard tool kit has become too complex...

Tesla boss Elon Musk will receive a pay package worth over $1tn (£740bn) if he hits a list of ambitious targets over the next decade, the board of the electric car firm has proposed.To get the package, Musk, who is already the world's richest person, would need to boost Tesla's value eightfold, sell a million artificial intelligence robots, sell another 12 million Tesla cars, and hit several other moonshot goals.Musk would not earn a salary or bonus but would instead be gradually awarded shares which would be worth $1tn if he achieves all the targets.The company's board urged investors to...

Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore has signaled interest in redoing his state's maps, but has not called for a special session of the state legislature so far. Democratic members of Maryland's congressional delegation are expected to meet in the coming weeks to push for a new congressional map that they argue would offset potential Republican gains in Texas.Texas's GOP-controlled legislature last month passed its redistricting map last month that members expect will give them five more Republican seats in the next Congress. Democrat-led California and Republican-led Missouri have since launched efforts to redo their maps, while GOP-led Indiana is...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Bätzing says Pope Leo is ‘accompanying the Church in Germany with trust’ after meetingGerman Bp. Georg Bätzing, known for pushing female ordination and same-sex ‘blessings,’ commented that the Pope has ‘trust’ in the German church following talks.Bishop Georg Bätzing has said that Pope Leo XIV “accompanies the Church in Germany with trust” after his first private audience with the Roman Pontiff.On September 4, Leo received Bätzing, the head of the German bishops’ conference, in a private audience for the first time since becoming Pope.The Holy See did not comment on the meeting, but Bätzing released the following...

The second meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education took place Thursday, presented by the administration as a turning point for America’s public schools. First Lady Melania Trump presided over the session, created under President Trump’s April executive order on AI education.The gathering brought together senior administration officials and some of the most powerful figures in technology. Mrs. Trump introduced the participants as “visionaries” and “the brightest minds of our time.” At the table sat Sundar Pichai of Google and Arvind Krishna of IBM, alongside Education Secretary Linda McMahon and AI czar David Sacks. Task force...

The left’s perpetual belief that bullying campaigns against SCOTUS work can be attributed to Chief Justice John Roberts.It’s been widely reported for years that Chief Justice John Roberts has altered his jurisprudence in pivotal matters before the Supreme Court to preserve what he views as the “legitimacy” of the judiciary. So, it comes as no surprise that America’s leftist media have sought to exploit that weakness by trying to bully the Bush appointee into giving them the judicial outcomes they want. That appeared to be a major goal of an NBC News article published Thursday, which contained critical remarks from...

Mark Volman, a founding member of the 1960s rock band the Turtles and singer known as “Flo” of Flo & Eddie, died in Nashville, Tenn. on Friday after a brief sudden illness. He was 78. Born in Los Angeles in 1947, Volman began playing music and performing at an early age. After graduating from Westchester High School in 1965, he founded the Turtles with Howard Kaylan alongside lead guitarist Al Nichol, rhythm guitarist Jim Tucker, bassist Chuck Portz and drummer Don Murray. They released pop hits such as “It Ain’t Me Babe,” “Elenore” and the No 1 Billboard Hot 100...

Something odd is going on with this. Catherine Herridge reports that she “exclusively” gained a copy of the FBI files on Michael Flynn from FBI Director Kash Patel [SEE HERE]. Herridge uploaded the documents while she began reporting on them via Twitter [SEE HERE] then, mysteriously deleted her upload [SEE HERE]. Fortunately, I kept the tab open, because there are two pages that really caught my eye. The pages are labeled the “Flynn Timeline” and were created by someone in the FBI. Check these pages closely, and you can find things quite remarkable.First, I have always suspected the greatest likelihood...

If a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine ever comes together, the United States could take the lead role in monitoring a large buffer zone inside Ukraine envisioned as a way to protect the country from Russia, according to four people familiar with a plan that military officials from Ukraine’s allies, including the United States, have been discussing. -snip- On the latter front, the United States is discussing with Ukraine a deal that could be worth around $100 billion, under which Kyiv would be able to buy American weapons, while in exchange the United States would get intellectual property rights...

Feeling nostalgic for a simpler time lately? You’re not alone. Here’s one thing everybody who was alive during the 1970s can agree on: The entire decade still feels like it only happened yesterday. Seriously, how can the ’70s be five decades in the past? It’s just not possible that the era ruled by bell-bottom jeans and 8-track cassettes was half a century ago. For those of us who lived through it—and survived that groovy yet perilous time—it will forever be a part of our souls. Here are 50 things you still remember from the decade that will fill you with...

Another update from your FBI on our efforts to defend the homeland and protect the American people. Today, State Department employee Michael Charles Schena was sentenced to 48 months in prison for attempting to sell out his country. He was paid to use a covert communication device to take pictures of CLASSIFIED documents containing national defense information and then send them to individuals he believed worked for the Chinese government. Schena’s actions directly undermined U.S. national security and put Americans at risk. No amount of money is worth betraying your country, and the FBI will do EVERYTHING in our power...

What is it about the female leftist that makes them so utterly incapable of reason and accountability? The handmaids are back—again—just as stupid as ever, but this time (I think?), they’re protesting President Trump’s use of the National Guard to tamp out violent crime in D.C. neighborhoods: I’m reminded of Jack Nicholson’s line in As Good As It Gets, when he’s asked by a ditzy young blonde woman how he writes women so well; he responds with, “I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.” The scriptwriters no doubt had leftist women in mind when they...

Three women from Santa Rosa Junior College’s volleyball team have filed a federal Title IX complaint demanding the removal of a male player from their women’s squad. Sophomore Madison Shaw and freshmen Gracie Shaw and Brielle Galli allege that they were penalized for protesting the inclusion of Ximena Gomez on the team. The 46-page filing, submitted to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on September 3, accuses SRJC and the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) of “egregious violations” of women’s rights, claiming current policies allow men to take roster spots, invade locker room privacy, and even inflict...

The email dropped into my university account with a quiet ding, an inauspicious start to what would become an unwanted foray into the messy world of AI “false positives.” With the arrival of the short missive from my professor informing me that my essay had been flagged for AI use, I was caught up in what would became a weeks-long process to appeal and clear my name of alleged AI use on an assignment in my counseling graduate course. The ordeal thrust me into the university’s AI-detection administrative machine, where I joined the many others across higher education experiencing a...

Two transgender celebrities have sparked backlash after stating that trans teenagers should be allowed to shoplift. YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous, 33, and RuPaul's Drag Race star TS Madison, 47, made the outrageous statement on Madison's Outlaws podcast this week. 'If I ran the world I'd be banning penalties against shoplifting for trans teens,' Gigi said. 'I think that shoplifting should be legal - for some. As a young child, I needed makeup, and I had no other way to pay for it other than to five finger discount,' she continued. 'I think everybody should overlook those that are young, obviously trans,...

Since the horrific Columbine shooting in April 1999, there’ve been a tragic number of American public and religious school shootings. No matter how “experts” gloss over their statistics, if a single death is a tragedy, mass killings are light years beyond “tragedy.”Having lost a son in high school – not from shooting, but from another life-altering catastrophe – I can only imagine the tidal wave of grief engulfing the family and friends of those lost children.Much less reported, though nonetheless a tragedy, is that a disproportionate number of these shootings were perpetrated by those who identify as “transgender.” Triggered by...

Obama and Biden appointed judges who do not belong in positions of responsibility because they are leftist kooks and acknowledge no limit to their authority. Consider James Boasberg, who in his arrogance demanded that planes deporting illegal aliens turn around to bring the invaders back to the USA. Remember Nathalie Rose Jones, who traveled to DC and threatened to kill the president? Boasberg has released her: [Jones] said that if she had the opportunity, she would kill Trump at “the compound” if she had to and that she had a “bladed object,” which she said was the weapon she would...

A group of Navy SEALs penetrated North Korea in early 2019 in an attempt to compromise North Korea's nuclear communications channel. The mission may or may not have been compromised, and the resulting shootout, according to The New York Times, left a handful of North Koreans, possibly civilians, dead. The question is, why is this story running now? The Mission In 2018, as President Trump was engaged in high-wire nuclear diplomacy with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, a Navy SEAL team was dispatched on a high-risk, high-payoff mission to bug the communications network used to discuss nuclear strategy and...

Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday he doesn’t believe a bipartisan effort to force a House vote compelling the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents will succeed. Asked about the discharge petition led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Johnson said he doubted they would convince enough Republicans to sign on. “I don’t expect he will,” Johnson said when asked about Massie’s chances of success. .. White House officials are running an intense pressure campaign to keep Republicans from joining the discharge effort. Trump aides have made calls to GOP members who have co-sponsored the Massie-Khanna measure, pressuring those...