Free Republic

This address was delivered to the European Parliament in Brussels on November 11, 2025. Europe is in deep trouble today, mainly because of the Ukraine war, which has played a key role in undermining what had been a largely peaceful region. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve in the years ahead. In fact, Europe is likely to be less stable moving forward than it is today. The present situation in Europe stands in marked contrast to the unprecedented stability that Europe enjoyed during the unipolar moment, which ran from roughly 1992, after the Soviet Union collapsed, until 2017,...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed a question about the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, claiming that the Saudi dissident journalist was “extremely controversial” and that raising the subject in his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was meant to embarrass his visitor. “You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria used his program to deliver a monologue on the nation's affordability crisis, outlining the forces driving it and debating where the blame belongs. FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: But first, here's "My Take." It's hard to see how the government shutdown and reopening is anything other than a defeat for the Democrats. A high stakes confrontation that ended with their own goals unmet and their message muddled. If they didn't have the leverage or were not willing to use it to prolong the shutdown, then why did they stage it at all? The shutdown reinforced the image of...

Democrats have generally been unable to agree on much over the past year. But they now seemingly agree on one thing: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) must go. Indeed, it appears that Schumer’s leadership position is increasingly untenable as he comes under fire from both moderates and his left flank. Democrats’ commentary on the five-term senator and nine-term representative underscores how precarious Schumer’s position is. After eight Democrats broke with their party to reopen the government, critiques of Schumer’s leadership were many. They included the simple demand, “He must resign.” He was also accused of trying to “screw over”...

What to know about the Epstein files House vote: The House will vote Tuesday on a bill to require the Justice Department to release its files related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The vote is expected around 2 p.m. The bill, known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is likely to pass by a wide bipartisan margin. President Trump dropped his opposition to the legislation on Sunday. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that he would vote to approve it and that the final tally could be close to unanimous.

In the middle of last month, and in response to a sudden rash of horrific and fatal semi-truck accidents found to have been caused by illegal aliens with commercial drivers' licenses (CDL), the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, announced he was immediately imposing a radical measure in an attempt to get these dangerous, often non-English speaking hazards off American highways. Calling the current use of non-domiciled CDLs a “national emergency” and a “threat to public safety,” the U.S. Department of Transportation plans to drastically reduce eligibility. The new system will make non-citizens ineligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet...

You’ve probably seen the discourse — the doom-scrolling debates about whether AI has made programming obsolete. The “vibe coding” trend where people spin up apps in an evening with AI assistance has everyone from tech bros to your aunt asking: Do we even need to learn programming languages anymore? At Codecademy, we’ve been on our soapbox saying that AI won’t kill programming since ChatGPT burst on the scene in 2022. Even with sophisticated AI assistants and the best vibes, understanding code is how you direct AI tools, validate their output, and shape the systems that matter in your field. Which...

New research shows that national abortion funds, Texas-based nonprofits, and affiliated organizations are dramatically expanding their travel, lodging, and logistical grants to bring out-of-state abortion seekers into New Mexico, raising significant concerns among Abortion Free New Mexico leaders about the state becoming a national hub for abortion-on-demand. Out-of-State Abortion Surge Continues More than 14,000 Texans traveled to New Mexico in 2023 to obtain abortions, and an estimated 71% of all abortions in the state are now performed on women who do not live in New Mexico. This massive influx has transformed the state into what Abortion Free New Mexico leaders...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ9kceTvsiI After a record-breaking 41-day stalemate in the U.S. Senate, lawmakers have finally gathered the votes to move forward with a continuing resolution. Congress is now making preparations to switch over from doing nothing because of the shutdown to their usual job of doing nothing simply because they’re Congress.

A federal judge ordered prosecutors Monday to turn over secret grand jury records in the case against former FBI Director James Comey to his legal team Monday, calling out “a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that … potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding.”And one legal expert said the bombshell decision could spell disaster for the prosecution against Comey and potentially be a huge embarrassment for the whole Department of Justice.In a 24-page ruling, US Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick accused the feds of flouting attorney-client privilege to secure an indictment of President Trump’s longtime nemesis, ripped...

https://babylonbee.com/news/teenager-struggling-to-stay-awake-after-only-getting-14-hours-of-sleep MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Sources say local teenager Ben Jackson was really struggling to stay awake the day after only getting 14 hours of sleep. In a tragic turn of events, Jackson first went to bed at 8:45 p.m. and then was cruelly awakened at the crack of dawn around 10:45 a.m. by his younger sister, leaving him burdened with an almost insurmountable sleep deficit for the rest of the day. "Mmmhhghtired," Jackson told reporters, fighting to keep his eyelids open. "Wanna go back asleep. Just five more mmingh. Ugh." Sources close to Jackson say that the lack of sleep...

There’s no business quite like the U.S. arms business and no audience roars louder in approval than Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump is expected to close several deals with Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a visit that could see billions more in U.S. weapons flow to one of the world’s most prolific importers of military hardware. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that the U.S. will likely move forward with a deal to sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia. The F-35, the crown jewel in Lockheed Martin’s portfolio, is among the most...

President Donald Trump is comfortable telling you what is on his mind. For good or bad, that means there is a long history of recorded statements from Trump, giving his frank and unfiltered thoughts on a variety of topics. For the last ten years, I have been particularly interested in noting whenever he has spoken about his personal views on spirituality, salvation, and his own eternal destiny. It reveals a decade-long spiritual journey in relationship to the gospel of grace that is both fascinating and, at times, tragic. …In his earlier celebrity years, 1990 profile for Playboy magazine, he said:...

Monday on CNN’s “News Central,” former national security adviser John Bolton said President Donald Trump had “put the gun on the table” to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.Host Kate Bolduan asked, “One of the things that we know he’s doing right are these boat strikes. I mean, do you think these boat strikes are stopping the flow of drugs to the United States, for one, and do you think they are doing anything to stop Maduro or go to the ends that you’re talking about?”Bolton said, “Well, I think the drug smugglers can obviously see what’s happening. It’d be stunning,...

Michelle Obama asserts that when she was a kid, whites routinely kiIIed black kids for wearing the wrong clothing.

The body of a Florida high school cheerleader was reportedly found by a maid wrapped in a blanket after the body had been stuffed under a bed on a Carnival cruise ship. There have been very few details released surrounding the 18-year-old's death. Anna Kepner was traveling with her family on a 6-day getaway cruise when she was declared deceased between Mexico and Florida. When the cruise ship docked in Miami, FBI agents swarmed the cruise ship, according to the Daily Mail. It has not been disclosed how she died. The outlet reported that sources said she was not feeling...

If there’s any good that’s come from the government shutdown, it’s exposing all the fraud being committed to exploit the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. To be sure, there are millions of needy Americans who were hurting from being deprived of SNAP as they tried to support children and keep their families from going hungry. This is not about them. This is about the other people — the individuals who dip into this program unjustly at the expense of the taxpayer. Just the News reported that Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Steven Vaden has indicated his agency is engaging in data...

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) revealed Monday that Bill and Hillary Clinton are reportedly refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee for their scheduled depositions regarding their association with Jeffrey Epstein. The Clintons were among several high-profile political figures, including former U.S. attorneys general and ex-FBI directors, subpoenaed in August 2025 as part of an expanded congressional investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein case. Hillary Clinton’s deposition was originally set for October 9, 2025. Bill Clinton’s was scheduled for October 14. Both were delayed at the request of legal counsel. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer...

Seattle's Mayor-elect Katie Wilson declared that "access to affordable, healthy food is a basic right. We cannot allow giant grocery chains to stomp all over our communities and close stores that will leave behind food deserts. Together, we can build a Seattle where fresh food is for everyone, not just for those who can afford it. Food deserts are not natural, supermarkets create them when they abandon our communities. We need to require these food vendors to give 90 days advance notice for mass layoffs and fair severance pay for laid off workers." "If too many privately owned food vendors...

Gabby Giffords’ gun control group, Giffords, is breaking out the adjectives against national reciprocity, describing it as a “dangerous bill” which “extremists” are pushing in order to carry “hidden guns.”They posted to X: “Extremists in Congress are pushing for a concealed carry mandate, which would allow people to carry hidden guns nationwide—regardless of state laws. Now that the government has reopened, they can vote on this dangerous bill any day. They must vote NO.”Giffords is wringing hands over the prospect of national reciprocity for concealed carry. The reciprocity is contained in Rep. Richard Hudson’s (R) H.R. 38, titled “Constitutional Concealed...