Free Republic

If you go to bed on election night and don't know who won a midterm congressional race, that's normal. And if you wake up the next morning and find that a candidate who was behind hours earlier has since pulled ahead, that's normal, too. That won't stop some politicians and their allies from spreading misinformation during vote counting. In past elections, elected leaders, candidates and social media users have spread falsehoods that "late night" arrivals of "ballot dumps" or "suitcases" of ballots are signs of fraud, or that only Democratic-led cities take days to count votes. Some states such as...

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Why do editors publish results they don’t believe?Polling is an inexact science if it’s even a science, and sometimes it looks more like political comedy. It’s questionable enough when media folk assign authoritative weight to imperfect survey results that align with their partisan preferences. Now this urge has apparently become so strong at the Washington Post that the newspaper is publishing newsroom-pleasing results even while explaining in detail why they shouldn’t be trusted. Is this a joke?Scott Clement reports for the Post on its new survey, which on its face appears to find a significant lead for Kansas Democrat Adam...

IDE Technologies, an Israeli water treatment giant that operates some of the largest seawater desalination plants in the world, was awarded the contract for the landmark Harbor Island project on Corpus Christi Bay this summer by the Nueces River Authority, a small state water agency.

A Michigan loon was arrested Friday for threatening to kill Kash Patel in sinister messages calling the FBI director a “dead mf,” prosecutors said. Anthony Daniel Palazzolo, 42, allegedly sent a series of Facebook messages to Patel’s associate earlier this month claiming he would target the bureau and had “put a hit out” on the director, according to United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. In one phone call, Palazzolo, of Chesterfield Township, allegedly told an FBI agent he would show up to the Detroit field office and “use deadly force against every single one of you government officials—FBI Secret...

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran was seeking negotiations with Washington and facing serious internal difficulties, hours after predicting that the war between the two countries would soon come to an end. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said Tehran was continuing to pursue talks while struggling to meet its financial obligations to security personnel. "There are talks. They want to talk. They keep talking. They're not paying their soldiers. They're not paying their police. They're in a lot of trouble." The President also suggested that Washington was not under immediate pressure to bring the conflict...

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The November 3 midterm elections are quickly approaching after an electoral cycle shaped to an unusual degree ⁠by decisions ⁠of the US Supreme Court, a development that prompted Justice Elena Kagan ⁠to voice alarm this week. Republicans generally have fared better than Democrats in the spate of recent election-related cases, including in rulings on redrawing congressional districts and rolling back campaign finance ​restrictions. It remains to be seen, however, whether these legal victories will help President Donald Trump's party in its quest to retain control of Congress in the midterms. Democrats need a net gain...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran’s strikes on more than two dozen U.S. bases in the Middle East focused on early-warning systems before hitting aircraft and buildings, causing billions of dollars in equipment damage, according to an Associated Press analysis. The AP independently verified damage to American targets using satellite imagery from multiple providers and spoke to four regional officials who were briefed or have firsthand knowledge of what was hit. The AP found that, through August, more than 115 drone or missile strikes claimed by Iran or Iranian-backed militias damaged or destroyed structures on 26 military bases and other sites with...

Imagine visiting a democratic country where young people dressed in military clothes, carrying machine guns, and eager to defend their country are ubiquitous. There are also children everywhere, as it is the country with the highest birth rate in the developed world. The cities are vibrant, and everyone you meet tells you what a wonderful place it is to live. Former Australian deputy prime minister John Anderson shared these impressions on his recent trip to Israel. He explained that his reason for the visit was that he despises racism, especially the oldest and most pernicious hatred, antisemitism. He also said...

MANHATTAN (CN) — A federal judge on Friday demanded that the government immediately suspend three pro-Trump video advertisements that may have violated laws against taxpayer-funded propaganda. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon, ruling from the bench after an emergency hearing, said the contested online ads were “purely partisan” pieces designed to attack Democrats and promote Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, likely violating the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. One of the videos, titled “$5,000 to Americans,” features President Donald Trump speaking directly to viewers from the Oval Office. “If the Democrats win, you will have an economic depression,”...

The “Squad” won’t just be a fringe faction in the new House. The far-left group that began with the 2018 election of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is set to be a substantial block whose members are itching to leverage their newfound power to try to turn their sprawling agenda — abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, expanding gender-affirming care, and government-run supermarkets — into action. The radical clique is set to double from the current core of seven to as many as 16 after a series of primary wins, election experts say – a number that swells to two dozen when counting...

Saving democracy apparently requires a collection department. Before Americans finish casting their ballots, one proposal for the next Democratic majority already identifies a promising destination for political combat: Stephen Miller’s bank account. An October 28 National News Brief opinion column argues that Democrats should create a civil cause of action that lets people harmed by executive branch abuses sue federal officials for damages. Trump has no use for pretense, and he’s not interested in playing along. He thinks he is a law unto himself; that he holds sovereign authority over the entire country; that he can rule by decree and...

The traditional “family photo” to open the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting has been abruptly cancelled in the US after a host of nations – including Australia and the UK – refused to appear beside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, pulled the plug after several European officials, the UK and Australia made it known they would boycott or walk out of the snapshot that often kicks off such international gatherings. Rubio still opened the talks in Atlanta with an appeal for unity on the issues that threaten international security and trade. “We are...

UNDERCOVER: ELISSA SLOTKIN LAYS OUT DEMOCRATS' LAWFARE PLAN IF THEY WIN THE MAJORITY! "We have a list of, like, the 'signature cases.' So the things where it's, like, so egregious, such a violation of law, such a corruption case... in every committee, there will be the 'signature cases' where we hold people accountable." "I just went to Hungary. I went over to Budapest because they just got rid of their authoritarian leader after 16 years. And I'm like, how did you handle 16 years of corruption? We don't have that much, but we have so much." She named the targets:...

you can: 🇧🇷 Steal elections 🇷🇴 Annul elections retroactively 🇬🇧 Cancel local elections 🇺🇸 Raid the home of the former President and opposition leader 🇷🇴 Ban election winners from running again 🇭🇺 Ban political opponents from running again 🇩🇪 Threaten to ban the most popular party 🇫🇷 Threaten to ban the leading presidential candidate 🇧🇷 Jail your opponent 🇵🇱 Storm the Constitutional Court And you still talk about doing all this in the name of “democracy” and the “rule of law.” Notice something? #polandcoup https://x.com/balazscseko/status/2116291760531857690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2116291760531857690%7Ctwgr%5E41659675535d7ad681b76b1908aa56a776650c9c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.fifthquarter.net%2Fthreads%2Fthe-pit-of-misery-politics-and-religion.2602%2Fpage-834

Brazil called in Argentina's highest diplomat in Brasilia to explain the Argentine government's role in the departure of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro to the ​US after losing the presidential election, two sources in the Brazilian ‌government said on Friday, as Argentina denied the summoning. Brazil's foreign ministry summoned the charge d'affaires at Argentina's embassy, Maria Emilia Cortes, on Thursday, the sources said. Cortes was received by the ​ministry's South America Department director, Joao Marcelo de Queiroz, one of ​the sources added. It marks the latest diplomatic tension between the neighboring countries after ⁠Brazil downgraded ties with Argentina in August following insults...

After Election Day, all eyes in the political world could turn to Alaska. Alaska has already been at the center of a roiling political controversy this week over how the second Dan Sullivan ended up on the state’s Senate ballot, which has sparked lawsuits, criminal investigations and threats to block certification of the election if incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan is defeated by Democrat Mary Peltola. But the uproar about the Alaska Senate race could ratchet up to 11 if control of the Senate comes down to who wins in the state, one that election officials and experts say is...

The Brave New World where the police are the useless. Shopkeepers in Paris are stocking up on iron bars, batons, tear gas canisters, pepper spray, and baseball bats, all in anticipation of more mob violence and looting. After the events of the past week, they no longer trust that the police will adequately protect them, and are determined to defend themselves. Firearms are illegal, but that has not prevented some people from taking a risk and stocking up on guns. More on this, the first battle of what some French commentators have called a “civil war,” can be found here:...

Language is always in flux, with different phrases and slang coming and going. Similar to inside jokes and cultural references, what was commonly said in one generation sounds bizarre to another. The idioms and sayings of our grandparents' generation don't make much sense to us, so we choose to use language that we can relate to. In this process, then, the older phrases begin to disappear.If you've ever rolled your eyes at one of the seemingly silly things your grandparent said, then you are in good company. Some of us might say the phrases of our grandparents' era, but they've...

Three months after a Denver District Court judge ordered Secretary of State Jena Griswold's Office to ask a consulting agency if it has a missing $25,000 report, the consultant has released a set of demands. Susan Heinzeroth with SageRiver Consulting wants, among other things, protection from "disparagement." Former employees of Griswold told CBS Colorado that the report is highly critical of Griswold, and it appears Heinzeroth is worried about retaliation. "I think they don't want to produce it. Nobody wants to produce it. It's just become this shell game of where is this report," says Suzanne Taheri. ... Eight months...