Free Republic

Republicans lost in part because the Iran war dragged on. The vice president owns that. President Donald Trump is not apologizing for taking military action to disarm the Iranian regime. “I’m totally convinced that my decision on Iran, for the long-term good of our country and even the world, was an absolutely correct one — and it continues to be,” he told Politico on election night. So why is his vice president publicly disagreeing? “The reason we lost is the war,” JD Vance declared in a shockingly disloyal post on X, adding, “If you’d like to argue it was worth...

California high-speed rail CEO Ian Choudri resigned on Thursday, citing a need to focus on personal and family priorities, a few weeks after he was stripped of contract authority after a damning audit. Choudri’s resignation followed a rocky tenure marked by a recent Inspector General investigation into nearly $600,000 in unallowable travel expenses to “questionable locations that appear unrelated to state business,” including trips to gyms, a nightclub, an escape room, a tiki bar and a cigar lounge over a two-year period, according to an investigation released by the inspector general that oversees the agency.

The green ID book could soon be history. Ramaphosa has announced plans for a biometric population register and a new digital ID system designed to combat fraud, corruption, and weaknesses in South Africa's immigration system. But there's a catch: the rollout dates are still unclear. Will these reforms finally close the loopholes, or are they just another promise?

U.S. Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart is sounding the alarm over the potential fallout if the Lone Star State were to adopt California-style energy policies. Stewart stressed that "the absolute worst thing that could happen to the United States economy would be to have California-style energy policy implemented in Texas." During an appearance on "Big Money in the Morning," Thursday, Stewart explained how Texas adopting energy policies similar to those in California or Colorado could deal an economic blow to the state and the U.S. economy overall. "When we saw that clean sweep of Democratic elections take place...

"Time to double down." After the shellacking Capitol Hill Republicans got on Tuesday, we’re fully in President Trump’s pen and phone era. He should embrace it. He’s certainly entertaining the other possibility. When the president called in to Fox News on the night of the election, he was asked a typical Washington question: will you be able to work with the new opposition majority? Trump sounded a bipartisan note, saying that he’d be, of course, open to working with Democrats on some issues, not others – [cut] The president can obviously go down that road if he wants, but the...

About three-quarters of voters said the Iran war was a crucial factor in which candidate they supported in the 2026 midterm elections, according to an NBC exit poll. Among the 74% of voters who said the Iran war was a crucial factor, 62% voted Democrat and 35% voted Republican. ... In a CBS exit poll, most voters said the U.S. made the wrong decision to take that military action in Iran, including about a quarter of Republicans.

I am a woman in my twenties living in London, not far from Pimlico. At dinner in Wandsworth recently, over roast duck and a second bottle, a friend I have known since our all-girls schooling days explained her politics to me. She did not mention anything vaguely ideological, nor did she offer any thoughts on the big issues of the day like housing, tax, migration or the economy. She said, quite sincerely, that she just wants people to be happy. Everyone at the table nodded, and so, I confess, did I. Nobody asked what that would mean for the asylum...

Explanation: One of our Solar System's most tantalizing worlds, Enceladus is backlit by the Sun in this Cassini spacecraft image from November 1, 2009. The dramatic illumination reveals the plumes that continuously spew into space from the south pole of Saturn's 500 kilometer diameter moon. Discovered by Cassini in 2005, the icy plumes are likely connected to an ocean beneath the ice shell of Enceladus. They supply material directly to Saturn's outer, tenuous E ring and make the surface of Enceladus as reflective as snow. Across the scene, Saturn's icy rings scatter sunlight toward Cassini's cameras. Beyond the rings (lower...

Gov. Gavin Newsom will commute the death sentences of all California inmates, changing the penalty for all 548 death row inmates to life without parole.The outgoing governor announced the decision Thursday following weeks of speculation. The move comes just two months before Newsom leaves office in January.When he took office in 2019, Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions, formalizing a de facto pause that had been in place since 2006.But although that rule blocked all executions during his tenure, it still left all death sentences in place. In a letter addressed to all Californians, the governor shared his decision to...

It’s time for a dose of Common Sense. Don’t think for a moment that the electronic election infrastructure didn’t orchestrate the 2026 Midterms Republican Bloodbath. It’s ever more ridiculous that practically nobody in Government or the Media is talking about this, and they are instead blaming everything else. Why are these election systems treated as such “Sacred Cows”, even to the extent of allowing them to destroy America? ... Texas may be the state that finally cracks open the entire cheating infrastructure, as swamping the cheat in that state is key to spreading the further destruction of America. ... The...

I have never been so happy about being almost dead as I am after that last election....

Tennessee officials are hitting back at Christa Pike’s brazen demand to be transferred into a cushy, low-security prison unit while recovering from her botched execution, newly filed court records reveal. The 50-year-old convicted murder “thinks she knows better than her treating providers and [Tennessee Department of Corrections] officials about how to treat her medical needs while keeping her safe and secure,” state attorneys blasted in the docs, which were filed in federal court on Wednesday. The fiery remarks were in response to an emergency order filed by Pike’s legal team on Oct. 30, which sought to have her removed from...

Matt Dunlap, the Democrat rival to Paul LePage in the race for CD-2 Maine has conceded. Paul is ahead by over 5000 votes. Even with rank choice voting, Dunlap noted he cannot overtake that lead. I must say I am confused. How does rank choice voting work with only two candidates. CONGRATULATIONS CONGRESSMAN-ELECT PAUL LEPAGE! :)

Voters in a North Carolina district decided that calling for the internment and genocide of Republicans was not a dealbreaker. As WFDD reported, Democrat Shelly Headen pulled off a shocking upset victory in NC House District 62 on Tuesday, ousting incumbent Republican John Blust. Republicans had controlled the Guilford County seat for more than two decades prior to Headen’s win. The final margin was just 233 votes, within North Carolina’s 1% recount threshold for non-statewide contests. Blunt can request a recount once county election results are certified on Nov. 13. It’s extremely unlikely such a margin will be reversed, however....

The IRS has announced higher federal tax brackets for 2027 to adjust for inflation. The standard deduction will increase to $33,200 for married couples filing together and $16,600 for single taxpayers.

Immediately, the naysayers would say prophecy has nothing to do with politics. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are three very simple truths: We have never been closer to the Second Coming of Christ than we are today. By close, I mean a short amount of time. The American public has never been so far from eschatological (Second Coming) truth as it is at this moment. Politics and prophecy are connected at the hip. Whatever the politicians do is going to lead to what prophecy says is going to happen. It is not likelihood; it is impossible to...

Click on the link to see the comparison of the number of Democrats and Republicans voting for governor, senate and presidential races in Texas from 2016 to 2026.

Republican Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL and farmer, is projected to win in the race to represent Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, a seat currently held by President Trump critic Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ). Gallrein, whom Trump endorsed, defeated Democrat Melissa Strange and Libertarian Jeremy Todd for the seat. The president had stumped for Gallrein in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Gallrein led by 29 percentage points — 59 percent to 30 percent — with a small share of the vote reported by DDHQ as of 6:20 p.m. EST Tuesday. Gallrein defeated...

"The ballots are counted. The maps are drawn. Democrats will control the House and the Senate when the new Congress gavels in. That is the premise the country just handed Republicans, and the Senate still has a few weeks of majority power left. John Thune and the usual clutch of RINOs are treating that window like an inconvenience instead of the last clean shot they will get for years."

I am not naive about what happened Tuesday; in fact, I had predicted an outcome like this for some time. But I also realize President Donald Trump has demonstrated real leadership at one of the most consequential moments in American history. His decision to confront Iran's nuclear ambitions was courageous, necessary, and, I believe, one that history will judge favorably.