Free Republic

What do Angela Merkel and Queen Elizabeth II give us that Donald Trump doesn't? The answers to that question shed light on what citizens need from leaders as we struggle to cope with COVID-19. 1. Straight talk Not too long ago I received an envious message from a friend in Washington: "Angela Merkel's speech, that 60 percent of us will get the virus, made her an instant hero here." In her own address to the British people on Sunday night, Queen Eilzabeth's first words were an acknowledgment of the disruption, grief and financial difficulties the nation was facing. Like the...

The Trump campaign is slamming Vice President Joe Biden for "sniping from the sidelines" as the country works through and continues to suffer from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. “There is no question that the global coronavirus pandemic is impacting every aspect of Americans’ lives. President Trump is leading the nation through this crisis by approaching the problem in two ways: protecting the health and safety of our citizens and safeguarding the economy. The President has negotiated relief packages for unemployed workers and businesses, while also launching the Paycheck Protection Program through the Small Business Administration," the campaign released in a...

No, the Des Moines Register Poll did not kill itself. – The leaders in the Democrat Party are now in full-blown panic as The Commie closes in on a win in Iowa. So panicked, in fact, that they almost certainly spiked the final Des Moines Register poll – a tradition for 76 years running – that was to be released on Sunday. The narrative being pushed by the corrupt news media is that the Register, and its co-sponsor, CNN (because of course it’s CNN) decided to scrap the poll because one of the people conducting the poll consistently mispronounced the...

Michael Bloomberg campaign senior adviser Tim O’Brien argued Sunday on MSNBC that the only things in President Donald Trump’s head were a “putter, a cheeseburger, a porn video and somebody else’s credit card.” During a Super Bowl interview with Sean Hannity, Trump said of Bloomberg, “Why should he get a box to stand on, OK? He wants a box for the debates. Why should he be entitled to that? Really! Does that mean everyone else gets a box?” O’Brien said, “Mike Bloomberg would eat Donald Trump alive on a debate stage … Who knew that Donald Trump was such a...

As most people know, Sarah Palin is relentlessly attacked by those who elevate the state over the individual and by those who lack faith in any higher power except the regulatory power of Washington, D.C. Many of these people use – and abuse – the law, and in the case of Sarah Palin, they have abused our state ethics laws by repeatedly, remorselessly, and routinely filing false and malicious claims against her. So too, they have resorted to our courts, where several civil suits were filed against Sarah Palin. To date, these civil suits have been rejected by the courts...

Once again, an ethics complaint has been filed and publicly released in violation of state law. This is the sixth complaint filed by Ms. McLeod. In addition, she has filed a lawsuit against the Governor's office and multiple public records act requests. All of her prior complaints that have been ruled on have been dismissed. The Ethics Act serves important state interests in ensuring ethical state government and was intended to prevent the various forms of corrupt misconduct that had plagued the Legislature in prior years and which resulted in the prosecution of legislators and others. It is unfortunate that...

What to make of Ron Paul? The word erratic comes to mind. On domestic spending, he is a righteous guardian of small government, while on foreign affairs he is a dangerous isolationist who believes the world will leave us alone if we just tend to our own knitting. And as far as Sarah Palin and her supporters go, he is a space cadet, apparently. An interview with Politico published today contains this startling assertion from Paul: 'As for soon-to-be departing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Paul dismisses her supporters as "more establishment, conventional Country-Club type of Republicans."' This is odd indeed,...

The state has dismissed an ethics complaint alleging a close adviser to Gov. Sarah Palin played politics on state time while traveling with Palin on the vice presidential campaign trail and afterward. The attorney general's office said there wasn't evidence backing up the charge Anchorage activist Andree McLeod made against Kris Perry, the head of the governor's Anchorage office. The governor's office said this was the 15th dismissed ethics complaint against Palin or her staff.

On his show this afternoon, Eddie Burke revealed to his listeners that he had witnessed State Senator Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) having lunch with repeated frivolous ethics complainant, Andree McLeod. Eddie described this meeting as "suspicious." Wielechowski called Eddie to deny any collaboration with McLeod, but seemed a little uncomfortable when Eddie pressed him on whether he supports the frivolous complaints put forth by McLeod and others. Listen to the exchange and decide for yourself:

An ethics complaint against Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will be filed this afternoon asserting that Palin’s involvement with SarahPAC constitutes "outside employment" and "misuse of official position." Anchorage resident Sondra Tompkins, child disability advocate and mother of a special needs child, is filing the complaint after observing Governor Palin repeatedly display "a pattern of unethical behavior." Sondra believes that the tipping point for her was Sarah Palin's most recent abdication of her role as Governor and apparent conflict-of-interest when she spoke at two outside events in Indiana rather than work with the Alaska Legislature during the most critical time, the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A foot ailment forced Vice President Dick Cheney to use a cane on Friday, but it didn't affect his sense of humor. ``I'm a little hobbled-up today,'' Cheney told workers at a Harley-Davidson factory in Kansas City, Mo., where he was highlighting upturns in the economy. ``I don't usually carry a cane, but (Defense Secretary) Don Rumsfeld has been chewing on my ankles.'' Lea Anne McBride, a Cheney spokeswoman who is traveling with the vice president, said he was experiencing a recurrence of a ``pre-existing foot condition.''

One of the reasons I waited so long to endorse President Bush, was because I know that some of the worst domestic and foreign policy initiatives in recent U.S. history have come under the watch and direction of Republican administrations. It's hard to imagine, for instance, that a Democrat president could have imposed wage and price controls on the American people as President Nixon did. It's hard to imagine that a Democrat president could have opened relations with the brutish, totalitarian, communist government in China as Nixon did. It's hard to imagine that a Democrat president could have fundamentally altered...