Free Republic

FULL TITLE: Beto Apologizes To Campaign Staff: ‘I Was A Giant Asshole To Be Around Sometimes’ 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke apologized to his campaign staff for being a “giant asshole” at times during his failed Senate bid, video released Tuesday shows. In “Running with Beto,” a documentary premiering Tuesday on HBO, O’Rourke gathered with a group of campaign staffers to thank them before giving his concession speech after losing to Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm election. “I just feel very, very lucky, and I love you guys more than you’ll ever know,” O’Rourke said in...

**SNIP** Paronto said he never shared intel but his security clearance was removed by Brennan. Brennan never told him why. He blasted Brennan for the way the heroes of Benghazi were treated upon return. “We come back from being on the ground to be treated as a second-class citizen. You come back and you’re called a liar,” Paronto told Fox News. “Brennan came in and there was no talk of ‘hey, good job guys,’ not that you look for it, but instead, it was ‘don’t say anything guys, we don’t want the truth to get out.’” He didn’t let up...

Former President Barack Obama embarked on an Asia trip this week, and Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs––a frequent defender of President Trump‘s––went off on Obama tonight for comments aimed at the current president. While in India, Obama offered this advice: “Think before you speak, think before you tweet.” He also invoked his own social media follower numbers compared to “other people who use it more often.” Dobbs slammed Obama for his criticisms of his predecessor, and guest Steve Forbes said Obama doesn’t realize he “doesn’t matter anymore.” Dobbs then said this:

<p>WASHINGTON — Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, charged in an interview on Sunday that President Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.”</p>

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to maintain his deep belief that multiculturalism is the key to achieving security and stability in the West and to stopping terrorism. In a statement condemning Friday's attack in Egypt which targeted Coptic Christians, the third attack against Copts in recent months, Trudeau said, “As recent events show, violent extremists often target those most vulnerable. As members of the international community, we must continue to stand against those responsible for these acts of terrorism and counter hate by promoting the values of diversity, inclusion and peace.” […] Since being elected, Trudeau has taken the...

A widely-shared video posted to YouTube Saturday appears to show a pastor, who's well known for previous public protests, telling kids waiting in line at an Amarillo mall that Santa isn't real. In the video, a man identifying himself as David Grisham of "Last Frontier Evangelism" said, "We're going to tell the children here today the truth that there is no Santa Claus and that Christmas is about Jesus Christ." Grisham has previously gained notoriety in 2010 for attempting to burn a copy of the Quran in an Amarillo park, NBC News reported. He was thwarted by a 23-year-old skateboarder...

As Colin Kaepernick kneeled down, the boos rained down on him, loud and explosive. And the boos didn’t stop, either - even if you could hear the slightest smattering of cheers in a few moments, too.On Thursday night against the hometown San Diego Chargers, with “Salute to Military” night as a backdrop in a city with one of the nation’s largest naval bases, though, that backlash was suddenly conflicted. Kaepernick was booed during the anthem, when he took a knee (instead of sitting, as he’d done a game ago) during the national anthem, his helmet in hand.

There are always long-shot candidates in any political race, but Democrat Scott Fenstermaker may take it to a whole new level, and I’m not talking about in a “the rent is too damn high” kind of way. Fenstermaker, a criminal defense and tax litigation attorney, made recent comments about 9/11 in a “Humans of New York” profile that has the New York Daily News referring to him as “deranged.” In the profile piece, Fenstermaker argued that the U.S. “got what it deserved” on September 11. "I think the people in those towers died as representatives for the rest of us,...

On Friday's Real Time on HBO, host Bill Maher joked about having a fantasy that an apparently unstoppable Donald Trump will unexpectedly drop dead on stage, and, moments later, joked about the possibility that discussing former Vice President Dick Cheney on his show might result in his death as he recalled the coincidental passing of Antonin Scalia and Nancy Reagan right after Maher had mentioned them on the air. Maher Fantasizes Trump Dying on Stage, Jokes About Cheney DyingThe HBO comedian set up his Trump death fantasy by recalling that people often ask him if the GOP candidate could really...

HARRISBURG—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz, 19, a U.S. citizen and resident of Harrisburg, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Scranton on charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). His detention hearing and arraignment is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Harrisburg on December 23, 2015 before United States Chief Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson.

Liberals across the country rejoiced today as Ted Cruz announced that he is officially running for president, thus ensuring a plentiful gaffe harvest for progressive writers like myself to feed upon for months. The GOP has pretty much nothing to gain from Cruz’s decision to throw his hat in the ring. In fact, if anything, it will probably hurt them, as Cruz will only serve to solidify the idea that Republicans are anti-women, anti-LGBT, and anti-immigrant. Yes, Ted Cruz, the son of an immigrant from Cuba, is anti-immigrant. As a Latino, I can tell you right now that Latinos won’t...

U.S. Steel Corp. announced today that John P. Surma will relinquish the chief executive officer position at the Pittsburgh steel company to the man who has been directing a cost-cutting campaign there. Mario Longhi, the company's chief operating officer who added the title of president in May, will take over the CEO role effective Sept. 1. Mr. Surma will continue as executive chairman through the end of the year, when he will retire, according to the company's announcement this afternoon. "I am pleased that our well-established succession planning process has produced such a capable and experienced executive who deserves the...

Mark Alan Siegel, Palm Beach County Democrat Chairman, makes some rather anti-Christian statements.

President Barack Obama describes the killing of Osama bin Laden as the “most important single day” of his presidency and said that the decision to carry out the raid was one that he had to ultimately make alone. “I did choose the risk,” the president said in an exclusive interview with Rock Center Anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams. “The reason I was willing to make that decision of sending in our SEALs to try to capture or kill bin Laden rather than to take some other options was ultimately because I had 100 percent faith in the Navy SEALs...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush warned the Republican presidential hopefuls against ideological intransigence and knee-jerk opposition to President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying they risk turning off middle-of-the-road voters. Asked by Fox News host Neil Cavuto if some Republicans go too far in their criticism of Obama, Bush said flatly, “I do. I think when you start ascribing bad motives to the guy, that’s wrong. It turns off people who want solutions.

Leadership: Waking up to a thinner majority, the Senate majority leader suddenly finds the filibuster a threat to democracy. So he decides that the first legislative day will be the day the Senate stood still. Only in the Bible and Harry Reid's Senate can a day last more than 24 hours. As we predicted a week ago, the slightly less powerful majority leader, on the first legislative day in the 112th Congress, executed plans to make that "day" last until Jan. 25 so he can stage a legislative coup and neuter the filibuster rule that protects the right of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama demanded that BP set up a compensation fund for the oil-tainted Gulf Coast and prepared for his first Oval Office address to the nation as he tried to wrest control of the environmental disaster threatening to overwhelm his administration. White House officials announced the steps Sunday as Obama prepared for his fourth visit to the tortured Gulf.

A professor who is accusing global warming skeptics of engaging in "tabloid-style character assassination” of scientists, called an American climate skeptic “an assh*le” on the December 4, 2009 live broadcast of BBC's Newsnight program. “What an assh*le!” declared Professor Watson at the end of the contentious debate with Climate Depot's executive editor Marc Morano. A clearly agitated Watson had earlier shouted to Morano “will you shut up.” Video of BBC “As*h*le” clip is here. Full one-on-one BBC debate segment between Prof. Watson and Climate Depot's Morano is here in two parts. The remark was broadcast live on BBC and prompted...

In his weekly radio address, President Obama took time to commend American fighting forces and to explain how his defense, veterans and even economic programs (which he continues to call the "New Foundation") are part of serving the armed forces. It might have been superior for the president to have offered only a patriotic message and a word of thanks and remembrance for the fallen soldiers, but that's debatable. What seems wholly out of place, though, is the president's swipe at his predecessor, George W. Bush, and others: "Our fighting men and women – and the military families who love...

Who's poised to lead the Republican party out of the woods? John McCain seems convinced that one GOP notable is not the person for the job, someone he's quite familiar with - his former running mate. On Monday's "Tonight Show," Jay Leno asked the Arizona Senator to name the new guiding lights of the Republican party, and McCain was quick to rattle off a list of "young, dynamic" governors around the country. Palin wasn't one of them. McCain singled out Lousisana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Gov. Charlie Christ, Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney, McCain's chief rival for the Republican...