Free Republic

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter David Mamet is warning Americans that they are giving up their Constitutional rights under coronavirus lockdowns, saying that questioning government authorities needs to remain a vital part of the country’s democratic tradition. In an interview with Breitbart News’ editor-in-chief Alex Marlow on Breitbart News Daily on Sirius XM Patriot 125, David Mamet blasted the shut-down and stay-at-home orders that have once again taken effect in many states, leading to widespread economic devastation. “It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s the first time in history that an entire economy has been shut down because of...

SAN JOSE DE GUANIPA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Francisco Belisario, a Venezuelan mayor, retired general and member of the ruling Socialist party, had enough. His loudest local critic had accused him of bungling the response to the coronavirus outbreak and other big problems. In August, he wrote a state prosecutor and requested an “exhaustive investigation” of his nemesis, Giovanni Urbaneja, a former lawmaker who had become a gadfly to the mayor and other Socialist officeholders. Urbaneja, Belisario wrote in a letter reviewed by Reuters, was conducting a “ferocious smear campaign” on Facebook and elsewhere. Urbaneja not only defamed him and President...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) warned on Sunday that certain areas of New York City are heading toward tighter coronavirus restrictions, including the most restrictive “red zone” which prohibits all gatherings deemed “non-essential.” The Democrat governor stated some areas, namely Staten Island, Long Island, and parts of Manhattan, are “in the warning track” and could soon face additional restrictions due to concerns over rising infection rates and hospital capacity.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson opened Wednesday night’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” by pointing out the significance of Republicans likely keeping the Senate majority. As of Wednesday, Democrats had flipped GOP Senate seats in Colorado and Arizona and lost one in Alabama, for a net gain of only one seat. Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins pulled through in what many thought would be a close race, as did Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, while Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis appears likely to narrowly hold his seat as well. Carlson pointed to proposals like court-packing, abolishing the filibuster, legalizing...

cops were forced to remove Reed Bender from a Mitchell school board meeting in South Dakota because he refused to wear a mask.. A district mandate from July says people must wear masks on school property .. But Bender refused to put one on or leave the building in Mitchell, South Dakota.. He told cops: 'Force me out. You're going to have to drag me out'.. When he refused cops threatened him with a stun gun and dragged him out.. His wife Teri Jayne Bender is supporting him on Facebook saying 'we got this'.. She says she supports 'maskers and...

Does the Wuhan virus, which arguably escaped from a Chinese virology lab, supersede the rights guaranteed to American citizens under the U.S. Constitution? U.S. Federal District Judge William Stickman IV has ruled in a case brought before him that there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and that the Bill of Rights cannot be trampled with impunity whenever there is a health emergency leftist ideologues try to exploit to impose their desired control over every aspect of our daily lives. As Reason Magazine reports: A federal judge on Monday has ruled that lockdown restrictions imposed by Pennsylvania Gov....

The Oklahoma legislature passed SB 1081 on 15 May, the last day of the legislative session.  It was one of the last bills passed in 2020 before the legislature adjourned. It appears to be the first anti-red flag law passed by any legislature. The legislature passed the bill, had it signed, enrolled, returned to the House, signed, returned to the Senate, and sent to the Governor, all on the same day.A legislature can act quickly, when there is sufficient will to do so. The anti-red flag bill was introduced in 2019, by Senator Nathan Dahm. Dahm wrote an op-ed, published...

They said it. I didn't. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that Democratic California Gavin Newsom's ban on in-person church services during the coronavirus pandemic can stand.The lawsuit, filed by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in San Diego, prevents that church from reopening, according to the Los Angeles TimesThe "constitutional standards that would normally govern our review of a Free Exercise claim should not be applied," wrote the two judges in the majority opinion."We're dealing here with a highly contagious and often fatal disease for which there presently is no known cure. In the words of...

Raleigh, N.C. — Lt. Gov. Dan Forest told Christian pastors in a video conference Thursday that the political left is using COVID-19 restrictions to hurt the church and that the last chance to fight back is rapidly approaching. Forest, a Republican running this year for governor, cast stay-at-home restrictions limiting indoor church gatherings in North Carolina as part of a larger, escalating culture war against religious freedom. "There is no doubt that there are people that are on the left that are using this to pull certain levers to see how far that they can go," Forest said. "How far...

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Life in the Age of the Great UnReason can be difficult for some of us. Conservatives and others who now take exception to the Internment of 2020—the reduction of citizens’ homes, towns, and states to what amounts to internment camps from which they are forbidden to leave via “Shelter-in-Place” orders—typically frame their position in terms of “reopening the economy.”    In doing so, they stack the deck against themselves. Putting the matter this way cedes the moral high ground to those who want to prolong the Internment, for it invites the latter to depict the conflict as one between those,...

Don't be surprised if you catch Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House's coronavirus, out hiking over Memorial Day weekend. The country's leading infectious disease expert shared words of encouragement and guidance Thursday night during CNN's global coronavirus town hall, ahead of the holiday weekend. "Memorial Day, it's a very important holiday. Hopefully the sun will be out. We'll be having people who want to get out there and get fresh air. You can do that. We're not telling people to just lock in unless you're in...

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday warned the mayor of Los Angeles and the county’s top health officer that an extension of the coronavirus stay-at-home order may be unlawful. The vague letter sent to Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer did not spell out any specific violations, but noted concern about statements both had made publicly that restrictions may be prolonged without a vaccine. “Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the city and county of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal...

On Friday, the lockdowns end It's time. It's time to stand up to overreaching governors, mayors, and bureaucrats. It's time to open up our businesses while adopting responsible, common-sense safety measures. And it's time to support those businesses by showing up to purchase their goods and services. We're calling all Americans to Stand Up, Open Up, and Show Up this Friday, May 22. For months, we've complied with lockdown and "stay-at-home" orders supposedly designed to "slow the spread" of the dangerous COVID-19 virus. But even as the infection rate slowed and rural communities saw virtually zero transmission, power-hungry and terrified...

It turns out Memorial Day weekend will not be quite the big economic and social reopening moment that Sacramento residents and businesses owners had hoped. Sacramento County health chief Peter Beilenson on Thursday reversed his approval from earlier this week for fitness centers to reopen, saying state health officials had stepped in to tell him it’s too soon. Beilenson said state health officials also told him to back off of his plans to allow groups of up to 10 get together, with social distancing, starting this weekend. Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article242905031.html#storylink=cpy

The Rev. Anna Reeves considers herself fortunate that her church, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Silver Spring Twp., sits on sprawling property. “It’s just a wonderful place for outdoor activity,” she said. On Sunday, Reeves is going to take advantage of that ample outdoor space and use it to gather with her congregation in worship while adhering to strict social distancing protocol to protect her faith community from the coronavirus. “I don’t think it’s safe yet to go into the sanctuary. It’s really not,” she said. “Our plan is to abide clearly by the state’s guidelines of having no...

Churchgoers across the country are reasserting their fundamental rights of conscience—rights that too many political leaders have forgotten or denied. On Friday, President Trump said churches and houses of worship are “essential” and called on governors nationwide to allow them to open this weekend. If they don’t, Trump said he would “override” governors, citing forthcoming guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In remarks Thursday, the president criticized some governors who have “deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential” but not churches. “It’s not right. So I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential.”Trump is right,...

President Donald Trump warned governors Friday that if they don't reopen the nation's houses of worship "right now," he will "override" them. Trump demanded the reopening in brief remarks announcing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at his direction, will issue new guidelines to smooth the process. "Today I am identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogues, and mosques, as essential places that provide essential services, Trump said at his appearance, during which he took no questions. "Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship. It's...

In a call with reporters Thursday, Wolf said his administration planned to announce “a whole range” of counties would move to the yellow phase. He also hinted that he may announce some counties will move to the “green” phase, or the final phase of reopening under which there are no restrictions on which establishments can and can’t be open, but social-distancing guidelines and other safety precautions remain in place. The administration had established metrics to determine when counties would move from the red to the yellow phase, and the administration did so largely by region. Among those metrics were testing...

“We’re close. But, we’re not there yet,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Thursday news conference. “I don’t think we’re gonna be ready by May 29. But, my hope is that soon in June, we will be ready.” Gov. Pritzker is allowing Illinois restaurants to open for outdoor dining on May 29. But Chicago won’t be taking advantage of it — at least not yet. “I don’t think we’re gonna be ready by May 29. But my hope is that soon in June, we will be ready,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday. Lightfoot said there is “nothing magic about” May...