Free Republic

A judge in Texas has struck down an Obama-era federal regulation that would have required healthcare providers and insurers to perform gender-transition procedures and abortions even if they go against their medical judgment or violate religious convictions. U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor, an appointee of President George W. Bush, vacated a 2016 Obamacare mandate that critics feared could have forced faith-based doctors out of work if they refused to perform gender-transition procedures or abortions on patients referred to them. This was the second time that O’Connor ruled against the regulation, with the first coming in January 2017 when he...

Bush’s second term in office ended in 2009, and he took up painting early on in his retirement, essaying his interest in portraiture with his depictions of world leaders. He then turned to his attention to war veterans. These newer portraits are thickly painted in the loose, vivid style Bush has developed since his early experiments with a more photorealistic technique. They were first shown at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, in 2017. A book of the paintings, accompanied by the stories of the 98 men and women portrayed – their injuries, recoveries and lives afterward...

The United States attacked Venezuela and captured its long-serving President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on Saturday (Jan 3), with US President Donald Trump promising to put the country under American control for now, even as Venezuelan officials vowed defiance. As part of a dramatic overnight operation that knocked out electricity in parts ⁠of Caracas, US Special Forces captured Maduro in or near one of his safe houses, Trump said. With Maduro in US custody, Trump said: "We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition." "We can't take a chance...

Protests erupted across the United States on Saturday following President Donald Trump’s military attack on Venezuela late Friday. Demonstrations were held throughout the Monterey Bay region, including in Santa Cruz, Salinas and Monterey. Organized by Indivisible Pajaro Valley, protesters waved signs reading “No Blood for Oil,” “No New Wars,” and “Enough Is Enough.” The two-hour protest drew cheers and honking horns from passing motorists. Following airstrikes on civilian and government sites in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, U.S. troops detained President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transported them to the United States to face criminal charges, according to international...

The actions of one man charged with a heinous crime have derailed the lawful U.S. immigration applications of people from 19 countries, with more potentially added in the coming weeks. The crime, of course, was the horrific and targeted attack on National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe last month in Washington, D.C. It was unconscionable and caused Beckstrom’s death. Terrorism, hate, and barbaric acts of violence have no place in any civilized society. This is a universal truth held by billions of people around the world regardless of faith, nationality, gender, or culture. Like Americans, many Afghans –...

Former President George W. Bush and his family are reportedly planning to retake the Republican Party from President Donald Trump once he is out of office, according to a recent report. There are allegedly “rumors” stirring that there is a “plot to end the so-called ‘Bush Exile'” as part of an effort to take control of the GOP from Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) policies […] One person, who is described as a “former Bush official,” told the outlet that Trump “knows that there’s no third term option,” while admitting that Vice President JD Vance “has a...

"Rest in peace," Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi said in a eulogy for the former U.S. vice president shared with Newsweek. "Without delving into the intentions behind actions, the change that took place in Iraq under your leadership and that of President Bush in 2003 was profound." "Despite all the events that followed, the transformations Iraq witnessed after the fall of Saddam’s regime were vast and astonishing, though many have tried to distort them to serve their own interests," Awadi said. "The numbers are remarkable, Mr. Dick Cheney, and too many to list here." Iraqis are even more divided on...

Shortly after October 7, 2023, Israeli forces sorting through the remains of the 1,200 people killed during the deadliest attack on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur war recovered drones that Hamas and other Iranian proxies had used to target Israeli civilians. Officials found that the unmanned aerial vehicles contained multiple U.S.-origin electronic components, and further investigation showed that these parts had been procured by Chinese firms then transferred to Iranian front companies, which in turn passed them on to Hamas. The Iranians distributed U.S.-made technology bought by the Chinese to other proxies as well, including the Houthi rebels, who...

Tucker Carlson markets his reporting as "real journalism." Yet while he didn't go completely off the deep end in his recent so-called 9/11 documentary, he fell in with big-name grifters who ignore the facts that destroy their 9/11 conspiracy theories. He did little to further serious inquiry into how government agencies and officials failed to thwart the attacks. Carlson proclaims the 9/11 Commission Report "is a complete joke" and demands a second commission as if it would somehow be "bipartisan" and not another "cover up." Tucker did some covering up of his own. In August, it was widely reported that...

A member of the Bush family running for Maine governor attempted to get ahead of his dark past unveiled by the Daily Mail before launching his campaign, according to a new report. Jonathan Bush, the 56-year-old cousin of former President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, launched his gubernatorial bid earlier this month. In 2018, the Daily Mail revealed Bush confessed to ‘numerous physical altercations’ with his ex-wife Sarah Selden. This included him 'repeatedly slamming his closed fist into her sternum [breastbone]', while in the presence of their child who was a baby at the time. The...

Texas residents were left stunned when a world-renowned chef who once catered events for George W Bush was deported for crossing the border illegally in 1989. Sergio Garcia - who had become a staple in Waco for his wildly popular Mexican food truck - was originally arrested in March over a two-decade old deportation order. The chef was loading Sergio's Food Truck when he was approached by a man in plainclothes while another man in a vest reading POLICE stood at a distance, The Waco Bridge reports. 'They asked me if I'm Sergio, and I said "Yeah, I'm Sergio,"' Garcia...

Bush, assuming he runs as a Republican, is not likely to align himself with the MAGA movement, as he has called President Donald Trump 'personally troubled'. And in December 2023, he donated $50,000 to a super PAC that was in support of Nikki Haley, Trump's main rival in the 2024 Republican primaries. He has not given much to Maine politicians but has supported Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who voted against Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.

Michelle and Barack Obama officially dispelled the rumors they were divorcing during a recent episode of Michelle’s podcast IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. But they had one defender in their corner all along: Former U.S. President George W. Bush.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, President Donald Trump addressed ongoing discussions about Jeffrey Epstein, labeling them as a “hoax” perpetuated by his former supporters and the media. Trump criticized these supporters for being misled by what he described as the “Lunatic Left” and stated that he no longer desires their backing.Trump falsely compared the Epstein discussions to previous events he deemed as scams, including the Steele Dossier and the Russia investigation, asserting that these narratives are part of a pattern used by Democrats to distract from their failures.“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey...

<p>Kerry will have the race in the bag very soon!!!!</p> <p>Mod note: I hesitate to leave this thread up, realizing how difficult it is for us poor conservatives to match up against liberal intellectuals. But in the interest of fairness...</p>

<p>The Democrat Party is the party of entitlement, by entitlement, and for entitlement. The Democrat Party platform is all about entitlement whether it is a monetary entitlement such as food stamps or a license to take the life of the unborn called abortion. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Democrat spokespeople seemed surprised at the furor over the political hit piece on President Bush presented by 60 Minutes.</p>

This week, former Presidents Obama and Bush took turns condemning President Trump for eliminating the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a separate government agency. "Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it's a tragedy," Obama said. "Now instead of doing what they deem is best, USAID workers will be closely scrutinized by the Secretary of State and forced to do what he requires them to do." Bush tried to console reassigned USAID staffers by telling them "you've showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart. Is it in our national...

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are once again joining forces to denounce President Donald Trump, this time for slashing international services they claim are critical to U.S. interests. Bush appears in a new video alongside Obama and U2 frontman Bono, a notorious Trump critic, praising the departing staffers of USAID, the international diplomacy arm that Trump gutted earlier this year. Bush was an advocate for funding the program to combat AIDS and HIV in parts of Africa. “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said in a video shown to departing USAID employees on...

Tucker Carlson and Scott Horton talk about the background to the current Iran conflict. Interesting. Not for everyone. Imho worth the listen.

Former President George W. Bush joined up with former President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono to comfort United States Agency for International Development employees Monday, while also taking shots at President Donald Trump and his administration for shuttering the agency plagued by accusations of fraud and abuse. “Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it’s a tragedy,” Obama said in a video that was shown to departing USAID employees Monday, according to the Associated Press. “Because it’s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.” Obama summed up the decision to shutter the agency as “a colossal...