Free Republic

It sounded like a great idea. Governor Andrew Cuomo, before he was unceremoniously forced out of office, convinced state lawmakers to shell out over $100 million to purchase decorative LED lights to enhance the beauty of some of New York's most iconic bridges. The cost seems excessive, but this is the government. You have to make room for paying double or triple to satisfy all the people with their hands out--they need to make an excessive profit, pay exorbitant salaries to preferred workers, throw some money at consulting and design firms, and leave some money left over to recycle into...

For months, the signs have been impossible to ignore: the Democratic Party is in freefall. Poll after poll shows voters turning away in droves—disillusioned by the party’s radical agenda, frustrated by its lack of leadership, and convinced it no longer represents their values. The 2024 elections were a political earthquake, and in the aftermath, Democrats have been left picking through the rubble of a once-dominant coalition. The party’s “next generation” of leaders—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett—have all the gravitas of a student council president demanding longer lunch periods and less homework. So now the question is: What does a broken...

As the title of this newsletter suggests, I do not care for delusions, and we should have none.It is all-important, then, to acknowledge the fact that Zohran Mamdani will unquestionably be the next mayor of New York. There are too many votes in cheap populist demagoguery and hating the Jews to stop him. So, the question now is not how to prevent a Mamdani victory. The question is how the Jews ought to deal with the fact that an open antisemite will soon rule America’s leading—if declining—city with its million-strong Jewish minority. There would seem to be four options:QuiescenceHistorically, Diaspora...

What is to happen to New York—and for that matter to Los Angeles and a host of lesser but still important American cities? I have been thinking about that for some time—particularly after the recent LA fires that have barely been repaired— but have started to obsess about it with the rise of Zohran Mamdani in the NY mayoralty race. Mamdani seems a prototype of what we used to call online a “useful idiot,” a phrase ascribed to Lenin, although, like so many similar, no one seems to be able to locate evidence of his having used that precise language....

Spanish Prime Minister Assails Israel: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez unleashed a tirade against Israel during a speech to parliament, accusing the country of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and calling on the European Union to suspend its cooperation agreement with the Jewish state. “No one that tramples on the EU’s founding principles — or that uses hunger and war to annihilate a legitimate state — can be a partner of the European Union,” he said on July 10. Sanchez also compared the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.Spanish Court...

A professor at the University of Chicago recently cursed against the school and said she only worked there to “build power” for Palestinian solidarity. The professor, Eman Abdelhadi, made the statements on July 5 during a socialism conference held in Chicago, according to The Daily Caller. In her remarks, Abdelhadi reportedly said that UChicago is “evil” and a “colonial landlord,” and that she asked herself why she worked there. “F**k the University of Chicago—it’s evil,” the professor said. “You know, it’s a colonial landlord. Why would I put any of my political energy into this space?”

I have just come across the most remarkable story in the news outlet NOTUS. Its headline is, “Trump Fired Them. Now They’re Plotting to Stop Him,” and yet, despite its explosive subject matter, it is written in the sort of dry, matter-of-fact tone that one would typically associate with a report on the most recent meeting of the county drainage board. In fairness, too little editorial comment is a lesser sin in this type of article than too much, but, given the astounding implications of the facts the author relates, I thought that it deserved a good deal more comment...

How long will officials allow antisemitic protesters to take over streets, schools, and businesses before enough is enough? Today's example is a protest at New York's JFK Airport, where officials issued the following travel warning: Due to the possibility of protest activity today that could disrupt airport operations and the obligation to maintain good order for airport users, access to critical areas of the airport, including AirTrain JFK at Jamaica Station, will be restricted to ticketed passengers, employees with valid ID, and persons with valid business at the airport, such as picking up passengers. They apparently want the U.S. government...

In the opening chapter of DC’s relaunched superhero franchise, director James Gunn mocks the mythology of his main character, played by the likeable yet limited David Corenswet....Back home, Lois Lane (a cute Rachel Brosnahan) knows Superman’s true identity and the pair have been dating long enough to get on each other’s nerves. For once, he gives Lois an interview, which devolves into a spat. Also, Superman has a super-dog, Krypto, who is annoyingly hyperactive but also keeps saving him.Despite being fake-looking and digital, the mutt is the star of the movie, because this “Superman” has the soul of a sitcom....

I would like to say that Rosie O'Donnell quietly left her country of origin for greener pastures. That dog didn't hunt. Rosie left for Ireland with a great deal of fanfare behind her decision. Like her house was on fire, she grabbed her passport and fled from the land of President Trump. As her feet hit foreign soil, she didn't waste a moment declaring herself safe that day from all things Trumpian. Safe and sound across the pond, Rosie created a throne where she became something like a TikTok televangelist. From her place on high, she passes judgment on us...

Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary and is poised to become the next mayor of the Big Apple. He’s young, personable, has amazing charisma, and is being touted by some as the new face of the party. Others are suggesting that Mamdani, with all his attributes, is offering a path forward for Democrats to win in both the midterms and in 2028. These people are just as stupid as Mamdani himself. Mamdani is an avowed socialist who advocates for socialist policies, which are always going to resonate with people who are idiotic, jealous of other people’s wealth, or too lazy...

Oh, and he is much better than they are at talking!... Congress passed the cornerstone legislation of Trump’s second presidency, eclipsing my desire to look at past Fourth of July jubilations. The Big Beautiful Bill was worthy of our Founding Fathers, who would be appalled by the size and breadth of the government. DC controls just about every facet of a citizen’s life while siting on a mountain of IOUs no one ever will collect. The bill, which will become law when President Trump signs it tonight at 5 PM Eastern (Lord willing), trims spending for the first time in...

It’s a grim sign of the times that Old Joe Biden’s regime can open the door to millions upon millions of illegal migrants without a peep from the courts, but as soon as President Donald Trump tries to remove them, our self-anointed moral superiors in the judiciary burn the midnight oil to come up with pretexts to stop him. Trump has been trying to use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act as the legal foundation to remove Venezuelan gang members, but several courts, including the Supreme Court, have stymied him. Now, the final showdown has begun in the 5th U.S. Circuit...

Just when you think CNN’s Jake Tapper can’t become an even bigger media hack than he already is, he finds a way to prove you wrong. The latest incident of the network host’s shoddy conduct as a so-called “journalist” came on Friday during his interview with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Among the topics covered during the exchange was the Big Apple’s upcoming mayoral contest, which will pit Adams against the newly nominated Democrat candidate, radical socialist Zohran Mamdani. When the conversation shifted to the race against Mamdani, Tapper — whose network a jury found is actually fake news...

We’ve previously covered Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissent in Trump v. CASA Inc., yet it somehow manages to be worse than we initially thought. I think we can easily say that her dissent proves that she’s not a serious member of the Supreme Court. In the recent case concerning birthright citizenship and nationwide injunctions, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered a majority opinion grounded in the Constitution and centuries of precedent, Jackson’s dissent veered into the realm of the absurd. Instead of offering a rigorous legal argument, Jackson resorted to rhetorical theatrics and bizarre hypotheticals, leaving observers wondering if she...

Three Iranian men were executed this week on alleged charges of collaborating with Israel, according to the Islamic Republic judiciary, bringing the total number of people put to death on similar charges during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel to six. The hangings were part of the “season of traitor-killing,” according to Iran’s ISNA News Agency, as Iranian authorities pushed the executions through less than 48 hours after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel was announced on Monday. Iran’s judiciary said the men were convicted of espionage on behalf of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. However, human rights activists claim...

This isn’t Barack Obama’s party anymore. It’s AOC’s. It’s Ilhan Omar’s. And now, it’s Mamdani’sFor years, the Democratic machine in New York managed to contain its most radical flank with centrist figures like Eric Adams and, before him, Michael Bloomberg. But that firewall has crumbled. Mamdani, backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is ushering in a new era – one that reads more like a utopian manifesto than a functioning blueprint for the nation’s largest metropolis.Under Zohran’s New York, we’re looking at government-owned grocery stores, free public transit and permanent political handcuffs...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) rushed to social media to call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment following his bold and successful military operation that crippled Iran’s nuclear program. But the congresswoman’s grandstanding didn’t go unanswered—Trump fired back at the progressive Squad member, dismantling her baseless accusations. AOC’s response to Trump makes one thing clear: she’s out of her league when the heavy hitters step onto the field. “Mr. President, don’t take your anger out on me - I’m just a silly girl,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. "I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast....

Those who compare Trump’s actions to the ‘forever wars’ have seriously misjudged himWhat now?After the daring and what everyone is describing as a “flawlessly executed” attack by the United States on Iran’s hardened nuclear facilities Saturday night, Macbeth’s words must be on the minds of many: “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly.”Things did not work out so well for the Thane of Cawdor, as Macbeth then was. But even though his attack was not “the be-all and the end-all” he wanted, everyone who wishes for peace must second his opening argument....

After last night's strikes on Iran, Democrat politicians reached screeching levels of hypocrisy over Donald Trump's decision to act rather than wait for an Iranian nuclear weapon deployment. Chuck Schumer demanded action from Congress, as did Hakeem Jeffries. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez led calls for impeachment. Practically every Democrat on Capitol Hill -- with the notable exception of John Fetterman -- rushed to promote their "authoritarian" narrative about Trump. All of this venting reveals very short memories on the port side of Capitol Hill. Fourteen years ago, they couldn't get enough of presidential strikes on a nation in the very same region....