Free Republic

A lifelong bird-watcher ventured into a section of New York's Central Park, the "Ramble," at 7:30 a.m., hoping to catch a glimpse of waterfowl. In previous days, he had spied scarlet tanagers, ovenbirds and mourning warblers. On Memorial Day, as he waited quietly, an unleashed spaniel scurried into the area -- as happens frequently in the park during quarantine -- though a posted sign notifies owners that all dogs must be leashed. The bird-watcher asked the owner to please leash her dog. She was less than cooperative. According to the birder, Christian Cooper, the conversation went like this: "ME: Ma'am,...

E.J. Dionne thinks they very well might, and for once I agree with him. So, apparently, do some Republican Senators. (I hope I’m wrong. If I am, it won’t be the first time I have underestimated President Trump and the American public.) Let’s start with the presidential race. Come November, the U.S. will likely be in a depression. Deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. might well be in the 125,000-150,000 range. A new wave of the virus might be adding to the toll. If President Trump wins reelection under circumstances like these, he will prove himself the unsurpassed political...

The White House can't get its broad immigration proposal moving, so officials are pursuing a narrow deal that would please the business community but might go against the president's campaign promise to reduce overall immigration. In recent months, the administration has been in talks with senators about legislation that would create new categories of temporary worker visas or lengthen the allotted stays for those workers, among other possible changes, according to four people familiar with the discussions. A White House official confirmed the ongoing negotiations on the guest worker proposal and said the effort is an attempt to generate action...

Andy Beshear Democrat 615,653 50.2% Matt Bevin* Republican 586,845 47.8 John Hicks Libertarian 24,070 2.0 1,226,568 votes, 84% reporting

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned that President Trump will lose in 2020 if he cuts a deal with Democrats regarding gun control. Roll Call reports that Cruz offered this observation while speaking to reporters at a Thursday breakfast. He contended that conservative voters will stay home if Trump and the Republicans as a whole cave to Democrat demands. He was asked about the possibility of Trump making a deal with gun control stalwarts Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). Cruz said, “We’re going to see record-setting Democratic turnout. The only element missing is demoralizing conservatives so they stay...

The call sounds like it is coming from President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign. It even uses a recording of the President's voice: "I'm Donald Trump. Tonight I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border, out of love and devotion to our country." A deep-voiced narrator then comes on asking the listener to "be one of the hundreds thousands of patriots that helped President Trump finally build a the wall by making a one-time urgently needed donation to the campaign." Calls like this one, said to number more than 200,000, have helped raise more than $100,000 in...

President Trump’s decision to unilaterally attempt to build his promised wall at the Mexico border is pulling his party into a tailspin of drama and unease — a move that could help his own 2020 reelection effort even at the expense of fellow Republicans, numerous GOP officials said on Friday. Trump’s bid to circumvent Congress puts GOP lawmakers — including many vulnerable senators up for reelection in the next cycle — in the position of having to choose between their party’s leader and their self-described opposition to executive overreach. If they back Trump’s emergency declaration, many lawmakers worry, they will...

The Broward County ballot cleverly buried Senate check-boxes down in the Instructions text block, resulting in high numbers of overlooked & unchecked Senate votes.These machine-counted ballots with the unchecked Senate boxes could be culled out after the voting ended and fraudulently filled-in beyond the view of poll watchers.The stacks of these now illegally "loaded" ballots will be quietly waiting for the upcoming recount when, once again, they will zip thru the machines.But, with this 2nd trip through the vote reader, each formerly blank box will now be blacked-in--and a torrent of new Senate votes will magically appear in favor of...

Dan Moore, a 58-year-old steel mill worker, gives the president an A+ on everything from tax cuts to foreign policy, but he is not so sure about tariffs. "We need tariffs, but when it starts to impact the company where you work ... you're thinking, well wait a minute, time out!" he said. Moore is worried the tariffs might cost him his job. The mill where he works, NLMK Pennsylvania, in the town of Farrell, not far from the border with Ohio, employs 750 workers and is a subsidiary of Novolipetsk Steel, or NLMK, Russia's top steelmaker. But even though...

If I’d told you 2 years ago journalists would scramble to “report” on the allegation President Donald Trump wanted to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller seven months ago like it A) just happened, and B) actually happened (as in he was fired), you would’ve thought I was lying to you. But it’s all too real, and someone will likely win a journalism award for it. But in an age of frantic reporting over rumors, lies, and non-stories, the pearl-clutching class chose a faux-scandal over some real news – that the White House is open to selling out on immigration. Oh,...

The humor writer Andy Borowitz recently joked that Donald Trump had been named the Kremlin’s “employee of the month.” I giggled at that, and then winced. It’s painful even to joke about. Some of the most explosive reports about America in the last few days appeared in Israeli newspapers. They suggested that American intelligence officials had warned Israel to “be careful” about sharing classified information with the Trump White House, for fear that it would be given to Russia. American intelligence officials reportedly cautioned that Vladimir Putin might have “leverages of pressure” to extort Trump. That presumably was a reference...

Why did Trump "let" Cruz Speak, if he knew he would not endorse? Cruz had majorities in enough delegations to have had his name placed in nomination and to have forced a roll call vote (and to have avoided the RNC nullifying his DC and Utah votes by declaring them votes for Trump "because the candidate had not been nominated"). I'm convinced that there was the deal.. not have himself nominated and get to speak to the convention. Erik Erikson has tweeted that the Trumpers orchestrated the booing in advance. Others have written that Trump is more interested in "getting...

Dear Reader (including those of you born in Canada), I guess we should start there. I find this birther stuff to be a lot like women's prison movies: compelling, entertaining, and totally ridiculous. Other than the presidency, there's no place in American life where the distinction between "naturalized" and "natural-born" citizenship matters. But imagine if it did? Imagine that your American-born mother just happened to give birth to you in Canada or Belize while on vacation. Your American-born mom and dad bring you home days later and raise you exactly as they would have had they been in Cleveland the...

Either cut the crap - your accusations this morning that Cruz is Canadian, a criminal, owned by big banks, etc. (see link below) - or you will lose lots and lots of conservatives. Save the liberal New York City bully tactics for the New York City liberals. Put down your computer keyboard for a few hours, think before you tweet, and collect yourself. You're not politically invincible, regardless of the polls and media. I am already hearing more and more people getting fed up with the low road you're taking against Cruz, which has obviously intensified this morning. You don't...

“I’M A negotiator like you folks; we’re negotiators,� Donald Trump said to the Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday. “Is there anybody that doesn’t renegotiate deals in this room? Perhaps more than any room I’ve ever spoken to.� At another point, he remarked, “I know why you’re not going to support me — because I don’t want your money.� These comments aren’t as objectionable as Mr. Trump’s talk of registering Muslim Americans, a proposal he has toyed with in the weeks since the Paris terrorist attacks, or when he mocked the physical disability of a New York Times reporter who dared...

Donald Trump told Fox News after the last debate in Milwaukee that he was in a "diplomatic" phase of his campaign. No longer. This Washington Post report of Trump's rally in Iowa last night is a must read. Trump's popularity has always been based in part on his entertaining qualities. But apparently his audience wound up seeing a darker side last night.

Hispanic activists have two words for Donald Trump — thank you. “I think the greatest thing to ever happen to the Hispanic electorate is a gentleman named Donald Trump, he has crystalized the angst and anger of the Hispanic community,” U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Javier Palomarez told POLITICO in an interview. “I think that we can all rest assured that Hispanics can turn out in record numbers.” Trump has rankled the Hispanic community from Day One of his presidential run when he called many illegal Mexican immigrants “rapists” and drug peddlers during his rambling announcement speech...

... Quinnipiac University released a poll today showing Ernst and Braley split 47-47 with 4 percent of voters undecided. ...

A new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll offers what is, I think, a somewhat misleading way to look at Sarah Palin. The poll finds that 59% of Americans and 40% of Republicans don't think she'd make an "effective president" -- numbers that come very close to disqualifying her even in the primary, if she chooses to run. This trouble imagining President Palin is constant across the polling since soon after she was chosen as John McCain's running mate, and it reflects both her own lack of experience and the higher bar set for a woman -- Hillary Clinton did years of...