Free Republic

Reading a campaign speech in Milwaukee this week, Joe Biden boasted of a plan to spend some $36 million on a stretch of 6th Street, just west of downtown Milwaukee. His speechwriter had him listing such federally funded benefits as bike lanes, newly planted trees, and bus lanes to make 6th Street a prettier place to be. And sure, it might at that. Trees are always lovely for pedestrians, though they can obstruct the view of pedestrians, drivers, and bicyclists alike. And bicycles and buses are always generically popular, even though in Milwaukee they each tend to have about the...

An NBC News review of available 2024 crime data from the cities targeted by Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” which buses or flies migrants from the border to major cities in the interior — shows overall crime levels dropping in those cities that have received the most migrants. Overall crime is down year over year in Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, New York and Los Angeles. Crime has risen in Washington, D.C., but local officials do not attribute the spike to migrants.

Claudine Gay is a nobody. That’s not really an insult. This writer is a nobody, and not ashamed of it. The world is full of nobodies. Not everyone deserves to be in the history books; not everyone can found a global conglomerate; invent earthshaking inventions; write bestsellers or star in blockbuster films. The vast majority of people can only expect to be decent citizens; earning a living and providing for their families; serving their community as well as they can. And that’s an honorable life. It gets disturbing, however, when someone is so bound and determined to matter in the...

Be careful where you park your car, it might not be there when you come back. Chicago — like much of the nation — has seen a huge rise in car thefts since 2020, with no let-up in sight. Adding to the problem, the Chicago Police Department has linked several recent robbery sprees to stolen vehicles. That comes as carmakers Kia and Hyundai face scrutiny for failing to provide adequate security systems for their cars. Last Friday, Northwest Side resident Matt Nalett spotted a stolen Hyundai Tuscon in an alley just off of the intersection of North and Cicero avenues....

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk Carjack an old lady at a red light Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like Cuss out a cop, spit in his face Stomp on the flag and light it up Yeah, ya think you're tough Well, try that in a small town See how far ya make it down the road Around here, we take care of our own You cross that line, it won't take long For you to find out, I recommend you don't Try that in...

Leslie Van Houten, age 73, has been released into the transitional care of a halfway house, having spent about 52 years in prison. 54 years ago, in August of 1969, she and a gang of other young thugs were followers of the now famous psychopath Charles Manson, who ordered his acolytes to commit a bunch of ghastly murders in a two-day California killing spree. The most famous victim was aspiring actress Sharon Tate, then the young bride of director Roman Polanski. Leslie Van Houten’s direct victims were Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, the following day. 19 years old at the time,...

Should we just go ahead and give free needles and free crack pipes to everyone in America? After all, if New York City and Los Angeles plan to solve their raging drug problems by handing out free drug paraphernalia to addicts, perhaps we can solve our nationwide drug crisis the same way. Let’s make the entire country one big “harm reduction zone” and then everything will return to normal, right? Unfortunately, that is not the way that the real world works. If you give addicts what they need, they will thank you. And then they will go ahead and do...

Thousands of people are shot, stabbed, beaten, run over – assaulted and murdered – in America’s inner cities, every day. In ones and twos, in fives and tens. Drug crimes, gang wars, imagined insults, intentionally-taught hostility – a cult of violence. When the law-and-order minded conservatives – known as the Right – remind the public of the reasons behind this violence – the welfare state, the pop culture, the easy jail sentences, the early release of prisoners who should have been kept in jail – the Left often accuses us of disregarding all other inputs, and basing our policies on...

Welp, there's one more Democrat city losing America's most popular retail chain because they refuse to do anything about crime. Recently, Walmart closed their last remaining store in the Commie paradise of Portland, and now the retail giant is announcing that they are closing 4 of their 8 stores in the metropolis of Chicago. Here's Walmart's explanation for why they're closing half of the stores in Chiraq: The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago – these stores lose tens of millions of dollars a...

It has become routine, and one wonders if the perpetrators are conscious of the fact. First there is a mass shooting, usually committed by a certifiably mentally-ill leftist. Then after a brief period of the radical Left accusing the Right of being responsible (even to the point of the Biden-Harris regime specifically blaming innocent conservatives for the crimes), the truth comes out and they switch to blaming the weapons used, so they don’t have to admit that a leftist human being planned the crime and pulled the trigger, on purpose, again and again. We hate “to talk politics” in such...

In recent weeks, Wal-Mart and Cracker Barrel have made national news by announcing that they are finally closing down their remaining locations in the Portland, Oregon area. Less well known among Portland’s recent closures are the NOLA Doughnuts bakeries and the Green Zebra grocery chain, which had three locations each until forced to shut down operations this winter. And they aren’t alone. The brick-and-mortar retail world – from restaurants and coffee shops to clothing and housewares stores – has always been a difficult business. Locations open and close all the time, even in the best of economies, so economy-watchers are...

Some politicians address challenges head-on. Others attempt distractions, changing the subject in the hope that the public will forget the ongoing disasters of their governance. It should be no surprise by now that Joe Biden falls in the latter group. As the American economy continues to stagnate, with high inflation, a sluggish stock market, and the promise of home ownership moving into unreachable territory, Joe Biden has returned to one of his favorite cons: the idea that he can make Americans safer by expanding unconstitutional gun control measures. As America’s financial pages attempted to learn from the sudden collapses of...

It was a cold Wednesday evening in late January, and Curtis Lyons of Maywood, age 37, was allegedly in the nearby west suburban Chicagoland town of Villa Park to sell drugs, with $7000 in cash and a supply of controlled substances at hand, along with a 9mm Glock that had been modified to allow automatic fire. For reasons not yet clear, during his Wednesday visit to Villa Park, he allegedly sprayed the neighborhood with bullets, firing at least 30 shots in a matter of seconds, at least one round entering a residence. Curtis Lyons has a rap sheet. A quick...

Philadelphia is experiencing a crime wave like no other in its over 300-year history. Theft, muggings, assaults, carjackings, and homicides are all plaguing the city's communities. And, while these stories continue to humiliate Philadelphia, Democratic government officials continue to sit idly by, silently giving their consent to the policies that have turned the city's jails into doors. But now, the criminals may have committed the ultimate sin - stealing a car from a player on its beloved football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. PHILADELPHIA PROSECUTOR SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE Maybe this will finally cause Democrats to start taking crime seriously...

The Chicago mayoral primary election is underway. They’ve winnowed the field a bit – down to seven challengers plus the incumbent, at this writing – and people are doing their polling, walking precincts, and putting up yard signs. And there are commercials; in the biggest media market in the Midwest, in which the Democratic mayoral primary is the biggest contest, you can already be sure that the only real winner in this election will be the radio and TV people, selling those 15, 30, and 60 second spots to put ads on the air. What are the issues? Tax and...

As a new year dawns, we can’t help but look back on recent changes, and wonder what changes are in store for us. The first thing that came to my mind, a downright surprising realization for me, as I look back on this Christmas season, is the realization that it was the first Christmas ever in which I did not set foot inside a mall. And I am not alone. The business pages have followed the ebb and flow of retail for decades. The huge department store has suffered; the small boutique chain has felt it too. The big mall...

By John F. Di Leo When the news media learned that there had been a late-night break-in at Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco mansion and even a physical attack on her husband, they jumped on the story. An attack on a Democrat leader’s heavily-guarded home and her spouse within? Ten days before the midterms? What a godsend! In this era of terrible news and even worse polls for the Democrats, this might just be the twist to change the messaging and eke out some victories in this election. So, before much was known, the message went out that Republican rhetoric...

In the 1996 film, "Independence Day," the President of the United States attempts to communicate with a representative of the alien horde attacking the Earth. Assuming that some compromise can be reached, he asserts that surely we have much to learn from each other, and he asks the question, "What do you want of us? What do you want us to do?" The alien responds, matter-of-factly. “Die. We want you to die.” Only then does the audience fully appreciate that the enemy we face is pure evil; not merely people with a different culture, different looks, different technology. It is...

In the middle of the night on June 27, an Akron police car turned on its lights to pull over a car for a moving violation. Instead of pulling over and cordially handing over both license and registration, hoping to evade a ticket through politeness and charm, as you or I would do, the driver did the opposite: Instead of pulling over and hoping for the best, this 25-year-old genius named Jayland Walker floored it, leading multiple police cars on a high-speed chase, to the tune of 85mph in a 35mph residential zone, putting other drivers – and any late-night...

At 10:14 a.m. on July 4, 2022, a young man named Robert Crimo III allegedly aimed his rifle into the crowd at his hometown’s Independence Day parade and opened fire. Within moments, the Chicago suburban town of Highland Park was a scene of terrible carnage. Seven innocent people killed, more than 40 injured, at this writing. The alleged killer escaped the scene, but was caught that afternoon (we say “alleged,” because, while he has not yet been convicted, all sources agree that he was the perpetrator, without question). Compliments to the many law enforcement and medical professionals who dealt with...