Free Republic

The clown prince of crime is alive and mentally unwell in Gotham City in Todd Phillips' grippingly atmospheric supervillain origin story, Joker. While a never-better Joaquin Phoenix paints on the famed maniacal smile with his own blood at one memorable climactic moment of messianic rebirth, what's most noteworthy about this gritty entry in the DC canon and the lead actor's sensational performance is the pathos he brings to a pathetically disenfranchised character — just like countless others in a metropolis in which the social chasm separating the haves from the have-nots has become a pit of incendiary rage. The smart...

(CNSNews.com) - "I think this was a terrible error in judgment by the director to release this kind of ambiguous letter," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, told ABC's "This Week." "That kind of an ambiguity bomb this close to election was a terrible lapse in judgment," Schiff said. "The DOJ policies against making a statement about a pending or closed case -- and certainly not doing it in the days leading up to an investigation -- is there for a reason. It's designed to ensure fairness. "It's also designed to ensure that the...