Free Republic

California is a house on fire, and its political class is arguing over the color of the curtains. The state is hemorrhaging residents, drowning in homelessness, and staring down an affordability crisis that’s crushing working families. With Gavin Newsom finally on his way out, you’d think the crowded field vying to replace him would be focused on convincing voters they’re the one to fix things. You’d think wrong. The governor’s race features eight Democrats and two Republicans — a field so bloated that the state Democrat Party chair recently begged lower-polling candidates to drop out before they accidentally split the...

Steak ‘n Shake has rolled out its new tater tots cooked in beef tallow, expanding the fast-food chain’s push toward traditional frying methods. The announcement drew attention on social media after the Indianapolis-based company highlighted the ingredient Monday morning in an X post, with commenters praising the move, while others debated whether beef tallow is healthier than vegetable oils. Steak ‘n Shake previously made headlines last year when it announced that its fries would be cooked in beef tallow instead of vegetable oil — part of what the company described as a return to the “authentic way” of frying potatoes....

We hear all the time that America is hopelessly polarized, that the electronic landscape allows us to stay in our own hermetically-sealed communities, and that no one can speak with anyone across the aisle. For decades now, the Left has believed that those who disagree with it are not just wrong but evil; in the last three election cycles, we have seen those on the right taking on the same position. What if the problem is not our politics but the way we are taught to argue? For four decades, American students have been taking misconceived “rhetoric and composition” classes,...

BREAKING: Senator Paul just OBJECTED TWICE to Senator Kennedy's proposals that would NOT PAY members of Congress during a shutdown. Paul: "I don't want to pay LESS PEOPLE [during a shutdown], I want to pay MORE." He wants to make a PERMANENT PAYDAY for his fellow CROOKS! UNREAL

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative (FCDI) will rename its statewide championship scholarship the Charlie Kirk prize in honor of the late Turning Point USA founder’s “zealous advocacy for civic dialogue and freedom of speech,” with Florida recognized as “#1 for high school civics and debate.” "Today, we announced that April’s debate competition winner of the Charlie Kirk prize will receive a $50k scholarship, with runner-up ($25k), semi-finalists ($15k) and quarterfinalists ($10k). We expect more than 600 students in the competition and look forward to awarding the newly-named Kirk prize to the winner,” DeSantis...

Did anyone watch the New York City mayor's debate? I saw the rerun later, and it's clear to me that Mamdani is one step closer to winning the election. Let's check this from Newsweek: On Thursday before the debate, Betfair gave Mamdani a 90 percent chance of victory, but this dropped to an 88 percent chance once it was complete. Over the same period, Cuomo saw his chances of victory improve from 11 percent to 12 percent. However, prior to the debate, bookmaker Star Sports gave Mamdani an 80 percent chance of victory, which improved in the immediate aftermath of...

Socialist Zohran Mamdani skirted tough questions and offered few specifics as he smoothly swatted off a barrage of attacks from ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a heated first general mayoral election debate Thursday. The rat-a-tat verbal brawl between the three contenders – including a zinger-lobbing Curtis Sliwa – from a 30 Rockefeller Center stage made for good TV, but arguably left New Yorkers without an idea how their next mayor would handle the nitty-gritty while governing the nation’s largest city. The front-runner Democratic candidate Mamdani stayed on his “affordability” message, but could offer few details of how he’d actually put his...

Oxford Union alumni plan to descend on the university city this weekend in an attempt to oust the president-elect. Former members of the debating society are considering travelling from as far afield as Hong Kong and New York to vote against George Abaraonye in a poll on his leadership on Saturday, sources told The Telegraph. University alumni have been encouraged to attend the in-person vote in order to preserve “the reputation of Britain’s historic institutions”. It comes after Mr Abararaonye took the unusual step of triggering a no-confidence motion in himself on Monday, following widespread anger over his remarks about...

VIDEOIt was fascinating to watch Abigail Spanburger reveal herself as a complete unfeeling robot during the Virginia Governor Debate. The psychological description of that mental condition is "psychopathic." Someone who displays a lack of emotion or empathy. There were several people who analyzed the debate performances but the person who should have weighed in was Dr. Buddy Rydell to analyze the robotic behavior by Spanberger.

Seattle Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell said during a mayoral debate Thursday night he has “no desire” to put repeat criminal offenders in jail, and he doesn’t know how to answer the question on whether the city is “too lax” on repeat offenders. “So, let me make something very clear. I was the one that sponsored the ‘Ban the Box’ legislation when everyone opposed it because the criminal system has had a disparate impact on Black and Brown communities, let me lead with that,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a mayoral debate Thursday night when asked a follow-up question about...

With each passing day it becomes more obvious that the left has become incapable of rational debate or political compromise, and must now embrace the only tools available to it: intimidation, coercion, and political violence. Whatever liberals might believe about their progressive politics, today their program is based not on persuasion or representation, still less on open-minded rational inquiry or practical solutions to problems. It’s based on force.The assassination of Charlie Kirk last month is of course emblematic of what the left has become. Kirk was murdered for speaking out against transgenderism. Dissenting from that ideology in particular is intolerable...

After several school districts and universities across the nation fired or suspended faculty for their controversial social media posts about the murder of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, some of these educators are now taking legal action, claiming their free speech rights were violated. On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered the University of South Dakota to temporarily reinstate professor Michael Hook, after the board of regents recommended his termination over his social media post responding to Kirk’s killing. Hook, a tenured fine arts professor, wrote on his personal Facebook account that he didn’t give a "flying f---" about Kirk,...

A well-funded, highly organized effort is underway to destabilize the United States and crush conservative voices. This is not the organic unrest of grassroots activism. This is a calculated, strategic assault executed by Soros-funded NGOs, their operatives working in concert to disrupt, intimidate, and silence. From violent attacks on Tesla dealerships to the swatting of conservative influencers, from the hijacking of GOP town halls to the doxxing of DOGE employees, this effort bears all the hallmarks of an orchestrated conspiracy. If these actions are coordinated and funded with the explicit goal of suppressing political opposition, they are not examples of...

Pro-life warrior Lila Rose, the founder and president of Live Action, shocked organizers at leftist Ivy League Yale University during a debate with Frances Kissling, a former abortion clinic director and president of Catholics for Choice. Before the event, Rose shared why she agreed to the debate in the unfriendly atmosphere of higher education. “I will be going to Yale University to do a debate on abortion against the head of a pro-abortion group. I had originally said no to this event a few weeks ago. That’s because, as you guys may know, I don’t do a ton of in-person...

Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on Wednesday, pioneered a new model for conservative political advocacy, merging multi-platform media commentary with in-person gatherings and get-out-the-vote drives. Kirk, 31, was a hugely successful political field organizer, TikTok influencer, radio host, nonprofit leader and public speaker all rolled up in one telegenic figure. One minute, Kirk would be on Fox News promoting his friend President Trump’s agenda; the next, he would be on X or Instagram, inviting young people to start conservative groups at their high schools and college campuses. With Turning Point USA, the nonprofit he co-founded in 2012 at...

A man was arrested by Capitol Police on Sunday after interrupting the Senate debate on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," shouting from the Senate Galleries that the lawmakers are "horrible." Allen D. Rogers, of Florida, was arrested for unlawful conduct after he refused to obey officers' orders to stop the disruption, according to police. "At approximately 7:00 p.m., our officers arrested a man who started being disruptive in the Senate Galleries," police said in a statement. The interruption happened between speeches by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the Republican-backed spending bill. Rogers...

"Since you’re so eager to talk about me, how about saying it to my face?" Newsom then suggested. "Let's debate. Time and place?" Vance is also seen as a contender for 2028, and Newsom may want to watch out, especially with how well Vance did against Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) in last October's debate against Harris' poorly vetted and particularly failed running mate.

Thursday on ABC’s “The View,” former President Bill Clinton defended former President Joe Biden’s 2024 debate performance by blaming the staff for his travel schedule. Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said, “Mr. President, I want to ask you, last time you were here, you were actually fiercely defender of President Biden’s when people were questioning whether he should stay in the race and when he decided to step aside. You praised his decision to do so. t]There have now been a lot of reports, books written with Democratic sources talking about what appeared to be decline while he was in the...

resident Joe Biden struggled in practice debates ahead of his disastrous showing against Donald Trump last year — leaving his advisers with little option but to cross their fingers and hope he would be a “game-day performer,” a new book about the collapse of the Democratic administration reveals. Biden’s advisers “blocked out substantial time to prep over several days” at the presidential retreat at Camp David in rural Maryland in June 2024. When the president turned up after a trip to Europe to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and attend a G7 summit, he was “rusty and exhausted,” according...