Free Republic

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The victory party took on the feel of an evangelical worship service after Doug Mastriano won Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary this month. As a Christian singer led the crowd in song, some raised their arms toward the heavens in praise. Mastriano opened his remarks by evoking Scripture: “God uses the foolish to confound the wise.” He claimed Pennsylvanians’ freedom would be “snatched away” if his Democratic opponent wins in November, and cast the election in starkly religious terms with another biblical reference: “Let’s choose this day to serve the Lord.” Mastriano, a state senator and retired Army...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill late Friday, Oct. 8, that establishes the first statewide commission in California to monitor and track hate crimes and incidents. AB 1126, authored by AssemblyGov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill late Friday, Oct. 8, that establishes the first statewide commission in California to monitor and track hate crimes and incidents. AB 1126, authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, will enable a state Commission on the State of Hate, which many supporters say could be a model for the nation, to formally recommend policy to the governor and Legislature and hold public hearings to...