Free Republic

Here is Jake Tapper's interview with Governor Ron DeSantis earlier today. In this, he speaks at length about the persecution of Trump. And other topics...

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley downplayed the effect of kicking out troops from the military for not complying with the Biden administration’s military vaccine mandate, even amid threats from China and Russia and recruiting difficulties in the Army. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), a Navy veteran, asked Milley Tuesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing if it was worth sacrificing the military’s total number of troops for vaccine mandates.

A leading German virologist on Monday downplayed fears about the new mutation of the coronavirus spreading through the UK – and questioned Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim that the strain is 70 percent more infectious, according to reports. “I wonder whether a scientist gave an estimate, perhaps asked what he would say if he had to give a figure, and then it takes on a life of its own,” Christian Drosten said, the Daily Mail reported.

CNN was on the receiving end of a fair share of mockery following an “exclusive” report in which documents were discovered showing China downplayed their coronavirus numbers and lied about the origins of the pandemic. The ‘breakthrough’ reporting involved information President Trump has been explaining to the American people for ten months, yet was ridiculed by the mainstream media. He was even called xenophobic for daring to blame China for mishandling the outbreak. ... Viewers were quick to jump all over CNN for reporting what was already widely known by anybody with a working set of eyes and ears. “CNN...

FBI Director Christopher Wray downplayed election fraud to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday.Wray said the bureau had “not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise.”Chris Wray conceded the FBI had seen local election fraud “from time to time.”“Certainly to change a federal election outcome by mounting that kind of fraud at scale would be a major challenge for an adversary,” Wray said. Meanwhile, in Texas and Pennsylvania….The Justice Department announced Thursday the DOJ and FBI are investigating discarded mail-in votes in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.The DOJ said seven...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Tuesday attempted to dismiss a recent survey revealing her support has plunged nationwide in the 2020 Democrat presidential primary race. “It’s the same answer it’s always been. I don’t do polls,” Warren said during a campaign stop Knoxville, Iowa. “I’m out here fighting every day on behalf of working families.”

The front page of the Monday New York Times featured a story on a popular “hobby” among young Palestinian boys: throwing rocks at Israelis. The Times’ Jodi Rudoren refers to the “hobby” as a game and describes it as “an act of defiance and a rite of passage” that can be seen as a caricature “of Palestinian pushback against Israel.” Rudoren touches on the amount of jail time served by a boy caught throwing rocks, even charting the years spent in jail from members of a Palestinian family on which the article focuses. She complains of the treatment of arrested...

CBS's Bill Plante on Friday downplayed graphic photos of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posing with severed body parts of suicide bombers as a GOP "distraction," insisting that Republicans were "somehow" trying to portray this (and other issues) as a failure of leadership. None of the networks wondered if this reflected poorly on Barack Obama. Since the Los Angeles Times first reported the 2010 pictures, ABC has only offered one report, airing on World News. CBS allowed a lone segment on the April 18 Evening News and a brief mention by Plante on Friday's This Morning. He spun, "...Republicans keep pointing

Testifying before the House Budget Committee on Monday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius downplayed the importance of the Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board, which has been touted in the past by the administration as a central part of the strategy for containing the program's long-term costs. Republicans have attacked the 15-member board of health care experts as a rationing panel that would have sweeping powers to impose changes to the program if Congress doesn't keep Medicare spending growth at certain targets. Sebelius spent most of her opening statement explaining

The Obama administration moved swiftly Monday to downplay ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgrade of its U.S. credit outlook, calling the decision a political judgment that should not be taken too seriously. The timing of S&P's announcement was unwelcome for the White House, coming just as President Obama tried to regain the initiative on the deficit debate in Washington. Last week Obama laid out his plan to reduce the budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years, trying to give markets confidence that he was serious about tackling U.S. fiscal woes. House Republican leader Eric Cantor on Monday called the...

Montreal police are investigating a student who made threats against a conservative club at McGill University, even though university officials determined the student’s threats about jihad and wanting to “shoot everyone in the room” were harmless. A spokesman for the Montreal Police Service told the Toronto Star they take the threat allegedly made by Haaris Khan seriously. Khan attended a viewing of the documentary “Indoctrinate-U,” sponsored by Conservative McGill, a student organization affiliated with Canada’s Conservative Party. During the viewing, Khan is accused of making death treats using his Twitter account.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior member of Lebanon's governing coalition said on Sunday military action was not on the table for ending a standoff between the Lebanese army and militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt demanded the handing over of the Fatah al-Islam Islamist militants, who have been battling the army at the Nahr al-Bared camp for a week in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. "Nobody has proposed a military settlement. But we want the murderers handed over to Lebanese justice," Jumblatt said. The army is not allowed into Lebanon's...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative in the upcoming special election would create some closer races — even in the populous Bay Area and Los Angeles Democratic strongholds — but would not shift decisive power to Republicans, a new report will show today. The study by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley is foreshadowed in research papers obtained by the Oakland Tribune and roughly matches previous findings by institutes at Claremont McKenna College and the University of Southern California. In a study of one East Bay legislative seat, currently held by Sen. Liz Figueroa,...

Jefferson downplays stop at his New Orleans house By WILL SENTELL wsentell@theadvocate.com Capitol news bureau During a National Guard-led tour of his hurricane-ravished district, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson asked to stop at his New Orleans home, a guard spokesman said Wednesday. Lt. Col. Pete Schneider, public affairs officer for the Louisiana National Guard, told news reporters that the guard was assisting Jefferson in his check of damage Sept. 2, four days after Hurricane Katrina struck. Guardsmen were getting around the Democrat's congressional district in a truck designed to navigate the high waters that crippled the New Orleans area for days...

WASHINGTON - The White House on Friday played down a report in which U.N. weapons inspectors documented additional materials missing from weapons sites in Iraq. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Bush administration had taken steps to ensure sites were secured, and he suggested it was doubtful the looted material was being used to boost other countries' weapons programs. In a report to the U.N. Security Council, acting chief weapons inspector Demetrius Perricos said that satellite imagery experts had determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles had been removed...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - As a giant faucet spewed red-colored water in the background, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger touted his plan Wednesday to eliminate the state's red ink and said he wasn't worried about a poll showing his popularity dropping. "Don't be so negative," he told a reporter who asked about a new Field Poll that found 54 percent of Californians approve of his job performance, down from a near-record high of 65 percent in September. "I am very happy with my numbers. As you can see, I am smiling." Schwarzenegger staged the campaign-style event at the state fairgrounds to promote his...

CONVENTION HEAD DOWNPLAYS CONCERNS Author(s): Frank Phillips, Globe Staff Date: May 14, 2004 Page: B1 Section: Metro/Region New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, chairman of the Democratic National Convention, yesterday expressed confidence that rising costs will not prevent the party from putting on an event that can provide all the "pizzazz" needed to showcase John Kerry's presidential candidacy. Richardson acknowledged that some "glitches" - an apparent reference to the unexpected cost increases - still need to be resolved. But he said Democratic leaders can raise the funds to cover any higher-than-expected costs involved for the production and construction to set up...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Gov. Gray Davis sought today to downplay Democratic defections from a party strategy of unifying against the recall, insisting, ``Virtually everybody in the Democratic Party has solidly stood behind me.''</p> <p>Meanwhile, attention focused on actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as advisers said the actor is leaning against running and an announcement could be imminent. That would open the door for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who said he will seriously consider running if Schwarzenegger does not.</p>