Free Republic

Ever since Donald Trump's improbable political rise, many have attributed his appeal among the white, male voter base to economic anxiety. Faced with unemployment and wage stagnation, these voters elected a president who promised to fight for jobs. A study published on Wednesday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine offers an additional explanation: declining health and rising death rates in rural Republican bastions helped tilt the presidential election toward Trump. "Changes in life expectancy were an independent factor in voting choices. Reduced health prospects are an important marker of dissatisfaction, discouragement, hopelessness, and fear — sentiments that may have...

The long-shot path to killing Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination runs through the heart of the American health care system — and right into the November midterm elections. Senate Democrats prepping for this week’s marathon confirmation hearings are zeroing in on the health care views of the man who could pull the nation’s high court to the right for a generation — and determine the fate of abortion rights, the social safety net and Obamacare itself, possibly within months. Their goal: to box Kavanaugh into committing to preserve those health care pillars. Or, failing that, to get the 53-year-old appellate...

• Former Secretary of State John Kerry said on 'Face the Nation' that 2020 talk is 'a total distraction and waste of time' and he's 'not really thinking about it' • But he also didn't rule out a bid for the Democratic nomination • Also said that Trump is 'dishonest' and 'doesn't know what he's talking about' • He praised the sitting president for acting in Syria, though, and said Obama should have enforced his own 'red line' warning to Bashar al-Assad • Finally responded to Trump's slap at him for refusing the 'walk away' from the Iran nuclear pact...

Link only due to copyright issues: https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2018/09/02/robert-muellers-wins-havent-shaken-donald-trump-voters-guestview/1158759002/

Editor’s note: There are many reasons why I enjoy, and appreciate, the thoughts and commentary from Mr. Bill O’Shaughnessy, chairman of Whitney Radio and WVOX 1460 AM radio. First, he is one of the lone survivors of bi-partisanship, and of telling it like it is regardless of political party. “Mr. O,” as we like to call him, is a supporter of both President Donald Trump and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He endorsed former County Executive Rob Astorino over New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson is 2013, and then endorsed George Latimer over Astorino in 2017. Mr. O is also unafraid to come...

President Donald Trump’s legal team is crafting a “counter-report” that will seek to delegitimize Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and present countervailing arguments. Trump’s personal attorney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, told The Daily Beast in an interview on Thursday that part of his report would examine whether the “initiation of the investigation was…legitimate or not.”

A new Harris Poll released this morning of more than 1,000 blue-collar Americans undermines the conventional wisdom that such workers are unsatisfied with their job and their future in their fields. A majority of the workers said they would recommend their jobs to friends and family members as something that has value and virtue in their lives and in their communities. The survey also shows 70 percent of blue-collar workers maintain a deep distrust of elected officials. The pattern: positivity for their lives and livelihoods and negativity toward national politics. The poll was commissioned by Express Employment, an Oklahoma City...

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) condemned President Trump’s warning of possible violence if the Democrats take back the House in the fall, calling it “fascism in the flesh.” “This is fascism in the flesh. This is the language of a fanatic that could be lifted from a tyrant’s playbook,” Pascrell tweeted Wednesday. “This is not a warning but an incitement. Unless we stand united against it." (TWEET-AT-LINK) The president told evangelical leaders Monday that Democrats will “violently” overturn Republican gains if they win back the lower chamber. “They will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently,...

During an appearance on MSNBC Monday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) urged fellow Democrat lawmakers to make efforts to impeach President Donald Trump a central issue. A partial transcript follows: DAVID GURA: You’ve had a couple of days to consider what happened on Tuesday of this week, just to pivot to another subject here. That being what happened in a federal courtroom outside of Washington, D.C. in Alexandria, what happened in New York, as well. Michael Cohen plead guilty to some campaign finance violations, among other things. I want to read a little bit from your statement you issued after those...

This president is not going to be forced out of office because of infidelity. Congress has been down that road before — and it led nowhere. Last week was widely held to be the darkest of President Donald Trump’s presidency. His longtime former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign finance violation — paying off Trump mistresses in what amounted to an illegal campaign contribution — and indicated Trump put him up to it. It was, some said, the beginning of the end. Well, the end may come. But this is not the beginning of it. Trump is not...

Carter also said an additional statement Trump issued under fire is “still not as enthusiastic as it should be.” Jimmy Carter remains unimpressed with President Donald Trump’s belated effort to take note of and honor the late Sen. John McCain’s service to the U.S. In fact, the 93-year-old former president characterized it as “at best adequate.” Carter spoke with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday about Trump’s responses after McCain ― who endured torture as a POW during the Vietnam war, served more than 45 years in Congress and was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee ― died at his home in...

If you’re confused by President Trump’s reluctance to celebrate the life of Sen. John McCain, it’s because Trump knows something you don’t: his base. The Red Hats And Talk Radio wing of American politics has long had a problematic relationship with the Arizona senator. And by “problematic,” I mean, they hated his guts. For years, McCain was the poster child of the kind of Republicanism they loathed, the kind of Republicanism that eventually led many of these voters to turn to Trump in the first place. And if he were still with us, McCain would say “You’re damn right.” New...

Pastor Robert Jeffress said on Monday night that evangelical supporters of President Trump don’t support his alleged “extramarital affairs” but do support his “excellent policies.” “I know a lot of people are still perplexed- why are Christians so supportive of Donald Trump?” Jeffress said during an appearance on Fox News. “Well, it’s really not that hard to figure out when you realize he is the most pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-conservative judiciary in history and that includes either Bush or Ronald Reagan.” The pro-Trump pastor went on to say that is why he believes so many evangelicals remain committed to the...

Viola Davis has one person in mind when it comes to improving race relations in the country -- and she's a new, young face in politics who could soon be in congress. We got the 'How to Get Away with Murder' star Sunday at LAX and asked who she thought might be the next champion of our time, especially when it comes to easing racial tensions ... which seem to be at a bit of a boiling point lately. She nominates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just won the Democratic primary in New York and earned a spot on the midterm election...

During Sunday’s “The Cats Roundtable” on New York AM 970 radio, pollster and political analyst Pat Caddell weighed in on the 2018 midterm elections and said it was pretty obvious Democrats would “make an effort to impeach” President Donald Trump if they took the House. “I’m not sure this is an ordinary midterm, any more than 2016 was an ordinary presidential election. I believe we have yet to see this election engaged,” Caddell told host John Catsimatidis. “And it should be a national election. It will be nationalized. One of the issues is going to be impeachment. I don’t think...

After a week that saw President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman convicted on eight counts of fraud and his former lawyer plead guilty to felony campaign finance charges, the president's job approval rating remains virtually unchanged, new polling from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal shows. But the stability in Trump's approval rating also comes as more than half of voters say he has not been honest and truthful regarding the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller. And fewer than three-in-ten voters are convinced that Trump himself is not implicated in the wrongdoing of the six of his...

In the rush and fervor to impeach President Donald Trump, Democrats should look over their collective shoulder. One might reconcile with the devil they know instead of the devil they do not. What happens if Trump is impeached and removed from office? An even more aggressive conservative is waiting the wings who will make President Trump seem like a panty-waisted beginner. Vice-President Pence will assume office for the remaining term and then elected for a subsequent term. Untold conservatives voted for Trump hoping Mike Pence would eventually take the reins. America knew Donald Trump. Was there any doubt of his...

<p>Many voters express frustration that Congress is paralyzed, but what action are people demanding? History has taught us that going after sitting presidents for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” has not brought about conviction in the Senate. Most recently, the attempts to remove Presidents Nixon and Clinton from office directly contributed to today’s divisiveness. What might a Trump indictment or impeachment do to the country?</p>

My variation on Selena Zito: Right now the value of Trump to the Trump voter is he is all that stands between them and the people who hate them every bit as much as they hate Trump. The Manhattan (NY County) District Attorney’s office is investigating the Trump Organization for possible criminal violations. The current NY Attorney General Barbara Underwood, holding the spot temporarily after her anti-Trump predecessor Eric Schneiderman resigned in disgrace, is going after the Trump Foundation. Democrat candidates for Attorney General are trying to outdo each other with promises that they will be the most aggressive in...

President Donald Trump's actions during the campaign -- possible conspiracy to accept help from a foreign national and to violate campaign-finance laws in order to hide two alleged extramarital affairs -- as well as his actions once he became president (e.g. possible obstruction of justice, witness-tampering) are at issue for special counsel Robert Mueller and for Congress in the context of impeachment. For now, let's assume that Trump did nothing wrong during his presidency, that only his pre-election conduct is at issue. Most commentators have taken the view that Mueller cannot indict for criminal activity during Trump's presidency, although this...