Free Republic

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed legislation that he described as “bold” on Monday. Judging by the plain text of the proposal and the responses to it, bold is an understatement. Under the “new criminal offenses” section established by the would-be Combatting Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act, DeSantis declared it a third-degree felony to obstruct traffic during an “unpermitted protest, demonstration or violent or disorderly assembly.” Notably, the next clause purports to remove liability for injury or death a driver causes if that driver is “fleeing for safety from a mob. Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum...

President Trump has put Democratic challenger Joseph R. Biden on the defensive in Minnesota, an unlikely battleground that hasn’t voted Republican in a presidential election since 1972. It’s a rare opportunity for Mr. Trump to expand the electoral map and potentially capture Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes to offset a potential loss in Michigan or Wisconsin, two states that he narrowly won in 2016.Mr. Trump came close to winning Minnesota four years ago. He lost the state to Hillary Clinton by a little more than 1.5 percentage points. This time, his law-and-order message has been amplified by months of unrest and...

Since 2015, George Soros has pumped tens of millions of dollars into local races in Texas, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and New York, as well as swing states. Since 2015, George Soros has been executing a plan to reshape the country through local district attorney elections by pumping unprecedented amounts of money into races that typically only see candidates spend in the low five figures.HereÂ’s why he has an interest in these local races. Soros is exploiting the reality that all politics are local in some way. To transform America, you have to transform the way towns and cities...

Minnesota has backed Democratic presidential candidates for nearly half a century and rarely receives much attention during the final stages of the race. This is when campaigns typically focus their resources on more traditional swing states like Florida or Pennsylvania. But Minnesota will feel like a genuine battleground on Friday as President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, campaign here to mark the beginning of early voting. They’re expected to avoid the state’s most populated areas near Minneapolis to focus on largely white rural and working-class voters, some of whom shifted to Republicans for the first time in...

I am pleased to be at this Hillsdale College celebration of Constitution Day. Sadly, many colleges these days don’t even teach the Constitution, much less celebrate it. But at Hillsdale, you recognize that the principles of the Founding are as relevant today as ever—and vital to the success of our free society. I appreciate your observance of this important day and all you do for civic education in the United States. When many people think about the virtues of our Constitution, they first mention the Bill of Rights. That makes sense. The great guarantees of the Bill of Rights—freedom of...

WASHINGTON — Emboldened by President Donald Trump’s campaign platform of law and order, militia groups have bolstered their strength before Election Day by attracting military veterans who bring weapons and tactical skills viewed as important to the organizations. The role of veterans in the newly proliferating militia groups — which sometimes are steeped in racism and other times steeped simply in anti-government zealotry — has increased over the last decade, said a dozen experts on law enforcement, domestic terrorism and extremist groups.

Source: Photo Courtesy of Salena ZitoBEDFORD, Pennsylvania -- The first time I saw Ryan Decker a few weeks ago, he was standing on the corner of the Lincoln Highway and South Richard Street holding an oversized homemade sign that read, "BEEF JERKY COSTS TOO MUCH." I thought to myself, "You know, he's not wrong." His next sign was along the berm of U.S. 30, a four-lane highway. It read, "STOP DRIVING SLOW IN THE PASSING LANE." Once again, not wrong, and funny. A few days later, he was standing in front of the local Weiss supermarket with a sign that...

In matters of race and other social phenomena, there is a tendency to believe that what is seen today has always been. For black people, the socioeconomic progress achieved during my lifetime, which started in 1936, exceeded anyone's wildest dreams. In 1936, most black people lived in gross material poverty and racial discrimination. Such poverty and discrimination is all but nonexistent today. Government data, assembled by Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, shows that "the average American family ... identified as poor by the Census Bureau, lives in an air-conditioned, centrally heated house or apartment ... They have a car...

On Aug. 23, 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a black man, was shot seven times in the back by a white police officer. The original video, which only included the last moments of the incident, gave no context for the incident. But further video and police reports made clear what happened. According to the police association, the police were called to the scene by a black woman who had dialed 911 to report that Blake was attempting to steal the keys to her car. There was an open warrant on Blake for third-degree felony sexual assault; the alleged victim is the woman...

In his treatise, Rhetoric, Aristotle (335–322 BCE) held that rhetoric is the use of all the available means of persuasion. Aristotle’s omniscience led to the development of rhetorical theory, an academic progenitor to the field of communication. Since the Obama years we have seen neo-Marxist causes engaged in a full tilt boogie to persuade Americans and societies around the world that their cause is just and worth supporting. It is becoming a socio-economic version of Joseph Schumpeter’s principle of creative destruction. Joe Biden increasingly uses sophistry rather than legitimate rhetorical arguments to make his case for the presidency. The mainstream media...

Professional athletes, many being minorities, have a unique opportunity to spread a positive message about America as a land of opportunity that, while imperfect, has a calling and destiny unlike any in the world. Such a message would bring hope, healing and encourage a “Yes, we can” mentality to millions of all backgrounds. Instead, LeBron James and other professional athletes have collectively spread a false narrative that our nation is systemically racist and inherently bad. In so doing, they fuel racial tension, perpetuate a victim mentality and perpetuate civil unrest. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The fruits of...

If Democrats have the truth on their side, why do they need to lie so much? It’s a question for the ages. Every time you turn on the news or open a paper, some headline is blaring about how President Trump is a disaster. You name it – Coronavirus, trade, the economy, race relations, the military, schools – and there is a liberal Democrat with a press credential telling you how those things and more are bad, and have never been worse, no matter the evidence to the contrary. Adolf Hitler called it the “Große Lüge,” or “Big Lie,” and...

In the current debate on racism there is one phrase that keeps popping up: “systemic racism.” Some people even claim that the situation facing African-Americans is much the same today as it has always been. The key question, however, is what effect do such messages have? People are discouraged when they hear: “If you don’t succeed, it’s racism’s or capitalism’s fault – and you really don’t stand a chance as long as the system hasn’t changed.” That is also not true. There are always examples of people who make it to the top. And we should focus far more of...

In 2008, former Senator John Edwards ran for president under the banner of there being “two Americas.” In his campaign, the philandering narcissist was attempting to differentiate between the rich and poor, claiming they exist in different worlds with separate rules. He was wrong, partially. There are two Americas with rules for both, but the divide isn’t rich and poor. It’s left and everyone else. Progressive Democrats set the rules for everyone else and a fluid, ever-changing set of nothings for themselves. There are no standards to which Democrats will hold themselves. You can’t open your business, patronize establishments you...

Editor's Note: This piece was co-authored by James Jay Carafano.No parent wants to put their child in harm’s way. We know; we are both parents. As parents, we know first-hand about the need to sacrifice, for the sake of our children and the family as a whole. But we have firsthand knowledge of another kind of sacrifice — the kind that comes with military service. One of us served in the U.S. Army for 25 years. The other is married to an army veteran. We know all about the sacrifices and dangers those years brought. But we also know the...

Over the last several months, I have been greatly impressed by President Trump's current Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. To me, she ranks among the great ones of all time. Why? Let us count the ways. Kayleigh arrives at every press conference with high energy. She walks with purpose, steps on the podium, and opens her notebook on the lectern. She smiles at the group and, without preamble, delivers several minutes of editorialized information directly from the President and his Administration. She knows that most reporters in the audience do not wish to cover the initial topic she addresses. Upbeat and...

I recently returned home from a trip to Washington, D.C. and felt as though I just visited a third world country. There were so many businesses boarded up and abandoned—from big corporate-owned businesses, to small mom-and-pop stores. Many of the main streets were blocked off in an effort to maintain law and order. I witnessed a mob attempt to storm a hotel, banging on, and shaking, the hotel’s reinforced doors. As I watched the chaos unfold from my room, I started to wonder if I would wake up to a mob in the middle of the night trying to beat...

Phyllis Schlafly, conservative icon and my late boss, passed away four years ago today at the age of 92. She was an unwavering voice for the pro-family movement, and her life’s work and legacy live on. Phyllis volunteered in American politics for 70 years, influencing many different political and cultural issues. From military superiority and national sovereignty to education and pro-life issues, she articulately shaped conservative policy. Phyllis is perhaps most famous for leading the decade-long fight to defeat the so-called Equal Rights Amendment which she saw as a threat to all women. Her influence didn’t stop there. She also...

“An Antifa leader known as Commander Red was busted carrying a flamethrower to a Wisconsin Black Lives Matter rally — and 'dropped into the fetal position and began crying' when stopped by cops, officials said…Matthew Banta, 23, is 'known to be a violent Antifa member who incites violence in otherwise relatively peaceful protests,' a criminal complaint in his Green Bay arrest record insisted…He was carrying stickers and a flag for the controversial group — the name of which is short for “anti-fascist” — along with 'military-grade 5-minute' smoke grenades, fireworks rockets, and a flamethrower,” the New York Post reported. Cuba-watchers...

Restrictions on police power are, of course, imperfect, but they are much more developed and effective than those left-wing rioters and militants impose on themselves. The left doesn’t want to abolish the police; they want to be the police. At heart, the radicals rioting and fighting with the police are cops — every last man, woman, and alternatively gendered individual of them. The disorder they create is meant to clear the way to establish a new order, in which they will be the enforcers. They don’t want to be left alone to do their thing. They want to force the...