Free Republic

Liberal advocacy groups that publish widely cited lists of purported "hate groups," tarring a diverse spectrum of conservative organizations, are facing defamation claims alleging they knowingly spread falsehoods about those organizations' beliefs and activities. A federal judge recently refused to dismiss litigation against the 52-year-old Southern Poverty Law Center for designating the Georgia-based Dustin Inman Society, which promotes "legal, sustainable and reduced immigration," as an "anti-immigrant hate group." The designation came seven years after SPLC told The Associated Press the label would be too strong for what it called a "nativist" group that works "through the political process." That has...

Now for a personal insight, one based on direct, long-term experiences: I have worked with many Eastern Europeans. I have worked closely with Russians, Ukrainians, Slovenians, Serbians and Estonians. I generally did not care for them because it seemed to me that 1) Everything was considered a financial transaction to them; everything was for sale - it was only a matter of price. 2) There seemed to be something missing from their souls/consciences. Perhaps 80 years of communism hollowed their collective consciousness.

A Portland Fred Meyer grocery store has fired a black security guard after white Antifa members complained, accusing him of being a Proud Boy and a "white supremacist." On March 3, self-proclaimed "Antifa scum" and "cop hater" Melissa Lewis, who was recently convicted for slashing up a Portland Police vehicle, shared a complaint made by Antifa riot arrestee Dustin B. Ferreira against 28-year-old security guard Andrew Duncomb, tagging Fred Meyer on Twitter.

Sludge freakout against DeSantis, again! HEADLINES, BIG FONTS, BOLD COLORS, END-TIMES! Utter nitwittery. https://t.co/01q9n9xaYA— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) March 3, 2023

"The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin offered a mea culpa after she faced backlash for making an erroneous claim about Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. On Thursday's broadcast, Farah Griffin accused DeSantis of "erasing" Black history for opposing the AP African American History course, which had a curriculum he said included a "political agenda." After Fox News Digital ran a report Friday morning about the fiery criticism she received, Farah Griffin took to Twitter and acknowledged she "accidentally misrepresented" DeSantis, a lightning rod for criticism in mainstream media and a rumored 2024 presidential hopeful. "Sooo I got tripped up on...

Polticians from outgoing coalition say Likud chief's agreement to put Avi Maoz in charge of Israel's Jewish identity is a 'slap in the face,' could 'plunge Israel into the abyss' The prospect of a hardline, ultra-conservative, anti-pluralistic, homophobic nationalist being appointed as the next government's head of "Jewish identity" was met with staunch rebuke from politicians from the outgoing coalition on Sunday, with lawmakers slamming the move by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu as "insanity," "racist" and "unreal". Avi Moaz, the single lawmaker of the fringe Noam party, is one of the Knesset's most far-right politicians, holding non-pluralist Jewish views and...

MSNBC national security analyst Frank Figliuzzi said Monday on “Deadline” that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson may face civil lawsuits from the victims of Saturday’s shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, CO if it is discovered the shooter is a “consumer” of Fox News or the congresswoman. Figliuzzi said, “It is it about instilling fear, and the correct response for the rest of us is to step up and push back right at them. So it’s hatred. It’s clinging to weapons. It’s ignorance of the other, demonizing the other. We said this over and...

How many recent mainstream media hoaxes did you fall for? ... and/or still believe?Russian collusionTrump called neo-nazis "fine people"Jussie SmollettBubba Wallace garage pullCovington kidsGovernor Whitmer kidnapping plotKavanaugh rapeTrump pee tapeCOVID lab leak was a conspiracy theoryBorder agents whipped migrantsTrump saved nuclear secrets at Mar-a-LagoSteele DossierRussian bounties on US soldiers in AfghanistanTrump said drinking bleach would fight COVIDMuslim travel banHunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformationAndrew Cuomo best COVID leadershipTrump built cages for migrant kids"Austere religious scholar"Trump overfed Koi fish in JapanBuild Back Better will pay for itselfTrump tax cuts benefited only the richCloth masks prevent COVIDIf you get vaccinated you won't...

Outgoing Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead” that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was “giving aid and comfort to the enemy” by saying if Republicans retake the House, they would reconsider aid to Ukraine. Tuesday, McCarthy said, “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession, and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.” Anchor John Berman asked, “Do you feel surprised that it made news when Kevin McCarthy suggested that Ukrainian aid may not be as forthcoming if Republicans take control of Congress?”

America’s corporate press is out of control. It claims to be an institution essential to successful self-government—and it would in fact be so, if it did its job responsibly. But all too often the American press seeks not to facilitate democratic deliberation by informing the voters but instead to shape political outcomes by dealing in hysteria and misinformation. More specifically, the corporate media routinely seeks to pull the nation’s politics leftward by using defamation to render prominent figures on the right odious to the public. The case of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is only the most recent example.

I went to my nearest Cabela's this week to do a little shopping. When I entered the store I noticed a sign at the service counter that essentially said guns entering the store must be registered at the counter. I asked if that was all guns and was told yes. I took out my conceal carry and put it on the country. Thee attendant asked me if the gun had bullets in it (DUH!). I said yes. He then told me I had to take the gun to the gun sales and have them unload it and then bring it...

The special counsel investigating whether Russia tried to sway the 2016 U.S. election has taken over FBI inquiries into a former British spy’s dossier of allegations of Russian financial and personal links to President Trump’s campaign and associates, sources familiar with the inquiry told Reuters. A report compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele identified Russian businessmen and others whom U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of the Russian government. Trump was told by former FBI director James Comey that Steele’s report contained salacious material about the businessman-turned-president. In a report published in...

Stephen King is sorry, not sorry for spreading fake news about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The novelist has publicly apologized for tweeting a false claim that Gov. DeSantis signed a bill requiring Florida students and professors to register their political views with the state. The erroneous claim appears to have come from a Salon article from last year that recently went viral. “I regret having posted the headline without being more confident the story was correct. Salon is usually more reliable. Twitter is a constant learning experience, and I will try to do better,” the author said in a statement...

In past columns, we have discussed how Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe seems intent upon running through the entire criminal code in declaring clear evidence of every federal crime by former President Donald Trump and/or his family. Just for the purposes of keeping score, Tribe declared evidence supporting criminal charges of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, criminal election violations, Logan Act violations, extortion, espionage, and treason by Trump or his family. He has now added attempted murder in an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” In addition to declaring former President Donald Trump clearly guilty of the attempt to murder...

Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe said Thursday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” that former President Donald Trump attempted to murder Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021. Burnett asked, “From everything you have seen so far, including the hearing today that focused so much on Trump causing violence against Pence, do you believe the committee has proven that Trump himself knowingly committed crimes?”

InfoWars host Alex Jones has an anonymous benefactor shoveling millions of dollars of bitcoin into his crypto wallet. The windfall comes on the cusp of a financial disaster for Jones: he’ll soon know just how much he’ll be liable for after losing multiple defamation lawsuits over his lies that the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 weren’t real. Though he’s been humbled by the parents of a previous school shooting, Jones doesn’t seem to be learning from his mistakes. The most recent school massacre in Uvalde, Texas has spawned numerous conspiracy theories, and Jones has taken them...

Fox News contributor Judith Miller said Sunday on “Fox News Live” that Republicans must stop being “the party of egregious mass shooting and uncontrolled guns.”(snip) If New Zealand and Australia can do it after their mass shooting, why can’t we? I think it really depends on the Republicans now. They must stop being the party of egregious mass shootings and uncontrolled guns. That has to stop. It’s up to them. I think Mitch McConnell’s instructions to his fellow Republicans to negotiate with the Democrats suggests that he understands something’s changing. The question is, how long will the furor over this...

“I hope they both move on. At their best, they are each incredible,” Musk, who once dated Heard, tweeted Saturday. Musk’s tweet was in response to MIT research scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman who tweeted Friday: “My takeaways from Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial: 1. Fame is one hell of a drug (for some). 2. Psychiatrists & lawyers come in drastically varying levels of skill. 3. Lying to millions of people is something humans are capable of. 4. Love can be messy. 5. Mega pint of wine.”

Russia’s radioactive, chemical, and biological protection forces chief, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, claimed that in 2020, Ukraine biolabs gave fake money infected with tuberculosis to village children in the Lugansk People’s Republic.Moscow claims Ukraine tried to infect the people of the Russia-aligned Lugansk People’s Republic with tuberculosis (TB) and permitted the US government to conduct human experiments in psychiatric institutions in Kharkov.Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, Chief of Russia’s Radioactive, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces, claimed during a briefing on the findings of the Russian Defense Ministry’s investigation into the purportedly US-funded bioweapon labs in Ukraine that Russian forces had obtained...

On social media, Richard Whitehead is a warrior for the American right. He has praised extremist groups. He has called for public executions of government officials he sees as disloyal to former President Donald Trump. In a post in 2020, he urged law enforcement officers to disobey COVID-19 public-health orders from “tyrannical governors,” adding: “We are on the brink of civil war.” Whitehead also has a day job. He trains police officers around the United States. Whitehead is part of a trend in pushing a radical-right political agenda to American police forces. He’s one of five police trainers identified by...