Free Republic

After the great rebuke of 2024, many Democrats seem to think their party needs to become more moderate. But there’s another theory potent on the American left that believes Donald Trump’s election shows not just that American democracy is in danger, but that it doesn’t really work at all. What the country needs isn’t just a new policy agenda; it might need the kind of constitutional revolution — from adding new states, to packing the Supreme Court — that some Democrats already flirted with under Joe Biden. That’s the kind of argument that my guest today, Osita Nwanevu, makes in...

On Thursday morning, Time magazine released its latest cover dated September 8 with the lead story “The Meaning of Zohran Mamdani.” Predictably, the story by Mark Chiusano was as mind-numbingly stupid and weak-kneed as a profile of Barack Obama in the mid-2000s. Chiusano called him “very eloquent,” “fun,” and “more gifted than almost any of his peers,” and facing “adulation” plus “notoriety” in the face of “xenophobic death threats.” The fluff came out as thick as mud with Chiusano fawning right off the bat that “[i]t’s not easy to move around New York City as Zohran Mamdani anymore” and taking...

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was roasted on social media for creating a fictional Long Island couple called Joe and Eileen Bailey, whom he has based his entire political career on. During an episode of Last Week Tonight, British-born HBO talk show host John Oliver shared several clips of Schumer talking about the fictional couple, describing them as being “middle-class” and having “bought into Reagan Republicanism in 1980.” Schumer has explained that he has “guided” his political career “through the Baileys.” “They’re a middle-class couple in Massapequa, which is a suburb on Long Island,” Schumer said in one clip from an...

While some far-left Democrats have admitted that President Trump did the right thing in federalizing Washington, D.C.’s, police and ordering the FBI and National Guard into the city to combat violent crime, the far-left, hate-Trump mainstream media quickly pounced on the crime data he used in announcing the move.Violent crime in the nation’s capital, they say, is down almost 40 percent. But the media’s crime-fighting journalists don’t know — or did know and didn’t report — that the city fiddles with violent-crime data to exclude very violent crimes from their total.Thus, violent crime in the city did not decrease 35...

U.S. wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly last month, signaling that President Donald Trump’s sweeping taxes on imports are pushing costs up and that higher prices for consumers may be on the way. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers— rose 0.9% last month from June, biggest jump in more than three years. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices rose 3.3%. The numbers were much higher than economists had expected. Prices rose faster for producers than consumers last month, suggesting that U.S. importers may, for now, be eating the cost...

JD Vance, the vice president, sat down with Nigel Farage, a longtime supporter of President Trump whose party, Reform U.K., is leading in British polls.Vice President JD Vance began his family vacation in England last Friday with a lightning round of carp fishing. He hasn’t slowed down since, taking part in conference calls about Ukraine, huddling with Britain’s foreign minister, David Lammy, and meeting fellow right-wing political figures.On Wednesday morning, it was the turn of Nigel Farage, the leader of the insurgent, anti-immigrant party Reform U.K. He sat down with Mr. Vance, according to an official familiar with the vice...

The Trump administration’s immigration policies are affecting workers and driving, in part, a decline in tourism, including international tourists, to Las Vegas, according to workers and the largest labor union in the state of Nevada. Visitors to Las Vegas overall dropped 11.3% in June 2025, compared to the same month last year. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, international visitors to one of the world’s largest tourist destinations dropped 13% in June. “A lot of departments are having a lot of layoffs,” said ​​Norma Torres, a housekeeper for eight years at Mandalay Bay and a member of...

Audie Cornish must have the keenest hearing in the liberal media. Sure, many liberals claim to hear supposedly racist Republican dog whistles. But Cornish can detect a dog whistle before it's even pronounced! Call it a double-secret dog whistle on probation! On today's CNN This Morning, in a segment on President Trump's plan to clean up Washington, D.C. and clamp down on crime there, Cornish said: "So we're back to this language, right? The no-go zones, the like, this is the worst place in the entire world. Yeah, talking about juveniles. I'm like, people are one beat away from saying...

The graffiti appeared hours after The New York Times issued an editor’s note amending its July 24 article, “Gazans are dying of starvation.” Five days after publication, the Times acknowledged that its story referenced a Gazan boy, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, suffering from severe malnutrition, but later learned from his doctor and medical records that the child also had pre-existing health conditions. The editor’s note underscored that the article had been updated to reflect these new details.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared shoulder-to-shoulder Friday with Texas Democratic lawmakers in a show of support for their nearly weeklong walkout, which has blocked a vote on congressional redistricting maps sought by President Donald Trump in a widening national battle over U.S. House control. Texas has been the epicenter of Trump’s push to gerrymander congressional maps to shore up Republicans’ narrow House majority before next year. But the standoff is threatening to spill into other states — including California, New York, Florida and Indiana — in an emerging proxy war for control of Congress...

Redistricting reform could die as it becomes another polarizing and partisan blood sport.David Daley is author of “Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count” and “Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections.”The 2026 midterms might not be decided by tariffs, President Donald Trump’s approval ratings or even Sydney Sweeney’s divisive American Eagle ad — but by gerrymandering. Just a handful of seats separate the two parties, and first Republicans and now Democrats are angling for more before votes are cast.Texas Republicans stand ready to adopt a new map that could award them as many as five additional...

Vladimir Putin started it. Joe Biden didn’t stop it. But, no matter his efforts to the contrary, this is the week in which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine becomes US President Donald Trump’s war. The most powerful office in the world doesn’t always invite choices. Trump is mandated to address the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II because the United States was involved, under his predecessor, as Ukraine’s key ally and sponsor. Trump could have dropped the war entirely. But instead, he chose to impose the force of his personality, initially through the idea he could end it in...

Mohammed Mondal, a 47-year-old Ohio father, will spend decades in prison after pleading guilty in connection with his wife’s 2023 shooting death. At the time, Mondal, his wife, Stacy, and their children were en route to a photo shoot. Mondal shot his wife in front of them, believing she was having an affair. Records reviewed by Law & Crime revealed that Mohammed Mondal was sentenced to spend between 25 to 30 years and a half in a state correctional facility. He had previously agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and two counts of child endangerment. In turn, the Hamilton...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans move to redraw legislative maps in red states to pad their narrow House majority in Washington, some Democrats are rethinking their embrace of a nonpartisan approach to line-drawing that now complicates their party’s ability to hit back before next year’s midterm elections.In many Democratic-controlled states, independent commissions rather than the state legislature handle redistricting, the normally-once-a-decade task of adjusting congressional and legislative districts so their populations are equal. Parties in the majority can exploit that process to shape their lawmakers’ districts so they are almost guaranteed reelection.Who controls redistricting in the statesCongressional redistricting after the...

In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald Trump steps up hiscriticism of federal judges who have blocked some of his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name.District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those who received pizzas in Anderl’s name. His courtroom also has been flooded by threatening calls, including one...

An atomic cloud is captured by a bomber over Nagasaki in 1945; tourists visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima on June 28, 2025. August 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan and the end of the Pacific theatre of World War II. Aug. 6 marks the 80th anniversary of the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima – and three days later, on Nagasaki – during World War II. Today, most Americans (83%) say they know a lot or a little about these events, according to a new Pew Research...

Vice President JD Vance blasted an AP reporter who suggested he is “protecting pedophiles” during his visit to a steel factory in Ohio to promote tax cuts. During a Q&A session, the reporter stated: “I guess I’m going to be that person. There are some protestors outside accusing the GOP of protecting pedophiles.” “We’re wondering what you think are the reasons the U.S. government should shield the client list of Epstein from the public?” Vance didn’t hold back in his response. “Well, let me just say a couple of things. First of all… we’re not shielding anything. The President has...

In his second post-office visit in Chicago, former President Joe Biden stopped to accept an award from the National Bar Association, blasting President Donald Trump without ever saying his name to the crowd at the Hyatt Regency in the Loop Thursday evening. “Judges matter, courts matter, the law matters, and the constitution matters,” Biden said. “I think a lot of Americans are starting to realize that under this president. … Get ready folks, he’s just starting.” Biden Thursday decried the abduction of immigrants from their families and communities while highlighting attacks on civil rights and voter access. “There are moments...

In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald Trump steps up hiscriticism of federal judges who have blocked some of his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name.District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those who received pizzas in Anderl’s name. His courtroom also has been flooded by threatening calls, including one...

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Thursday on Fox News’ “Hannity” that the legacy media refuses to cover new Russiagate revelations because doing so would require them to admit they played a role in the cover-up. Since the allegations emerged involving officials from the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, corporate media has largely shifted its focus to other issues. While discussing the legal side of the scandal, Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked Turley who should “be worried” about potential legal repercussions. “Well, there’s a lot of people worried in this city tonight. This is the great reveal...