Free Republic

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a Democrat, there was this extraordinary vote this past week in the Senate. Forty Senate Democrats tried to block a U.S. weapons sale to Israel, and that adds to this growing rift we have seen between your party and Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think Democrats are going to come to regret this break in the alliance? HOCHSTEIN: So I hope that it's not a break in the alliance. I think this, what it really demonstrates is for the last several years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sacrificed Israel's interest in the United States....

SNIP Netanyahu had submitted a request for a pardon to the legal department of the Office of the President, the prime minister’s office said in a statement. The president’s office called it an “extraordinary request,” carrying with it “significant implications.” Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters. He hasn’t been convicted of anything. Netanyahu rejects the allegations and has described the case as a witch hunt orchestrated by the media,...

She's been called 'ICE Barbie' for treating her Cabinet position like a TV production, but now Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing for an actual reality show pitting immigrants against each other 'for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship'. It may sound like a joke, but the idea is for real and is outlined in a 35-page program pitch put together in coordination with the DHS secretary, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. Noem is even offering up officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to tally votes for the made-for-TV contest. The pitch comes from Rob...

"Part of the reason why US President Donald Trump dismissed National Security Adviser Michael Waltz was due to behind-the-scenes coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on possible military action against Iran, without the president’s full knowledge or approval, The Washington Post reported on Saturday. According to the report, which cited multiple senior administration officials, tensions between Waltz and Trump had been mounting for weeks. Waltz allegedly worked closely with Netanyahu to prepare military options in advance of a February Oval Office meeting — a move he reportedly made without informing the president. ..."

Each is a wannabe autocrat, each is working to undermine the rule of law and so-called elites in his respective country, each is seeking to crush what he calls a “deep state” of government professionals. Each is steering his nation away from its once universal aspiration to be a “light unto the nations” toward a narrow, brutish might-equals-right ethnonationalism that is ready to mainstream ethnic cleansing. Each treats his political opposition not as legitimate but as enemies within, and each has filled his cabinet with incompetent hacks, deliberately chosen for loyalty to him instead of the laws of their lands....

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday he believes former President Trump will be similar to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he is reelected. “To those people who are saying, ‘well, I can’t support Harris because she disagrees [with] Trump on that issue’ … he will be closer to Netanyahu,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Sanders said he thinks Vice President Harris can be moved “on that issue” of the Israel-Hamas war. Harris has called for a cease-fire deal and pushed for the war in Gaza to end, but she faces scrutiny from both sides — from...

You’re a mean one Mr. Grinch You really are a heel. You’re as cuddly as a cactus, And as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch! You’re a bad banana, With a greasy black peel! You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch! Your heart’s an empty hole. Your brain is full of spiders. You’ve got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch! Well, that’s a pretty good beginning at describing how most conservatives feel about Newt Gingrich these days. More of that later. Of course, many of us felt this way before the 2012 GOP presidential primary began, and have been vindicated as Newt...