Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bernie Sanders’ Democratic presidential rivals warn that nominating the self-described democratic socialist will ensure President Donald Trump’s re-election, but a growing number of the party’s voters see the senator as their best chance of winning in November. Sanders’ dominating performance in last week’s Nevada caucuses, powered by growing support across age, race and ideology, has set off alarm bells among Democratic Party officials who believe putting the progressive stalwart at the top of the ticket will harm the party’s chances up and down the ballot. Sanders’ electability was a prime topic at Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate...

"We're full, our system's full, our country's full!" That was President Donald Trump last year at our southern border. "Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families." That was Trump in January 2017 at his inaugural address. "The influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult... to earn a middle class wage." That was presidential candidate Trump in 2016. Contrast those clarion "America First" statements with the apparent hysteria of Trump's current acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who was caught...

“Socialism” is a hot topic in American politics right now with so many of President Trump’s opponents promoting some version of it. Who would have thought that ideology with such a record of failure would see this kind of resurgence? But as conservatives gather this week for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), this year’s theme – “America vs. Socialism” – is an indication of what is at stake in the 2020 U.S. elections. America isn’t the only country being threatened by this assault on freedom. The Left is on the march all over the world. Fortunately, the forces...

Good for Mike Bloomberg. During his first debate, he slammed Bernie Sanders by saying: "We're not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn't work!" Exactly right. It's safe to say Bloomberg is not a communist. I wonder if that means there's still room for him in the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, Bloomberg is no principled, limited-government capitalist, either. Like his fellow New York billionaire Donald Trump, he's used to getting his own way at his own company. Unfortunately, he assumes government should function in a similar fashion. Instead...

Mark Ruffalo has nothing on his green alter ego these days. Sure, the actor’s signature character is mean, green and out of control. Compare that to what Ruffalo says in a new interview with the UK Independent: “We are approaching mass extinctions, food systems failing, hundreds of millions of displaced people looking for places that are hospitable.” Ruffalo spoke to the news outlet to promote “Dark Waters,” a fact-based film which hit theaters last year but failed to gain awards season buzz. The actor plays a lawyer fighting a powerful corporation tied to environmental-based deaths. The press seized on two...

The girl has never scored below a 96 on any test. She’s No. 1 on the honor roll — and the principal wants her to wear the state-mandated red scarf of the Communist youth organization, los pioneros, or she’s out. Her parents refuse. Her mother is called in for a conference. The women argue. The truce: The price for not wearing the pañoleta is being knocked down to second place for lack of revolutionary spirit. The top spot will go to a boy who is an eager and loyal pionerito (like decades later, a returned Elián González would be, too)....

Aylward said the key to China's "success" in allegedly containing the outbreak is the way that different areas used a "tailored approach" to different regions to avoid exhausting their resources. However, there have been numerous reports of a lack of test kits, masks, medical supplies, and hospital beds in Wuhan throughout the outbreak. After having safely returned to WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Aylward expressed confidence in the communist regime's health care system, proclaiming: "You know, if I had COVID-19, I'd want to be treated in China."

The mayor of San Francisco declared a state of emergency over coronavirus fears on Tuesday shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning that the U.S. will likely see more cases. There are 57 known cases in the U.S. and no cases in San Francisco, but Mayor London Breed pointed to the virus’ unpredictability and troubling global growth. "We see the virus spreading in new parts of the world every day, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect San Franciscans from harm," Breed said. She said many of the city's residents travel to mainland...

Before former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg threw his hat into the 2020 presidential race, he defended the New York Police Department's use of "stop, question and frisk" policing. At a United States Naval Academy's 2019 Leadership Conference, Bloomberg said, "We focused on keeping kids from going through the correctional system ... kids who walked around looking like they might have a gun, remove the gun from their pockets and stop it." He claimed that as a result of his policy, New York's murder rate fell from 650 a year to 300 the year he left office. In the...

This week, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the socialist Democratic presidential front-runner, made waves when he merely reiterated his lifelong warmth toward the viciously evil Cuban communist regime. Brushing off the human rights violations of Fidel Castro -- a man whose revolution ended with the murder or imprisonment of tens of thousands of his countrymen, and decades of impoverishment and repression for millions -- Sanders explained: "We're very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba, but you know, it's unfair to simply say everything is bad. ... When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a...

US Democratic candidate Joe Biden keeps on "rolling out the gaffes" however, debating Bernie Sanders is similar to "wrestling smoke" according to the Daily Telegraph's Tim Blair. ... Mr. Blair told Sky News host Chris Kenny, politically "Bernie Sanders is alot harder to lay a glove on" than his opponents. "He's talking about a paradise, a socialist kind of super world where all is free and fair... How do you argue against invisibility like that?" ...

In Syria’s last opposition stronghold, the worst fears of millions of people are coming true. With the help of brutal Russian airstrikes, Syrian government forces have seized about a third of Idlib Province over the last two months, pushing over 900,000 of the region’s 3.5 million people out of their homes and north toward the nearby Turkish border, where another 800,000 displaced people already live in crude, overcrowded camps. The current wave of refugees fleeing Idlib, about 80 percent of whom are women and children, is now the largest exodus of Syria’s nine-year conflict. Aid agencies are overwhelmed, and food...

South Korea will test 200,000 members of a secretive church for the novel coronavirus after its leader agreed to hand a list of members to health authorities. As of Tuesday, 10 people had died of COVID-19 and at least 977 had been infected with it in South Korea, making it the worst-hit nation other than China. (See link for full story)

India has been rocked by violence since Parliament approved a new law that excludes a fast-track path to citizenship for Muslim refugees. An angry group of Hindus carrying pickaxes and iron rods hurled rocks Tuesday at Muslims in a fresh round of violent protests in the Indian capital over a new citizenship law, with at least 10 people killed in two days of clashes that cast a shadow over U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the country. After talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump told reporters that he had heard about the violence but did not discuss it...

SEOUL — A South Korean flight attendant who has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus may have serviced trips between Seoul and Los Angeles last week, according to several South Korean media outlets. South Korea’s Center for Disease Control said Wednesday local time that a female flight attendant who serviced a flight Feb. 15 from Tel Aviv to Seoul had tested positive for the virus. On board the flight was a church group returning from a pilgrimage to Israel; 30 other infections have been connected to the group so far, according to local authorities. The South Korean media outlets reported...

Once again, it was mission impossible. And once again, it was mission failure. Bernie Sanders is still standing. Time is running out to stop him. In their debate last week, the other Democrats aimed to make themselves his top rival for the nomination by viciously attacking each other. The net effect was that they were all damaged and Sanders waltzed to a smashing win in the Nevada caucus.

If the Democratic confrontation last week in Nevada was “The Godfather” of debates, last night’s South Carolina debate wasn’t “The Godfather Part II” — a worthy followup to a great original. No, it was “Exorcist 2: The Heretic.” It was “Smokey and the Bandit 3: Smokey Is the Bandit.” It was “True Detective Season 2.” Who made the South Carolina debate the worst sequel ever? Here are the nominees:

When former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley abruptly submitted her resignation in October 2018, she stayed mum about her next move, only assuring that she would not challenge President Trump in 2020 primaries for the Republican nomination. So, what has Haley been doing since she left her post? As a strong believer in term limits, Haley explains her decision to leave the administration in her memoir, "With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace.” She wrote 2019 was her first year in 14 years as a private citizen, free to “sleep in” and “get to read...

A man charged with raping an 11-year-old girl in Maryland was living in the United States illegally, authorities said. Jonathan Coreas-Salamanca, 20, was arrested along with Ivan Reyes Lopez, 19, earlier this month at the high schools they attended in Montgomery County, Md., WJLA-TV reported. Both men are charged with second-degree rape. Coreas-Salamanca, a citizen of El Salvador living in the U.S. illegally, faces additional charges of sexual abuse of a minor and a third-degree sexual offense.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg sparred right out the gate during Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, as the former New York City mayor slammed Sanders and claimed Russia is “helping” him get elected. During the first question of Tuesday night’s CBS News/ Twitter debate in Charleston, S.C., Sanders was asked about the economy. “The economy is doing really great for Mr. Bloomberg and other billionaires,” Sanders said. “For the ordinary American, things are not so good.”