Free Republic

The victorious Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant was the Republicans’ unanimous choice for president in 1868. As in so many other presidential campaigns, the Democrats made race the centerpiece of their appeal to the American people. They nominated former New York governor Horatio Seymour and ran him on a platform calling for the “immediate restoration of all States to their rights in the Union under the Constitution,” amnesty for all former Confederates, and “the regulation of the elective franchise in the States by their citizens.” That last point meant the right of white Southerners, chiefly former slaveholders and all...

Key Points - Russia's lack of large-scale retaliation to recent audacious Ukrainian drone strikes deep within its territory does not signify weakness or fear, but rather a calculated confidence in its ongoing attritional strategy. -Moscow is reportedly achieving its core, albeit limited, war aims—consolidating control over eastern Ukrainian oblasts, securing the land bridge to Crimea, and ensuring Ukraine's non-NATO, neutralized status—through methodical ground advances and superior industrial output. -Russia is perceived to be "already winning" this war of exhaustion by fighting "smarter, not harder," and therefore sees no current need for dramatic escalations that could play into Western or Ukrainian...

The massacre hoax and attacks on aid to Gaza expose the media’s true agenda. When Israel kills Hamas terrorists, that’s “controversial”. When Israel insists on existing, that’s not only controversial, it’s very nearly provocative, and even when Israel hands out food to its worst enemies who raped and murdered its citizens, and held its children hostage, that’s also… “controversial”. “Controversial” is the word that the United Nations, the political establishments of multiple countries and the media would like the public to associate with Israel bringing aid into Gaza. After UN lies about a famine in Gaza no matter how much...

DETROIT — Federal agents have arrested a University of Michigan scholar from China on charges she tried to smuggle a biological pathogen into the U.S. characterized as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon that can be used for targeting food crops. The FBI counterintelligence case against UM scholar Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Zunyong Liu, was unsealed in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and marks the second time in less than a week a Chinese national with ties to the university has been charged with federal crimes. On Friday, prosecutors unsealed a criminal case against a former University...

The wife and children of Boulder, Colorado, terrorism suspect Mohamed Soliman are in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the family is being processed for expedited removal, according to the Department of Homeland Security."We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it," Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Tuesday. "I am continuing to pray for the victims of this attack and their families. Justice will be served."

Students for Life Action (SFLAction) has launched a month-long June campaign pressuring 12 Republican senators to back the House-approved budget bill that defunds Planned Parenthood and major abortion providers. The campaign aims to integrate the House’s pro-life language into the Senate version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which narrowly passed the House May 22. The Senate is now expected to revise the bill before it reaches the president’s desk in early July. “Our message to our friends is simple: No matter what your concerns, work to get the House language in the Senate budget. That means cutting off...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky on May 30 dropped its lawsuit challenging two of the state’s pro-life laws, in a development Kentucky’s attorney general, the defendant, applauded as one that will save lives. The ACLU-KY had filed the lawsuit about six months ago on behalf of a Louisville woman who wanted to get an abortion, according to the Kentucky Lantern. The woman later traveled out of state for an abortion. ACLU-KY Executive Director Amber Duke announced the voluntary lawsuit dismissal in a May 30 statement and said the organization will not provide further details about dropping the...

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday making official his vow to double tariffs on steel and aluminum, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a briefing.Trump on Friday announced that he would increase tariffs on the two metals from 25% to 50%. On Monday, U.S. steel and aluminum prices jumped while shares of foreign steelmakers fell.

A bill that would compel Illinois public universities to provide, prescribe, and even promote abortion drugs is now one signature away from becoming law. House Bill 3709 passed the state senate May 31 and is now awaiting action from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. If signed, the bill would require schools to refer students to abortion providers and, where pharmacies are available on campus, directly distribute abortion drugs like mifepristone, according to a May 20 press release from Illinois Right to Life. The bill would also mandate that universities include information about chemical abortion on their websites, elevating the practice to...

There is big news coming out of the DOJ today with confirmation that an official investigation in to the Autopen scandal has been started. But there’s something more than went slightly under the radar for the past week related to this story. (And I can’t believe I’m just now seeing it!) Not only has US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin confirmed that he has been ordered to investigate the sketchy pardons, but he also has a “senior, senior Democrat” allegedly spilling the beans on the whole thing. And something that has only been presumed up to this point came up during...

(Oregon Right to Life) — A radical bill to expand assisted suicide in Oregon received strong pushback during a public hearing on Monday. SB 1003 would expand Oregon’s “Death With Dignity Act” (DWDA) to make it easier for practitioners to end the lives of medically vulnerable people through assisted suicide. SB 1003 came before the Oregon Senate for its second public hearing on June 2 following strong opposition and subsequent amendments earlier in the legislative session. Medical and mental health professionals and advocates for the medically vulnerable expressed vigorous opposition to the bill, noting that the amended legislation still poses...

A ruling from the state Supreme Court in Missouri is allowing, at least for now, a shutdown of abortion business that do not meet minimum medical facility requirements. "We're going to take a moment to celebrate, because this effectively shuts down abortion clinics in the state of Missouri for the time being," said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, during an interview with Tony Perkins on "Washington Watch." The dispute is over the business operations meeting the state requirements for medical facilities. "What the Supreme Court said was that the lower court did not apply the proper standard: The lower court...

In a letter to pro-life Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has committed to conducting a full review of the dangerous abortion pill – which has killed and injured countless women. Makary made the commitment after Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter highlighting new research showing greater risks than the FDA currently acknowledges and urging Makary to reconsider his earlier statement that he had “no plans to take action.” “As Commissioner of Food and Drugs, I am committed to conducting a review of mifepristone,” the FDA chief said in a letter to the senator, who highlighted it...

Oregon is once again at the center of a national debate over transgender athletes being allowed to compete in women's sports. A video from the high school girls' track and field state championships went viral over the weekend. The video shows two athletes refusing to step on the podium with another athlete, whom they say is transgender. The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) policy allows transgender students to "access athletics and activities" consistent with the student's gender identity. Alexa Anderson from Tigard High School was one of the athletes who stepped off the podium in protest. She spoke with KATU...

Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were allegedly receiving Chinese government funding for their research, some of which at the University of Michigan, officials said. "The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. It is further alleged that Jian’s boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into America -- through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport -- so that he could conduct...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show. Military.com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy -- the official who holds the power to name Navy ships -- that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk. A defense official confirmed that the Navy was making preparations to strip the ship of its name but noted that Navy Secretary John...

With college campuses becoming breeding grounds for antisemitism, attacks in the United States have surged 893% according to data released by the Anti-Defamation League, the highest level ever recorded by the civil rights organization. Inside of two weeks, two major attacks by fringe factions have left people injured or dead in the United States. It's part of a concerning trend that shows an 893% increase in anti-Semitic attacks over the last ten years. The Anti-Defamation League has produced a report showing that in 2015, there were 942 instances; in 2024 there were 9,354. Much of the hatred-turned-antisemitism-turned-terrorism is found on...

The family of a man accused of launching an “antisemitic attack” that injured at least 12 protesters in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday will been taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced Tuesday. DHS is investigating "to what extent" the family of suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, "knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it," Noem wrote on X.

This summer, Walt Disney will live again in robotic form as part of the new Disneyland show “Walt Disney — A Magical Life.” Disney’s granddaughter Joanna Miller says the animatronic goes against the wishes of her grandfather, who, she claims, never wanted to be a robot. Joanna Miller was 10 — no, “10 and three-quarters,” she clarifies — when she lost her grandfather. Even then, in December 1966, she shared him with the world. For Miller’s grandad was Walt Disney, a name that would emblazen one of the largest entertainment conglomerates in the world, and come to signify uniquely American...

In his current term, the influencer-in-chief has left his own record for social media missives in the dust. He posts day and night.President Donald Trump is posting on the internet with a velocity and ferocity far beyond that of his first term, surprising aides with predawn messages fired off at a blistering pace. As of Sunday, Trump had posted 2,262 times to his company’s social network Truth Social in the 132 days since his inauguration, a Washington Post analysis has found — more than three times the number of tweets he sent during the same period of his first presidency,...