Free Republic

Given America’s deplorable history of slavery and segregation, all Americans should be proud that their country had the courage to elect its first black president. With invaluable assistance from a cheerleading media, a young and charismatic Barack Obama was swept into the most powerful job in the world with the enthusiastic endorsement of a sizable majority of the American electorate. More than three years after leaving office, he remains one of the most influential political figures in America. But is that plaudit warranted? These days, a look at his past suggests an exceptionally anti-American orientation, and as Obama's Democrats now...

The number of people applying to be cops in Montgomery County, Maryland, has dropped by half in recent years, according to a department complaint last week. Officials suggest it's because of growing national skepticism toward policing. "When you do a job that's being highly criticized on a daily basis, we have to ask ourselves, how do we find good candidates that really want to be under that type of scrutiny," said Acting Police Chief Marcus Jones. Montgomery County won't have an easy time importing its officers from other communities, either. Recruitment of law enforcement officers is down in areas around...

Plymouth Rock and several other landmarks in the Massachusetts town were vandalized ahead of the 400th anniversary of Pilgrims arriving at the site on the Mayflower. Crews cleaned up the rock and other landmarks late Monday morning and Plymouth town manager Melissa Arrighi said police are investigating the incident. “We are saddened and sickened by the recent vandalism in our historic town,” she wrote. We are saddened and sickened by the recent vandalism in our historic town. This is just one of our historic monuments that was hit. We will begin clean up as soon as possible and the police...

The iconic Plymouth Rock, the landmark that marks where the Pilgrims landed the Mayflower 400 years ago, has been vandalized with graffiti, photos from the scene show It was among several historic landmarks that appeared to have been tagged by vandals. The rock, which has the date 1620 chiseled into it, is now covered in red graffiti. Photos from the scene also show red paint on a statue and red paint sprayed on a stone bench.

A startling rash of threats and violent incidents targeting Republican voters in recent weeks is raising concerns about the increasingly toxic political climate, just as the 2020 presidential primaries are getting started.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said there was room for maneuver in reimposing the 2015 agreement that kept Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. But he added it would only happen if Germany, France and the UK showed the same willingness to reinstate the deal’s economic benefits for Iran. The landmark agreement has been on life support ever since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Tehran, leaving Germany, France and the UK struggling to breathe life into the ailing deal. […] “We have said that we are prepared to slow down or reverse...

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on Friday at the Munich Security Conference about the importance of international cooperation in meeting world challenges. Kerry, Barack Obama’s top diplomat from 2013 to 2017 and also the defeated presidential candidate of 2004, accused US President Donald Trump of inaction in addressing global issues such as climate change and defense spending. “The president of the US is the most powerful position in the world … but it requires the execution of that power and it hasn’t been happening …” Kerry said while speaking to DW’s Editor-in-Chief Ines Pohl. “Trump has been...

The New York City Police Department is warning officers to be "vigilant and alert" following increased "credible" threats toward its officers. Officials are advising all officers to have a heightened awareness "in light of the events that transpired over the past weekend in the Bronx." Officials sent a department-wide email stressing there are "no specific threats against the department," but said desk officers must ensure that every station house security post is assigned and staffed at all times. Law enforcement sources tell ABC News that federal authorities notified the NYPD that they took an alleged MS-13 member in custody that...

Former President Barack Obama played a direct role in the hardships of the workers featured in American Factory, the Oscar-winning documentary his new production company produced. But as Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the former mayor of nearby Dayton, Ohio, wrote last year, the movie leaves out President Obama’s own role in making life worse for the GM workers who lost their jobs. Obama’s auto bailout, he recalled, helped force the plant’s closure and made it harder for the workers to find new jobs because his administration was dealing political favors to its favored union allies — and they were in...

Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey took so much offense to the harsh words that President Donald Trump spoke about him during the acquittal press conference Thursday that he published an angry op-ed in The Washington Post the following afternoon. . . . In Comey’s opinion, the decision by the “herd” of Trump supporters, as he described them, to not “get up and walk out” as the president bashed him and the slew of other disgraced former Obama-era Justice Department operatives who’d allegedly plotted against him was the result of the so-called herd being “brainless” (his words).

Governors of both major political parties are warning that a little-noticed regulation proposed by President Donald Trump’s administration could lead to big cuts in Medicaid, reducing access to health care for low-income Americans. The arcane fiscal accountability rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, would tighten federal oversight and approval over complex financing strategies states have long used to help pay for their share of the $600 billion program. Also targeted are certain payments to hospitals that treat many low-income patients. Public comments closed last week amid a chorus of criticism from hospitals, nursing homes,...

A new Gallup poll indicates that satisfaction with race relations and the position of minorities in America have significantly increased since President Trump took office. The findings deliver a significant blow to the media-driven fiction that Trump is a racist. Gallup’s survey demonstrates numerous categories in which the President has improved the lives of Americans since relieving Barack Obama of his duties in January of 2017. The polling indicates double-digit improvements in how Americans view the nation’s economy, security from terrorism, military strength and … the state of race relations. Gallup also reports increases in “the position of blacks and...

A Trump administration “loophole” in school lunch rules will allow for certain types of pasta to qualify as vegetables as well as for students to get more burgers and fries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposals will continue to erode Michelle Obama’s legacy by easing restrictions on the types and quantities on fruit and vegetables put on the table. “Pasta made of vegetable flour(s) may credit as a vegetable, even if the pasta is not served with another recognizable vegetable,” the new guidelines say. The department said the changes will help to reduce food waste, because students were often given...

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial located in Washington D.C. in Judiciary Square was dedicated in 1991 with the names of 12,561 officers who died in the line of duty through the end of 1990. The original design accounted for enough space to add names annually through 2100, assuming that an average of 153 law enforcement line of duty deaths occurred each year.But the country did not stay in 1990 and with the violence and hatred being poured out against law enforcement combined with events such as 9/11, the average number of names added since then has been more than...

In a wide-ranging speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted that Germany had made a mistake during the 2015 refugee crisis. Not, she said, by welcoming asylum-seekers fleeing conflict, but by not preparing for their arrival as civil conflicts began cropping up across the Middle East and northern Africa. “The mistake was not to have paid attention to create an environment where people can stay in their own country,” the chancellor said. She warned that the mistake should not be repeated with Libya, where the conflict between the UN-backed government and rival...

Frank Biden, the youngest brother of former Vice President Joe Biden, saw his business interests benefit from millions of dollars in taxpayer loans to Caribbean nations during the Obama years. The extensive overlap in Frank Biden’s dealings and Obama-Biden foreign policy in Central America is exposed in Peter Schweizer’s new book—Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite. Frank Biden first set his sights on the region in 2009, as the Obama administration began to repair the U.S. relationship with Costa Rica. Tensions between the two countries flared under President George W. Bush, most notably on how to...

Around the world, more than 260 million Christians—one of every eight believers—experience high levels of persecution, just for following Jesus. For the past 28 years, the Open Doors World Watch List has offered a global indicator of countries where human and religious rights are being violated, and those countries most vulnerable to societal unrest and destabilization. During the 2020 World Watch List [https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-countries-where-its-most-dangerous-to-be-a-christian-in-2020/] reporting period, in the top 50 countries, a total of 9,488 churches or Christian buildings were attacked; 3,711 Christians were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned; and 2,983 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons. On average,...

Obama’s True Legacy… The seemingly inexplicable mourning of leftists and mainstream media over liquidated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is slowly beginning to make sense. It is increasingly clear that Iran has infiltrated the U.S. government on various levels, including the very top, and it’s not a new problem. When it comes to the intelligence community, no one is handing out secrets, but the picture painted by what is known is disturbing enough to warrant investigation. Iran is the next chapter in the unfolding saga of the Democratic effort to sell and tear down America. We know about other brought-to-you-by-Democrats infiltrators:...

Britain, France and Germany ratcheted up pressure on Iran Tuesday to cease its violations of a landmark nuclear deal, stressing that they want to resolve differences through talks while starting the clock on a process that could result in a so-called “snapback” of United Nations sanctions. The three countries, which signed the international agreement in 2015 along with the United States, Russia and China, said in a letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief that they had no choice but to trigger the deal’s “dispute mechanism,” given Iran’s ongoing transgressions. The three said they rejected Tehran’s argument that Iran...

“I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC or other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” Kerry told CNBC in 2016. When asked by Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” why he believed this was a worthwhile risk when releasing the money, Kerry attacked the president rather than answer the question. “You know that the president's tweet is a lie,” Kerry told host Margaret Brennan. “And the president tweeted this morning, because I am coming on the show and he knew you'd ask me the question or he'd push you in a...