Free Republic

Election denialism runs rampant in the U.S. Some deniers claim all the ballots weren’t counted. “Once we have that full and accurate account of the ballots casted, then we will know who our next president is and our country can move forward.” Others have said that they should delay conceding a lost race. “[He] should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we don’t give an inch.” And, “I did win my election. I just didn’t get to have the job.” And “We were...

The ‘Foxconn Great Escape’: Workers Flee China’s ‘iPhone City’: Hundreds and perhaps thousands of workers fled a Chinese manufacturing complex that accounts for 85% of iPhone assembly capacity. The mass migration, which began this weekend, called into question that country’s COVID-control measures and, more broadly, its reliability as a part of global supply chains. “Something snapped over the weekend,” Bloomberg News reports. Employees suddenly fled the Zhengzhou plant of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., better known as Foxconn. Videos show, in what is now called the “Foxconn Great Escape” or the “iPhone Long March,” workers scrambling over high chain...

Is Report of U.S. Military Weaknesses Silly and Dangerous or Spot-On and Alarming?: According to Politico, an anonymous defense official claims Pentagon leaders are “none too pleased” that The Heritage Foundation’s latest Index of U.S. Military Strength has characterized American hard power as “weak.” The unnamed source also said that Heritage’s scoring is “silly and dangerous,” in part because it is “based on the outdated requirement that the military be able to fight two wars simultaneously,” a metric changed by the Obama administration and maintained by both the Trump and Biden teams.

Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican Leader, spoke plainly about what a GOP House majority would mean for Ukraine aid: Republicans are “not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.” So as the window to distribute aid to Ukraine potentially closes, members of Congress are hoping to attach a chunk of Ukraine aid to a lame-duck session government funding bill. The size of the new Ukraine aid package is $50 billion – a massive increase over last month’s $12 billion package, and a 77% increase in the amount of total aid – $65 billion – so far sent to Ukraine....

As the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) say they hope their offensive reaches the city of Kherson by this winter, Russia continues preparation for a massive counterattack which could begin as early as next month. The results of that battle are likely to be bloody and destructive, but unlikely to settle the war one way or the other.

Trump’s Testimony Could Cripple the January 6 Committee: Following what could be the conclusion of “investigations” ahead of the midterms, the January 6 Committee voted on Thursday to subpoena former President Donald Trump. It is the culmination of 15 months of work by House Democrats to paint a picture of Republican-backed political violence and an attempted “coup” orchestrated by the former president. While some may have been shocked by the revelation that Trump is now expected to be quizzed by the committee over their wild accusations, the truth is that this was always going to happen. Not only that, but...

We all expected the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot would drop an October surprise–but most of us suspected a partisan-tinged election-eve report warning about those insurrectionist Republicans (hint, hint, keep Democrats in majority). Instead, we get a nice headline-grabbing subpoena of President Donald Trump that will never be enforced. The subpoena prompted a predictable tirade from the 45th president. The headlines and the tirade both accomplish the underlying political goal of thrusting Trump into the news cycle as much as possible before the November midterm elections. Rep. Liz Cheney proposed the resolution (of course) to subpoena...

The impact of the use of a nuclear device in Ukraine will depend on the details. Like any large-scale industrial army, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have obvious pressure points that would be vulnerable to nuclear attack. These include logistical centers, command and communications nodes, and concentrations of front-line forces. During the Cold War the Soviet Union expected to use tactical nuclear weapons against NATO (and expected that NATO would use them in return) and it is therefore likely that the Russian armed forces have workable theories as to how they might best use tactical nukes to inflict damage on Ukraine’s...

Disarray on Taiwan: Is Biden Still Commander-in-Chief? – President Joe Biden may no longer be making foreign policy, and it is unclear whether he is still discharging the duties as commander-in-chief. On “60 Minutes” on Sunday, Biden, in response to a question from Scott Pelley, declared the United States would send troops to defend Taiwan “if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”