Free Republic

Most of the people whom I like or trust believe—and believe rather strongly—that what Trump has done rises to a crime. For them, the analysis of whether Trump should be impeached can’t help but be informed by their view that Trump represents an existential threat to the country. If he might damage American democracy at some fundamental level, without any obvious recourse, then pursuing his removal from office would seem to go without saying. That he is in a position to win again in 2020 and serve another four years makes impeachment all the more urgent. --- On a purely...

In America, we are entering a new chapter in the effort to protect life. Many of the old euphemisms obscuring the truth about abortion are fading and, for better or for worse, Americans no longer can avoid the truth. Consider the events of the past few weeks: On Jan. 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York signed a law legalizing abortion for the entire 40 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy — literally up until the moment of full-term delivery. Almost immediately, abortion advocates in Vermont, Rhode Island and Virginia began pushing similar laws. On Jan. 30, Gov. Ralph Northam of...

Brett Kavanaugh is no longer a mere Supreme Court nominee. His name is now a veritable conservative cause — one that has united the right for the first time since the 2016 primary sent Republicans quarreling over Trump and Never Trump.

You can be sure that this weekend at the Golden Globes, Hollywood celebrities, not exactly known for their independent thinking, will turn the red carpet into a #MeToo moment replete with designer duds. Many have promised to wear black dresses to protest the stream of allegations against industry moguls and actors. Perhaps Meryl Streep will get grilled — again — about what she knew about Harvey Weinstein. But privately, I suspect, many of us, including many longstanding feminists, will be rolling our eyes, having had it with the reflexive and unnuanced sense of outrage that has accompanied this cause from...

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called Tuesday for the National Park Service to reconsider its decision to grant a permit to a right-wing group planning a rally at San Francisco’s Crissy Field, and asked whether the gathering had been approved “under guidance from the White House.” Pelosi was reacting to plans by a group called Patriot Prayer to rally Aug. 26 at Crissy Field, which is part of Presidio National Park. The group’s permit was tentatively approved before violence broke out Saturday at a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va.

Joe Scarborough and John Heilemann were leading an overheated charge against Jeff Sessions on today’s Morning Joe, when a surprising note of caution came from an unexpected source: Kasie Hunt. Hunt is an MSNBC correspondent, not a commentator, nor someone suspected of harboring hidden conservative leanings. Yet Hunt issued a blunt assessment on Dem dealings over Sessions. Observing that there’s danger for Dems if they overplay their hand, Hunt said: “I think one of the lessons we learned in the 2016 election is Americans are sick of foul outrage.” View the video here.

Just ten days after becoming CEO of web company Mozilla, Brendan Eich resigned after drawing the ire of LGBT advocates. In 2008, Eich donated money to the Proposition 8 campaign, an effort around legislation to make same-sex marriage illegal in California. When he was announced as the new Mozilla head, members of the LGBT community and even Mozilla employees expressed their dissatisfaction through social media and called for Eich’s resignation. Many have since spoken out against the backlash calling it unfair. On Monday’s “NewsOne Now,” Roland Martin was joined by a panel of guests to discuss the news, whether the...

Listen to an audio version of this column Members of the militant homosexual movement are in the process of overplaying their eternally-losing hand. Yes, they hold a losing hand, regardless of how many judicial fiat or tyrannical legislative "victories" they are handed against the will of the people, because their foundation, which is based on prideful sin, is fatally flawed and will not prevail in the end, nor will it ever be widely accepted by the American people, no matter how many faulty laws are passed to affirm it. Americans are fed up with being bullied by this militant minority...

That's the question Byron York asks, based on Gallup poll results indicating that most Americans are back to wanting the government to promote "traditional values" rather than "not favoring any particular set of values." That preference has generally existed over the last 20 years, but the balance swung away from "traditional values"--which means whatever the poll respondent has in mind--beginning in 2005. Byron argues that this is more evidence that the Democrats have badly misread their mandate: [T]hat period of revulsion at Bush and Republicans from 2005 to 2008 left a legacy: a Democrat in the White House and large...

THERE are more conserva tives than Republicans and more Democrats than lib erals. That's one of the asymmetries between the parties that helps to explain the particular political spot we're in. The numbers are fairly clear. In the 2008 exit poll, 34 percent of voters described themselves as conservatives and 32 percent as Republicans; 39 percent described themselves as Democrats, only 22 percent as liberals. The result is that the two parties have offsetting political advantages. Democrats tend to win on party identification. Republicans tend to win on ideology. Democrats don't have to appeal to as many independents as Republicans...

What we’re seeing in Washington these days is beginning to look like Jimmy Carter II. Carter, like Barack Obama, started out with the idea of stimulating the economy. His plan was to give every taxpayer $50, then throw in a few billion for tax cuts and public works programs. Simple, right? Wrong: In Washington, this soon became very complicated. Within a month, the package grew from $20 billion to more than $31 billion — a significant amount in the 1970s. Special-interest groups piled on. Unions, minorities, the sugar lobby, bankers, shoe manufacturers — all clamored for a piece of the...

It's been the talk of the day, and I can't imagine that it warms the average American's heart-- even if he does have reservations about the war-- to hear a top general who's clearly competent be trashed by the Democratic Party's anti-war movement surrogates. Reid's baaaaacking away, after several Republicans called for him to do so (CNN): Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed frustration Monday with a new print ad attacking Gen. David Petraeus that is being paid for by a liberal advocacy organization on the same day the general is providing testimony before Congress on the situation in Iraq....

Late last week Byron Dorgan, the North Dakota Democrat, offered what he assumed was an uncontroversial amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization bill under consideration in the Senate. The amendment would have increased to $50 million the reward "for the capture, or information leading to the capture," of Osama bin Laden. But Senate Republicans noticed something odd about the Dorgan amendment. It contained no mention of a reward for bin Laden's death. John Sununu, the New Hampshire Republican up for reelection next year, quickly introduced his own amendment striking Dorgan's language and replacing it with a $50 million reward for...

Islamic group bids to fill power vacuum But risks underestimating Israeli resolveJERUSALEM—There are multiple reasons why Hezbollah chose precisely this moment to throw an already turbulent Middle East into cartwheels of even greater turmoil. But for most observers, none stands larger than the militant Shiite Muslim movement's overarching quest to elevate itself as the pre-eminent defender of the pan-Arab realm. Whatever secondary reasons may come into play — and there is no question that for Hezbollah's sponsors in Syria and Iran the new crisis presents a convenient diversion from the critical issues confronting them — Arab-Muslim pride is paramount. Scan...

Since I saluted her last summer when she took a stand in Crawford, Texas, it seems only fair that I make another public gesture now that Cindy Sheehan has removed one of her "Camp Casey" hiking shoes and stuck her foot firmly in her mouth. That gesture is to raise a hand and cover up my wincing eyes. It's not the first time this celebrated and denigrated mother of a fallen soldier has spouted off a bit incautiously. But I cut her a break before. After all, her beloved son Casey died in Iraq while mine is alive and kicking....

As shown on tonight's edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Kieth Olbermann........

WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY By Jonathan Alter Newsweek Updated: 6:17 p.m. ET Dec. 19, 2005 Dec. 19, 2005 - Finally we have a Washington scandal that goes beyond sex, corruption and political intrigue to big issues like security versus liberty and the reasonable bounds of presidential power. President Bush came out swinging on Snoopgate—he made it seem as if those who didn’t agree with him wanted to leave us vulnerable to Al Qaeda—but it will not work. We’re seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham...

* Yesterday Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid demanded that the Senate go into closed session to demand a report to follow up on a 2004 Senate Intelligence Committee investigation on what the CIA knew or didn't know in the run-up to the Iraq war. * Invoking Senate Rule 21 he forced a closed session of the US Senate to "demand, on behalf of the American people why these investigations aren't being conducted." * For the record Rule 21 reads: On a motion made and seconded to close the doors of the Senate, on the discussion of any business which may,...

Sometimes things are not as they appear peering through the legislative looking glass. Congress increasingly has an "Alice in Wonderland" feel to it, where statements by lawmakers and activists create a strange dissonance and legislative reality that is out of sync with political rhetoric. Yet because their press releases represent the authorized voice of the opposition, Democratic Party leaders' idiom has an aura of validity — however phony. There is a method to the madness. Democrats are laying political sod, preparing the ground for the 2006 congressional elections. Call it "project overreach"; like many aspects of the Democratic Party these...

Bush wins big as China overplays its hand By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON - The apparent decision by European leaders to delay the lifting of their 16-year-old arms embargo on China beyond June marks a clear-cut foreign-policy victory for US President George W Bush, who made the issue a major priority in his visit to Europe last month. China itself may have inadvertently made Bush's victory possible. Its enactment last week of an Anti-Secession Law that lays the foundation for a possible military attack on Taiwan if, in Beijing's judgment, it were to move toward formal independence, gave the administration powerful...