Free Republic

What do a plastic surgeon with links to Al Qaeda, an oyster fisherman with a Nazi tattoo, a former bandmate of a child sex offender, and a Lutheran minister who took part in a satanic wedding have in common? They’re all Democrat candidates for Congress in this November’s midterm elections. Undoubtedly the most notorious Democrat this cycle is Graham Platner, the first-time candidate in Maine’s U.S. Senate race who defeated establishment favorite Janet Mills and is set to take on incumbent Republican Susan Collins this November. Platner first made headlines after it was revealed that he had a chest...

A glance at her bio shows that Dem Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania is the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. CNN: "You are the daughter of Holocaust survivors... do you support him as a candidate?" HOULAHAN: " I don’t make that choice for the people of Maine; I am hopeful that his candidacy is successful"

Over 50 kids and teenagers have been charged for a massive brawl that broke out during Hersheypark’s opening day, which forced families to shield their children and hide under tables. Fifty-five people, including 53 minors, whose ages range between 12 and 19, had been involved in multiple fights across the iconic Pennsylvania theme park on April 3, the Derry Township Police Department announced Monday. The mob was accused of both misdemeanor and felony offenses. Officials said two different groups, “Group A and Group B,” were caught on security footage arguing in one section of the park before the clash turned...

As its national influence has risen, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has simultaneously grown more extreme. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the group’s “Red Rabbits” initiative. The Red Rabbits Security Commission, a subgroup within the DSA focused on “community defense” efforts, is, according to its authorizing resolution, preparing for a “national uprising against federal agents and police brutality.” In practice, that means training cadres in tactics like armed and unarmed self-defense, blocking intersections, and fighting “fascists” with umbrellas. A recent panel offered an unprecedented window into what the project looks like. Organizers from Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia,...

Sen. John Fetterman and his possible future U.S. Senate colleague Graham Platner are both Democrats, but that’s not keeping them from trading profanity-laced barbs. During a town hall on Sunday, Platner — the frontrunner in Maine’s Democratic primary on Tuesday — was asked about forming relationships in the Senate if he were eventually elected. Platner chose to compare himself to Fetterman, who has frustrated Democrats with his constant criticism of the party, frequently on Fox News, and his support for President Donald Trump’s nominees and policies, such as the Iran war. “As you can all probably tell, I got a...

) -- An unusual daytime heist is under investigation after nearly half a million dollars worth of bourbon vanished from a North Philadelphia warehouse. The theft happened Friday afternoon at a facility on the 2400 block of North American Street. It appears to have been a coordinated cargo theft. According to the Chief Operating Officer of A-21 Wine and Spirits, Rob Koch, the shipment of about 1,800 cases of Noble Oak bourbon was being stored at the warehouse and was scheduled to be transported to a location in North Jersey.

Nearly half a million dollars' worth of bourbon was handed over to thieves who fooled employees of a Philadelphia liquor store into loading up their getaway truck. A total of 1,800 cases of Noble Oak Bourbon were stolen from A21 Wine & Spirits on Friday in what company officials told NBC10 was a 'coordinated cargo theft operation.' Officials said the cases contained six bottles of bourbon, which sell for roughly $40 each, meaning the thieves made off with more than $430,000 worth of product. Rob Koch, chief operating officer of the bourbon company, told NBC10 that the suspects convinced warehouse...

The two men who were wounded in a shooting during then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's 2024 rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds are suing the United States. James Copenhaver and David Dutch were shot during the attempted assassination of Trump on July 13, 2024, in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Their attorneys filed federal lawsuits against the United States for their "life altering physical and emotional injuries," claiming those injuries were a direct result of negligence on the part of the United States Secret Service. Dutch was shot in the stomach, while Copenhaver was shot twice. The complaints said, "The assassination attempt...

Graham Platner thought it would be smart to snap at Sen. John Fetterman, claiming the Pennsylvania Democrat’s tanking approval ratings have nothing to do with the whole hoodie-and-cargo-shorts vibe and everything to do with his support for Israel and the occasional vote that doesn’t toe the progressive line. This may well be the first time we've seen the unhinged, bigoted, sexist, Nazi deviant actually lash out at criticism on X. Granted, we imagine his handlers were ok with them going after Fetterman because he supports Israel. Platner tried so hard here. Man, we sincerely hope someone else wrote this because...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) pledged to wear a suit “every day” if embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner can prove he didn’t send “d–k pics” to minors. The extraordinary hoodie challenge came during Fetterman’s appearance on Fox News Saturday in America, where he referred to Platner, who admitted he had an active Kik account while newly married, as “P-Hustle” – Platner’s user name. The term drew a head-shake from interviewer Kayleigh McEnany. “P-Hustle, here’s a great chance. You can just prove that all these people that you’re dropping those d–k pics and saying these things to were over 18. “I...

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman ramped up criticism of embattled Senate candidate Graham Platner on Wednesday, calling out the Maine progressive over his history of inflammatory remarks while challenging him to release messages linked to a Kik account that has become a flashpoint in his campaign. “This is a guy that had a problem with me, how I dress, but he seemed to have no problem posing in a towel at a disgusting website that consistently had serious problems about that kinds of depravity,” Fetterman told Fox News host Sean Hannity. The Democrat later challenged Platner to make public messages he...

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of theories about who killed JFK. On a “conspiracy scale” of one to one hundred, where Lee Harvey Oswald, as a deranged loan gunmen, is a simple “1”, and Aliens from the Pleiades star system is a preposterous “100”, there is the “Israellis Killed JFK” assassination theory. The basic premise of the “Israelis Killed JFK” theory is that; Israel wanted nuclear bombs. JFK did not want them to have them. The Israelis killed JFK. Few JFK researchers, authors, etc. seem to make the next natural jump, which is that, Israel got the needed amount...

The House offered a rare rebuke to President Donald Trump on Wednesday, passing a Democrat-led measure to end his war with Iran over objections from Republican leadership. It was one of two Democratic-led measures opposed by the White House that advanced in the GOP-led House. Lawmakers also passed a motion that would unlock a vote on sending aid to Ukraine. The Iran war powers resolution, offered by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, had been heading for a vote before the House left for its Memorial Day recess on May 21. But...

POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- A Schuylkill County school show put on by kindergartners was stopped short on Wednesday, following an altercation in the audience, officials say. Now police say two Pottsville men are facing charges. Parents took off from work and arrived Wednesday morning to watch their kindergarten students' end-of-the-year concert at John S. Clarke Elementary Center. "It's what every parent dreams to go and check out, see their cuteness. It was awesome," said Jay Rose, a parent of one of the kindergarteners performing that day. While the students took center stage during the school day, it was a handful of...

WAYNE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Authorities are searching for the biological father of an infant who died in Mifflin County, as the child’s mother faces homicide charges. The county coroner wants to find the father's identity to make final arrangements for the deceased infant. According to charging documents, 20-year-old Jordyn Lynn Kauffman left the infant, a baby girl with brown hair and blue eyes, in her Wayne Township yard shortly after giving birth. In the affidavit, Pennsylvania State Police said Kauffman told hospital staff she did not want a child while she was pregnant, and declined post-birth services offered to her...

As election officials across the country brace for the possibility of federal agents descending on polling sites in November, a nationwide coalition of Democratic district attorneys has vowed to prosecute any federal agent suspected of intimidating voters. The announcement, first reported by Politico, comes shortly after President Donald Trump refused to rule out sending U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to election sites during the midterms. “I’d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections,” Trump told reporters earlier this month. The coalition includes prosecutors from Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Dallas and Northern Virginia, among other jurisdictions. “We’re ready to...

Two days after progressive lawmaker Chris Rabb pulled off a primary win in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District, the city's like-minded district attorney is calling for new Democratic leadership. ---SNIP--- "The Democratic Party in Philadelphia for far too long has spent more time fighting against progressives, fighting against its future than they have spent fighting against Republicans, fighting against fascists, fighting against Donald Trump," Krasner says in the video.

Five-term Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb won the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday. Rabb secured the Democratic nomination for the seat held by retiring Rep. Dwight Evans after securing 44.3% of the vote, according to projections from NBC News. The Pennsylvania state lawmaker’s primary victory comes after he unveiled “parody legislation” in October 2021 to “require all inseminators to undergo vasectomies within six weeks from having their third child or 40th birthday, whichever comes first.” “As long as state legislatures continue to restrict the reproductive rights of cis women, trans men and non-binary people, there should...

Democrats still searching for a way out of the rubble of the 2024 election got a peek in Tuesday’s primaries of what their voters want for the future. The races spanned a mix of competitive and safe-blue seats across six states — including a pair of crucial swing states. The result: A slate of disparate candidates who won’t give them a much clearer sense of their future. State Rep. Chris Rabb, a progressive firebrand and self-styled “rabble-rouser,” won the open primary for the bluest House district in the country in Philadelphia. In a nearby Pennsylvania House battleground, Democrats nominated Bob...

Just finished working my local polling place in PA. Small suburban borough, fairly evenly split. I have worked this district every election for more than 10 years now. Lowest turnout of any election I have ever worked, by far. Democrats turned out at more than 3-1 for this primary in my district.. This was a primary with nothing. Really contested on either side of the aisle, with most races simply having one candidate.. so nothing structurally was driving turnout on either side, so low turnout isn’t surprising… but lowest turnout in over a decade is surprising and democrats turning out...