Free Republic

It has saddened to me watch Harvard, a university that I love from which I have greatly benefited, self-immolate through gross mismanagement, poor governance, and ideological capture that have occurred over the last 15 or so years, and that have been brought into clear focus beginning on October 8, 2023. When a day after the launch of the Hamas attack on Israel, 33 Harvard student organizations held the victims “solely responsible” for the acts of the terrorists while their extraordinarily barbaric acts were still underway, I realized that something had gone profoundly wrong at my alma mater. Further investigations on...

ATLANTA (AP) — The billionaire heir and the former bartender.Many Democrats have been in and out of the spotlight as the party looks for effective counters to President Donald Trump and his second administration. But two disparate figures, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have seen their national profiles rise by delivering messages that excite a demoralized and fractured party. The governor, a 60-year-old heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the congresswoman, the 35-year-old with working-class roots, both won their first elections in 2018. Both have urged mass resistance and accused their party...

DHS Sec. Noem - right at the Gov's mansion.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told an audience of Democrats in New Hampshire "it's time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace." The group of Democratic activists, officials and donors jumped to their feet with hoots and applause. They shouted out questions and ideas on how they might turn voters against Trump and other Republicans. "Should we block rush hour traffic? Should we help MS-13 gangsters elude ICE arrest? Should we firebomb Tesla dealerships?...

Democrats would root for tooth decay over oral hygiene and Snidely Whiplash over Dudley Do-Right. Something about them is clearly not right. To wit: California Democrats have yet again blocked efforts to strengthen protections against underage sex trafficking, this time in the form of a bill to make it a felony to purchase 16- or 17-year-olds for sex. But, hey, who are we to judge if a California Democrat — or someone from a “marginalized” group -- wants to purchase a 16 or 17-year-old for sex? Meanwhile, Minnesota Democrats killed an amendment to a crime and public safety bill that...

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, the latest crush of the left-wing resistance to President Donald Trump and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night and found himself on the receiving end of a barrage of jokes about his weight. Kimmel played video of President Trump mocking Pritzker’s weight, saying: “He’s too busy eating, he wants to eat all the time. ‘Would like a hamburger? How many do you want? Five,’” Trump said, imitating the billionaire Hyatt hotel heir ordering food. “He loves to make fun of people any way he can,” Pritzker nervously replied, adding...

A business in Illinois, owned by a vocal critic of controversial Democratic mayor Tiffany Henyard, was destroyed in a fire deemed “suspicious” by authorities earlier this week. “The fire is suspicious in nature,” Dolton Deputy Fire Chief John Calhoun told WGN. “We do have the fire marshal out here currently with our [mutual aid] arson team.” The blaze erupted around 6 a.m. Tuesday, escalating to a three-alarm fire. No injuries were reported, but the building was a total loss, according to FOX 32 Chicago. A smaller fire occurred at the same site the previous week, WGN noted. The property, owned...

Donald Trump Jr. called out Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a speech he gave over the weekend, suggesting that the potential 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful was encouraging another assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. In a keynote speech he gave in New Hampshire on Sunday, Pritzker said he was calling for "disruption," adding that Republicans — whom he labeled "tyrants and traitors" — "cannot know a moment of peace." "Are you trying to inspire a 3rd assassination attempt on my dad? Two wasn't enough for you?" Trump Jr. said in a post to X on Monday. President Trump was injured...

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker urged Americans to “mobilize” against President Trump on Monday, a day after he delivered a fiery speech in New Hampshire calling for “disruption” and “mass protests.” “Let me be clear, we’re in a perilous moment in this country,” Pritzker said during an interview with MSNBC host Jen Psaki, when asked about what he was trying to convey in his speech at a New Hampshire Democratic Party dinner Sunday night. In his speech, which conservatives quickly blasted as “reckless,” the governor declared that Republicans “cannot know a moment of peace.” “They have to understand that we...

"Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption." The 2028 Dem hopefuls can roughly be divided into moderates trying to reckon with what happened in 2024 and urging the party to pull back from the craziness… and the crazies who insist that they did nothing wrong and want to double down on it. Many of the born-again moderates like Gov. Gavin Newsom are really crazies when it comes to actual policy. Pretending to be reckoning with the fallout is a political tactic. And so is going all in on militancy like Sen. Cory...

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told an audience of Democrats in New Hampshire on Sunday that they should take up mass protests against President Donald Trump and Republicans, denying them any “moment of peace.” The New York Times reported — admiringly: Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois strode into a ballroom filled with top New Hampshire Democrats on Sunday and by the end of his nearly 30-minute speech had them ready to storm the political barricades against President Trump. “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once,” he told the group of Democratic activists, officials and donors, who jumped to their...

(The Center Square) – One of several examples the U.S. Department of Justice gave of how federal officials have been obstructed by Illinois’ migrant sanctuary policies involves an illegal alien released from jail later being accused of murder. “In January 2025, federal officials issued a detainer request for an alien who was being held in Cook County jail on sexual assault of a minor charges,” the DOJ said. “Pursuant to Cook County’s restrictions, law enforcement officers did not respond to the detainer request … Following the alien’s release from local jail, he was arrested and charged with homicide just 17...

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has ordered state agencies to review and potentially boycott business with El Salvador due to its role in detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia. A statement from the Democrat indicates he believes this is a strong stance in support of due process for an alleged MS-13 member and suspected human trafficker. “The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power,” Pritzker said. “The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything...

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) says it will continue to ignore a federal directive barring the participation of biological male athletes in high school girls’ sports. Previously, the State of Maine announced it would not comply with the directive, issued as an Executive Order by President Donald J. Trump in February, and now faces a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). ISHA’s president, Dan Tully, claims that state law preempts the federal restriction and requires Illinois high schools to accommodate so-called transgender athletes, who are biological males, by allowing their participation in girls’ sporting events....

By taking himself out of the running for a third term as governor next year, Pritzker could position himself as a leader with big ideas rather than an official forced to explain why Illinois keeps losing taxpayers and businesses. "He’s a bold presence in a party that often seems hesitant to wield power as aggressively as the GOP. But his record in Illinois is also a liability. If he runs again, he’ll be forced to defend an ugly reality: Illinois remains a state with some of the highest taxes in the country, a poor business climate, anemic job creation and...

Zeynep Tufekci and Jeremy Howard played a decisive role in shifting CDC guidance and ushering in mask mandates across America. Zeynep’s role in the COVID story goes far deeper than most realize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeynep_Tufekci But alas, the pro-mask establishment responded with a trump card of their own: a New York Times op-ed by sociologist Zeynep Tufekci, Here’s Why the Science Is Clear That Masks Work, highlighting a statement of clarification from Cochrane’s editor-in-chief, Karla Soares-Weiser, that the review’s conclusion had been “open to misinterpretation, for which we apologize.” This new trump card was a disaster for mask opponents—the proverbial queen of...

In a startling revelation, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has been implicated in a colossal USAID fraud scheme that has garnered significant attention and raised serious concerns among taxpayers. According to a tweet by Mila Joy, which has gone viral, Pritzker’s family controls 64 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are allegedly siphoning millions of taxpayer dollars. This situation has ignited discussions surrounding political corruption, accountability, and the role of NGOs in government fundin

As thousands of life-advocates gathered at the Illinois State Capitol on March 25, in Springfield, members of the legislature were there to welcome them. Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) and former State Representative Jeanne Ives were among those who spoke passionately to the burgeoning crowd at the Illinois Pro-Life March, criticizing Illinois’ extreme abortion policies and the governor’s disconnect with reason. Ives, encouraging the crowd, pointed out that, “To be actively pro-life in Illinois is more significant than in our neighboring states, because.” She criticized Illinois’ incentives designed to draw abortionists into the state and the expanding mandates forcing taxpayers to...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new bill under consideration in the Illinois House would allow individual municipalities to impose their own, local motor fuel tax on top of the state’s gas tax. House Bill 1283 would create the Municipal Motor Fuel Tax Law, allowing cities, towns and villages to impose their own gas tax, at a rate not to exceed 3 cents per gallon. The bill was introduced by Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-80th). Illinois residents currently pay the second-highest gas tax in the country besides California, at 66 cents per gallon.

On Friday’s broadcast of ABC’s “The View,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said that Democrats shouldn’t “change the fundamental policies of the Democratic Party to move to the right to try to address” their problems with working-class voters because “The problem in the last election was messaging.” Co-host Ariana DeBose asked, “[W]orking-class voters have historically been a Democratic stronghold, until the last election, when either they voted for MAGA or they stayed home. Trump dominated issues on, like, trade, immigration, no taxes on tips, that sort of a thing. Do you think that Democrats have lost touch with the working-class...