Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) warned that President Trump calling Democratic lawmakers “traitors” is “reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible” “But if you take it at face value, the idea that calling your opponents traitors — and then specifically saying that it warrants the death penalty — is reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible.” “It’s not something that is helping the country heal wounds. I think it stirs things up,” he added. The president vented his fury after the Democrats posted the video in which they urged members of the military to refuse unlawful orders. “It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these...

MARGARET BRENNAN: ... Is the President holding himself to the same standard that he is asking of others when it comes to dialing back dangerous rhetoric? PAUL: You know, everybody knows that the President is famous for his unfiltered social media. But if you take at face value the idea that calling your opponents traitors and then specifically saying that it warrants the death penalty is reckless, inappropriate, irresponsible, there are a number of other ways to describe it, but it’s not something that is helping the country heal wounds. I think it stirs things up and- and really, I...

In the hope of shifting the debate on divestment from Israel to the real issue—the nature of the divestment campaign—and not the specious accusations regarding University President Lawrence H. Summers’ speech on the issue, I would like to suggest why I believe the campaign is properly characterized as “anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent.” I would like to look carefully—if necessarily briefly—at the strategy of the campaign and the rhetoric of the petition, in order to show how it implicitly demonizes Jews. Supporters of the divestment campaign insist they seek to protest the policies of the Sharon government, and...

"Danny argues that the truth about the Ukraine–Russia war can no longer be concealed: Ukraine is heading toward a strategic and battlefield defeat, a reality now acknowledged even by strongly pro-Ukraine voices like journalist Julian Röpcke. According to the commentary: Western and Ukrainian leaders have long misrepresented battlefield conditions, offering “PR” optimism while ignoring deteriorating realities. Russia prioritized destroying Ukraine’s armed forces over capturing territory, but is now accelerating territorial gains as Ukrainian capacity collapses. Ukrainian reports and government messaging continue to “sugarcoat” the situation, preventing honest assessment and prolonging unnecessary losses. Russia maintains overwhelming advantages in drones, glide bombs,...

The hemp industry is gearing up for a lobbying effort following a provision in the recent government funding package meant to stop the sale of intoxicating hemp products but could inadvertently destroy a legitimate $28 billion industry and kill 300,000 American jobs. The new ban tucked into the spending bill prohibits products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and is aimed at stopping the sale of intoxicating products often sold in gas stations and convenience stores. While the spending bill was still in the Senate, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) unsuccessfully offered an amendment to remove the language,...

For over three months, the U.S. military has repeatedly struck boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, claiming that the vessels were intending to carry drugs into the United States. Since the first attack was announced on Sept. 2, these strikes have occurred nearly every week, killing dozens of people. NPR compiled a list of these boat attacks using posts on Truth Social and X by President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. These posts show grainy video footage of vessels being blown up. The administration has not publicly released further evidence that the boats were actually carrying drugs...

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Venezuela is deploying weapons, including decades-old Russian-made equipment, and is planning to mount a guerrilla-style resistance or sow chaos in the event of a U.S. air or ground attack, according to sources with knowledge of the efforts and planning documents seen by Reuters. The approach is a tacit admission of the South American country's shortage of personnel and equipment.

Paul and the Kentucky Hemp Association say McConnell’s language banning the sale of hemp-derived products that include more than .4 milligrams of THC per container will destroy the entire hemp and CBD industry — in a blow to farmers, businesses and consumers. McConnell says his provision targets “intoxicating THC products” that were made legal in the 2018 Farm Bill that launched the hemp industry, closing what’s often been referred to as its “loophole.” He says that would crack down on synthetic products with intoxicating amounts of THC — the psychoactive component in cannabis plants — while preserving non-intoxicating CBD and...

The lunch was intended to be a display of unity within the Republican conference and President Donald Trump, but Paul has been consistently voting against a continuing resolution that would restore federal funding through Nov. 21. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday claimed that he had not been invited to a Rose Garden lunch at the White House with his colleagues in the upper chamber to discuss the ongoing government shutdown.The lunch was intended to be a display of unity within the Republican conference and President Donald Trump, but Paul has been consistently voting against a continuing resolution that...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he would oppose a package that would end the shutdown because it closes a loophole that has enabled the proliferation of widely available intoxicating hemp products, hurting a growing industry in his state. “I detest the tactics that are being used to try to get this ban enacted into law,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told POLITICO. “Kentucky benefits from hemp production, and I fully support Senator Rand Paul’s efforts to strip the unrelated hemp ban from the Senate funding bill.” The new Senate language would restrict the amount of intoxicating cannabinoids that can be in...

Barstool Sports President Dave Portnoy said in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning" that he's experiencing daily antisemitism — a shift, he said, from the occasional hateful comments that he used to get. "It's every day now. Like, there's a definitive shift in what's going on," Portnoy told Tony Dokoupil in an interview that will air next Sunday. On Friday, Portnoy was recording a "One Bite" pizza review in Mississippi when someone yelled an antisemitic comment at him. His interview with Dokoupil was taped before the incident, but their conversation touched on a recent rise in hateful comments. Portnoy said...

It was so interesting yesterday when our Great Senator from Louisiana, John Kennedy, introduced a Bill in an attempt to withhold Members of Congress from getting paid, and Rand Paul, who never votes for anything, tried to stop it, because he wanted to be paid! In other words, Rand wanted to pay the people who stopped Government from working! What’s going on with Rand?

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today attempted to pass three bills via unanimous consent that would have blocked pay to Members of Congress and restored pay to federal workers during the government shutdown on its 37th day. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) objected and blocked the bills from passing unanimously. After Paul objected to Kennedy’s first bill, the No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act, Kennedy also attempted to pass his Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act. Paul objected, arguing that all federal employees who have worked through the shutdown should get paid.

The Senate on Thursday voted down an effort to block President Donald Trump from conducting strikes against alleged drug smugglers off the coast of Venezuela without congressional approval. The War Powers Resolution, introduced by Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, failed to pass the upper chamber 51 to 49, just a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth briefed top congressional members on the strikes — which some Democrats claimed lacked details on the operations. The resolution would have required Trump “to terminate the use of” U.S. armed forces “for hostilities within or against Venezuela,”...

BREAKING: Senator Paul just OBJECTED TWICE to Senator Kennedy's proposals that would NOT PAY members of Congress during a shutdown. Paul: "I don't want to pay LESS PEOPLE [during a shutdown], I want to pay MORE." He wants to make a PERMANENT PAYDAY for his fellow CROOKS! UNREAL

<p>Two Republican Kentucky congressmen will play a part in deciding the future of President Donald Trump's White House ballroom.</p><p>The lavish gold-accented ballroom, announced by Trump in July, is expected to cost around $300 million to create and sparked controversy in late October after bulldozers removed the entire East Wing of the White House, raising questions around transparency and legal authority.</p>

LEXINGTON — Candidates for U.S. Senate in Kentucky talked on Wednesday about national economic and trade policies before a gathering focused on manufacturing and innovation. Answering questions in front of the Kentucky Industry Conference held in Lexington this week, top Republican candidates — former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and businessman Nate Morris — reiterated their support for President Donald Trump’s agenda. Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, the only Democratic candidate to address the forum, offered a different view and said “what we’re seeing from this administration right now is dangerous and not normal.” The candidates...

Rep. Thomas Massie has remarried a little more than a year after his wife of 35 years died. The libertarian (R-Ky), who has been blasted as a “loser” by President Trump, confirmed Monday that he wed former Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) staffer Carolyn Grace Moffa — and “of course” raw milk was served at the wedding, he said. Paul and GOP reps. Jim Jordan, Warren Davidson, Marjorie Taylor Green and Victoria Spartz all attended the Oct. 19 ceremony in Pennsylvania, where his new wife is from, he said. Massie’s late wife and mother of his four children, Rhonda Massie, died...

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., whose wife passed away last year, announced that he legally remarried last month and then had a celebration with friends and relatives this past weekend.

Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted President Donald Trump’s overseas strikes on alleged drug boats “insane” and not something “civilized people” do. Paul joined Glenn Greenwald on the System Update podcast where he called out Trump and his Republican colleagues over US strikes against alleged drug boats in South American waters. Paul accused Republicans of supporting actions they would be up in arms over if a Democrat were in office. The senator argued the strikes include no due process and could be leading to the death of innocent people.