Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin and some of his top officials took a break from state affairs ahead of Putin’s birthday, spending a few days hiking, hillwalking, and even driving offroad in the thick of the Siberian wilderness. Days off are a rare occurrence in Putin’s tight schedule. When he manages to get a few of them away from the Kremlin, he usually spends the time in the country’s wilderness enjoying the nature and its calm. This time, the Russian president chose the Siberian taiga forest to go on a hike ahead of his October 7 birthday.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii) took a cue from conservative conspiracists Thursday, when the congresswoman and Democratic presidential hopeful sued Google for $50 million and accused the company of violating her right to free speech. The suit, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles, argues that Google infringed on the First Amendment when it suspended her campaign advertising site for six hours, briefly impeding her ability to raise money right after a well-received debate performance. Many people on the right have recently made social media companies Public Enemy No. 1, claiming that they discriminate against conservative points of view. Ironically,...

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is launching a bid to topple Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), one of the most vulnerable members in the chamber, a week after dropping out of the presidential race.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the Islamic State remains a “complicated” foreign policy challenge and is actually stronger in some corners of the world today than it was before having its self-proclaimed “caliphate” decimated by U.S.-backed forces in Syria and Iraq. “There are certainly places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago,” said Mr. Pompeo, who asserted that President Trump “is very focused on making sure that we apply the right resources against the problem.” Mr. Pompeo’s rare acknowledgment of the Islamic State’s threat, a group President Trump has claimed...

VIDEO It's only a matter of time. Tulsi Gabbard WILL eventually pass Kamala Harris in the polls as more information about the latter comes out. When will this happen? It could be as early as this month. Already Harris has dropped 3 points in the latest Morning Consult poll. It is also expected that as Harris falls, Gabbard will rise. The only question is when that glorious point of Gabbard matching and exceeding Harris in the polls happens. Remember, the positions of the candidates on the debate stages also reflect their poll standings which would only add to Harris' humiliation.

A very sad time for America when the Supreme Court of the United States won’t allow a question of “Is this person a Citizen of the United States?” to be asked on the #2020 Census!

In a presidential debate with nine candidates and one Beto O’Rourke on stage, it’s hard to stand out. So tonight, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard leaned on her credentials as a military veteran and her reputation for restrained foreign policy, taking a hard stance on the Trump administration that’s sure to stand out. She said: The president and his chicken hawk cabinet led us to the brink of war with Iran. I served in the war in Iraq at the height of the war in 2005, a war that took over 4,000 of my brothers and sisters in uniforms' lives. The...

First, take a deep breath. Now take a look at the Wall Street Journal. The otherwise fine newspaper editorially on Saturday blasted President Trump. For what? For not killing Iranians and blowing up Iranian targets to show how super our American power is. The president acted humanely and rationally, weighing proportionality in response to Iran’s downing of our spy drone over international waters (we say) or Iranian waters (they say). The WSJ, of course, is an authority on the subject of territoriality and sovereignty and the respect thereof. The newspaper for years insisted that the United States should have no...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was right to call the world’s attention Thursday to Iran’s unprovoked attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier in the day. Pompeo said the U.S. holds Iran responsible for this dangerous aggression – a clear warning to the mullahs who rule the Islamic Republic that the U.S. will ensure they face consequences. It would be irresponsible for the Trump administration to turn a blind eye to what Pompeo called Iran’s “blatant assault.”

Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas slammed former top Obama adviser Ben Rhodes for questioning U.S. claims that Iran attacked oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and downplayed the threat from the regime. Rhodes, a leading figure within the Obama administration who pushed for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, suggested the U.S. official assessment of the tanker attacks shouldn’t be taken for granted, saying only an international investigation can get to the bottom of the incident. “This definitely feels like the kind of incident where you'd want an international investigation to establish what happened. Huge risk of escalation,” Rhodes...

President Donald Trump says he's pulling the nomination of his pick to lead U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement... Longtime border official (and the Acting Director) Ron Vitiello appeared to be cruising toward confirmation... The president on Friday confirmed he had pulled the nomination, even as he called Vitiello a "good man." "But we're going in a tougher direction. We want to go in a tougher direction," he said.

The Romans generally tolerated other religions, allowing and even welcoming Egyptian gods into their pantheon. Though they viewed the monotheistic Jews as being odd, they left more or less free to practice their own religion. The great Jewish revolt was not a religious war, but a war against Roman imperialism and unfair taxation. In the 60’s CE a financial crisis forced Rome to raise the taxes throughout the empire. The Jews in Jerusalem resisted the extra taxes heavily and fighting broke out after Roman forces looted a temple and killed as many as 6,000 citizens. This massacre prompted a region-wide...