Free Republic

The Democrats are in disarray and a perfect storm of events is brewing once again, almost identical to what happened 52 years ago. The Democrat’s feeble attempt to craft a convincing impeachment narrative drags on, but is dwarfed by a clutter of 2020 Presidential candidates, none whom have majority support. It’s early, but hard to ignore the severe ideological division between the radical socialist revolutionaries competing against the more moderate liberals, the DNC still hampered by deadweight candidates, and everyone anticipating a latecomer surprise candidate added to the mix. One thing is for certain: the DNC convention next July has...

Colombia's President Iván Duque has said security forces will remain on the streets to maintain order, as protests continued for a third day. The anti-government demonstrations erupted on Thursday, when more than 250,000 marched in a national strike. They started peacefully but clashes between protesters and police have since broken out, and there have been reports of vandalism and looting. Mr Duque said troops would carry out joint patrols with police. "We express the total and absolute rejection of all Colombians for the vandalism, for the terrorism, for the looting," Mr Duque told reporters on Saturday. At least three people...

Iraqi security forces have opened fire on protesters in southern Iraq, killing at least five people, amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations. At least two people died and some 50 others were injured near the Gulf port city of Basra on Sunday. Late on Saturday, at least three protesters were killed and more than 40 others injured in Nasiriya. Since the violence began in October, more than 300 people have died and thousands more have been injured. People are demanding an end to corruption, more jobs and better public services in the demonstrations, which have mostly affected southern Iraq and the capital...

China’s ambassador to Britain has accused the U.K. and U.S. of interfering in the internal affairs of China and Hong Kong as authorities in the semi-autonomous territory struggle to contain months of protests. Liu Xiaoming told reporters in London on Monday that reports by the British government and Parliament’s foreign affairs committee included “irresponsible remarks” criticizing how the Hong Kong government and police have handled the protests. Liu said, “they look like they are balanced but as a matter of fact they are taking sides.” He also said U.S. lawmakers aimed to “blatantly interfere” in Hong Kong when they recently...

Chile has been engulfed in fearsome riots, and a lot of speculation has rolled around about the influence of foreign agents, pretty much all dismissed by the establishment President Trump has said as much, and naturally been criticized, for it. Chile's weak president, Sebastian Pinera has said it, too. Nothing to see here, move along. But now a story emerges from Rancagua, a mid-sized Chilean city of about 200,000 situated about 54 miles south of Santiago. Here's a Google Translate from a piece that ran in El Rancaguino, the local newspaper: Mayor ordered the expulsion of 50 foreigners from...

Dems hold on to Louisiana gov. seat despite Trump visits Kaepernick's agent not optimistic about signing HONG KONG —After an intense, day-long battle, police surrounded anti-government protesters inside a university late Sunday and began to make mass arrests, escalating the struggle over Hong Kong’s campuses in the city’s now-six-month struggle for democracy. Skirmishes between police and protesters raged into the night outside Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University, leaving the air thick with tear gas and a police vehicle burning. As police continued to bombard protesters with water cannon, they warned stronger measures could follow. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s...

How will historians in 2060 frame the 2019 Hong Kong crisis? "The first battle of the Second Cold War" is one possibility, though Russia's 2014 Crimean invasion deserves that cruel award. Perhaps the first Cold War isn't over. The USSR's communist dictatorship collapsed in 1991. China's party tyranny didn't. In 1989, the Kremlin didn't order its puppet regimes to murder protesting citizens en masse. On Nov. 9,1989, the Berlin Wall cracked without a shot. Not so in China. On June 4, 1989, the People's Liberation Army attacked peaceful pro-freedom protestors in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and murdered over 2,000 Chinese citizens....

The US-China trade war drama hit a bump in the road last week as Chile, the host country of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC) canceled the meeting scheduled for Nov. 16-17 in Santiago. The reason is the continuing protests and riots in the streets of Santiago brought on by rising public transportation fares and cries of inequality.On October 18 mass protests and rioting broke out in Chile’s capital city over a metro fare hike of about 4% which went into effect on October 6. Twenty people have been killed and hundreds have been injured during these riots. The...

QUITO, ECUADOR — Protesters here in this capital city dug up cobblestones to throw at the police and set fire to the office of the comptroller general. In Peru, enraged marchers picketed Congress and images of a traffic cone, hurled from a distance, crashing onto a lawmaker's head went viral. In Chile, protesters clashed with police, looted shops and burned buses. And in Bolivia, marchers have been peacefully confronting police decked out in full riot gear across the country. Across South America, October has been a month of public fury at elected leaders, in expressions ranging from social media ridicule...

IMPORTANT: We have facial recognition confirmation that Rep. Ilhan Omar and her boyfriend Tim Mynett were in attendance at the riots following the Trump rally in Minneapolis. We have more photo evidence coming in the next hour… Please check back! Riots of left wing radicals broke out in Minneapolis on Thursday night following President Trump’s record-setting rally in the Target Center. Far-left protesters reportedly made a bonfire with dozens of ‘Make America Great Again’ hats stolen off the heads of people who attended Thursday night’s Trump rally in Minnesota. Blaze correspondent Elijah Schaffer reported that there were approximately 40 hats...

Among the multitude of migrants waiting in Mexico to get asylum in the United States are thousands of Africans boldly demanding passage into the country. They are far more coordinated than their Central American caravan counterparts and have formed an official organization to spread their message and advocate on their behalf. The group accuses Mexican authorities of discrimination and racism and is ordering Mexico to grant visas that allow them to continue their trek north to seek “protection” in America. For about three months the Africans have been holed up in Tapachula, in the southeast Mexican state of Chiapas bordering...

The Russian capital has been the site of the biggest anti-government protests in years after authorities last month barred more than a dozen opposition politicians from taking part in a Moscow city election. Police have briefly detained over 2,000 people, sometimes violently, at rallies that the authorities said were illegal. “The main task at the job is to protect public order and ensure public safety at mass gatherings in Moscow,” reads the National Guard’s ad posted on Russia’s HeadHunter job site on Monday. The recruits will be required to “suppress ... uprisings, public-order crimes committed by groups and mass pogroms.”...

A Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-backed American foundation has been colluding with the heads of the recent Hong Kong riots with financial and strategic support, actions that Chinese experts said show the US’ intention of “Americanization” which is endangering Hong Kong. Sentaku, a Japanese monthly magazine, revealed in August how the foreign forces represented by the US, manipulate the Hong Kong chaos. The magazine said that Hong Kong extremists received significant funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which it called “a CIA soft-power cutout that has played a critical role in innumerable US regime-change operations.” Under the Reagan administration...

You may not like the messenger, but embedded in the recent political dust-up about the crime, poverty, and despair in Baltimore were some undeniable truths. If nothing else comes out of this latest debate, the bright light is now shining on a very inconvenient reality: Liberal policies have failed the people of Baltimore and inner cities everywhere. As the daughter of a former welfare recipient who spent my early years growing up in government housing, I know the truth of that statement more than most. For decades, politicians have repeatedly promised urban communities good jobs, good schools, and safe neighborhoods....

An unauthorized protest is taking place in Moscow today. “Unauthorized” means that those participating will risk arrest and possibly time in jail. More than 1300 protesters were detained a week ago, during another unauthorized rally. Scores were brutally beaten by the riot police. The authorities have signaled their intention to crack down hard in the hope of deterring citizens from turning up at today’s protest. Let me explain my reasons for going. This is a protest against the government’s decision to prevent independent candidates from running in the local elections. But the elections are not really the issue. When putting...

Russian opposition leader Lyubov Sobol is among more than 300 people detained over an unauthorised protest in Moscow. What are the protests about? Authorities detained more than 1,000 demonstrators last weekend during a demonstration, one of the biggest crackdowns in years. Election authorities have barred opposition candidates from taking part in Moscow city authority elections planned for 8 September. Officials said many of the signatures required for their candidacy applications were invalid. But protesters say they were excluded for political reasons. What's been happening in Moscow? Authorities have launched an investigation into the protests. On Friday, they detained a number...

- Hong Kong police fired tear gas on Saturday night in confrontations with black-clad activists in the city’s Kowloon area, as the Chinese-controlled territory was again rocked by anti-government protests. In the Nathan Road area, normally packed with shoppers on a Saturday, shutters were down on most street-facing shops, including 7-11 convenience stores, jewelry chain Chow Tai Fook and watch brands Rolex and Tudor. The main entrance to the landmark Peninsula Hotel was closed. Many of Saturday’s demonstrators wore yellow or white hard hats, and the crowds chanted “age of revolution!” and “Hong Kongers, add oil!” - a popular exhortation...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) agreed with a radio host's description of Israel's treatment of Palestinians as "criminal" during an interview Tuesday and suggested Palestinians had no recourse but violence. On his hip-hop program "Ebro in the Morning," interviewer Ebro Darden said there was a collection of "corrupt" governments in Israel, the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, "all working in concert," and referred to White House policy adviser Stephen Miller as a white supremacist. "How do you have white supremacist Jews?" he asked. "How do you have people like Stephen Miller? How do you have these individuals who are...

Enough is enough. The U.S. Justice Department needs to immediately open a criminal civil rights investigation of Antifa, an affiliation of radical activists and left-wing groups whose name, ironically enough, is short for “anti-fascists.” Its attack on journalist Andy Ngo was beyond the pale. Federal law enforcement has an obligation to stop any extremist organization that is apparently organizing and precipitating violent attacks, especially if state and local authorities seem reluctant to take action against what has all the makings of a domestic terrorist organization. We cannot have any confidence that the political leadership of the city of Portland will...

Democrats have gone a long way to create chaos at the border. They've denied necessary funds for law enforcement to pay for humane conditions in detention camps during a border surge. They've nullifed any meaning to border law. It's all a politically cynical bid to Blame Trump. Thus far, the issue has been viewed and reported as a public relations issue for President Trump, with reports of children brought to the U.S. illegally now in detention without soap or toothbrushes. The media and the Democrats have been dining out on it, calling Trump a heel. There's more than that, of course. There are the...