Free Republic

Recently there has been an uptick in discussions of secession. Last week on his #1 radio show, Rush Limbaugh pondered what secession would look like, with California and New York (and some satellite states) leaving the Union. His reasoning was that the liberal states and the so-called “red” states are so drastically at odds with each other that before long they will have to divide. Francis Buckley made this very point earlier this year in his book American Secession. My first reaction to Buckley’s book was to reject the premise. After all, no matter how crazy California is, there are...

The great irony here is that yes, there’s plenty of systemic racism in our country; it’s all wrapped up in the history of the Democratic Party. The rot goes deep, back to the post-Civil War era. Former slaves and their children were forced for decades to endure the cruel, wretched Jim Crow laws that kept them from advancing in the South. And who was all too happy to keep those laws in place? The Democrats. Systemic racism is indeed a vile problem, one that must be addressed immediately. When Democrats stop pointing fingers and look in the mirror, we can...

Be honest, if we let the mutant mob have Seattle, would you really miss it? We’ve already gotten all the good music out of it, coffee is everywhere, so what else do they bring to the table? If you feel as though you missed your chance to visit the Space Needle, they have a similar enough tower in Toronto. And you can catch scabies in any number of third world countries with much better climates. So I say, let them have it. For that matter, give them the whole state. They inflicted Microsoft on the country, so think of leaving...

Left-wing Black Lives Matter protesters in Seattle have attempted to secede from the rest of the country, occupying a six-block enclave that they are calling the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).

Democrats like to pretend they have a long history of fighting racism, but the truth is that it was Democrats who supported slavery, upheld Jim Crow laws, and were so deeply involved in the Ku Klux Klan that the 1924 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City is called the “Klanbake” convention. Republicans fought against slavery in the south while Democrats defended it, and while Democrats pushed for segregation and Jim Crow laws, Republicans supported the Civil Rights act of 1964. The Democratic Party’s history of racism is undeniable in the picture below, taken at the...

The Convention met at 12 o'clock. Much confusion attended its early deliberations. SMALLEY'S voice was not heard twenty feet from the platform. During the first part of the prayer all was quiet. The latter portion was continually interrupted by conversation and moving.

So is the purpose of the nationwide lockdown to "flatten the curve" or to reduce the total, cumulative number of infections? Because the very important distinction between the two goals is about to become critical. See, "flattening the curve" meant delaying -- not preventing -- infections. The idea was that our medical system was going to become absolutely overwhelmed by infections, resulting in an elevated death rate. The notion was explicitly that people were going to get infected no matter what we did, but we could delay many of those infections until our medical system could handle them. It's important...

California Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he is working on a plan with the state legislature to provide economic relief for California residents who are in the country illegally. “Californians care deeply about undocumented residents in this state,” Newsom said. About 2 million people in California are likely residing in the country illegally, according to the California Latino Legislative Caucus, which has asked the governor to provide cash assistance to those without citizenship status, since they are not eligible for the stimulus checks and other benefits provided in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress.

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You’ve got Oregonians seeking to cascade into Idaho, Virginians who identify as West Virginians, Illinoians fighting to escape Chicago, Californians dreaming of starting a 51st state, and New Yorkers who think three states are better than one. Separation fever is sweeping the nation as quixotic but tenacious bands of frustrated rural dwellers, suburbanites and conservatives seek to break free from states with legislatures increasingly controlled by liberal big cities and metropolitan strongholds. “Oregon is controlled by the northwest portion of the state, Portland to Eugene. That’s urban land, and their decisions are not really representing rural Oregon,” said Mike McCarter,...

Some residents in Oregon are fed up with living under Democratic control of their state government and have launched a ballot initiative campaign to join Republican-led Idaho. The movement, known as "Move Oregon's Border for a Greater Idaho," is hoping to expand the borders of the Gem State through the inclusion of more than a dozen bordering rural counties now in Oregon. Mike McCarter, chief petitioner of the movement says the group has gotten the "green light" in at least three Oregon counties -- Josephine, Douglas and Umatilla -- that would start the first step in the secession process, which...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — In what they acknowledged is a long-shot bid, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. urged unhappy Virginia counties Tuesday to secede and join a neighboring state where Democrats aren't in charge. Both Justice, a Republican in a state where the GOP dominates the legislature, and Falwell, whose university is in Lynchburg, Virginia, said the invitation to join West Virginia sends a valid message. “If you're not truly happy where you are, we stand with open arms to take you from Virginia or anywhere where you may be," said Justice, who's...

The Old Dominion is trending in an ominous direction, and it’s a problem for the whole country. On Monday, the Virginia General Assembly ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Advocates of the ERA have argued that Virginia is the 38th and final state needed to add it to the Constitution, though the legal argument for that is dubious. Nevertheless, if the ERA were to become law, it would almost certainly provide the legal basis to enshrine left-wing social dogmas nationwide, among other negative consequences. Other states should take note: No matter how conservative your state has been in the past, you’re...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) – The West Virginia Senate will consider a resolution drafted and introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles S. Trump, IV, R-Morgan, which reminds the citizens of Frederick County, Virginia, that Frederick County, Va. has a standing invitation to become part of the State of West Virginia. “Even though it has been more than 150 years, I wanted to make sure that the people of Frederick County know that our affection for them remains strong, and our desire for Frederick County to be reunited with the West Virginia counties to which she gave birth has not diminished,”...

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Bordering Hampshire, Morgan and Berkeley counties is Frederick County, Virginia. On Monday, the West Virginia Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 2, drafted by Judiciary Committee Chairman Charlie Trump IV (R-Morgan). The resolution provides a “standing invitation” to Frederick County, Virginia to join West Virginia.

California certainly marches to the beat of a different drummer. They treat the federal government as a rival fiefdom, setting their own environmental laws, their own immigration laws, their own fuel standards -- as if the seat of power in the United States was in Sacramento.On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom will present the state's budget for the next fiscal year. In it, he will propose that the state of California sell its own brand of prescription drugs in order to "increase competition in the generic drug marketplace and lower the cost of medications by having Sacramento contract drugmakers to...

Fresh from his triumphal "Get Brexit Done!" campaign, Prime Minister Boris Johnson anticipates a swift secession from the European Union. But if Britain secedes from the EU, warns Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland will secede from the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, which voted in 2016 to remain in the EU, could follow Scotland out of Britain, leaving her with "Little England" and Wales. Not going to happen, says Boris. His government will not allow a second referendum on Scottish independence. Yet the Scottish National Party won 48 of Scotland's 59 seats in Parliament, and Sturgeon calls this a mandate...

The new Attorney General of New York State, aligned with Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic majority in the state government, have passed a law allowing the prosecution of persons granted presidential pardons. As even NBC News was honest enough to admit, this was a measure cooked up specifically to “Resist” President Trump and blunt his ability to grant pardons to people associated with him. Of course, the devil is in the details as always. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a measure Wednesday that would allow the state to pursue charges against people who have received a presidential...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a measure Wednesday permitting New York state to press charges against those who have received presidential pardons. The measure was passed to prevent President Trump's ex-aides facing prison time or potential sentencing from receiving pardons and avoiding criminal punishment, NBC News reported. The network added that the legislation was a direct response to the president's consideration of giving his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, a pardon. Manafort is serving in a federal prison after being convicted on bank fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has also indicted him on state...

I thought it was satire, something cooked up by his political enemies. You couldn't put out a less attractive video than the one Gavin Newsom did for illegal aliens on Twitter, advising them himself on how to obstruct ICE from any deportation maneuvers.  And sure enough, he wasn't hacked — it really was blue-checked he. Leave aside the fact that he's the governor of a U.S. state, supposedly there to represent the interests of that state's citizens rather than those of the foreigners who come here without papers, quite illegally, and run up the tab using his state's services.  They're his constituents, too, now, in fact,...