Free Republic

The Supreme Court has become a paper tiger, failing to hold defiant lower courts accountable when they make rogue decisions. The Supreme Court has the responsibility to make sure its subsidiary courts follow its directives — often by taking more cases, and making their precedent unambiguous. Arrogant, active, and open defiance on some of the most important issues, however, has been the norm from these lower courts for years, and a majority on the high court has persistently refused to stop them. The judicial coup is thwarting the American people, and the agenda they voted for, in two ways: By...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy was spotted at a Washington, DC, watering hole on a date with a progressive media mogul and strategist who’s boosted his efforts as a leading anti-Trump politician in Congress — just months after the Connecticut Democrat announced he and his wife were separating. Murphy, 51, was caught “cuddling” with Courier Newsroom publisher Tara McGowan, 39, last Monday by the bar at the Red Hen, located just one mile north of Capitol Hill in the district’s Bloomingdale neighborhood, a source told The Post, sharing a photo of the pair’s romantic rendezvous. The source said Murphy wrapped...

Soon, open border advocates will step up their agitprop against the new Trump Administration for alleged migrant family separation at the U.S. border. A number of broader points about the family separation phenomenon are worth remembering. 1. The overwhelming majority of migrant family separation decisions are not made at U.S. border by DHS. They are made by parents or others — including cartel criminals — in home countries. 2. Daily, thousands of border violators abandon some or all of their children in their home countries to make the trek into the U.S. illegally to find work. Thousands of others send...

The United Methodist Church’s highest court will soon determine whether congregations can continue to leave the denomination in response to its progressive stance on LGBT issues. From 2019 to 2023, around 7,500 congregations used a temporary provision in the UMC Book of Discipline to disaffiliate from the denomination in response to its debate over sexual ethics. The United Methodist Judicial Council has been asked by the Kentucky and Alabama-West Florida conferences about whether another provision in the Book of Discipline can be used to exit the denomination. According to the UMC Kentucky Conference, the Judicial Council will consider the matter...

A federal law has forced thousands of disabled veterans to return the separation incentives they received, throwing many into sudden hardship.. Vernon Reffitt got $30,000 to leave the Army in 1992. It was a one-time, lump-sum special separation benefit offered to service members when the U.S. had to reduce its active-duty force. Now, more than 30 years later, the federal government wants that money back. In May, the Department of Veterans Affairs began withholding the monthly disability compensation payments that Reffitt had been receiving for three decades until he repays the $30,000. It would take the 62-year-old nearly 15 years...

Every time the Ray Dalios of the world open their mouths on the risks that the great unwashed masses pose to “Our Democracy™,” they make the idea of a political separation sound far more agreeable. The other day, Ray Dalio, the billionaire investor and founder of Bridgewater Associates, told The Financial Times that he sees the risk of a second American civil war as “growing” and places the odds of such a war at “35-40 percent.” According to FT, Dalio’s “research” has led him to conclude that “we are now on the brink,” although we “don’t yet know if we...

The United Methodist Church General Conference has advanced a measure meant to allow different regions of the global denomination to determine their own standards on LGBT issues.At the Thursday plenary session of the General Conference, delegates voted 586-164 in favor of a petition for an amendment to the UMC’s constitution allowing for regionalization. The petition will now be sent to the annual conferences for possible ratification.The amendment will need to gain at least two-thirds support from the annual conference clergy and lay voters to be added to the UMC constitution, reports UM News.>At present, the UMC Book of Discipline, the...

“Separation of church and state … is a misnomer. People misunderstand it,” Johnson said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about him praying on the House floor. “Of course, it comes from a phrase that was in a letter that Jefferson wrote is not in the Constitution.” “And what he was explaining is they did not want the government to encroach upon the church, not that they didn’t want principles of faith to have influence on our public life. It’s exactly the opposite,” the Speaker added.

OTTAWA, CANADA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the separation from his wife of 18 years Tuesday, shocking millions of Canadians who reportedly had no clue the effeminate leader had been married this whole time, least of all to a woman. "Oh wow, he was married?" said normal Canadian woman Jill Thorleaf. "That's nice. Wait -- to a woman? Really?? Huh. Wow. I had no idea. Good for him." In a brief statement, Trudeau called for privacy as his life crumbled around him. "Please stop asking if Sophie was really a woman," said a tearful Trudeau. "You're hurting my feelings!...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are separating after 18 years of marriage. In a brief statement issued by the prime minister on Instagram, he said that after "many meaningful and difficult conversations" the pair have "made the decision to separate." "As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build," said Trudeau in his post, which was also shared by Sophie's account. For the well-being of their children, the Trudeaus are asking Canadians to respect the family's privacy at...

It’s the end of the road for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle…’s Spotify deal. This match made in heaven, or somewhere, came into being in December 2020 and spawned Markle’s successful podcast series Archetypes. Yet despite that show hitting the top of Spotify’s podcast charts, the ex-royal couple and the streamer have decided to call it quits.“Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together,” the two parties said in a joint statement (via CNN).As for why the reported $20 million deal was discontinued, it’s a bit of a he-said-she-said...

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly on a ‘trial separation’ amid nasty fights, financial pressure, and opposing lifestyles. Divorce papers might have been filed. The scoop about their non-identity damaging their marriage: VIDEO AT LINK............. As some reports indicate, Meghan allegedly plans to file for divorce and wants sole and full custody of the children. However, that might not be so simple. According to reports, the royal family operates with a strange custody agreement when its couples have their children, which states that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has full legal custody over the young royals. Royal expert Marlene...

In the last couple of months, thousands more houses of worship have left the United Methodist Church, having their disaffiliation votes approved by their UMC conferences. Updated totals show that as many as 6,000 churches have fled the UMC in the last couple of years — and the issue shows no signs of slowing down. "For the last several ... decades, the United Methodist Church has been in a big debate about whether to change its official stance on LGBT issues," Christian Post reporter Michael Gryboski explained on “The Inside Story” podcast. "At present, the UMC prohibits the blessing of...

There are many Canadians in Texas – at least it feels that way when one of their hockey teams come to town. By the way, some of my most interesting conversations about socialized medicine have been with Canadians. So what's going on up north? Check this out: An advocacy group in Alberta, Canada, is trying to educate residents of the province about what it argues would be the benefits of breaking off from the country to join the U.S. as its 51st state."I find myself having an affinity toward the U.S. more than Canada because of the freedom, Constitution and...

More than 180 congregations in Georgia have filed a lawsuit after their regional body of the United Methodist Church refused to allow them to disaffiliate amid a denominational schism over homosexuality. Last week, 186 churches filed a lawsuit against the UMC North Georgia Conference in Superior Court in Cobb County over the conference's decision last December to prohibit any more congregations from leaving amid a denominational schism over homosexuality. The Wesleyan Covenant Association of North Georgia, an unofficial conservative advocacy group that helped conservative churches form the Global Methodist Church breakaway denomination, released a statement explaining that the decision to...

As a colleague once told me about a friend's divorce, the marriage reached a point where it could not be saved and the couple could no longer live in peace together. They call it "irreconcilable differences" and it was obvious to anyone watching that the couple had reached such a point.Are we there as a country? I wonder, reading what goes on every day.Over in Los Angeles, a teen is arrested with two stolen guns after threatening the school but DA George Gascon declines to charge. In New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has a terrible case of Trump...

The decades-long battle for the soul of the United Methodist Church (UMC) is now lost. A liberal faction has secured an increasingly hostile takeover.Christians outside of the UMC, please share this article with any Bible-believing United Methodist friends, to show the urgency of quick action. Please also learn from our mistakes.Theologically conservative United Methodists, we have a soon-to-expire, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead our congregations out of a rapidly radicalizing, declining denomination without losing our church buildings, which are technically “held in trust” for the denominationSadly, some denominational officials and even pastors of conservative-leaning congregations suppressed information or actively misled...

In a video from June of 2021 that is going viral, a 15 year-old student from Rosemount High School in Minnesota explains to the local school board how the embrace of Critical Race Theory in education has made things worse for students. In his speech, he describes his first day of high school, when the principal praised multiple racial identities to the student body while neglecting half of the audience that looked like him, noting that in doing so, the principal was pitting students against each other for things they can’t control. He talks about a teacher who praised socialism...

Ten days ago, at their bishops’ General Synod, the Church of England voted to bless same-sex unions. Church of England priests will be permitted to bless the civil marriages of same-sex couples in a profound shift in the church’s stance on homosexuality after a historic vote by its governing body.The first blessings for gay couples could happen this summer. Individual churches will be encouraged to state clearly whether they will offer blessings to avoid confusion and disappointment.After an impassioned debate lasting more than eight hours, the C of E’s national assembly, the General Synod, voted by 250 votes to 181...

On October 3, 2022, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari to two promising bump stock cases, one in the Tenth Circuit, another in the Sixth Circuit. The appeals process for those two cases is finished.Another bump stock case Cargill v. Garland, is in the Fifth Circuit and may tip the balance. It’s being considered en banc and is a well-argued and supported case.The case was filed on March 25, 2019, originally titled Cargill v. Barr.In all three cases, the arguments are not about the Second Amendment. They are about the ability of bureaucrats to make law and the...