Free Republic

...fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.

Seattle has been making big news in the last couple of days. The first major story emerged Tuesday when police ceded an entire neighborhood to Antifa and Black Lives Matter, representatives of which barricaded a large segment of the Capitol Hill neighborhood and declared the area an “autonomous” community, separate from Seattle itself. The second newsworthy story occurred when thousands of leftist protesters led by Black Lives Matter and Antifa entered City Hall shortly after midnight on Wednesday, demanding that Mayor Jenny Durkan (a Democrat) resign. On Tuesday, the police in Seattle’s Eastern District had initially battled with the rioters,...

France on Sunday warned Britain to expect a bitter, bloody battle in Brexit trade talks with the EU, saying the two sides would "rip each other apart".

France has demanded that Israel stop the freezing of tax revenues of the Palestinian Authority and transfer to Ramallah all the funds collected for the PA, including the amounts paid by the PA to terrorists and their families, according to News 12. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded in an official letter that "Israel will continue to act in accordance with the law of the Knesset. This request is morally and politically incorrect, and even contrary to the European principles...

On Sunday, the people of France voted overwhelmingly for their demise. Of course, that's not what they think they voted for. But it is. They think they voted for "inclusion," "fairness," "diversity," and all the rest of the hogwash served up by the leftist/globalist/communist/Islamo-fascists because hogwash is a favorite dish among useful idiots. But make no mistake: the French people voted to assure their ruin by electing a candidate who doesn't even believe there's such a thing as "French culture." Because, of course, France is "diverse." Hey, no kidding. France's diversity includes a massive uptick in violence, including rape (here,...

Donald Trump has said the Paris terrorist attack would boost Marine Le Pen's presidential chances after a last-minute poll gave her a modest increase in support. The US president said the shooting would "probably help" Ms Le Pen in Sunday's election, because she is "strongest on borders, and she's the strongest on what's been going on in France." "Whoever is the toughest on radical Islamic terrorism, and whoever is the toughest at the borders, will do well in the election," he said.

Israel will fight its next war “with full force,” Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday, adding that the Israeli army will not stop fighting the next conflict until its enemy surrenders completely. “There is no confrontation with half of the power or a quarter of the power, only at full force,” Liberman said. “You don’t stop in the middle – this is the instruction at the moment for the IDF. The next confrontation will be with full force until the other side raises a white flag. It must be a war with the most forceful possible profile,” the defense minister...

The US came very close to stepping in to help Argentina take the islands after they invaded in 1982. US security bosses were ready to offer Falkland Islanders the option of moving to British territory, with Scotland being touted as a potential new home, or being allowed to stay on the Islands. However, if they opted to stay they would automatically become Argentinian citizens. The option of moving abroad would have been sweetened with the promise of a $100,000 grant per person. The proposed plan, entitled ‘Solution to the Falkland Islands crisis’, was put together by Henry Rowen, the then...

According to the Constitution, the legislature is the first and most powerful branch of government. And yet, many believe -- on the left and the right -- that the institution has atrophied. By all accounts, House Speaker Paul Ryan is eager to change that. He has his work cut out for him. At the Republican congressional retreat in Baltimore last week, I participated in a panel discussion about how to revive Congress' traditional role. It was off the record, but I can certainly repeat a story I told. When my father was in the Army, he was stationed in Japan....

Here's how to put the scale of Islamic State's attacks into perspective. Within a span of few weeks, the radical Islamist group carried out the deadliest terror attack in modern French history, killing 129 people, and the deadliest attack in modern Turkish history--the Oct. 10 Ankara bombing, which killed 102. Between the two, I.S. blew up a Russian passenger jet over the Sinai, killing 224. Another 44 people died in suicide blasts in a Hezbollah-controlled Beirut neighborhood, the worst terror attack in the city since the end of the Lebanese civil war. A drumbeat of suicide bombings in Baghdad killed...

The beleaguered candidate has apologized for a remark he made during last week's Republican debate poking fun at the French. His comment drew criticism from the French Ambassador. Bush said he did a disservice by suggesting during last week's Republican presidential debate that the Senate operates "on a French work week." While travelling through New Hampshire as part of his campaign tour this week, Bush told reporters he regretted the comment.

"I really did a disservice to the French" Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush apologized to the people of France on Tuesday for making fun of their work week during last week's Republican debate. Speaking to reporters aboard his campaign bus on the first leg of a three-day swing through New Hampshire, Bush once again criticized congressional lawmakers for working a three-day week, saying lawmakers have over-promised and under-delivered to the the American people in successive elections. But the GOP presidential hopeful acknowledged he was wrong to criticize the French when he was trying to highlight rival Marco Rubio's poor voting...

During an interview with the Hamburg-based news magazine “Stern,” editor of the French weekly “Charlie Hebdo” said he would no longer draw comics of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. “We have drawn Mohammed to defend the principle that one can draw whatever they want. It is a bit strange though: we are expected to exercise a freedom of expression that no one dares to,” Sourisseau told “Stern.” The editor said that the magazine had done what it set out to do. “We’ve done our job. We have defended the right to caricature,” Sourisseau said. …

MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski asked Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken at what point going into overtime to make a nuclear deal with Iran starts to look “desperate” Thursday on Morning Joe. Nuclear talks were predictably extended to July 7 when Iran and world powers were unable to come to a full agreement at the original June 30 deadline. “Overtime, these talks still going, obviously a lot of back-and-forth now,” said NBC reporter Ayman Mohyeldin. “Now it’s been extended for at least another week. What’s the latest in terms of the talks from the U.S. position? Is there anything else...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls claimed on Monday that despite the overabundance of Islamist terror, there is no link between terrorist extremism and Islam, as he opened a conference aimed at improving ties with France’s large Muslim community. “We must say all of this is not Islam,” said Valls as quoted by AFP. “The hate speech, anti-Semitism that hides behind anti-Zionism and hate for Israel…the self-proclaimed imams in our neighborhoods and our prisons who are promoting violence and terrorism.” …

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's victory in the Israeli election will not hamper US efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, the State Department said Wednesday. The Israeli leader opposes any accommodation with Tehran and came to Washington during the campaign to address US lawmakers and denounce the agreement under negotiation as a "bad deal." "We've been long familiar with the views of the prime minister on Iran. We don't think that his win has impacted the Iran negotiations, or will," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Lausanne for talks this week...

The U.S. will hit its debt limit on March 16 but with some "extraordinary measures" it will be able to fund the government on a temporary basis, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who urged Congress in a letter to raise the debt limit immediately. In the letter to House Speaker John Boehner and other House and Senate leaders, Lew said on March 13 his office would have to suspend the issuance of some local and and state securities, reports CNBC. "Accordingly, I respectfully ask Congress to raise the debt limit as soon as possible," Lew wrote in his...

Just when you thought you’d heard it all… The Obama White House insists they’re not indecisive or lazy- They’re practicing “Strategic Patience” by leading from behind. Via Ben ShapiroToday Strategic Patience brought us news of the death of American ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller.More BS from the Worst President Ever.Foreign Policy reported: This story has been updated with details from the White House strategy document.Critics of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy have for years assailed his administration for responding too slowly to crises ranging from Syria to Russia. In a far-reaching blueprint released Friday that outlines the administration’s worldview, the White...

President Obama unveiled a national security strategy on Friday that called for "strategic patience" and warned against American "overreach" -- an approach that drew criticism as some lawmakers say the rising threat from the Islamic State demands a more urgent response. The 29-page document is meant to serve as a blueprint for Obama's final two years in office. The strategy cast the U.S. as an indispensable force in combating global challenges -- including terrorism, climate change and cyber threats.

I was expecting some action out of the new Congress, but I really never saw this one coming. A group of Republican Senators led by Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) are floating the idea of further extending the nuclear option enacted by the Democrats to take filibusters off the table when considering nominees to the Supreme Court. Clearly wiser heads than myself have been able to determine why this is such a great idea, because I’m not seeing it at the moment. Top Senate Republicans are considering gutting the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees — a move that could...