Free Republic

A watchdog group is requesting that media outlets release their plans for election night coverage amid heightened scrutiny over vote counting and the prospect that a winner in the presidential race may not be named until days after Election Day. The (*SELF DESCRIBED*) National Task Force on Election Crises, a group of election experts and academics, released a letter Thursday that it sent to The Associated Press, Fox News and the National Election Pool, which includes the three broadcast networks and CNN, urging them to explain to the public how they intend to incorporate the expected avalanche of mail ballots...

MTV will reportedly pay for the printing and mailing of ballot applications requested through the network’s voter initiative campaign. MTV will pay for costs through Oct. 6, the deadline for voters to receive applications and return them on time, network executives told Axios. Voters can access applications on the campaign websites www.VoteForYourLife.com or www.VoteEarlyDay.org. The VoteForYourLife campaign is sponsored by ViaComCBS, MTV’s parent company, and the Ad Council. Viacom’s Vh1 and Comedy Central are also partners in the campaign. The campaign’s website is also accessible in Spanish. The VoteForYourLiife campaign will also feature PSAs across the company’s networks, including MTV,...

President Trump on Tuesday confirmed a plan was in the works to take out Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017 and that he was supportive of it, but that former Defense Secretary James Mattis was opposed. The president's disclosure that an assassination operation was discussed came as part of a lengthy diatribe against Mattis, but it confirmed a piece of reporting from 2018 that Trump disputed at the time. “I would've rather taken him out. I had him all set. Mattis didn’t want to do it. Mattis was a highly overrated general," Trump said on "Fox & Friends."

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) said on Sunday that he would have responded differently to the coronavirus outbreak if President Trump had not downplayed its threat earlier this year. Garcetti said on CNN's "State of the Union" that he would have taken action earlier, and saved lives in the process, if Trump had publicly shared what he said privately to journalist Bob Woodward. “We were the first city to close things down, the first city to offer widespread testing. But we had to go it alone. And we heard that consistently. That's up to the states. That's up to...

The Democratic candidate challenging Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a controversial figure who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, for a Georgia House seat abruptly ended his campaign on Friday, announcing that he is leaving the state. In a statement, Kevin Van Ausdal attributed his decision to withdraw from the race to “family and personal reasons,” but did not elaborate on what had prompted him to end his campaign.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), without evidence, declared Friday that the ongoing wildfires in his state prove the science surrounding global warming is now officially settled. “The debate is over around climate change. Just come to the state of California, observe it with your own eyes,” a grinning Newsom told reporters while touring the fire-ravaged North Complex near Oroville. “It’s not an intellectual debate, it’s not even debatable.” CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "The debate is OVER around climate change." pic.twitter.com/ATFQQWOpsa — The Hill (@thehill) September 11, 2020 “We’re in the midst of a climate emergency, we’re in the midst of...

McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and Sasse, who sits on the panel, are calling for NATO's Article 4 to be invoked to speed up the allied nations' response. Article 4 allows for members to call a special session of NATO's North Atlantic Council. The letter was sent to Defense Secretary James Mattis, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and current CIA Director and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo.

A Senate Republican is blasting President-elect Donald Trump's criticism of Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), praising the lawmaker for his leadership in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Saturday seized on Trump's characterization of Lewis as "All talk, talk, talk - no action," pointing out that his "talk" made a significant contribution in the civil rights movement. "John Lewis and his 'talk' have changed the world," Sasse tweeted.

President Trump's Nobel Peace Prize nomination created shock waves on social media, with conservatives hailing it and liberals railing against it on Wednesday morning. Trump was nominated by Norwegian Parliament member Christian Tybring-Gjedde, who also serves as chairman of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Tybring-Gjedde cited the president's role in brokering a landmark normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during an interview on Fox News Wednesday morning. “For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees,” Tybring-Gjedde said, referring to Trump....

President Trump on Tuesday derided Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, saying it would be "an insult to our country" if the California senator became the nation's first female president. "People don't like her. Nobody likes her. She could never be the first woman president. She could never be. That would be an insult to our country," Trump told a crowd of supporters in North Carolina.

Feehery: How Trump wins Most political analysts believe that Joe Biden will beat Donald Trump in the coming election. They are wrong. Here are five reasons why Trump wins reelection: 1) Beating an incumbent is hard: Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama won their reelections not because they were great presidents but because they were incumbents. Reagan lost the Senate in 1982 and endured a crippling recession but still was able to bounce back to win a landslide in 1984. Clinton’s first two years were so bad that Democrats lost the House for the first time...

Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden just contradicted himself by claiming he was “not banning fracking.” Liberal outlet The Hill not only defended it but accused President Donald Trump of falsely stating Biden’s position. Biden pretended Monday in Pennsylvania: “I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking. No matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.” The Hill parroted this, and crazily said that “Throughout the Republican National Convention last week, speakers attacked Biden’s climate and energy plan, offering a number of misleading comments.” At the bottom of the piece, The Hill said...

Retired airline pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger on Friday condemned President Trump’s reported comments on fallen U.S. service members, saying the commander in chief has “completely failed to uphold his oath.” Sullenberger, an Air Force veteran who landed the famous "Miracle on the Hudson," wrote a thread following the bombshell report this week from The Atlantic accusing the president of disparaging dead military veterans as “losers” and “suckers.” “For the first time in American history, a president has repeatedly shown utter and vulgar contempt and disrespect for those who have served and died serving our country,” the former pilot wrote. “While...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) accused President Trump of attempting to “further inflame racial tensions” with his response to unrest in American cities.

Fort Hood commander loses position following string of deadly incidents BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 09/01/20 05:40 PM EDT Fort Hood commander loses position following string of deadly incidents Army leadership on Tuesday removed the commander of Fort Hood from his role and barred him from a planned position at another Texas base following multiple high-profile deaths under his tenure. Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who had been set to take over as commander for the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, will instead remain at Fort Hood to serve as deputy commanding general for support. “The Army will announce the name...

TheHill.com Judge says University of California school system must stop using SAT, ACT scores in admissions BY JUSTIN WISE - 09/01/20 09:57 PM EDT Judge says University of California school system must stop using SAT, ACT scores in admissions The University of California school system must stop using SAT or ACT scores while making admissions and scholarships decisions, a judge ruled Tuesday. The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed earlier this year alleging the admittance of such scores during the coronavirus pandemic harmed disabled students who lacked the same test-taking opportunities as non-disabled individuals. Alameda Superior Court Judge...

All businesses in Maryland will be allowed to reopen with some capacity restrictions starting later this week, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Tuesday. Hogan's order to move into the third phase of reopening starting Friday includes movie theaters and indoor concert venues, which will be able to reopen at a maximum 50 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is smaller. Outdoor venues will be allowed to operate with a maximum of 200 people, and houses of worship will be allowed to expand capacity to 75 percent. Local governments will be allowed to keep the current restrictions in place for longer...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Republican National Convention address from Jerusalem "appalling" on Tuesday.  The House Speaker told MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that Pompeo's convention speech, which was pre-recorded in Israel during official diplomatic travel, violated State Department rules for employees not to participate in partisan activities

A federal appeals court upheld the convictions of two white supremacists involved in the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. but also determined that parts of a federal anti-riot law was too vague. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Benjamin Drake Daley and Michael Paul Miselis, members of the white supremacist Rise Above Movement, would see their convictions under the Anti-Riot Act stand because the court found the two had admitted to committing violent acts during the now-infamous rally. The two defendants, who traveled from California along with other members of their group, reportedly...

Like it or not, the U.S. is already fighting an economic and technological cold war against China. While we should aim to eventually return to the optimism and promise of a broad China/U.S. partnership, the time for that is not now. This is a major challenge to our country, and we must do everything we can to avoid losing our economic leadership. By now, we all know the rivalry in 5G and AI, part of China’s $1.4 trillion technology commitment. Less attention has been given to an equally consequential struggle: who will control our future global financial systems. The power...