Free Republic

Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Mark Levin said that “we’ve had a silent coup in this country” with the Obama administration taking over healthcare, targeting the suburbs, and nationalizing the local police. “His government doesn’t have the authority to do any of these things, but he does it,” Levin said on his July 8 broadcast. “Well, if that’s not martial law, what the hell is? We’ve had a silent coup in this country.”Here is a transcript of what Levin said: “So, Obama’s pushing the ‘browning of America,’ not my phrase, theirs, ‘with open amnesty.’ Even if it means murderers,...

A Republican California assemblyman was left stunned Wednesday when the Democratic chair of the Assembly Labor and Employment committee cut off his microphone and then ordered security to physically remove the microphone from the meeting. The incident occurred during debate over legislation that would increase the Golden State’s minimum wage to $11 in 2016 and $13 in 2017. The current minimum wage is $9 an hour and is set to already rise to $10 an hour next year. Republican Matthew Harper said that Democratic chair Rodger Hernández cut off a witness testifying mid-sentence. When Harper, who Hernández had already recognized as...

...The operational plan I propose in the book is reasonably straightforward. The reasons that I think we are driven to that plan speak to some complex realities facing the United States in the second decade of the twenty-first century. First, the operational plan: to make large portions of the Federal Code of Regulations unenforceable. I want to make government into an insurable hazard, like flood, fire, or locusts. The way I want to do it is through massive civil disobedience underwritten by privately funded defense funds. [....] That brings me to the ambitious proposition I want to defend tonight: we...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the government will make federal marriage benefits available to same-sex couples following a Supreme Court decision last month that legalized same-sex marriage. She says the Justice Department will work to make sure that all federal benefits will be available equally to married couples across the country.

Two Christian bakers who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding have been ordered to pay $135,000 in damages by July 13 or else the state of Oregon could place a lien on their home. Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, were punished by the state's Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) for unlawfully discriminating against a same-sex couple. The Kleins, who are devout evangelical Christians, argued that baking the cake would be a violation of their religious beliefs. The BOLI ruling ordered the mom-and-pop bakers to pay $135,000 to the lesbian couple....

In a move that’s prompting questions about the stockpiling of weapons by the federal government’s nonmilitary agencies, the Bureau of Reclamation wants to buy 52,000 rounds of ammunition for use in law enforcement at Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. After learning about the purchase request, Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei vowed to inquire with the bureau about its operations, number of officers carrying firearms and how much ammunition it uses, according Brian Baluta, a spokesman for Amodei.

A Waco police detective was selected Wednesday to preside over a new McLennan County grand jury that could be the panel that considers the Twin Peaks shootings.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is tightening enforcement of fair housing laws by requiring cities to identify persistent patterns of racial bias in their communities and work to eliminate them, Housing Secretary Julian Castro said Wednesday. "We must give every young person access to a community of opportunity," Castro said. "We can do that by revitalizing struggling communities and by giving people the chance to live in areas where they can thrive; all with local leadership deciding what strategies work best for them and their needs." "Policy makers at the local level now have a stronger tool for...

The Obama administration unveiled new rules Wednesday to rid the country of racially segregated neighborhoods by directing cities and towns to set goals for reducing segregation, and then regularly report their progress to the feds. Communities nationwide will be given a series of questions designed to help them figure out whether racial bias is causing segregated neighborhoods, racial or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, unequal access to opportunity or disproportionate housing needs in their jurisdiction. They will be required to set goals related to that data and publicly report on their progress every three to five years. The Department of...

A federal judge has ordered the Patent and Trademark Office to cancel registration of the Washington Redskins' trademark, ruling that the team name may be disparaging to Native Americans. The ruling Wednesday by Judge Gerald Bruce Lee affirms an earlier finding by an administrative appeal board.

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released new Department of Justice (DOJ) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documents that include an official “DOJ Recap” report detailing an October 2010 meeting between Lois Lerner, DOJ officials and the FBI to plan for the possible criminal prosecution of targeted nonprofit organizations for alleged illegal political activity. The newly obtained records also reveal that the Obama DOJ wanted IRS employees who were going to testify to Congress to turn over documents to the DOJ before giving them to Congress. Records also detail how the Obama IRS gave the FBI 21 computer disks, containing...

Bill Gates recently noted that the cost of decarbonization using today’s technology is ‘beyond astronomical.’ On June 30, one day after the Supreme Court struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of mercury emissions from power plants, resident Obama committed the United States to the goal of generating 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. This would nearly triple the amount of wind- and solar-generated electricity on the national grid. The EPA ran afoul of the law by failing to conduct a cost-benefit analysis before it acted to reduce mercury emissions from coal-power plants. There is no objective...

I was watching in horror a series of Mark Dice videos of interviews in which passersby signed petitions to repeal the First Amendment toshut down criticism of Obama because it was all clearly racist. petitioned to repeal the Bill of Rights; revealed they didn’t know when and why we celebrate the Fourth of July; signed up to ban the American flag and replace it with a New World Order one. I wanted to believe the people responding were outliers -- just ignorant San Diego beachgoers. Unfortunately there are too many indications they are not, and that this disregard for the...

TRI-CITIES, WA. -- People are concerned about fireworks this Fourth of July. And not just locally, all over the Northwest. Governor Jay Inslee along with the Department of Natural Resources issued a burn ban for Washington but they wanted to do even more. No matter where you are in the Northwest, fireworks will be especially dangerous this year. Both Washington Governor Jay inslee and Oregon Governor Kate Brown have issued warnings. But regardless, fireworks stands have been open and selling in certain areas all week. So now they're urging extreme caution when using fireworks in cities and counties that legally...

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian finalized his order requiring Aaron and Melissa Klein, bakers who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they denied service. When the Kleins attempted to defend their religious objections in a radio interview, Avakian issued a "gag order" forbidding them from speaking publicly on the topic. Avakian dismissed the "freedom of speech" claim, insisting that "Oregon's statute outlaws refusals to serve customers based on their sexual orientation. For them to try to continue the argument after I have already ruled against them shows contempt...

An Oregon official certified a ruling Thursday imposing a $135,000 fine against Christian bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. The official then ordered the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa not to speak publicly about their conscientous decision to follow their religious beliefs by not baking any cakes for same-sex weddings. The company has gone out of business due to the legal battle. An article by The Daily Signal, a publication of the Heritage Foundation, states that Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to "cease and desist" from openly professing...

They said it was a “protest” not a terrorist attack. Now there’s more proof that they lied. The Obama administration knew al-Qaeda was planning an attack in Benghazi to “kill as many Americans as possible” ten days in advance. Judicial Watch reported: Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained more than 100 pages of previously classified “Secret” documents from the Department of Defense (DOD)and the Department of State revealing that DOD almost immediately reported that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was committed by the al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood-linked “Brigades of the Captive Omar Abdul Rahman” (BCOAR),...

TTAG reader MK contacted U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein to ask her support for national concealed carry reciprocity. (I know, right?) The email he received from the California Democrat – who never met a gun control law she didn’t like – was less than enthusiastic . . .

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin One of America’s most popular sheriffs has issued a “wake-up call” for conservatives following the Supreme Court’s two landmark decisions on same-sex marriage and Obamacare. The way Sheriff David Clarke sees it, the wild horse has broken loose and is halfway out of the barn, threatening to trample the crops. If the court can redefine marriage and force people to buy health care from a private business, there is nothing it can’t do, said Clarke, the sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and frequent Fox News contributor. “The thing that bothers me...

Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian finalized a preliminary ruling today ordering Aaron and Melissa Klein, the bakers who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they denied service. “This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage,” Avakian wrote. “It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.” In the ruling, Avakian placed an effective gag order on the Kleins, ordering them to “cease and desist” from speaking publicly about not wanting to bake cakes for...