Free Republic

A series of embarrassing incidents in recent days shows that while the left may control the media narrative, it’s not fooling Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin into thinking President Joe Biden is strong.Biden had a beyond-friendly interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, on March 16 in which he allowed Stephanopoulos to lure him into calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer” with “no soul.” It would be one thing if there were some purpose behind Biden’s hostile utterance about his Russian counterpart, but it didn’t appear tied to any strategic foreign policy goal.Other than...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday warned North Korea that U.S. forces are ready to "fight tonight" after the dictatorship condemned military drills taking place in South Korea. The U.S. and South Korean militaries have resumed springtime drills in South Korea after pausing exercises last February due to coronavirus concerns. Austin discussed the U.S. military's commitment to "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and "the importance of maintaining military readiness" during a press conference Wednesday. "Our force remains ready to 'fight tonight,' and we continue to make progress toward the eventual transition of wartime Operational Control to a [Republic of Korea]-commanded,...

A little over a month ago I asked the question: Progressivism in culture: Where are progressives the weakest?. To recap, here are those cultural items: MediaAcademia/universitiesHollywoodGovernmentSportsProtesting (Not rioting)Religion/ChurchesSocial mediaK12 schoolsCorporationsTechTalk radioScienceLawHistoryA few were added by suggestions, those are italicized at the bottom. I added the last item, which is the subject of discussion here. One of the things I have noticed is how few conservatives engage in history and specifically American history. American history is naturally conservative. The concepts and the reasons for why people did things to get out from under the thumb of authoritarianism and most importantly, the...

Wednesday was an opportunity for all of us who have admired Drew Brees to be reminded of his strength of character, that he is not just an all-time great quarterback but a stellar human being, guided by strong principles. Thursday, those principles went out the window. Let’s move chronologically. He was asked in an interview about the possibility of the return of sideline national anthem protests in the 2020 NFL season, in view of heightened sensitivities following the death of George Floyd. I offer his answer in its entirety: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the...

“I’m worried about 2020, I think it’s 50-50. I think it’s a coin flip,” said Ted Cruz, the Republican U.S. Senator from Texas. The 2020 presidential race happens when the country is “deeply divided.” “It is an incredibly polarized country,” he said. “I think it all comes down to turnout.” “I think the Left is going to show up in massive numbers,” he continued. “And it all comes down to who shows up on the center-right.” Ted Cruz was on the Ben Shapiro Show Sunday when, 45-minutes into the interview, Shapiro asked Cruz for his assessment of the 2020 election...

“Power Made Perfect in Weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:1-10) The words that engage our attention this morning and that will bring comfort to our souls are these verses from our Epistle reading, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, where St. Paul writes: “But he [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am...

President Trump on Saturday mocked Oprah Winfrey at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, saying that he hopes the billionaire declares her candidacy for president in 2020. At a rally for Pennsylvania state Rep. Rick Saccone (R), who is running for Congress this year, the president said that a Democratic challenge against him would be a "painful" experience for Winfrey, who has publicly stated she has no plans to run. "I would love Oprah to win. I would love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness," Trump told the crowd. "Wouldn't we love to run against Oprah. I would love it....

....Justice Department has made clear its proposed ban on transgender military recruits is on hold, meaning their enlistment can start Monday. ...Justice Department isn’t dropping its court fight to institute the ban on transgender enlistment but said Friday it would wait for a Pentagon study... ...Pentagon said then that it would allow transgender enlistment to start...

As United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates this week met in Seoul with their Republic of Korea , the defining crisis that was supposed to highlight the relevance and effectiveness of their relationship, instead cast an ugly shadow over the event. The United States failed to organize a vigorous international backlash against North Korea for its sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan, and has now exhibited disconcerting second thoughts about its own response.

Face it: losers like socialism because it allows them access to money and goods that they would not be able to acquire through their own powers.  So it should surprise nobody that an academic study finds that poor upper body strength in males correlates with socialist views.  Amanda Prestigiacomo writes at the Daily Wire: An academic study from researchers at Brunel University London assessed 171 men, looking at their height, weight, overall physical strength and bicep circumference, along with their views on redistribution of wealth and income inequality. The study, published in the Evolution and Human Behavior journal, ​found that weaker men were more likely...

A reader at Muhlenberg College passes along this letter from the president of the school to faculty and students: To the Muhlenberg Campus Community: While the final results of the national election are not yet finally in, it is clear this is one of the most historic elections in our nation’s history. Many members of my senior staff and I have received several emails from students requesting that we cancel classes today, Nov. 9. We have also received emails from other students urging that we not cancel classes.

For many years now grassroots conservatives have grumbled that the Republican establishment in Washington views them with contempt. Rarely has that contempt been displayed as brazenly as it was on this week’s episode of Fox News Sunday. During the show’s panel discussion, columnist George Will and Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute in particular showed how GOP bigwigs view their base. Will started the banter by suggesting that the popularity of insurgent GOP candidates was tantamount to “primal scream” psychotherapy where voters are venting their frustrations by backing political newcomers over their more traditional rivals. Brooks seconded Will’s thesis...

Here is a sampling of some recent news abroad: A Russian guard attacked a U.S. diplomatic official at the door to the American Embassy in Moscow, even as NATO leaders met to galvanize against the next act of Russian aggression. The Islamic State continued its global terrorist rampage with horrific attacks in Baghdad and Istanbul. Iran rebuffed United Nations warnings and defiantly boasted that it will continue testing ballistic missiles. German intelligence believes that Iran, empowered by the release of $100 billion in impounded cash, is violating its recent American-led nonproliferation deal in an effort to import nuclear bomb-making technology....

WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of US Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of American assets held by the kingdom if lawmakers pass a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill's passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of inten se discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the...

Obama’s morally confused foreign policy is making the world more dangerous by the day. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress on Tuesday to warn Americans of the anti-Western threats from theocratic — and likely to soon be nuclear — Iran. Netanyahu came to the U.S. to outline the Iranian plan to remake the Middle East with a new nuclear arsenal. His warning was delivered over the objections of the Obama administration, which wants to cut a deal with Iran that allows the theocracy to continue to enrich lots of uranium. Netanyahu received a standing ovation for stating the...

After days of behind-the-scenes lobbying by U.S. officials, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed, as a gesture of diplomacy, to take a question at a news conference with President Obama. His answers, after being put on the spot Wednesday, were anything but diplomatic.... ...fter being challenged by a New York Times reporter over the Communist Party’s denial of visas for foreign journalists, Xi lashed out, insisting that the foreign press should “obey China’s laws” and look at themselves “to see where the problem lies.” In a forceful and unusually blunt performance, Xi also denounced the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as...

When Tina Brown was Newsweek’s editor, a magazine cover heralded the “Obama Conquest.” Now he’s just the creep in the corner office who keeps women nervous. ... There’s a word for guys who hide out in their offices; bark at underlings while barking at underlings, then, worst of all, blame everyone around them when those promises aren’t kept. The word is “weak,” and women don’t like it any more than men do.

Canada’s largest mental health and addiction treatment and research centre is calling for the legalization of marijuana, with strict controls that would govern who could buy weed, from where, and in what quantity. In a policy statement released Thursday, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto said cannabis should be sold through a government-controlled monopoly and with limited availability and an age limit, possibly through outlets similar to provincially operated liquor stores. “Legalization means that we remove all penalties for cannabis possession and use by adults,” said Jurgen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at CAMH. “Canada’s...

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest took great lengths to explain why President Obama’s comment about having no strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Syria. “I don't want to put the cart before the horse,” Obama said during his press conference yesterday. “We don't have a strategy yet.”