Free Republic

Mayor Pete’s ideal for presidential work ethic is the geezer who has napped his way through office? Exhausting. Oh, say it isn’t so, Pete. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, arguably the laziest man in Sleepy Joe Biden’s cabinet (and among the most incompetent), seems to be thinking hard about leaving the rough-and-tumble world of politics behind. It’s just too much work. The once-rising star in leftist political circles, who ran for president on the winning platform of being gay and being mayor of a small Midwest city, told “Face the Nation” that politics is hard. Buttigieg came to that conclusion by...

When a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last year, Pete Buttigieg drew criticism for not showing up right away. In responding to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge — a far different crisis, this time at the center of his portfolio — he’s not making that mistake again. On the day the bridge collapsed, Buttigieg had planned a trip to Wyoming and Montana — what would have amounted to his 47th and 48th states visited as Transportation secretary — to tour infrastructure projects. But before leaving from Dulles International Airport on Tuesday, his work cell phone buzzed...

Gov. Kathy Hochul has a piece of legislation sitting on her desk that would allow casino operators to hire a diverse range of convicted felons — from drug peddlers to killers. The measure was sent on Tuesday to the governor for her signature or veto after passing the state Senate and Assembly by big bipartisan margins in June. Current law bars licensed casino operators from hiring anyone convicted of any felony. Critics blasted the bill as an another example of a Democrats’ bleeding heart, criminal friendly proposal run amok. “That’s just wrong. This is another example of the New York...

President Joe Biden shrugged off the latest unexpectedly high inflation numbers on Tuesday even as they triggered a sudden plunge in the stock market. “I think we’re going to be fine,” Biden told reporters Tuesday night when asked about the disappointing data release earlier in the day. The president spoke briefly to reporters after traveling to Delaware from the White House to vote in his home state’s primary election. When asked by a reporter whether he was worried about the latest inflation numbers, Biden replied, “No, I’m not.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will sound an alarm Thursday night about what he views as “extremist” threats to American democracy from the restive forces of Trumpism, aiming to reframe the November elections as part of an unceasing battle for the “soul of the nation.” Nearly two years after he defeated Donald Trump, it’s a reprise of Biden’s 2020 campaign theme, casting the midterm election stakes in as dire terms as those that sent him to the Oval Office. His prime-time speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia will lay out what he sees as the risks from those he...

It’s just the flu, bro. One thing that was discussed yesterday was the motivation behind the lockdown. Some of the motivators behind it are: 1. Desire to control others, 2. Politicians needing to appear to be doing something, and 3. Big pharma trying to stop herd immunity because they want to sell vaccines. This is all fueled by media fear porn. It is amazing the degree to which a population can go off the rails with idiotic policies as we have done with Covid lockdowns. Reagan said every generation would need to fight for its freedom - we are having...

MAD Magazine will cease publication later this year, according to reports. Blogger Jedidiah Leland reportedly discovered the news after a MAD editor confessed to the magazine's doom in a Facebook group, and shortly thereafter, cartoonist Ruben Bolling seemed to confirm the report on Twitter. Of course, Bolling is not a MAD cartoonist (although he did have work published in it in 2005), so he may have been simply responding to the growing volume of responses to the Leland report. The 2017 reorganization and subsequent 2018 reboot both struggled with finding an identity for MAD in an increasingly satire-saturated world. Between...

President Trump dismissed the youngest candidate in the Democratic field by comparing him to a caricature created decades before Pete Buttigieg was even born. “Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” Trump said when asked by Politico what he thought of Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind. The reference to the gaptoothed, big-eared boy made famous as a mascot for Mad magazine did just as much to show Trump’s age as Buttigieg’s. The magazine used the illustration on its cover back in 1956 as a write-in candidate for president. While fairly ubiquitous in pop culture,...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Pete Buttigieg, who hopes to become the first openly gay presidential nominee from a major political party, said at an LGBTQ event Saturday that activists must band together to deny President Donald Trump a second term. "We've got a lot to worry about, a lot to fight for, but we have the means to do it," he said. The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, stressed the need for people to vote and to become involved in politics. Speaking before an audience gathered for Des Moines LGBTQ pride festivities in front of the Iowa statehouse,...

Reading MAD is one thing, allowing yourself to live in it is quite another I admit, I occasionally read Mad magazine as a kid. Every feature in it was strange and weird. I was transported to a parallel world of the absurd, the nonsensical. That was, I suppose, part of the attraction. I know I didn’t join their ranks because, in spite of the entertainment value, I still, even now, think it was weird. Not so for millions of others. I scan about 50 or 60 news articles a week, mostly to keep in touch with what is going on...

Pope Francis: Church closings a ‘sign of the times,’ should not cause anxiety November 30, 2018 (CatholicCulture.org) – The observation that many churches, which until a few years ago were necessary, are now no longer thus, due to a lack of faithful and clergy, or a different distribution of the population between cities and rural areas, should be welcomed in the Church not with anxiety, but as a sign of the times that invites us to reflection and requires us to adapt. Those are the words of Pope Francis, as reported by the Vatican press office. The emphasis is mine. If some...

Obama's wanton lawlessness, criminal incompetence, willful neglect, refusal to enforce the law, refusal to secure the borders, refusal to even recognize the obvious enemy, refusal to take Islamic terrorism seriously, etc, leaves us wide open to terrorist attack. Our borders and nation must be secured! All Islamics here on temporary visas must be rounded up and deported now! Recent Islamic immigrants should be suspect. Obama's treasonous policies are inviting ISIS to attack us!! Don't let it happen again.

The world is worried about China's economy. Mark Schwartz, Goldman Sachs' man in Beijing, not so much. Yes, China's stock market has tumbled 40% since June. And yes, the country has hit a rough patch. "A few things have gone wrong this summer," said Schwartz. But he also thinks the doomsday scenarios are way off the mark. "I think the market reaction globally is overdone," said Schwartz, who is chairman of Goldman Sachs in Asia-Pacific. "I think China is going through a very normal transition, from a state-controlled, state-dominated system, to a more market-oriented system."

Reuters: 'Terrible Optics' for Obama to Go Golfing and Kerry Yachting During Egypt Coup Daniel Halper July 7, 2013 12:03 PM Reuters columnist David Rohde said this morning on CBS that it was "terrible optics" for President Obama to go golfing and Secretary of State John Kerry to go yachting as the Egyptian leader was overthrown:

I am pleased to announce the formation of Kucinich Action, a new organization dedicated to empowering individuals to engage with the political process. With this new organization, we endeavor to build a powerful grassroots movement to return the power to the people in our political system. Kucinich Action is a natural evolution of what our movement has been doing: standing up, speaking out, acting on our beliefs, and changing the outcome on behalf of the people. We will also empower individuals with the skills to participate and engage in the process of government decision making at all levels. With this...

Dennis Kucinich opts out of Washington state race, will retireBy Rachel Rose Hartman | The Ticket – 9 hrs ago Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich announced Wednesday he has decided against running for Congress in Washington state, where activists had urged him to launch a campaign. In a statement, Kucinich signaled the end of his 16-year congressional career: *SNIP* Blah, blah, blah. *SNIP* "Dennis Kucinich has to decide what his legacy is going to be. Will he be remembered as a principled member of Congress or the narcissist who lost two Congressional races in two states the same year?" Democratic state...

The United States, European allies and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran's nuclear program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one, and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead. Those conclusions, drawn from extensive interviews with current and former U.S. and European officials with access to intelligence on Iran, contrast starkly with the heated debate surrounding a possible Israeli strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities. "They're keeping the soup warm but they are not cooking it," a U.S. administration official said. Reuters has learned that in late 2006 or early...

(CNN) - Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio lost his bid for re-election in the state's Democratic primary Tuesday night to fellow longtime House Democrat Marcy Kaptur, CNN projects. The two veteran lawmakers were drawn into the same district this cycle after a heated redistricting battle that followed the loss of two Congressional seats in the state.

Iran is conducting yet more military exercises in the Straits of Hormuz. Iranian officials said that the exercises were in response to a European boycott of Iranian oil, and that Iran would not “submit” to Western pressure against it. The new exercises, the official said, were aimed at preparing Iran for a battle against a “hypothetical enemy.” The Straits of Hormuz are considered an important strategic asset; 20% of the world's production of oil passes through it on oil tankers bound for the West, and Iran has threatened to close the Straits if its nuclear facilities are attacked. Iranian television...

Renowned Arab affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor told Arutz Sheva Sunday that there is no reason for undue alarm at the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's elections. The peace treaty with Israel is on no real danger, he said. The Islamists "have no solution" for Egypt's woes, he explained. "They lack the abilities and connections" to solve the country's problems and therefore, he predicted, "the patience will wear out in a few weeks and riots will begin soon." Hundreds of thousands of citizens are expected to protest on Wednesday, he added, in expectation of "magic solutions that no...