Free Republic

A raging fire tore through the church at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel early Saturday, July 11, destroying almost all of the 215-year-old building that is an icon in the small Los Angeles County town.

More than 100,000 mail-in ballots were rejected by election officials in California’s March presidential primary. The six-figure tally highlights the big gap in the effort to ensure every vote is counted, as a national dispute rages over the integrity of vote-by-mail elections. State data obtained by The Associated Press shows 102,428 mail-in ballots were disqualified in 58 counties, mostly because they arrived too late. Another 13,000 voters forgot to sign the ballot and canceled their own vote.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) urged residents Thursday to continue following the social distancing guidelines ahead of Independence Day to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the police department in Los Angeles posted a photo of a crowded protest taking place in the city. What the mayor said: Garcetti praised the coronavirus measures the city introduced at the beginning of the pandemic and called on residents to avoid large gatherings and wear face coverings in public places or places where they cannot keep a recommended distance this July 4th because “COVID-19 has taken control.”

A Minnesota fund established to help bail out violent and non-violent demonstrators participating in the George Floyd protests is in hot water over the lack of transparency about spending its funds. The fund “Appreciate all those calling for transparency,” the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) tweeted Monday. “We see y’all. Our values and mission have not changed since 2016. Be on the lookout for things coming on our end. Be well.” Protesters, social justice activists, and numerous celebrities — including Justin Timberlake, Seth Rogen, Steve Carell, Jamie Foxx, and Ariana Grande, just to name a few — have generously donated to...

No matter how you slice it, what happened in last week’s special election for California’s 25th Congressional District was not good for Democrats. In resounding fashion, Democratic hopeful Christy Smith, a state assemblywoman from Santa Clarita, was beaten by Republican defense industry executive Mike Garcia. While ballots are still being counted in what was an almost all-mail-in election, recent tallies had Garcia, a Trump endorsee, trouncing Smith by a double-digit margin .... Smith conceded quickly. There are the coronavirus caveats. Stay-at-home orders meant low turnout, which favored Garcia: older, whiter, and more-affluent voters tend to vote by mail already and...

Los Angeles County officials will likely extend the stay-at-home orders for three months, according to Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. The story: Speaking at a Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Ferrer said that “with all certainty” the stay-at-home orders will remain in place for the next three months, several days after they were expected to expire on Friday.

Even with all of the lockdown restrictions, voters somehow managed to make it to the polls yesterday for two special elections and the Republican candidates appear to have locked both of them down (if you’ll pardon the phrase). The first one was in Wisconsin and the result wasn’t much of a surprise. In the Seventh District, the race to replace the now-retired Sean Duffy is projected to go to Tom Tiffany. The 7th is a fairly solidly conservative district and Tiffany had garnered the endorsement of President Trump. (Associated Press) Tom Tiffany, a state senator endorsed by President Donald...

Across California on May 1, tens of thousands protested in defiance of statewide lockdown orders. In Sacramento, the west lawn of the state capitol building was filled with protesters, with thousands more marching along the sidewalk surrounding the capitol grounds. Additional thousands driving their cars and honking their horns created three hours of total gridlock on the streets that loop around the capitol. Noteworthy protests have taken place in San Diego, Encinitas, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Paso Robles, Santa Rosa, and even tiny Lakeport on the shores of Clear Lake. There is no end in sight.

It's almost as if he likes it like this. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom vows to make the coronavirus emergency measures in California its "new normal" unless --- and it's a big if --- a vaccine for the virus is ready.

Youtube Video, follow the link. This guy says the CA Sec. of State, claims to have no obligation to ensure voters are citizens.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Friday she won't take part in a forum being held a historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina this weekend after President Donald Trump was given a "Bipartisan Justice Award." “As the only candidate who attended an HBCU, I know the importance that these spaces hold for young Black Americans," Harris, who was slated to participate in Second Step Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College on Saturday, said in a statement. The California senator cited the fact that only a limited number of students from the school were allowed to attend Trump's remarks as...

George Papadopoulos, the former Donald Trump campaign aide who pleaded guilty in the special counsel investigation, told Los Angeles he is “very seriously” considering running for Representative Katie Hill’s seat following the announcement of her resignation on Sunday. A source with knowledge of Papadopoulos’s plans said he plans to officially announce and file his candidacy for Hill’s seat in the 25th district today. He’ll run in the regular election and a special election, if the governor orders one. He already had a team in place, the source said. As Hill stepped down amid a House Ethics Committee investigation and allegations...

The image Nancy Pelosi added to her Twitter profile last week shows her as the plucky woman at a table full of gray men, standing up and wagging her finger at Donald Trump like a scolding schoolmarm, just before stalking out of the meeting. She must imagine it portrays her in a good light. It doesn’t, no matter how many progressive women share it triumphantly on social media as a symbol of female empowerment. It’s more a symbol of female entitlement. It’s an embarrassment to women who want to be judged on their merits, not given special treatment by men...

Many supporters of President Donald Trump are celebrating new fundraising figures from California – figures that show him outpacing any single democrat, although he has not raised more than the total amount that Democrats have. The new figures are significant because they’re from so-called “small amount donors,” supporters who gave $200 or less. The figures also show that he has raised much more money than any of his Democratic rivals in what’s usually a democratic state – but the numbers also show that he’s benefiting from being the only viable Republican in the race. Between July and September Trump has...

Former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon told FNC's Maria Bartiromo in an interview on "Sunday Morning Futures" that he doesn't think any of the declared Democratic candidates have the ability to beat President Trump in the 2020 election. Bannon suggests that Democrats may have to recruit Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, or Michael Bloomberg to stop Trump from being re-elected. STEVE BANNON: I said this last week, Maria, I don't see anybody on that stage right now that can take President Trump one on one. I pride myself, he's called me his star pupil, his top pupil, I've been studying this...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff expressed confidence in Democrats' ongoing impeachment inquiry and efforts to obtain records and testimony from the Trump administration in court, while defending their inquiry from Republican criticism. Pelosi defended their timeline, without providing any new updates on Tuesday, and dismissed questions about Republican calls for a formal floor vote. "I'm not concerned about anything," she said. Republicans "can't defend the president so they're going to process."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) teed off against the House impeachment inquiry on Tuesday, marking his first comments since Congress returned from its two-week break. "House Democrats are finally indulging in their impeachment obsession. Full steam ahead," McConnell said during a speech from the Senate floor, adding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had "crumbled" to the "left-wing impeachment caucus." "I don't think many of us were expecting to witness a clinic in terms of fairness or due process. But even by their own partisan standards, House Democrats have already found new ways to lower the bar," McConnell added.

Anyone wondering why religious people still support Donald Trump, despite his flaws, need only watch a recording of the Democrats’ fanatical LGBTQ town hall last week. From Elizabeth Warren mocking religious males as incapable of finding a wife to Beto O’Rourke’s promise to strip tax benefits from religious institutions, or Cory Booker’s assertion that Catholics use religion to justify discrimination, you see the ugly face of militant secularism and coercion. It is frightening that every one of the nine Democratic candidates who took part in the CNN event has signed up to extreme policies that attack religious liberty and radically...

"The Five" discussed Monday whether or not Democrats are underestimating President Trump and his ability to connect with voters. Fox News correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera made the case that the president's Friday rally showed that he will be "formidable." "I'm telling you no Democrat could match that enthusiasm, even with Beyonce they couldn't get their kind of a crowd and keep that crowd for as long as he did," Geraldo said Monday. "He had them spellbound. He is a master performer." Trump slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a Friday night rally in Louisiana, saying "Nancy Pelosi hates the United...

Many of you dismissed my call for a Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump rematch as lunacy. “Call me crazy,” I wrote. Some of the more polite responses did. But it definitely caught the attention of Donald Trump. How else to explain his out-of-right-field tweet Tuesday after yours truly wrote that Clinton would make a far stronger 2020 opponent than any of the Democrats now running? “I think that Crooked Hillary Clinton should enter the race to try and steal it away from Uber Left Elizabeth Warren,” the president tweeted. “Only one condition. The Crooked one must explain all of her...