Free Republic

President Donald Trump's choice for national security adviser, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has turned down the offer, sources familiar with Harward's decision said on Thursday. Harward was offered the job after Michael Flynn was fired by Trump on Monday for misleading Vice President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States. Two sources familiar with the decision said Harward turned down the job in part because he wanted to bring in his own team.

Hundreds of former Environmental Protection Agency officials have signed a letter in protest of Scott Pruitt’s nearing confirmation as EPA Administrator. The letter, put together by the nonprofit group Environmental Integrity Project, was signed by 773 former EPA staffers, including scientists, engineers and attorneys. The EIP sent the letter to the Senate, where members could confirm Pruitt as early as Friday, the organization said in a statement. “Pruitt, a close ally of the oil and gas industry, has made a career of suing EPA and attacking the idea of federal action to reduce pollution – while simultaneously failing to enforce...

You can’t trust the media. Even if you don’t support Trump, this is a fact that cannot be escaped. It is the same media that lied us into killing millions of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria while bankrupting the country. It is the same media that are beholden to their corporate masters. And it is the same media that are now frantically against Trump. When nothing is ever confirmed or verified, and it’s all coming from “sources”, it’s dishonest to even describe it as a story, let alone some kind of smoking gun. With the email leaks on...

Ivanka Trump is perhaps the second-most watched person in the White House. The oldest daughter of the President, her position as a policy activist and adviser is unique in presidential history. Working through the ranks to become a clear voice for women’s issues, coupled with her considerable business acumen, she should be a respected figure regardless of politics. Instead, she faces a special scorn from Third Wave feminists and leftists alike (but I repeat myself) for one major reason: being her father’s daughter. One would think that a woman’s reputation is based on more than her relationship with a man....

Millions Went To California Dam In Good Shape The Washington Free Beacon is reporting that of the $34 billion that the State of California received from Obama’s 2009 stimulus package, $0 went to the failing Oroville dam while millions went to a dam that was in ‘good shape’. From The Free Beacon: Despite more than a decade of warnings about Oroville, there is no public record of the country’s tallest dam receiving any of the more than $34 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sent to California for infrastructure projects. Over $22 million in stimulus funds did go...

Trump Triumphs Over Press Feb 16, 2017 RUSH: In very measured tones, the president is firing howitzers at the media and the Washington establishment. I’ll characterize this later. Let’s just JIP it now to get in here while we can. THE PRESIDENT: …doing what I pledge to do. That’s all I’m doing. I put it out before the American people, got 306 Electoral College votes. I wasn’t supposed to get 222. They said, “There’s no way to get 222; 230 is impossible,” 270, which you need? That was laughable. We got 306. Because people came out and voted like they’d...

Major General Rupert Jones, UK deputy commander of the Coalition forces against ISIS, said that most likely the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will take Raqqa, and not the Turkey-led groups that are currently fighting in al-Bab.“The force that looks most likely capable to conduct the liberation of Raqqa remains the SDF. Are we confident in the SDF? Absolutely we are. We’ve seen their fighting spirit, we’ve seen what they’re capable of doing. They re-took Manbij, a very tough fight, and they prevailed in the face of a tough opposition,” Jones said.“We’ve also always said that we would discuss with our partners...

President Donald Trump held a press conference today in Washington DC. He slammed the media throughout the presser. President Trump decided to speak to the American people directly today. This comes after the #FakeNews media continued its war on the Trump administration.

Just saw Madison Gesiotto on Neil Cavuto discussing a day without imigrant. She was opposed by a another woman, who had synthetic and contrived sound bites regarding citizen, those waiting for years on their papers and conflating illegal immigration with legal citizens, who pay their taxes, come to America to improve the lives of their families. Of course she used obfuscation to describe immigration, refusing to acknowledge the difference between Lawful and Legal Immigration. Stupidly, she told Madison "Your family were immigrants" As Madison pointed out, her family came here as legal immigrants and worked hard to become citizens, who...

The House voted Thursday to make it easier for states to deny federal family-planning funds to groups such as Planned Parenthood that also perform abortions. A rule imposed by the Obama administration says that states cannot deny funding to clinics for reasons unrelated to their ability to provide basic family planning services. Federal dollars cannot be used to pay for abortions, except in restricted circumstances. Tennessee Rep. Diane Black and other Republicans said the rule, finalized in December, unfairly restricts how states can spend federal family-planning funds. …

WASHINGTON — A new poll shows Ivanka Trump is viewed in high regard by most Republicans and some Democrats. In recent weeks, her clothing line’s performance and related retail decisions have spurred what critics call a conflict of interest from officials. Meanwhile, Nordstrom — which drew President Donald Trump’s ire for its decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s clothing line — is less popular among self-identified Republicans, but shows strong support among Democrats compared to other retailers, the poll found. The PredictWise and Pollfish survey received responses from 1,200 people on Feb. 13 through online and in-app polling methods. Economist David...

Video has John McCain conducting foreign policy without President. I don't know if it is real or not, but it sure sounds like McCain

The Catholic bishop of Albany, New York did not spare any criticism this week for politicians who support abortion and claim to be practicing Catholics. Bishop Edward Scharfenberger’s statement on Monday came in response to the national debate about defunding the abortion business Planned Parenthood, according to the Church Militant. Three politicians who represent his area and claim to be Catholic attended a pro-Planned Parenthood rallies last weekend, the report continued. Scharfenberger did not mention any names in his statement Monday, but he did criticize politicians who ignore the plight of unborn babies and biblical teachings about the sanctity of...

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle area man detained by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children admitted to having gang ties, the U.S. Justice Department said in court documents filed Thursday. Ramirez "stated 'no, not no more,' when asked if he is or has been involved with any gang activity," the government said in documents filed in U.S. District Court. Lawyers for Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, called the allegation "wholly fabricated." The court documents also said Ramirez, who is Mexican and arrived in the U.S. at age 7,...

The Rt Rev. Mark Davies, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, insists that the pastoral accompaniment of couples in painful situations must "never compromise our faith in the marriage bond." Bishop Davies defended the indissolubility of marriage during a homily he delivered at the annual  Diocesan Celebration of Marriage. Referring to Our Lady of Lourdes, Bishop Davies also stressed the necessity of penance in the context of the Holy Eucharist: Pope Francis reminds us that, amid the present crisis of the family, the Church never abandons any soul. She ardently desires to accompany and bring healing to everyone in every situation,...

It has been a day of turmoil for President Trump, who after finding himself on the defensive following Monday's resignation by Mike Flynn (which may or may not lead to legal charges) and allegedly getting snubbed by Vladimir Putin, now has another potential crisis on his hands: according to both the FT and CBS, Trump's pick for National Security Advisor, Robert Harward - a senior executive at Lockheed Martin - has turned down the President's offer, citing "obvious dysfunctionality" in the administration. According to the FT, it is not yet a complete rejection as "Trump is trying to convince his...

Only twenty-four days since the inauguration of the new president and Christians have plenty of reasons to be thankful for Donald Trump. The President, Vice President and the Republican party are keeping their campaign promises to Catholics and evangelical Christians about pro-life issues, gender ideology, and Obamacare.  Here are just some of the reasons why Christians can be thankful for President Trump and his administration: U.S. House of Representatives votes to overturn Obama regulation forcing states to fund Planned Parenthood Faced with an increasing number of states passing laws to defund the industrial-scale abortion providers Planned Parenthood, ex-President Obama...

Black Democratic congressman says Trump 'made up' story about him canceling White House meeting because Chuck Schumer told him to Donald Trump said during Thursday's press conference that Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings had canceled a White House meeting with him The president said he was willing to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss urban issues, and cited Cummings as a Democrat he could work with But Cummings, he said, had made it impossible to schedule a meeting – and he blamed Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer for telling him not to come Cummings disputed the story, but only...

The Catholic bishop of Albany, New York did not spare any criticism this week for politicians who support abortion and claim to be practicing Catholics. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Bishop Edward Scharfenberger’s statement on Monday came in response to the national debate about defunding the abortion business Planned Parenthood, according to the Church Militant.Three politicians who represent his area and claim to be Catholic attended a pro-Planned Parenthood rallies last weekend, the report continued. Scharfenberger did not mention any names in his statement Monday, but he did criticize politicians who ignore the plight of unborn babies and biblical teachings about the sanctity...

A feminist organization at a Minnesota college recently invited students to batter a Donald Trump effigy during a school-wide recruitment fair. The Gustavus Adolphus College “Womyn’s Awareness Center” (the misspelling is intentional) erected an effigy of President Trump alongside its recruitment table Wednesday, encouraging passers-by to unleash their political anger on a replica of the new president.