Free Republic

Well, it’s begun. The Trump impeachment circus has engulfed the Hill. House Democrats are keeping a tight lid on the unofficial impeachment inquiry, selectively releasing documents that cater to their narrative and babysitting GOP members on the committees involved in this witch-hunt. They’re giving them one-page summaries of hearings and testimonies, shadowed by a Democratic staffer. It’s pure nonsense. It all stems from a whistleblower account from a reported CIA agent, who admits to being a registered Democrat, had worked in the Obama White House, and with a 2020 Democratic candidate. Oh, and this person contacted the staff of Rep....

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday, former Secretary of State John Kerry commented on what he believes is serious evidence that has mounted against President Trump in the House impeachment inquiry. He went on to compare the situation to former President Nixon's impeachment. "The evidence is powerful, some of it more powerful already than what we saw in the impeachment of Richard Nixon," Kerry said in the CNN interview. "The evidence at this point in time certainly merits the inquiry that is taking place." The former secretary did not go as far as to say Trump should...

The Macallan 1926 60-year-old single malt from cask number 263 had been estimated to sell for between £350,000 and £450,000. Sotheby's, which held the auction, did not release the identity of the buyer. The previous auction record for a single bottle of Scotch was £1.2m, set by another bottle from the same cask in November last year. Sotheby's described The Macallan 1926 from cask number 263 as the "holy grail" of whisky. Iconic bottles The cask, which was distilled in 1926 and bottled in 1986, produced only 40 bottles. The bottle featured at the auction as part of what Sotheby's...

It's easy to like Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Her calm delivery and non-elitist persona is a sharp contrast to her fellow 2020 candidates, especially when on the debate stage. While others like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke loudly compete for who can be the most extreme, she presents herself as a moderate alternative. Gabbard is less well-known than other, decidedly controversial Democrats. Throughout the campaign, her abysmal poll numbers have hovered around the 2% mark. But while she is not a legitimate election threat, she has gained the admiration of a portion of voters on the right. Her recent tussle...

Recently, the Trump administration took the laudable step of announcing a proposed ban on all flavored e-cigarettes in the United States. Recognizing that we are in the midst of a youth vaping epidemic, as well as the sudden explosion of vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths, the president rightly sprung into action. Flavors are a gateway to vaping, addiction, illness and even death, and by removing them from the market, we can take a serious bite out of this tragic crisis.Predictably, vaping giant Juul, who is more than one-third owned by tobacco giant Altria, is quietly trying to chip away at...

Very few people today, even good Catholics, realize that to follow our human opinions or to cleverly change the truths, expressed in the doctrines of the Church, will have, afterwards, very great devastating effects both here on earth and after death, as seen in history and in the Old Testament. In the first centuries of the Church many wars were fought over these precious truths. Now few even care about these safeguards of life, liberty and happiness, now and for all eternity! This is why today the very numerous followers of Satan can EASILY LEAD THE GREAT MAJORITY WHERE THEY...

Green New Dealers have convinced themselves that our planet faces an imminent, existential, manmade climate cataclysm – that can be prevented solely and simply by replacing fossil fuels with biofuel, wind, solar and battery energy. They achieve this state of absolute certainty largely by propagating constant scare stories while ignoring and suppressing contradictory evidence and viewpoints.They deliberately and deceptively talk about “carbon pollution.” Carbon is soot – what our cars, factories and power plants now emit in very small quantities. The honest, accurate term is carbon dioxide: the colorless, odorless, invisible gas that we exhale and plants need to grow, by...

Relatedly, Representative Collins asserts that HJC's investigation cannot be "preliminarily to" an impeachment trial until the full House passes a resolution authorizing a "formal impeachment proceeding." Collins Mem. at 1. DOJ equivocates on this proposed bright line test to meet the "preliminarily to" requirement, Hr'g Tr. at 69:10-11, but seems to indicate that the House must go at least that far, see DOJ Resp. at 28. Like all bright-line rules, this "House resolution" test is appealing in terms of being easy to apply. Yet, the reasoning supporting this proposed test is fatally flawed. The precedential support cited for the "House...

3D printed Bolt Action .223 Rifle, successfully Test Fired U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- The .223 Remington cartridge is a high-intensity rifle and pistol cartridge. The SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute, Inc) allowable pressure level for the .223 is 55,000 psi. In most “3D printed” AR-15 type rifles, only the lower receivers are 3D printed for the platforms they are on. The lower receiver holds together the fire control system. There is little mechanical strength needed. Upper receivers have not generally been printed because they are easily available in the United States. They are considered a firearm part, like a buttstock,...

Senate Republicans could convict, or threaten to convict, thereby pressuring Trump to resign. They could even work out a deal by which they acquit in exchange for Trump not seeking a second term. Each of these options would leave the Republicans in need of a compromise candidate with very little time left on the clock. Republicans would need someone who understood the requirements of a national campaign, someone with widespread (and largely positive) name recognition, and someone on the record opposing both Trump and Trumpism. Senator Mitt Romney is all of those things. Running Romney would immediately alienate the Trump...

“The image that lasted from the trip (to Cuba) was from the museum in Santa Clara, where the photograph showed Che Guevara smiling as he fed the baby Ernesto with a milk bottle.”Aaaw….sniffle…sniffle.   I’m telling you that Che Guevara was a veritable Mr. Mom, with shades of Ward Cleaver and Fred Mac Murray as Steven Douglas in "My Three Sons"! You see, amigos: an author for Smithsonian.com recently went on a motorcycle tour of Cuba with Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s son Ernesto as tour guide. The passage above pretty much sums up the hard-nosed “insights” provided by the article.“Santa Clara was the...

NEW YORK, NY—In an inspiring story from the world of professional cycling, a motorcyclist who identifies as a bicyclist has crushed all the regular bicyclists, setting an unbelievable world record. In a local qualifying race for the World Road Cycling League, the motorcyclist crushed the previous 100-mile record of 3 hours, 13 minutes with his amazing new score of well under an hour. Professional motorcycle racer Judd E. Banner, the brave trans-vehicle rider, was allowed to race after he told league organizers he's always felt like a bicyclist in a motorcyclist's body. "Look, my ride has handlebars, two wheels, and...

A friend told me about his trip out with his grandson. This is what he said. "Last week, I took my grandchildren to a restaurant. My 6 year-old grandson asked if he could say grace." As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food and I would thank you even more if Grandpa gets us ice cream for dessert. And liberty, peace & justice for all. Amen!" Along with the laughter and nodding of heads from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman at the next table remark, "That's what's...

Many in the media are pushing men to talk about a topic that they had previously branded a “woman’s issue”: abortion.Just this week, on October 21, men’s magazine GQ and women’s magazine Glamour jointly published a piece with the headline, “12 Men Share Their Abortion Stories.” Abortion activist Amelia Bonow responded by tweeting a video of men interviewed about abortion from The Cut. Three days later, women’s site Refinery29 spread the message with its story, “Men On How Abortion Changed Their Lives.”  The media message seemed simple: men should talk about abortion, and they should talk about it positively.In the GQ and Glamour piece,...

This will be a weekly post. Count is now 155 judges confirmed. 110 District Court judges 43 Circuit Court judges 2 Supreme Court justices The Senate Judiciary committee voted out two Circuit nominees to the floor this week, one for the 2nd and one for the 9th.

I'd like to gather a list of accomplishments that President Trump has achieved since his inauguration. I am hoping that my fellow Freepers would help me with this list or point me in the right direction to find such a list. Thanks

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif) defended the restrictions he has decreed for Republican members of Congress who want to review the transcripts of the secret testimony his impeachment hearings are compiling. Under his rules there is only a single copy of the transcripts that is kept in a locked room under the constant guard of Democratic staff. Republicans wanting to see the transcripts cannot take notes and must agree to be strip searched before they are allowed to leave the room. "Back in 2003 an individual stole and destroyed some classified documents from our National Archives," Schiff...

Kanye wasn’t lying; this is all about God. From the song titles to lyrics, Jesus Is King is centered around Christianity. If you haven’t listened yet, expect lines that illustrate Ye’s relationship to Christ and mission to spread the gospel. “I know Christ is the fountain that filled my cup/I know God is alive,” he sings on “God Is.” While some lyrics are celebratory and sound like testimony, Kanye also sprinkles in more aggressive bars that could be interpreted as commands: “Follow Jesus, listen, and obey,” he spits on “Closed on Sunday.” Later on “God Is,” he instructs fans to...

Concrete is the second-most used material on earth. It is also the second-largest emitter of CO2, with cement manufacturing accounting for 5 to 7 percent of annual emissions. The continued popularity of concrete as a material of choice in the design and construction industry, coupled with increasing unease of the environmental consequences, has put concrete firmly in the spotlight of innovation and experimentation. As a result, designers, architects, and researchers around the world are generating multiple visions for what the future of concrete in architecture could look like. Concrete has been a material of choice for architects and builders for...

Earlier this week, Truett Foster McKeehan — who performed as Shiloh, truDog, and TRU — died suddenly of cardiac arrest at the age of 21. Kevin Michael McKeehan, better known as TobyMac, shared a heart-wrenching statement after the sudden death of his son, along with the moving last text messages between them. TobyMac stood by his faith in God despite this tragedy.