Free Republic

The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in...

As Egypt plunges into crisis John Kerry has been allegedly spotted relaxing at his holiday home in Nantucket for Independence Day. The Secretary of State, who has just returned from a 12-day tour to the Middle East, was spotted near the July 4 festivities in the center of town, and on his yacht. With the Egyptian military ousting President Morsi amid violent protests, many in Nantucket were surprised to see Mr. Kerry at his holiday home rather than in Washington. He is staying at the popular Massachusetts island near Cape Cod with his daughters and their husbands, according to the...

James Gandolfini, the heavyweight actor who won multiple Emmy Awards for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano in the smash HBO series, died today. HBO confirmed his death. He was 51. Gandolfini suffered a heart attack in Italy. He was due to appear at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily this weekend.

President Obama is under fire for the price of the first family’s upcoming weeklong trip to Africa, which could cost taxpayers as much as $100 million at a time of federal budget cuts and furloughs. The Obamas’ trip will take them to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa from June 26 to July 3. The excursion will involve military cargo planes airlifting 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines, and three trucks to carry bulletproof glass panels to cover the windows where the family is set to stay. One estimate of the cost has pegged the bill to U.S. taxpayers at somewhere...

The long-running news show formerly helmed by Jim Lehrer will make its first major layoffs in nearly 20 years, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The company will close its offices in San Francisco and Denver, and eliminate some of its production positions at its Washington, D.C. headquarters. "The PBS Newshour's" executive producer said that the program hoped to "build new relationships with a variety of locally based freelance video journalists around the country." "A steady drop in corporate revenue" contributed to the program's decision to cut back.

On CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) told Candy Crowley that the IRS scandal involving targeting of conservatives had been “solved.” Crowley asked, “As far as you are concerned, based on the information that you now have, which in its totality is greater than ours, is this case over, have you solved the case of the IRS and how this came to be?” Cummings answered, “Based upon everything I’ve seen, the case is solved. If it were me, I’d wrap this case up and move on.” Cummings added that he would release transcripts of IRS...

Lizz Winstead heard about the tornado touching down in Oklahoma today and her liberal ideology quickly kicked in. Winstead, who created The Daily Show and uses social media to promote her far-left views, sent out this Twitter joke earlier today: "This tornado is in Oklahoma so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives." Social media brushback quickly followed, and Winstead served up a speedy apology for letting her progressive nature supercede a sense of decency toward the victims of the tornado. "Made a political joke, Twas before devastation revealed. In hindsight, had I understood, I would have refrained....

Original title: 'As an African-American you have to work twice as hard': Obama tells Morehouse graduates he has a 'special obligation' to help less-fortunate black people ----------------------------------- President Barack Obama told graduates from the traditionally African-American Morehouse College yesterday that 'as a black man' he feels a 'special obligation' to help those less fortunate them him. In a personal commencement address to the college in Atlanta, Georgia, the president spoke about racism and how, given different opportunities, he could have ended up in prison or unemployed. President Obama also told graduates of the college, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr...

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose 32,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, the most since late March. The jump comes after applications fell to a five-year low. The Labor Department said Thursday that the less volatile four-week average rose just 1,250 to 339,250, a level consistent with modest job gains. Julia Coronado, an economist at BNP Paribas, said the small increase in the average "highlight(s) the need to take volatile weekly readings with a grain of salt.... The underlying story in jobless claims continues to be one of gradual improvement." Weekly applications are a proxy for...

Breitbart News has obtained an exclusive video of Attorney General Eric Holder flatly rejecting the idea of appointing a special counsel to investigate Benghazi. Filmed on May 15 and provided to Breitbart News by Special Operations Speaks, the video shows Holder emerge from his car and walk towards the Rayburn House Office Building for hearings on the IRS scandal. Holder is clearly asked, "Mr. Holder, will you appoint a Special Counsel to investigate Benghazi?" In equally clear tones, Holder answers, "No," and disappears into the building.

Although the Obama administration has been hit by three scandals in a matter of days – new revelations about Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups, and the Justice Department seizing Associated Press phone records – the White House scoffed at comparing President Barack Obama with President Richard Nixon. At Tuesday’s White House press briefing a reporter asked, “President Obama has been compared to President Nixon. How does he feel about that?” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said he did not have a reaction from the president to relay on that matter, but also dismissed the premise of...

Alec Baldwin wins the stuffed Teddy bear prize for the most imaginative defense of the IRS scandal engulfing the Obama administration. Or, to use Baldwin's Twitter turn of phrase, "scandal." The combustible 30 Rock actor, who enjoys quitting and then rejoining social media outlets in his spare time, blamed the blooming IRS imbroglio not on President Barack Obama or anyone else in his administration but GOP strategist Karl Rove's brand of strategery.

She loves the IRS.

Republican Sen. Dean Heller (Nev.) is preparing legislation to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from hiring new agents to implement ObamaCare in light of the agency's targeting of conservative groups. The scandal has prompted fears that the IRS is incapable of neutrally enforcing major provisions of the healthcare reform law, including its individual mandate to buy insurance. "It is necessary that both Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] look closely at the money given to the IRS through the healthcare law," Heller wrote to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Tuesday.

On Monday’s “All in with Chris Hayes,” Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner had failed to do anything substantial during his tenure. “I will say this about John Boehner, and I have a good relationship [with him],” Pelosi said. “If he were a woman, they’d be calling him the weakest speaker in history.” “Well, because they don’t get anything done,” she said when Hayes asked her to explain the point. “Where are the results? What are the results? They’ve never been able to pass anything without our coming to the rescue except,...

In a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) said that Republicans in Congress should look into a mirror when asking why the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi was as deadly as it was. She said that House Republicans who voted to cut security funding for overseas embassies are directly responsible for the lack of security personnel at that outpost. Boxer’s claim is contradicted by testimony delivered before a Congressional Oversight Committee hearing last week.

The brother of Secretary of State John Kerry will temporarily join President Obama's Cabinet as the acting head of the Commerce Department. Cameron Kerry, Commerce's general counsel, will become acting secretary when Rebecca Blank, the current acting head, steps down at the end of the month. The Cabinet-level brother act may be short-lived, however: President Obama earlier this month nominated Chicago hotel executive Penny Pritzker to lead the department.

Sometimes when it rains on second-term presidents, they need more than an umbrella. President Obama tried Monday to dismiss as “political games” persistent questions about how the White House handled last year’s attacks in Benghazi, Libya, while at the same time a new uproar about IRS scrutiny of conservative advocacy organizations ignited on Capitol Hill. Obama said if IRS agents willfully exercised political bias, responsible personnel must be “held accountable.” As he was speaking, the reactions of House and Senate lawmakers suggested Obama did little to tamp down the Benghazi controversies, which have persisted since extremists killed four Americans there...

A group of Hispanic custodians at the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver are claiming they are victims of discrimination. They’ve filed a complaint against the campus operator that could be reviewed by a federal judge. What started out as a miscommunication over a schedule change for employees working the graveyard shift has become a full investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Too many things have happened to me there that I don’t even know how to explain it,” said Auraria custodian Bertha Ribota. Ribota said she was injured at work because she couldn’t read a warning sign that was...

Convicted ex-Enron Corp. CEO Jeffrey Skilling's more than 24-year prison sentence for his role in the once mighty energy giant's collapse could be reduced by as many as 10 years if a federal judge approves an agreement reached Wednesday between prosecutors and defense attorneys. Under the agreement, which Justice Department officials say includes a previous court-ordered reduction of as much as nine years, Skilling's original sentence will be reduced to somewhere between 14 and 17.5 years. The agreement still has to be approved by U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who is set to hold a June 21 hearing in Houston...