Free Republic

There are multiple critical paragraphs within the carefully constructed, and intentionally released, opening statement by fired FBI Director James Comey. However, one of the more brutally transparent paragraphs deserves some highlighted attention. Page #2, paragraphs #2 and #3: ♦ We know from James Comey’s own admission, the entire construct of the FBI counterintelligence investigation was predicated on the now debunked, and politically motivated, fake “Russian Dossier”. Specifically this “Dossier” was the foundational document for the FISA warrants to secretly spy-on, or surveil, associates within the Trump orbit – during the election campaign and after the election outcome.

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new climate change agreement between the State of California and the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday. The gesture continued Brown’s efforts to expand ties with China, as well as his diplomatic campaign to push for more action on climate change. It came in the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords.

On Nov. 24, 2015 Wood, now a father of eight and former pastor, was arrested after passing out about 50 Fully Informed Jury Association fliers on the sidewalk in front of the Mecosta County Courthouse on the day of another trial. The fliers discuss juror rights including those that are debated and often not read by judges in jury instructions: including a juror's right to vote their conscience, or jury nullification. ... Mecosta County Circuit Judge Kimberly Booher tried the case and ruled against the defense arguing much of First Amendment issues before the jury. ... A jury of six...

The American Civil Liberties Union has taken a stand in opposition to a proposed Maine law that would make it illegal for parents to mutilate the genitals of their daughters. "This bill unfairly targets Muslims for carrying out traditions of their faith," charged ACLU spokesman Oamshri Amarasingham. "Jews are allowed to mutilate their sons. Why shouldn't Muslims be permitted to mutilate their daughters?" Sponsor of the bill Rep. Heather Sirocki (R-Scarborough) disputed the comparability argument. "Circumcising males only removes a portion of the penis' foreskin," she pointed out. "It does not destroy the possibility of sexual performance or satisfaction that...

The Wisconsin legislature is moving forward with Constitutional Carry in bill AB 247.  In 1998, the people of Wisconsin voted for Constitutional Carry in a state referendum amending the state constitution. The amendment, which created Article I, Section 25, is very clear. It received 74% of the vote. From Article I Section 25:  The people have the right to keep and bear arms for security, defense, hunting, recreation or any other lawful purpose. AB 247 is a comprehensive bill that puts Section 25 into practical law in Wisconsin.  From fox6now.com: MADISON -- A proposed bill would allow people in...

The deadline to pass bills from their house of origin is this Friday, June 2. Yesterday, May 30, the Senate passed anti-gun bill, Senate Bill 497, which extends California’s one-handgun-a-month limitation to all guns, by a vote of 25 – 13. It is obvious this legislation is another attempt to place more barriers on those exercising their rights and does nothing to address the criminal misuse of firearms or firearm trafficking. Criminals who generally acquire their firearms through illicit means will continue to ignore California’s stringent laws including limitations on the number of firearms that can be acquired within a...

Christopher Wheeler, who is awaiting trial for child abuse, was taken into custody in a Broward Court on Tuesday for not providing a working iPhone pass code to police. David Ovalle dovalle@miamiherald.com A Hollywood man must serve 180 days in jail for refusing to give up his iPhone password to police, a Broward judge ruled Tuesday — the latest salvo in intensifying legal battles over law-enforcement access to smart phones. Christopher Wheeler, 41, was taken into custody in a Broward Circuit Court, insisting he had already provided the pass code to police investigating him for child abuse, although the number...

State secessionist movements are long shots at best, but New Yorkers pushing for a breakup between the Big Apple and upstate are counting on the very real possibility of a constitutional convention to boost their odds. Voters will decide in November whether to hold a statewide constitutional convention in 2019, thanks to the New York State Constitution, which allows for such an event every 20 years. It’s a rare opportunity that the Divide NYS Caucus hopes to seize. “It’s time to cease fantasizing that NYS legislators have the best interests of the people in mind,” the caucus said in a...

In 2011, on November 2nd, The Lincoln City Police Department received a call about a young man displaying a firearm in an Astro van outside of a convenience store. The call lead to the felony stop of an Astro van about 4 hours later.In the van was 58-year-old black pastor who was a double amputee. The officers forced the pastor, Leroy Duffie, to exit the van with his hands held up, after he had told them that he could not do so because of his disability. At gunpoint, Duffie opened his door, and twisted his body in an attempt...

As his city mourns two men who were killed after confronting a man screaming anti-Muslim slurs, Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) is calling on federal officials to block what he called “alt-right demonstrations” from happening in downtown Portland, Ore. His concern is that the two rallies, both scheduled in June, will escalate an already volatile situation in Portland by peddling “a message of hatred and of bigotry.” Although the organizers of the rallies have a constitutional right to speak, “hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment,” Wheeler told reporters.

Utahns are consulting the U.S. Constitution more than usual because of Congressman Jason Chaffetz’s resignation. A vacancy in the House of Representatives is unique among all federal offices because it must be filled by an election. No appointments are permitted for membership in what is often called “The People’s House.” Federal judges are chosen by the president, with Senate confirmation of the appointment. The same is true for Cabinet officers. Governors may make appointments to fill Senate vacancies. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich infamously tried to auction the Senate seat vacated when Barack Obama was elected president; that’s why Blagojevich...

Dan Calabrese’s new column on Hillary Clinton’s past may bring the curtain down on her political future. Calabrese interviewed Jerry Zeifman, the man who served as chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate hearings, has tried to tell the story of his former staffer’s behavior during those proceedings for years. Zeifman claims he fired Hillary for unethical behavior and that she conspired to deny Richard Nixon counsel during the hearings: As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a...

Democrats reeling from a devastating election face a daunting task: the 2018 Senate map. It favors Republicans in a big way. The GOP will be defending just eight seats, while Democrats must fight for 23 — plus another two held by independents who caucus with Democrats. What’s worse is the fact that many of the seats they must defend are in states won by Republican Donald Trump . Midterm elections for sitting presidents are historically challenging. Democrats in the Senate are hoping to find some political momentum for 2018 given the difficult playing ground. Here are 10 Senate seats that...

Subtitle: Court and Country. Article V opponents and some proponents view the Article V COS movement through the lens of our national political parties. The time is long past to dislodge oneself from this paradigm. To remain in this mindset is unhelpful at best, and destructive at worst, because the two national parties are one Uniparty incapable of reforming the racket that serves its members so well. Professor Angelo M. Codevilla coined the term, “Uniparty” in 2013. His explosive article nudged many conservatives to accept what they long suspected, that among the top echelons of the two parties there is...

Faced with mounting unrest, Venezuela's unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro vowed to push ahead in July with the formation of a "constituent assembly" to rewrite the constitution before regional elections in December.

Over the course of my life I watched the Left evolve from a counter-culture phenomena into authoritarians. Along their journey, they necessarily deny self-evident truths. When I was a kid, the Left engaged in discourse. I watched them on William F. Buckley’s Firing Line. All of the big libs showed up to engage Mr. Conservative. I learned that while groundless opinions are eventually destroyed, rational arguments and judgments are confirmed over time. I believed that for most of my life. Today, I’m not as sure. In a new high school course on the Constitution during my junior year (1971), I...

A new document, titled “Democracy Matters: Strategic Plan for Action”, was discovered recently that reveals a liberal coalition of business entities and groups and their plans to influence the media and the general public for the 2017-2020 period featuring everything from Russian-conspiracy jargon to anti-Trump dictums. The four entities are as follows: Media Matters for America, American Bridge, CREW, and Shareblue. Each has their own strategic plan. This is the first of three articles that will be outlining the planned media assault that is currently underway. We are calling this initiative to spread their game plan’s contents: #BrockGate, after the...

Subtitle: How to Neuter the Administrative State. Newt Gingrich’s 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA) is a Constitutional counterthrust to an unconstitutional fact of life. Presented in the form of regulations, the executive branch writes most of the laws we live under, in violation of Article I § 1. Loathing the CRA. In this inverted reality of legislative power, unelected bureaucrats write the laws for the nation. Agencies do not submit proposed regulations for congressional approval. Instead, in our corrupted system, regulations go into effect unless congress and the president stop them! I loathe the CRA because, without saying, it elevates...

HB 68 (Constitutional Carry), was killed in the House Committee on Criminal Justice in an 8-5 vote. The vote was not recorded, so we do not know who voted which way.  There are 10 Republicans, 8 Democrats, and 1 independent on the committee. That is 19 members. But only 13 members voted. Who were the absent committee members? No one who knows is willing to say. From wafb.com: BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - The House Committee on Criminal Justice shot down a bill Wednesday that would have eliminated the process for obtaining a concealed carry permit. Representative Barry Ivey...

President Trump says he did not ask former FBI Director James Comey for a loyalty pledge, but doesn’t think it would be “inappropriate” to do so. Jeanine Pirro of Fox News asked Trump Saturday night if he would ask the new FBI director for a pledge of loyalty. “I want loyalty to the country,” Trump responded. “I want loyalty to the United States of America. I want him to do a great job–or her–to do a great job, and I think we have some wonderful candidates.” Pirro asked Trump about reports from the New York Times that he asked Comey...