Free Republic

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Rand Paul has actually done something that I don't think -- it may have happened -- I don't think an elected Republican has done. I don't think an elected Republican's actually turned the tables on the issue of abortion against a Democrat. Now, I know that all kinds of so-called conservative activists -- like Phyllis Schlafly is superb on this when she gets in debates with these leftists -- don't misunderstand. But I'm talking about elected officials who normally run from this issue. You remember what this is about. Rand Paul's up there after he's announced, and...

Despite repeated claims to the contrary, Mayor de Blasio is positioning himself to be the leftist “progressive” alternative to Wall Street-friendly Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Democratic candidate for president, a national party operative told The Post. De Blasio’s hope, the operative said, is a “draft de Blasio’’ movement will develop among progressive activists over the next several months that will lead to the mayor being able to defeat Clinton in the primary elections next year in much the same way leftist Sen. George McGovern successfully challenged the initially front-running establishment Democratic candidate, Sen. Edmund Muskie, more than 40 years...

Lexus liberals ignore how their climate change agenda hurts the less fortunateBarack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and the whole gang of Democratic leaders claim that one of their highest priorities is to lift up the middle class and reduce the income gap between rich and poor.That goal collides with what they admit is their very highest priority: stopping climate change. Their agenda is driven by the millionaire and billionaire Democratic donors who make the party possible. But the agenda also involves making energy, home heating, transportation and just about everything else less efficient and more expensive to the middle...

Two dissident candidates conceded defeat Sunday in Cuban local elections that offered them a chance to become the first officials elected from outside the Communist Party in 40 years. Hildebrando Chaviano and Yuniel Lopez had been chosen as candidates by a show of hands in Havana neighborhood nominating meetings and hoped to win two of the 12,589 seats at stake in 168 municipal councils. Both acknowledged they had no chance of winning after preliminary results showed Chaviano in last place of four candidates and one of Lopez’s pro-government opponent with twice his vote. Chaviano, 65, is a government attorney-turned-independent journalist...

Clarity needed amid cacophony of tired clichés Finally, thanks to Hillary Clinton, we “average” and “ordinary” Americans are getting our day in the sun. Folks, this is a big responsibility. The only viable Democrat so far in the 2016 presidential sweepstakes is depending on our telling her what it is we really, really want. We have to get this right.The first thing she did after issuing her “I am running” video, which did not exactly give us any reason to vote for her but made her look pleasant, was to head in a van dubbed Scooby to Iowa, via Chipotle,...

On Friday, the New York Times stated, in a blaring headline, that my support for Second Amendment rights is “strange.” In particular, the writer took issue with my statement that “”the Second Amendment to the Constitution isn’t for just protecting hunting rights, and it’s not only to safeguard your right to target practice. It is a constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny — for the protection of liberty.” In addition to “strange,” the NYT described this view as “ridiculous,” “silly,” and “absurd” (methinks the...

Some politicos are born servile, others have servility thrust upon them.The Pantone Color Institute, which normally finds itself in the news exactly once a year, when it proclaims the “color of the year” — 2015’s is marsala — last week heralded the christening of a new color: “Minion Yellow,” named for the rascally henchmen who assist Gru in the “Despicable Me” films. Apparently, the proprietary-color world is trolling the political world. This is the Age of Minions. Practically all colors have symbolic associations, and yellow’s baggage is ugly and complicated: The yellow-bellied are cowards; yellow journalism is dishonest and irresponsible;...

Breitbart News caused a stink when it reported on presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s alleged comments on Obama’s unilateral executive immigration programs. The headline inaccurately suggested that Rubio supported President Obama’s executive immigration overreach. As we will discuss, this was only one of numerous mistranslations.

... Statues of ... historical figures stand in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, where each state has two representatives cast in bronze or marble ... [Father Junipero] Serra could be the first and only actual saint in Statuary Hall -- Pope Francis recently announced plans to canonize him -- yet he's also a polarizing figure. Is it time to send Serra to the sidelines (or more accurately, move his statue to the California Capitol grounds)? ... Take our pointedly unreliable poll, leave a comment or do both! ...

Jeb Bush on Friday in New Hampshire called for the U.S. "to work with the rest of the world to negotiate a way to reduce carbon emissions.” The remarks at a "Politics & Eggs" event brought praise from billionaire Tom Steyer's group NextGen Climate, which has spent millions in recent elections blasting Republicans on climate change. "Jeb Bush demonstrated leadership today on the issue of climate change—distancing himself from the other Republican presidential hopefuls and demonstrating why climate change doesn’t have to be a partisan issue," the group said in an email to reporters. "Today in New Hampshire, Bush expressed...

Bill Clinton has paid tribute to the resilience of the Oklahoman people on the 20th anniversary of the worst homegrown terrorist attack America has ever seen. (snip) Twenty years later, former president Clinton addressed hundreds of people gathered at the site of the federal building to commemorate the dead, hailing the city as an example to the world of a strong and compassionate community. (snip) 'I prepared for this day yesterday in New York by taking Hillary to see our daughter and son-in-law and my about to be seven-month-old grandchild. 'Hillary and I bathed her and fed her and put...

Interventionism, Allegedly a Middle-of-the-Road Policy A second group seems to be less radical. They reject socialism no less than capitalism. They recommend a third system, which, as they say, is as far from capitalism as it is from socialism, which as a third system of society's economic organization, stands midway between the two other systems, and while retaining the advantages of both, avoids the disadvantages inherent in each. This third system is known as the system of interventionism. In the terminology of American politics it is often referred to as the middle-of-the-road policy. What makes this third system popular with...

“The difference is purely in implementation. If you had a philosophical discussion on what the world should look like, there would be no difference.”(AUDIO-AT-LINK) Rand Paul’s brother says that when it comes to ideology, there’s “no difference” between his brother, the Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate, and his father, the former congressman and three-time presidential candidate. Ronnie Paul, the eldest son of the former congressman and sometimes-surrogate for his brother, was speaking with libertarian podcaster Israel Anderson. He said that both his brother and father held the same beliefs, there’s just a difference in the implementation of how to...

... Having had the good fortune to serve beside [Ruth Bader Ginsburg] on [the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court], I can attest that her opinions are always thoroughly considered, always carefully crafted and almost always correct (which is to say we sometimes disagree). That much is apparent for all to see ...

exas Sen. Ted Cruz said Saturday that he would not support Loretta Lynch for attorney general and that the only "way to defeat ISIS is a simple and clear military objective. "We will destroy them," Cruz said of the Islamic State to cheers at the Republican Leadership Summit in Nashua, N.H. [snip] "We need a commander-in chief who says the objective is not to weaken, not to degrade ISIS," Cruz said in answering a summit participant's question. "It is to utterly and completely destroy ISIS. [snip] Any decision on whether to use American combat troops should be "driven by the...

p class="zn-body__paragraph">Washington (CNN)Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker endorsed a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants during a private dinner with Republican leaders in New Hampshire two weeks ago, backing away from the more hard-line position he has staked out in public and obscuring where he stands on the hot-button issue.At a March 13 dinner at the Copper Door Restaurant in Bedford organized by New Hampshire GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Horn, Walker, a likely candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, was asked how he would address the problem of roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.After he...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told an Iowa talk radio show host on Saturday that young Christians should wait until President Obama left office before considering military service. He said there is a culture of persecution in the military under Obama, making it a “hostile work environment.”

Cruz: "The Massacre of the Armenian, Assyrian, and other Christian People Should be Called what it is: Genocide" WASHINGTON--Republican Presidential Candidate, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on April 18 marked the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide with a statement calling for the proper recognition of the massacre of Armenian, Assyrian, and other Christian peoples as genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). Republican Presidential Candidate, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Cruz's statement, addressed to the Armenian Church of Austin, was read on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol, during the Austin Peace March and Rally, an observance attended...

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio says he does not believe sexual orientation is a choice for the "enormous majority of people."The Florida senator's comments came Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, where he said that it should be up to states rather than the Supreme Court to define marriage and that he considers marriage to be between a man and a woman. "I also don't believe that your sexual preferences are a choice for the vast and enormous majority of people. In fact, the bottom line is, I believe that sexual preference is something people are born with," Rubio said. He and...

EXCERPT “She’s been around a long time answering questions,” Weiner said, “but I think to some degree this is just the way it appears: She wanted to have a campaign that began a way that was most comfortable to her.” Weiner also made it clear he was speaking for himself — not for his wife. “We talk about just about everything except the campaign,” Weiner said, “I don’t think she even knows I’m here today, except that she’s alone with Jordan.”