Free Republic

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Tuesday told The Associated Press that Russia and some of President Trump’s policies are a threat to American democracy. While Russia poses an external threat, “in many respects, the challenge from within is more serious because we have a president who takes issue with the First Amendment and a president who describes the press as the enemy of the people,” Schiff said. He also cited Trump’s criticism of judges who rule against him and his efforts to limit immigration from Muslim-majority countries as threats to democracy, adding that Trump is attempting to undermine the ongoing...

Obama's "echo chamber" lives on and the media are still buying... In an article on the Atlantic website, a former Obama White House staffer explains why she resigned from the Trump White House after only eight days. . . . Hers was the second story in less than a week in which a government official explained that they’d resigned because of Trump’s policies. Ned Price, a CIA analyst who worked at the Obama White House, authored a cri de coeur for the Washington Post to explain why his disagreements with Trump’s policies prompted him to leave government service. “To be...

Late today a Texas grand jury found no case against PP for selling baby parts; they did indite the producers of the video for unlawfully viewing a government form. Megyn Kelly of Fox news was the source for me. Background is that pro life Gov.of Texas appointed the prosecutor, in the case, to find if an indictment of PP could be found AGAINST them for selling baby parts. Instead the Producers were indicted! This cannot happen by accident. Even if a grand jury would not find an intictment against PP, a separate action would have to be prosecuted by the...

It's time to play America's fastest growing game show sensation, "Moron or Traitor." It's a tough challenge because this administration has plenty of both. So does a radicalized Democratic Party leaping into insanity. A Democratic candidate was recently forced to drop out for tweeting that ISIS isn't evil. But don't look for Kerry to quit over his suggestion that the ISIS massacre of Charlie Hebdo artists and writers (not to mention, as his boss put it, some random (Jewish) folks in a deli) There’s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There...

The chairman of the Federal Election Commission today blasted Democratic colleagues opposed to his effort to protect conservative media after they imposed rules on the publisher of Rep. Paul Ryan's new book, opening the door to future book regulations -- or even a ban. “By failing to affirm this publisher’s constitutional right, statutory right, to disseminate a political book free from FEC conditions and regulations, we have effectively asserted regulatory jurisdiction over a book publisher,” warned Chairman Lee E. Goodman, one of three Republicans on the six-person FEC. “That failure reveals a festering legal uncertainty and chill for the free...

Over three dozen journalist organizations including the Radio Television Digital News Association, National Press Foundation, and the Society of Professional Journalists, have asked the President to drop the "excessive controls" on public information by federal agencies, branding it "politically driven suppression of news and information about federal agencies." There has been an ongoing tension between broadcast, print and online journalists and the Obama administration, with complaints that the Administration has limited access to events, while providing its own "coverage" through official channels. n a letter to President Obama, the groups complained about policies that require journalists to go through public...

Vice President Joe Biden told people at a conference on Friday that freedom of the press includes allowing journalists to “tell people the truth, and even tell people what is not the truth.” Biden was the featured speaker on Friday at the Motion Picture Association of America, a lobbying group headed by former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), which held its second annual Creativity Conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. […] “Of course, each society is different and some are fundamentally different,” said Biden. “But there’s certain common ingredients that make up success: Basic liberties so citizens can think and...

After much criticism from conservative quarters, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has decided, at least for now, to withdraw plans for its proposed study of how media organizations gather and report news. The expressed goal of the survey was to determine if the "critical information needs" of the public are being met. In making the announcement on Friday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler indicated the survey would be "revised" and that the government agency had "no intention" of regulating political speech of journalists or other broadcasters. You couldn't prove that from reading the initial study. The obvious question is: Who gets...

Outrage is growing after authorities in Italy, citing European-level decrees, brazenly threatened journalists who refuse to promote the homosexual agenda, ordering reporters and the news media to submit to the radical new “gay” mandates or face serious sanctions — and possibly even jail time. The deeply controversial move has already sparked fierce opposition among lawmakers and religious organizations, leading at least one member of the Italian Parliament to lambaste the mandatory pro-LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) scheme as part of a new form of “dictatorship.” Fascism has been mentioned more than a few times by critics, too. The outcry...

During a segment examining the complaints lodged by a group of photojournalists relating to how the White House manipulates public accounting of events by blocking independent photography, an MSNBC panel tore into President Barack Obama's handling of relations with the press.

An amendment is moving through the Senate Judiciary Committee that would essentially allow the government to determine who is a journalist for purposes of legal protection of sources. For purposes of protecting a source, a “journalist” under law would be anyone who: Works or worked for “an entity or service that disseminates news or information by means of newspaper; nonfiction book; wire service; news agency; news website, mobile application or other news or information service…news program; magazine or other periodical…or through television or radio broadcast…” These people would have to have the “primary intent to investigate events and procure material...

Perhaps these Obama administration scandals (popularly referred to as "so-called scandals" in liberal media circles) lack the explosive drama of a Watergate and the entertainment value of Bill Clinton's peccadilloes, but for those who are less obsessed with the political consequences and more troubled by constitutional fallout, there's plenty to see. To begin with, the Internal Revenue Service scandal isn't just about the abuse of power; it's a byproduct of an irrational fear of free speech, which seems to permeate much of the left these days. The unprecedented targeting of conservatives wasn't incidental to this administration as much as it...

Readers contact PCC about newspapers' dramatic front pages, particularly images of suspect with bloodied hands The press watchdog has received 83 complaints about newspaper coverage of the Woolwich murder. Distressed readers contacted the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) about the stories and pictures used by newspapers, including tabloids and broadsheet titles, following the killing of British soldier Lee Rigby last Wednesday. Each of the national titles carried dramatic front pages the following day showing one of the murder suspects with bloodied hands, prompting criticism from some readers. The PCC declined to say which titles it had received complaints about, but said...

There is one problem with the entirely justified if self-interested media squawking about the Justice Department snooping into the phone records of multiple Associated Press reporters and Fox News's James Rosen. The problem is that what the AP reporters and Rosen did arguably violates the letter of the law. The search warrant in the Rosen case cites Section 793(d) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Section 793(d) says that a person lawfully in possession of information that the government has classified as secret who turns it over to someone not lawfully entitled to posses it has committed a crime....

Four ex-SMRT bus drivers have been jailed in Singapore for their part in last November’s strike. Wang Xianjie, Gao Yue Qiang and Liu Xiangying were sentenced to six weeks in prison, while He Junling was sentenced to seven weeks. On top of organising and participating in the strike, he had also posted on social media network Baidu encouraging others to join in. All four had pleaded guilty in court. Choo Zheng Xi, lawyer for He Junling, presented a mitigation plea, saying, “It was never Jun Ling’s intention to startle or alarm the public, nor was it a calculated plan of...

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley wants state lawmakers to consider passing legislation that would require residents to obtain a license before purchasing a handgun. Such a law would be an impediment to a constitutional guarantee for which there is no such requirement. I find it interesting that liberals attack the requirement that a person needs to show identification in order to vote, but they will put multiple restrictions on people who have a right to keep and bear arms as set down in the Constitution.Unlike the Second Amendment, there is no absolute right to vote. Consider the 26th Amendment that was...

There has been a rather endless list over the years of "things we can do to fix this mess". Some of it is obvious, some not so obvious, but the common theme is that it will take many years and a fair amount of luck. I'd like to focus on one item in the list - our Activist Media. Whether to the right or the left it is a fact that the MSM is today largely damaging to the citizenry. The 24-hour news cycle, "opinion" news, and biased reporting (read: lying) is a daily problem that I believe is the...

.... No one — including the media — is supposed to note the injunctions exist. In one notorious case, Fred Goodwin, head of Royal Bank of Scotland, bailed out by taxpayers for billions of pounds, obtained an order preventing anyone from reporting he was philandering with a colleague while negotiations were going on. Even saying he was a banker was forbidden. Now, the city of South Tyneside has used the law to pursue a blogger known as Mr. Monkey, who has allegedly levelled a stream of criticisms against councillors and council officers. On the weekend it persuaded San Francisco-based Twitter...

American commentators hang on the former Alaska governor's every word. What do foreign pundits have to say about her? Sarah Palin makes headlines in American newspapers nearly every time she expresses an opinion, whether it is as a Fox News contributor or tireless Twitter-user and Facebooker. But the former GOP vice presidential candidate's countrymen aren't the only ones obsessed with her — she gets nearly as much attention overseas as she does at home. Here are some uniquely foreign takes on the Tea Party queen: Spain: We need a Sarah Palin figure Sarah Palin has given America a fresh start,...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant Friday for the owner of a television channel that takes a critical line against President Hugo Chavez. Intelligence agents arrived at a home owned by Guillermo Zuloaga seeking to arrest him and one of his sons Friday night, but their whereabouts were unknown, defense lawyer Perla Jaimes said.