Free Republic

When Lindsey Graham began running for president last year, some analysts thought he was looking to knock out Rand Paul over foreign policy differences. Now, as an ex-candidate, Graham seems to be taking aim at Ted Cruz. "I have no doubt that he would be an ideologue in the eyes of most Americans," Graham said of Cruz during an interview Fox News Radio's Kilmeade & Friends. "He's been the most disruptive influence in the senate, he hasn't passed anything meaningful."

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he's "100 percent" on board with the remaining field of candidates in support of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if elected president in the fall of 2016. In an interview with The Brody File, published on Tuesday, Trump said "I am for that one hundred percent. We are for that one- hundred percent" when told by host David Brody that pledging to move the embassy to Jerusalem is a "tier-A issue for Evangelicals as it relates to support for Israel." Trump is currently tied for first place with Senator Ted...

HOUSTON, Texas – Today, the Cruz for President campaign announced its Kentucky State Leadership Team consisting of Tea Party and conservative leaders from across the Bluegrass State. Scott Hofstra, Marty Kares-Workman, Barbara Knott, and Boone County Constable Joe Kalil will serve as Kentucky Co-Chairs."From day one, Cruz has said we needed to coalesce conservatives around the country to get behind his campaign," said Hofstra. "And there is no better example of that than right here in Kentucky where the various Tea Party leaders have consolidated efforts to support Cruz. He is unapologetically conservative and routinely fights for the issues we...

Remains of Illinois soldier, missing since 1969, coming home By Len Wells Evansville Courier & Press, Ind. (Tribune News Service) Published: January 9, 2016 ALBION, Ill. The remains of an airman listed as "missing in action" during the Vietnam War have been recovered. Officials with the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the remains of Pfc. Kenneth Leroy Cunningham of Ellery, Illinois. He had been missing since Oct. 3, 1969. He was 21 at the time. Cunningham's remains will be flown back to the United States later this month, arriving at the airport in Louisville, Kentucky on Jan 19. His remains...

"All Robert and I want is the freedom to peacefully live and work faithfully on our family farm and according to what God says about marriage without fear of government punishment. The America we love is one where we respect each other's differences, and the government still protects the freedom to have those differences. Others have the freedom to say or not say what they want to about marriage, and that's all we are asking for, as well." -Cynthia Gifford (New York)—[CBN News] A New York court has upheld a state decision to fine a farm couple for refusing to...

Harriet Beecher Stowe, European gardens and gender bias were discussed in a recent Modern Language Association (MLA) panel at their annual convention held this year in Austin, Texas. The panel was entitled, "Bootstrapping Broads: On the Work of Writing Labor." Gretchen Murphy, a professor of English at the University of Texas-Austin, spoke at length about Harriet Beecher Stowe and her experience in 19th Century England. She saw Stowe as "a female celebrity" in her time, but restricted in what she could do and saw because Stowe was "reproducing the vision of elite British philanthropists," hinting at the common feminist term,...

On Wednesday, the Kentucky Senate’s Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee voted 9-1 for a bill requiring women to meet in person with their abortionist the day before obtaining an abortion to receive state-required informed consent information rather than discussing it over the phone. State Senator Julie Raque Adams said that the legislation “does much to move not only the healthcare but the wellness of women out of the restricted column and into priority status which we so rightly deserve.” Abortion supporters have objected that because there are only two abortion facilities in Kentucky, the requirement would force significantly...

A federal judge awarded a team of Kentucky attorneys more than $1 million for their role in the landmark United States Supreme Court case that struck down bans on same-sex marriage. The state will have to pick up the $1.1 million tab. In 2014, U.S. District Judge John Heyburn ruled the state's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. Attorney General Jack Conway refused to appeal, announcing that he believed the ban was discriminatory and destined to fail in the federal appeals courts. But former Gov. Steve Beshear hired outside attorneys to continue defending the ban "so all Kentuckians will have finality...

"The Senate on Tuesday rejected Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) controversial proposal to audit the Federal Reserve, turning aside a bill that has drawn the ire of the business community and the White House. The Senate voted 53-44 on taking up the presidential hopeful’s Audit the Fed measure. Sixty votes were needed to move forward. Paul won some bipartisan support for the legislation, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another presidential candidate, voting in favor. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) backed the bill as well. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is also running for president, supported moving forward with Paul's legislation, while...

Sources told the publication Davis would be a guest of the Family Research Council for President Obama’s speech. ... Meanwhile, a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage, Jim Obergefell will be a guest of the president.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush are most likely the six GOP presidential candidates that will appear on the main debate stage at the Fox Business GOP primary debate in South Carolina this Thursday, according to Politico. After the recent NBC News Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, Politico calculated the candidates not likely to make the debate stage this time around are: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Florina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Weighing on the controversy over whether Canadian-born Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is eligible to be president, his fellow senator Rand Paul said Sunday that it would be "extraordinary" to have a president born outside of the U.S. "He would be the first president not born in the United States. And so that alone would be extraordinary. And so people have to decide for their own minds whether it makes a difference where someone is born," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. ... Paul predicted Sunday that Democrats would challenge Cruz's eligibility and that it would ultimately have...

A document uncovered by Breitbart News indicates that the parents of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) were named on a Calgary list of electors for Canada's federal election of July 8, 1974. Ted Cruz's parents are listed as "Cruz, Eleanor, Mrs." and "Cruz, Raphael, self employed," both at 920 Riverdale Avenue, South West in Calgary, Alberta. Canadian law restricts (and restricted) federal voting rights to Canadian citizens. In a statement to Breitbart News-the full text of which follows this article-Jason Johnson, chief strategist for Cruz for President, said that "the document itself does not purport to be a list of 'registered...

The Arizona senator says he’s just asking questions.Arizona Sen. John McCain on Thursday walked back comments that he made earlier in the week when he said he wasn't sure if Canadian-born Ted Cruz is eligible to be president and that the Supreme Court may have to make the decision. In a radio appearance on the Michael Medved Show, McCain said that he assumes the Texas senator is eligible to run for president until proven otherwise. "This is something constitutional scholars should make a decision on. I assume that he is eligible, that's my assumption, and I will continue to assume...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday defended Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) from those questioning the GOP candidate's eligibility to be president. Romney tweeted that Cruz "is a 'natural born citizen.' Obama too. Even George Romney," he said, referencing his father who was born to American parents in Mexico and ran for president. "This isn't the issue you're looking for," Romney added of the Cruz citizenship debate. Romney has weighed in on other controversies during the 2016 GOP primary in his effort to help shape dialogue in the race and become a mentor in the party. The 2012 Republican presidential...

On Laura Ingraham's radio show today, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said he's not surprised by John McCain's dishonest birther attacks. For those who missed it, McCain said yesterday that Cruz may not be eligible because he was born in Canada. Of the course the Arizona senator -- who himself was born in the Panama Canal Zone -- knows full well that Cruz is a natural-born citizen, but that doesn't matter; he hates Cruz, which is why he does everything in his power to derail the Texan's presidential campaign. If he has to lie to do so, so be it....

Well, so far complaints involving the ineligibility for Cruz, Rubio and Jindal to run for president have been filed in three states. Florida, Vermont, and MD. It appears all these people have to do is show proof of the eligibility requirements to run for president as stated in the constitution. So far none have, however Jindal has dropped out so it is moot for him. (Citizenship is not the same as the naturalization requirements for citizenship to run for President as stated in the constitution.) For some odd reason, Cruz has had his birth records sealed. He’ll have to answer...

Sen. Rand Paul joined Donald Trump on Wednesday in questioning whether Sen. Ted Cruz is eligible to be president. "You know, I think without question he is qualified and would make the cut to be prime minister of Canada, absolutely without question, he is qualified and he meets the qualifications," Cruz told Fox News Wednesday. Cruz was born in Canada, and Trump has been talking about whether Cruz qualifies as a natural born U.S. citizen under the Constitution for the last few days. Trump went so far on Wednesday as to say Cruz should get a court decision to settle...

Saudi Arabia is mulling the sale of shares in Aramco, believed to be the world's most valuable company, as part of plans to repair its finances and open up its economy. The announcement was made by the country's deputy crown prince as Saudi's secretive, state-owned oil firm grapples with the effects of oil prices nearing 12-year lows . Mohammed bin Salman told The Economist: "That is something that is being reviewed, and we believe a decision will be made over the next few months." The Saudi economy has taken a battering from the oil price decline and the finance ministry...

FRANKFORT - Two Kentucky Republicans who won lopsided victories over their Democratic opponents - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Gov. Matt Bevin - predicted Wednesday that the last southern legislative chamber in Democratic hands would soon come under GOP control. McConnell, who met with Bevin privately in the governor's Capitol office, called the political outcome "inevitable", and Bevin said Republicans would triumph in the upcoming election cycle. "It is a matter of time," Bevin said. "It's a function of when the House turns. It will happen in 2016. There's no question about that." ... "In my election where...