Free Republic

The push by gun-loving bullies to put weapons in the hands of almost anyone, almost everywhere and almost anyhow they can continued Thursday in ultra-conservative Kansas and even in liberal Massachusetts. â–ª Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday signed a bill that will allow residents to stroll around with concealed guns without any permit or any training in how to use the weapons. This is pretty much the definition of madness but, hey, that Second Amendment is twisted and warped by gun backers to support all kinds of questionable actions. The law puts Kansas among only a handful of states...

Andrew Malcolm at Investor's Business Daily points out that some key state polls show that Hillary Clinton is losing support fast and that the e-mail scandal is playing a bigger role than first thought. According to the newest numbers, Hillary Clinton is now running three points behind Jeb Bush in the key swing state of Florida. And her lead over Marco Rubio there has collapsed from ten points to but two points. Of course, none of those people have yet to announce their candidacy. Everyone is pretending they don't know that she'll announce later this month, Rubio likely in...

A three-year-old named Lee defends the abortion of his sister in a new children’s book – by an author with her own “ghost sister.” “Sister Apple, Sister Pig” by Mary Walling Blackburn focuses on an adult topic: abortion. The story follows Lee as he (or “she,” as the author stressed) searches for his sister – who might be an apple, a pig, or somewhere in a tree. Lee later decides “Sister is a happy ghost!” and explicitly says he’s glad Sister isn’t around to inconvenience his parents.

In a greeting to the Iranian people on the occasion of the traditional New Year (Nowruz) holiday last week, Secretary of State John Kerry exposed a secret that journalists and academics have been agonizing over for the past six weeks: the fact that his daughter has married an Iranian-American who has extensive family ties to Iran. “I am proud of the Iranian-Americans in my own family, and grateful for how they have enriched my life,” Kerry said in the official statement. Kerry also said he was “strongly committed to resolving” the differences between the United States and the Islamic Republic...

The stated mission of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute is to teach the general public about how the U.S. Senate works, so it’s fitting that the shrine to the late Massachusetts Democrat is funded, in part, by $38 million in taxpayers’ money. The $78 million combination museum and interactive civics exhibit was formally dedicated by President Obama on Monday. Besides a section honoring Kennedy’s 46-year political career, which ended with his Aug. 25, 2009 death, the Institute will offer a “Senate Immersion Module” which aims to teach visitors how the upper chamber works. (snip) On top of an $18.9 million...

Two big Clinton stories landed last week. The first is that Hillary Clinton destroyed the electronic copies of her State Department emails on her private server after the State Department subpoenaed her emails. The second is that Hillary Clinton had an aide running a "secret spy network" that was, among other things, feeding her information on Benghazi, according to a report by Pro Publica and Gawker. Earlier this month, I noted the myriad ways that Clinton running her own private email server breathes new life into the Benghazi investigation, but this last revelation takes things to a whole new level....

A former governor on ABC’s “This Week” made a not-so-veiled threat Sunday to former Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley that he could lose a cabinet position in Hillary Clinton’s administration by running against her. Former Democratic Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who also serves as a Senior Advisor to Ready for Hillary PAC said, “She is comfortable enough to be able to withstand a primary.” Granholm added, “And Martin O’Malley, he’s a very nice guy, and I was thinking he might make a nice member of a President Clinton administration, so he better watch it.” “I think he and anybody else,...

Washington (CNN)Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley took a major shot at Hillary Clinton on Sunday, saying the country needs a "new perspective" and "new leadership" in the 2016 election. "Let's be honest here," O'Malley said. "The presidency of the United States is not some crown to be passed between two families." The Democrat's comments, in an appearance on ABC's "This Week," are another signal that he's likely to challenge Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. He's focusing in recent weeks on issues like income inequality and wage stagnation -- which liberal darling Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made her...

In early 2008 liberal icon Edward M. Kennedy blessed Barack Obama’s long shot presidential campaign, declaring the freshman Illinois senator the next great progressive leader in a symbolic passing of the torch. On Monday, Mr. Obama heads to Massachusetts to honor Kennedy, who died in 2009 — but liberals’ enthusiasm for the president has waned from those days, and the left has moved on to other champions, most notably Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who now sits in the seat Kennedy used to hold.

On top of an $18.9 million Defense Department grant doled out in Sept. 2010, the Institute received $13.6 million from the Department of Education, according to USASpending.gov. In the 2009 federal budget, another $5.8 million was appropriated through the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services. The state of Massachusetts gave the University of Massachusetts $5 million, earmarked for the Institute. As a senator in 2010, current Sec. of State John Kerry waged an unsuccessful attempt to earmark another $28.9 million for the museum ... the $18.9 million Defense Department earmark was “funneled through the Defense...

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler uses a “Pinocchio” scale to assign a level of egregiousness to lies he uncovers, with four Pinocchios as the maximum … until now. Secretary of State John Kerry earned himself the full complement two weeks ago from Kessler for bragging about his management of the first global-warming hearing in the Senate, a hearing that he not only didn’t arrange but didn’t even attend. Kessler dug deeper on the tall tales emanating from the event, and found that one of the real organizers has been lying about what took place in the hearing in order to...

A veteran senator who let his mistress drown in a car he recklessly drove into a pond, rented a brothel for an entire night in Chile and sought meetings with communists is being honored by the Obama administration this month. Ted Kennedy received his posthumous accolades from the Department of Labor (DOL) with an induction into the agency’s “Hall of Honor.” The recognition is meant to showcase the life-changing contributions that a unique group of people have made on the American way of work, according to the agency. A special panel comprised of the Solicitor of Labor, the Assistant Secretary...

As a long-term strategy for defeating jihadists, Americans blaming George W. Bush ad infinitum is sure to be a winner -- for jihadists. It's right up there with American retreat from leadership in the world as high on their list of goals. And sure enough, former congressman Barney Frank heartily endorses both. Frank was among the guests on last night's Real Time with Bill Maher, brimming with his usual persnickety bluster. At one point he tangled with conservative columnist S.E. Cupp on the subject of the abrupt US military withdrawal from Yemen. This led to a pair of candid admissions...

The widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) is preparing for the upcoming opening of the institute named after her late husband. Vicki Kennedy invited “Fox News Sunday” to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston days before President Obama visits to formally open it to the public. “He loved public service,” Vicki Kennedy said. “He believed in making a difference. And he wanted to inspire new generations to feel the same way.”

Chuck Schumer is set to get a big promotion -- and that's welcome news to Wall Street. The veteran Democratic senator from New York is widely expected to take Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's job when he retires at the end of 2016. Reid, who announced he would not be running for reelection Friday morning, quickly endorsed his New York colleague for the role. Schumer's ascension to the top Democratic position in the Senate -- and even possibly to Senate majority leader if his party regains control of the chamber -- is a boon for the finance and business communities,...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to fly to Boston for a ceremony in honour of his late friend Edward Kennedy as talks on Iran's nuclear programme intensified in Switzerland, with two days left to a deadline. Kerry's spokeswoman said on Sunday he regretted missing the dedication ceremony for an institute named after the U.S. senator, who was a mentor to him. Officials close to the talks said the French and German foreign ministers, Laurent Fabius and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, were considering delaying a planned joint trip to Kazakhstan in order to focus on clearing...

Two days ago I ordered online a used copy of Milton & Rose Friedman's classic "Free to Choose," hoping a liberal loved one would be willing to read it. That doesn't look like it's going to happen, so now I'm tempted to send the book to Barney Frank—since it's apparent that, like many liberals, he doesn't understand the most basic notions of how free markets work. On Steve Kornacki's MSNBC show today, Frank described business creators as being "given privileges." Barney then added this mind-boggler: "there's only a limited amount of space, there's only a limited amount of businesses. Your...

When Ted Kennedy wrote his initial account of Chappaquiddick for the Edgartown police in 1969, after he scrawled the words “Mary Jo” in the first sentence he left a blank space — because he had no idea what his victim’s last name was. That’s one of the many facts about Ted Kennedy that you won’t learn by visiting the new Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. In case you haven’t been eagerly anticipating this magic moment, the “Institute” opens tomorrow amid yet another orgy of shameless bum-kissing of what was once called “America’s First Family” by the...

BOSTON (AP) — A decorated Boston police officer remained in a medically induced coma Saturday, a night after he was shot in the face by a man with several gun convictions during a traffic stop that ended when other officers fatally shot his attacker, the city's police commissioner said. Officer John Moynihan, 34, was struck just below his right eye, and the bullet remains lodged below his right ear, Commissioner William Evans said. He was listed in critical condition, Evans said Moynihan is undergoing tests and is being monitored for bleeding in his brain. "We are hoping and praying there's...

Decorated Boston Police Officer in Coma After 'Unprovoked' Shooting Mar 28, 2015 By EMILY SHAPIRO A Boston police officer was shot during a motor vehicle stop in Roxbury on March 27, 2015. ABC News A police officer decorated for his role in the Boston Marathon bombing remains in critical condition in a medically induced coma after he was shot in the face during a traffic stop, the city's police commissioner said today. Boston Police Commissioner William Evans called the shooting of Officer John Moynihan on Friday night "unprovoked." He and five other officers had pulled over a driver in Roxbury,...