Free Republic

It's a familiar plotline. An interloper runs for a party's presidential nomination and, with an anti-insider pitch, scores wins and near-wins in the first contests with vote pluralities. His numerous opponents, fearful of antagonizing his enthusiastic supporters, launch attacks on one another that, predictably, hurt the attacker as well as the target. Party establishment types, convinced the interloper is a sure loser in November, dither and tilt things mildly against him while trying to maintain the impression of fairness. Candidates with no chance remain in the race, dividing the anti-interloper vote, hoping the interloper will collapse. But he doesn't, and...

TOKYO -- Tokyo Olympic organizers and the International Olympic Committee said Friday there is no “Plan B” for the 2020 Games, which open in just over five months and have been jolted by the outbreak of a virus in neighboring China. The coronavirus has infected almost 64,000 people globally with almost 1,400 deaths in China, but only one in Japan where fear is rising with so much attention focused on the outbreak. “Certainly the advice we're received externally from the WHO (World Health Organization) is that there's no case for any contingency plans or cancelling the games or moving the...

Two crew members of the CSX train were initially trapped in a flaming locomotive LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A large rock slide on a rain-saturated mountain caused a fiery train derailment Thursday morning in eastern Kentucky that briefly trapped two crew members and caused a chemical leak into a river, authorities said. Two crew members of the CSX train were initially trapped in a flaming locomotive along the river’s edge before climbing out and waiting for firefighters to rescue them by boat. They were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, officials said. There weren't any other reports of injuries. CSX...

Two years ago today, my daughter Meadow and sixteen others were murdered in the Parkland school shooting. For the families of the victims, it was an unspeakable tragedy. But for others, it was an incredible political opportunity. The shooting propelled a handful of shrill student activists to fame. The most prominent one, David Hogg, later mused, “We really only remember a few hundred people, if that many, out of the billions that have ever lived. Is that what I was destined to become?”

The New York City Police Department is warning officers to be "vigilant and alert" following increased "credible" threats toward its officers. Officials are advising all officers to have a heightened awareness "in light of the events that transpired over the past weekend in the Bronx." Officials sent a department-wide email stressing there are "no specific threats against the department," but said desk officers must ensure that every station house security post is assigned and staffed at all times. Law enforcement sources tell ABC News that federal authorities notified the NYPD that they took an alleged MS-13 member in custody that...

The depraved totalitarians, nefarious barbarians, two-bit gangsters, odious scoundrels and bigoted scum who run the United Nations recently set up a new "database" to help anti-Semites around the world target Jewish businesses in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria -- businesses that not only offer economic opportunities for Palestinians but opportunities that pay higher than most other jobs in the West Bank. In no other international dispute -- and there are hundreds of global conflicts -- does the United Nations target peaceful civilians or institutions. Certainly in no place do they work to destroy the businesses of noncombatants based...

In addition to interviewing Democratic primary voters leaving the polls in New Hampshire on Tuesday, CBS News polled Republicans, too. As expected, President Trump overwhelmingly won the Republican primary, and those who came out to vote were strong supporters. Support for the president among New Hampshire Republican primary voters runs deep. When they were asked whether they feel more allegiance to the Republican Party or to Donald Trump, a majority (55%) picked Trump. Even among those who said they feel more allegiance to the Republican Party, most of them - more than 7 in 10 - voted for Mr. Trump....

About a month ago, an advertisement popped up on the black gospel radio station The Light 103.9 FM where I live in Durham, North Carolina. It was voiced by a woman who sounded like she was in her mid-50s, with the lilt of an educated urban black Southerner. Although I wasn't consciously listening at first, it caught my attention. It was a political ad, the first I'd heard on the radio this election cycle, and I wondered which candidate was bothering to actively campaign in North Carolina well before the March 3 Super Tuesday primary. Normally, ads on this station...

From the day he entered the race, Joe Biden was the great hope of the Democratic establishment to spare them from the horrifying prospect of a 2020 race between The Donald and Bernie Sanders. Today, that same establishment wants Joe out of the race. Why has Biden suddenly become an albatross? His feeble debate performances and fifth-place finish in New Hampshire all but ensure Joe will not be the nominee, and if he stays in, he will siphon off votes in Nevada and South Carolina that would go to candidates who might put together a majority and stop Sanders. The...

China’s southern port city of Guangzhou banned dining in restaurants, local media reported Wednesday, as a measure to prevent the novel coronavirus epidemic in the country from becoming worse. At press time, China has documented nearly 60,000 cases of coronavirus nationwide, at least one in every province. The majority of the over 1,000 deaths caused occurred within China, but patients have died in Hong Kong, Japan, and the Philippines. The ban went into affect at 9 p.m. Wednesday local time, the South China Morning Post reported: The ban on dining in applies to restaurants, but employees can continue to have...

California law requires Apple Inc. to pay its workers for being searched before they leave retail stores, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Thursday. A group of Apple workers filed a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant, charging they were required to submit to searches before leaving the stores but were not compensated for the time those searches required. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is now pending, asked the California Supreme Court to clarify whether state law requires compensation.

HBO is currently running a dark little miniseries called "The New Pope," which is basically a reboot of the 2016 series "The Young Pope." Both sprang from the mind of Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, and both are scabrously anti-Catholic, which never hurts you when it comes to the elites in Manhattan and Hollywood. "The Young Pope" starred Jude Law as the first American pope, painted as so doctrinaire that he wanted to end the sexual abuse problem in the Catholic Church by drumming all the homosexuals out of the priesthood. A cardinal protested saying: "It would be a war that...

Thirty-nine elected prosecutors in a joint statement condemned Attorney General William P. Barr for recent his rhetoric that attacked progressive policies, arguing that his “dangerous and failed” approach to criminal justice disproportionately punished poor people and racial minorities while diverting resources away from more serious crimes “Sadly, we are perceived as a threat by some who are wedded to the status quo or, even worse, failed policies of past decades,” the 39 state, county and city prosecutors wrote. “Critics such as Attorney General William P. Barr seek to bring us back to a time when crime was high, success was...

House Study Bill 615 has been introduced in Iowa. The bill prevents local governments from making the improvement or construction of shooting ranges more onerous than existing state law. Section 1. NEW SECTION . 335.26 Shooting ranges. In approving the improvement of property acquired to establish, use, and maintain a new shooting range or in approving a substantial change to an existing shooting range pursuant to section 657.9, subsection 1, the county zoning commission, or if there is not a county zoning commission, the county board of supervisors, shall not require a person seeking approval to comply with any conditions...

Maybe now that the impeachment circus is behind us, we can start having a serious conversation about what’s truly at stake in the 2020 election.  Granted, my perspective is biased because my daughter Meadow was murdered in the Parkland school shooting, but to me the most important issue is school safety. And school safety is the clearest reason to re-elect Donald Trump.  This opinion might come as a shock to some parents. After all, the mainstream media did everything it could to spin a narrative that blamed Republicans and/or President Trump for the shooting. But I wasn’t interested in narratives....

Pro-Crime Policies Don’t Appeal to Black Voters Where black voters really stand on the Black Lives Matter agenda. Fri Feb 14, 2020 Daniel Greenfield 17 Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. In the Black Lives Matter era, everyone assumes that pro-crime policies are the way to win over black voters. Candidates tout criminal justice reform schemes like freeing criminals and legalizing drugs. 1994's Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a piece of bipartisan legislation that helped roll back crime rates in...

Conservative radio host and recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Rush Limbaugh found himself in hot water Thursday over remarks he made about former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. In a nutshell, the fiery right wing superstar opined on how Democrats view the impact of Mayor Pete’s homosexuality in a potential debate against Donald Trump, who Limbaugh views as an alpha male. Here are the remarks in question: Then they’re sitting there and they’re looking at Mayor Pete, a 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage, and...

President Trump keeps rising from the ashes like the Phoenix while Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s disgust and frustration reached a fever pitch and the entire country watched her meltdown. Pelosi’s raged couldn’t be contained as she tore up her copy of Trump’s State of the Union address. Tearing Trump’s powerful speech showed how everything Pelosi and her crew of malcontents have done to destroy Trump has failed. Many claim Pelosi’s emotional collapse was staged. I disagree. When you are a public figure, you always want to be seen as being in control. Losing it and having it captured...

Worshippers should be extra mindful of their personal hygiene to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Church of England has warned. The church has advised its congregations around the country to follow 'best-hygiene practices' at all services. Dr Brendan McCarthy, the church's health adviser, did not give any drastic new rules but used the coronavirus outbreak as a serious reminder to be hygienic. He said people with 'coughs and sneezes' should not drink wine from the 'Common Cup', should not dip bread into it, and should not shake others' hands during 'The Peace'.

I am uniquely blessed to be Rush Limbaugh's brother in ways too numerous to count, and I am blessed to be in the special position of witnessing firsthand the outpouring of love and prayers from his, family, friends and fans. His wife, Kathryn, has been amazing and a rock throughout. I could fill a book with the well-wishes I've received. I sent Rush a link to my "mentions" column on Twitter so he could scroll through it and see for himself what he means to so many people. These tender expressions of goodwill are uplifting and spiritually affirming. God...