Free Republic

“I refuse to accept the proposition that Donald Trump is the ‘inevitable’ Republican nominee for President,” Eric Levine, a New York lawyer and Republican fund-raiser, wrote in an email to roughly 1,500 donors, politicians, and friends according to The New York Times. “His nomination would be a disaster for our party and our country.” The donor class reflects the pre-Reagan liberalism of the Rockefeller Republicans who were socially liberal yet favored fiscal restraint and have little in common with the current base of the party. Trump’s ascendancy has also deprived them of a base, as millions of liberal-leaning Republicans, particularly...

After the horrific wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui last week that took the lives of at least 99 and left more than 1,000 unaccounted for, many Americans are donating money to help the victims. Many more are offering their thoughts and prayers, including former President Barack Obama, who grew up in Hawaii but infamously said after a mass shooting in 2015: “Thoughts and prayers are not enough.” At the time, Obama condemned the phrase, saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough. It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should...

The New York Times claimed that while a continued campaign in 2024 would be legal, it would be extraordinary. Clearly, they haven’t been paying much attention over the past seven years. Trump has evaded two impeachment efforts, been exonerated from any wrongdoing in the Russian collusion hoax, survived a myriad of political and personal scandals, and still come out on top. Extraordinary is what Donald J. Trump does. If there is anyone who could pull off a presidential win from jail, it would be him.

It all came down to costs, and Moscow apparently couldn't afford to keep operating what had been the world's largest nuclear-powered submarine. In February, Russia decommissioned its Project 941 Akula-class (NATO reporting name Typhoon) heavy nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine cruiser Dmitry Donskoy years earlier than expected. It was just two years ago that the Kremlin announced the boat would remain in service until at least 2026, even as its role was reportedly limited to that of a weapons test platform for the new Borei-, Borei-A-, Yasen- and Yasen-M-class submarines However, this week, it was confirmed that Dmitry Donskoi was decommissioned in...

Last month, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, accepted an appointment to serve as a professor at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. The staunch critic of former President Donald Trump was defeated in the Republican primary last year by pro-Trump candidate Harriet Hageman. Liz Cheney had previously suggested that she would consider a presidential run in 2024 – likely as much to ensure Trump couldn’t win as actually to become president. However, it appears those plans could be put on hold.

When she ran for the presidency in 2020, Kamala Harris was viewed by many party insiders as the next Barack Obama. Young, fresh, and belonging to a popular demographic set, the San Francisco prosecutor-turned-senators’ rise to the top of the Democratic Party’s pile of presidential candidates appeared unstoppable…that is, until the actual voting began. Facing a crowded field, Kamala Harris failed to break through—despite having received support from powerful figures within the Democratic Party’s establishment, notably the former President Barack Obama and his wife, the former first lady, Michelle Obama. A Campaign of Errors for Kamala Harris In fact, Harris...

Ukraine is burning through ammunition for 155mm howitzers quickly and it is leaving the United States in a bind, according to a new report by think tank CSIS. It could take up to five years for the industrial base to produce enough rounds to replenish American stocks. It is not just cannon shells. Javelin and Stinger missiles could take six to eight years to normalize for the U.S. inventory.

Perhaps as many as 90% of China’s 1.41 billion people will come down with COVID-19, said Feng Zijian, former deputy chief of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to Bloomberg News. Feng predicts 60% of the population will be infected in the first wave.

Now all eyes are on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He is also coming off a big reelection win in a state that has become a symbol of his party’s governance nationwide. He and Newsom were putting themselves in position to run for president while respecting the frontrunner status of former President Donald Trump and Biden, respectively. Though weakened by the midterms, Trump has already announced he is running for president again in 2024. Biden was strengthened by them, and while a final decision is still forthcoming, he appears to be leaning heavily in favor of seeking a second term.

Disney Announced Hiring Freeze and Layoffs as Cost-Cutting Measure. Why?: Disney Resorts may be known as the “Happiest Place on Earth,” while Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is the “Most Magical Place On Earth.” However, the magic could soon disappear for workers while many others might not have much to be all that happy about as the Mouse House announced plans to institute a targeted hiring freeze, along with some job cuts.

Since late August, Ukraine has driven Russian troops out of thousands of square kilometers of formerly occupied territory and are reportedly days from launching a renewed effort to capture the Russian-held city of Kherson. Many continue to write off the Russians, concluding the Ukrainian momentum is “irreversible,” implying Zelensky’s forces are on their way to winning the war by the end of this year. While serious analysts realize the war is far from over, there may be a growing danger to Ukraine few have considered; a vulnerability that could doom Kyiv to defeat.

China also is heading over a demographic cliff. The population has peaked, much earlier than once predicted. With a shrinking population, and a potential two-thirds reduction in working-age population by the end of the century, the PRC might not outstrip the U.S. economically. Still much poorer than America, China is rapidly growing older before it grows rich. That might become its permanent status. The PRC also is rapidly aging and suffers a dearth of women, as a result of the infamous “one-child policy,” which encouraged rural dwellers to abort or kill baby girls.

It’s not surprising that Democrats have been salivating ever since the House panel unanimously voted to subpoena Trump last week. As is ever the case with Trump, be careful what you wish for. There are all kinds of ways in which Trump’s testimony can backfire on his antagonists. First, one of the reasons the Jan. 6 committee hearings have had whatever success they have had is that it is an uninterrupted, one-sided narrative.

As the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) say they hope their offensive reaches the city of Kherson by this winter, Russia continues preparation for a massive counterattack which could begin as early as next month. The results of that battle are likely to be bloody and destructive, but unlikely to settle the war one way or the other.

Something seemed to snap after President Joe Biden asked, “Where’s Jackie?” The snap wasn’t in the president himself, but rather from much of the media, as what had been whispered about in Washington and bandied about on talk radio had become a mainstream topic. (Although a Morning Consult survey in August found that a plurality of 48% believed that Biden was not mentally fit to be president.)

Ukraine presses on while Putin retreats: On the 224 of the war, the Ukrainian forces continue to advance in the east and the south while the Russian military seems to be in full retreat. The Ukrainian Way of War After weeks of successful Ukrainian counteroffensives, a pattern is emerging. The Ukrainian military has been launching a two-prong attack from the north and south, aiming at an enemy-occupied city. Once it is threatening to envelop or has enveloped the city, the Russian forces retreat, often under heavy artillery fire, and the Ukrainian military captures the city and then repeats the process....

Though it was actually the first operational space shuttle to be retired from NASA service, the Orbiter Vehicle-103 (OV-103) Space Shuttle Discovery certainly earned that retirement after more than 27 years in service. As the third operational orbiter – preceded only by Columbia and Challenger – Discovery actually launched and landed successfully 39 times, more spaceflights than any other craft to date.

A Guerrilla War is Being Waged by Ukraine. Here is the Latest: The below list of resistance incidents is almost certainly incomplete. The Ukrainian armed forces have been extremely active in September, having launched counteroffensive operations in Kherson and Kharkiv provinces. Multiple explosions have taken place every day; and there is no doubt that partisans are involved in some, or all, of these activities. For the sake of accuracy, however, I’ve only listed those incidents for which partisans were expressly given credit or for which the armed forces were not. These caveats notwithstanding, it’s important to note that resistance has...

In other words, it’s far from fated that China’s rise will track forever upward. The United States and China may never reach the crossover point envisioned by exponents of the “Thucydides Trap”—the point beyond which Chinese power outstrips American, giving Beijing the upper hand in the Western Pacific. But Brands and Beckley argue rightly that an impending stall in China’s rise doesn’t mean the coming years will be free from U.S.-China conflict. In fact, the opposite could well be true. A China on the threshold of decline is a dangerous China—as Clausewitz might prophesy were he among the quick today.

I flew home to England from New York for Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral on Saturday. It was a snap decision, but after missing her historic Platinum Jubilee only months ago, I decided that I couldn’t possibly miss the funeral of the only Queen I’ve ever known. I arrived in London Gatwick and first made my way to Brighton before later planning to journey to London. I had an appointment at the Palace of Westminster to see the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall that afternoon.