Free Republic

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) says fellow freshman Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who is resigning her seat citing a series of explicit photographs published in conservative outlets, was the victim of a "major crime" that could deter other young women from running for office. Hill is the subject of an ethics investigation into allegations of an affair with a staffer in her congressional office, but she specifically cited the photographs, the release of which she attributes to her estranged husband, in her resignation announcement. She has denied the affair but conceded a relationship with a campaign staffer, which does not violate...

A fake video purported to show war ravaged Aleppo days after government forces retook control has led authorities to a group of filmmakers who have been arrested for the ruse in a demolition site in Port Said. Two children an eight-year-old girl, and a 12-year-old boy appeared in the footage. The group confessed to making the video with the intention of distributing it on social media. The filmmaker, his assistants and the parents of two children were detained after officers passing by the site spotted a child covered in what was later revealed to be red paint.

'If you take my spot, I'll get drafted, I'll go to Vietnam, and I'll die: Hillary recounts being yelled at by room full of men as she prepared to take law school admissions exam Clinton revealed she was one of the few women in the room that day The men said 'You don't need to be here, there's plenty else you can do' That was one of the moments Clinton realized she needed to control her emotions so she could focus on the test She realized this protection now might make her seem 'walled off', adding that women are 'seen...

Lisa in Waukesha, Wisconsin, has two Facebook accounts. One reflects her liberal politics; the other is for acquaintances and family members to whom Lisa shows only her cat photos. Christina, in Milford, Massachusetts, has a sign in the back window of her car proclaiming support for a Democratic candidate. But as soon as she parks in the company lot, she puts it facedown on the backseat. Byron has lived in the same small town of Pomeroy, Iowa—population 662—his entire life. He brings his partner to family dinners but has never actually said to his conservative sister that he’s gay. Lisa,...

(snip) “What you’ve seen with our politics, partly because of gerrymandering, partly because of the Balkanization of media so people just watch what reinforces their deepest biases, partly because of big money in politics, is increasingly politicians are rewarded for taking the most extreme, maximalist positions,” Obama told the liberal Times columnist. “Sooner or later, that catches up with you. You end up not being able to move forward on things we need to move forward on. We need to reform our immigration system. That would be good not just for our domestic economy but for our position in the...

It’s a compelling story, isn’t it? A 7 year old’s birthday party invitation returned to the senders (two gay dads) with that note on it? The radio station posted that note on their Facebook page mid week this past week, and of course, readers went completely crazy over it, expressing their due outrage and offering their sympathy and support to the fathers. It spread like wildfire. The problem with the story, though, is that Steve Harper and Deanna (last name unknown) made up the entire thing, right down to the actual invitation, which they apparently hand-crafted. And they wrote this...

Am I the only reader who talks to her newspaper? Who chokes on her steaming cup of café con leche and wonders out loud about fundamental issues of decency and fairness? Why, oh, why do we continue reading that Wendy Davis, a state senator who wants to be the first Democratic governor of Texas in 20 years, left her daughters, then 2 and 8, with her then-husband, Jeff Davis, while she pursued a law degree at Harvard University? Given that he is the father of one of those daughters and the stepfather of the other, it would make more sense...

Do American young women deserve a sacred, federally-protected right to engage in reckless, irresponsible and even illegal behavior with no fear of consequences? Vice President Biden seems to think so. After a White House meeting in January to announce a new task force to curb sexual assaults on campus, the ever-effusive VEEP declared that every woman should expect such federal protection “no matter what she’s wearing, no matter whether she’s in a bar, in a dormitory, in the back seat of a car, on a street, drunk or sober.” His remarks accompanied the release of a new report by the...

Full title...'My brother made me do it': Boston 'bomber' reveals in scrawled note that older sibling 'wanted to defend Islam from attack' - but that they acted ALONE Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has claimed he and his brother were not linked to any Islamic terrorist groups He has also told interrogators that his older brother, Tamerlan, 26, was the ring leader in last Monday's attacks Suspect is scrawling handwritten responses to questions in his hospital bed Was formally charged Monday with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction Judge described Dzhokhar as 'alert, mentally competent and lucid' at hospital court...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado (AFP) – A billboard depicting Barack Obama as an Islamist suicide bomber, a gay and a Mexican bandit has triggered a storm of criticism in a western US city weeks ahead of crucial polls. The colourful poster of the US president -- under the ironic slogan "Vote DemocRAT" -- is attracting attention from media worldwide and from people clogging a local parking lot for a closer look.