Free Republic

Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Democratic presidential candidates in 2016 should embrace President Obama’s economic policies and “run on what we have done” instead of running away from the administration. “In my view, those seeking to lead the nation should protect and defend and run, yes run, on what we’ve done and own what we have done,” Mr. Biden said in a speech in Des Moines, Iowa. “Stand for what we have done. Acknowledge what we have done. And be judged on what we have done, if we have any chance for continued resurgence in 2016.” He added, “Some...

Speaking today in Iowa, Vice President Joe Biden called out to his "old butt buddy" Neil Smith, wondering whether his friend was in attendance for his speech:

MILWAUKEE — Scott Walker was gone. Dropped out. And in the spring of his senior year. In 1990, that news stunned his friends at Marquette University. Walker, the campus’s suit-wearing, Reagan-loving politico — who enjoyed the place so much that he had run for student body president — had left without graduating.

FEBRUARY 6, 2015 The Fallon-ization of Dunham and Williams The late-night comedian provides cover and preemptive redemption for lefties caught lying. By Michelle Malkin Comedian Jimmy Fallon is a celebrity fraud’s best friend. He’s an answer to normal America’s question: How do creepy stars get away with their grotesqueries? If you’re lucky enough to sit by his late-night throne and join his cool-kid games, all your troubles will melt away. Funnyman Jimmy is not just a bread-and-circuses buffoon — he’s the keeper of the pop-culture-immunity necklace. A few weeks ago, the Tonight show host bestowed his boob-tube shield upon grotesque...

ulture: An unlikely issue has entered the infant 2016 presidential campaign: Vaccines and required vaccinations. Let's hope the fact there's no scientific link to autism or anything else isn't lost in the political fray. Candidates will often look for an edge over their opponents. Thus, both New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky recently suggested that, while vaccinations are good, forcing parents to vaccinate their children might be too much. We believe vaccines are safe and should be routine, but concern about parents' rights is not unreasonable. What really gripes us, however, is listening to the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: It's unbelievable. It is happening again! It's happening all over again. You remember during the Republican -- it was a primary debate in January, two years ago, Mitt Romney, out of the blue, was asked by George Stephanopoulos, "So what do you think about contraception?" And Romney's going, "What? Contraception? George, what are you talking about?" Stephanopoulos kept pushing and kept pushing, and it wasn't an issue anywhere. So Romney finally answered it, and that gave birth to the War on Women. There was no War on Women, and now this vaccination thing has popped up. It's...

Just saw a local Miami tv station using video from the government web site with an "interview" of Obama, where he spews some crap about how his goal is to outline for the nation how he is going to make sure things are fair, now that we have "made it through the crisis". I nearly spit my coffee out. We are not out of a crisis. My point is that these kind of videos are NOT a proper use for news....and I expect that if a REPUBLICAN president put out this type of "interview", the media would ignore it....on the...

President Obama’s aides have drafted a team of Internet-savvy staff members to produce a series of videos, digital op-eds, Facebook and Twitter posts, and six-second animated GIFs to capture a larger audience than the mainstream media’s shrinking number of viewers and readers. They are essential tools in selling the president’s message during his last two years in office, White House officials say. In recent announcements on college affordability, immigration and net neutrality, the president has relied on social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Medium, Vine, LinkedIn and Twitter. Last Tuesday, Mr. Obama previewed his plan for broadband access in a...

Three new studies offer new proof of how bad the earth's fever has gotten. It’s not often that the climate change deniers get clobbered three times in just two days. But that’s what happened with the release of a trio of new studies that ought to serve as solid body blows to the fading but persistent fiction that human-mediated warming is somehow a hoax. Good news for the forces of reason, however, is bad news for the planet—especially the oceans. “Today’s news is a clear and undeniable warning for all of us that we need to cut climate pollution and...

When the Golden Globe awards telecast was over, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation proclaimed, "It was a great night for LGBT-inclusive television." They could have added: "We run the joint." Gay actor Matt Bomer thanked his "husband" and his surrogate sons when he won an award for HBO's Reagan-bashing AIDS drama "The Normal Heart." But the bigger celebration came with a best actor award to Jeffrey Tambor, who plays Mort, a 70-year-old father of three who decides he's a woman named Maura in a show called "Transparent," or literally, "Trans Parent," since his three adult children have to...

CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — Republican presidential prospect Ben Carson on Thursday compared the Islamic State group to American patriots willing to die for freedom.In a speech to the Republican National Committee's winter meeting outside San Diego, the former neurosurgeon and conservative favorite praised American patriots for their willingness to give their lives for their beliefs. Then he mentioned the Islamic State group.

Will the latest news about Ted Cruz hurt his chances for the 2016 GOP nomination? Click to learn the betting odds for the junior Texas senator and other contenders for the Oval Office.When Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was a teenager, he was caught doing teenage things, as revealed in documents obtained by BuzzFeed. In his application to become Texas solicitor general, Cruz was required to list any prior convictions. That included one "guilty plea for minor in possession of alcohol." Apparently when Cruz was a high school senior in 1987, authorities found an unopened case of beer in his vehicle....

Complete Headline: EXCLUSIVE: The beginning of the end for Rosie and Whoopi as ABC considers abandoning The View and extending Good Morning America as infighting grows and ratings plunge The View is dimming at the show that Barbara Walters built. Network insiders tell Daily Mail Online that the long-running talk show could end after this season, amid struggling ratings and infighting among the talk show hosts. Currently in its eighteenth season, the show created by retired TV journalist Barbara Walters is suffering some of its lowest ratings ever with its new team of Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Nicolle Wallace and...

"Can't they take a joke?" That's the question that came up after the 2005 Danish cartoon controversy and now, again, after the massacre at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The suspected killers obviously reflect a tiny minority of extreme religious fanatics, but the question made us wonder: What is the role of satire in the Muslim world? First let's establish that saying "the Muslim world" is like saying "the Christian world" or Africa: We're talking one and a half billion people all over the globe — of different races, ethnicities and languages — who believe different things. That said,...

For the most part, the gay marriage debate now falls along partisan lines: Democrats support it, But within the crowded field of likely 2016 presidential contenders, there’s a lot of room for nuance. The would-be candidates have made much different arguments and have varying records on the issue. Meantime, the issue continues to change. On Jan. 6, Florida became the second-largest state to recognize gay marriage, bringing the total to 36. And on Friday, the Supreme Court will meet privately to decide whether to consider cases that could lead to a more definitive ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. Here’s...

TLC is facing growing criticism over the decision to air “My Husband’s Not Gay,” a one-hour special slated to air on Jan. 11, which follows a group of Mormon men who, according to the network’s description, “are happily married and attracted to their wives, but they are also attracted to other men. They refer to it as Same Sex Attraction… not gay, SSA.”

Doctors who perform abortions would be required to have privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the location where the abortion is performed under the first anti-abortion billed filed in the 2015 legislative session. HB 147 is sponsored by two Republicans, Pensacola Rep. Walter Bryan “Mike” Hill, former president of the Northwest Florida Tea Party, and Rep. Scott Plakon of Longwood, who pushed a bill in 2012 that would have required doctors to sign an affidavit stating the abortion is not being performed because of the sex or race of the fetus. The bill is patterned after laws in...

MICHAEL BROWN SR. AND THE AGONY OF THE BLACK FATHER IN AMERICA Thanksgiving at the Brown house, with family, friends, ham hocks, a little football, and an empty chair.

When Ohio teenager Josh Alcorn told his parents he wanted to live as a girl, that he felt trapped in his own body, his parents said they wouldn’t stand for that. “We don’t support that, religiously,” his mother told CNN Wednesday, her voice breaking. “But we told him that we loved him unconditionally. We loved him no matter what. I loved my son. People need to know that I loved him. He was a good kid, a good boy.” Crossing out the name “Josh,” the 17-year-old signed the name he wanted to be known as — “Leelah” — in a...

The suicide of a transgender teen is catching national attention in part because of a suicide note she left behind online. Leelah Alcorn, 17, of Kings Mills, Ohio, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on I-71 about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to local media. Posthumous posts started to appear on her Tumblr page, titled “Lazer Princess,” including her suicide note and a post apologizing to her closest friends. “My death needs to mean something,” she wrote. “My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look...