Free Republic

Two years after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer, the nation is struggling to deliver progress on a host of issues critical to race, policing and inequality in American life. Floyd’s killing reverberated throughout the country, leading to protests for change not only in how police in the nation operate, but on a range of other issues including voting rights and representation. But efforts in Washington to enact police or voting rights reform have run aground amid deep differences between Republicans and Democrats. Just more than a week ago, a lone gunman in Buffalo, N.Y., killed 10 people...

Former President Trump on Friday criticized lawmakers for working to pass $40 billion in aid for Ukraine, blaming Democrats for advancing the legislation despite it also having support from a majority of House Republicans.“The Democrats are sending another $40 billion to Ukraine, yet America’s parents are struggling to even feed their children,” Trump said in a statement issued through his Save America PAC.

As evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine mounts, the U.S. is once again grappling with our dependence on foreign oil. Although we produce more than we consume, we imported about 670,000 barrels per day from Russia last year — more than we imported from Saudi Arabia. At recent prices of $100 per barrel, that’s nearly $25 billion that fed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine. The U.S. ban on Russian oil helps, but is small compared to total Russian exports. So, how can we cut oil consumption and energy costs? President Biden wants electric vehicles (EVs) to comprise half of...

Belarus granted refugee status to Capitol riot defendant Evan Neumann, according to Belarusian state-run media, which circulated a photo of him apparently holding country documents. “US citizen Evan Newman received refugee status in Belarus. The document was handed to him in the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Brest Regional Executive Committee on March 22, 2022,” the Belarusian Telegraph Agency reported on Twitter. In an interview with the state-run outlet, he said he had “mixed feelings” but thanked Belarus, which “took care of me,” CNN reported. "I am upset to find myself in a...

After eight years of driving for Uber with a perfect 5-star rating, Richard Martin is considering changing gears — not because he dislikes the work, but because California’s soaring gas prices are making his career unsustainable. “I moved to San Diego from the Los Angeles area a little over eight years ago, and I thought I would do this for a couple of months,” Martin, 60, told The Hill. “I left the other day, and I couldn't believe that I had over 12,500 rides.”

We humans are wired in such a way as to look out for our best interests. It's how we survive. But sometimes we go off the rails and do things that can cause us more harm than good. And yes, I'm thinking of the love and affection some Republicans still have for Donald Trump, despite all the harm he has done to them and the party. You'd think that after losing the House during his presidency, and losing the presidency itself..... Think about it this way: We are humans, after all, not robots. We don't always color inside the lines...

The media have been quick to rubbish Attorney General Merrick Garland for his failure so far to indict former President Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They have tarred him with epithets worthy of Trump himself, such as "Merrick the Mild" and "Merrick the Meek." And a host of former prosecutors and law professors have criticized his inaction, saying that Garland needs to indict Trump to vindicate the rule of law. We don't know for certain, but it appears that Garland's Justice Department has yet to convene a grand jury to investigate the affair. Were they...

Tesla is hiking its prices in the United States and China for the second time in a week amid high inflation. For all models in the U.S., Tesla’s website indicated that prices have risen between 5 and 10 percent, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Some of its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles made in China have increased roughly 5 percent. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the companies were experiencing higher "inflation pressure."

The Senate passed a massive bill to fund the government and provide new Ukraine-related aid, sending the 2,741-page bill to President Biden’s desk. Senators voted 68-31 on the bill, which includes $1.5 trillion in government funding and $13.6 billion in aid tied to Ukraine. The bill moved at lightning speed through Congress, passing the House less than 24 hours after it was unveiled early Wednesday morning. The Senate’s vote comes less than two days after the bill was introduced. The Senate also passed by voice vote a days-long continuing resolution to buy time to get the massive legislation, which funds...

The White House and other observers are increasingly sounding the alarm about the mindset of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seems poised to escalate his country’s war with Ukraine. Experts, analysts, lawmakers and even administration officials have speculated that Putin’s isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised his paranoia. They’ve pointed to decisions he’s made such as the invasion itself and his move on Sunday to put his nuclear forces on alert in suggesting he is not making rational decisions.

Blum made headlines last March when The New York Times reported that he was eyeing an ambassadorship. The wealthy financier was reportedly interested in a position in a European capital. Blum served as the chairman of Blum Capital Partners, an equity investment management firm. Feinstein’s office said Blum’s “true passion was outside the office,” noting his involvement with the people of the Himalayas, having founded the American Himalayan Foundation. [snip]

Former President Trump is reportedly still communicating with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, according to a new book set to be released by a New York Times journalist. The news comes amid reports in recent weeks that the country had continued to conduct missile tests. In her new book titled "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America," New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman reports that the former president says he has continued to stay in contact with the North Korean leader.

The North Carolina elections board said in a court filing Monday it has the power to bar Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) from running for office over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “The State does not judge the qualifications of the elected members of the U.S. House of Representative. It polices candidate qualifications prior to the elections,” the board wrote in a filing to dismiss a lawsuit brought on by Cawthorn. “In doing so, as indicated above, States have long enforced age and residency requirements, without question and with very few if any legal challenges. The...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Sunday said “vice presidents can't simply decide not to certify an election,” breaking with former President Trump after he suggested that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the ability to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Asked by moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS’s “Face the Nation” if he agreed with Pence — who on Friday said he had “no right to overturn the election” — Rubio said that after examining the matter, he concluded that vice presidents do not have the power to not certify an election.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said on Sunday that he disagreed with former President Trump's idea of potentially pardoning people charged in connection with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year. "Of course not, oh, my goodness, no," Sununu said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked if the rioters who were part of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol should be pardoned.

During the 1992 election, Texas billionaire Ross Perot managed to get on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate in all 50 states and garnered 19 percent of the vote. It was a remarkable feat that — in the eyes of some Republicans, including President George H.W. Bush and his son, George W. Bush — tipped the election to Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. Keep in mind, that percentage of voters chose the third-party candidate even after it was reported that Perot, who loved conspiracies, claimed he saw five men with rifles on his front lawn and, later, that the Bush...

(The Hill) — President Joe Biden is leading former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in two hypothetical, head-to-head match-ups for the 2024 presidential election, according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by Marquette Law School, found that 43 percent of adults nationwide would support Biden if the 2024 presidential election were held today, while 33 percent would vote for Trump in a one-on-one match-up. Sixteen percent said they would choose a different candidate, while 6 percent said they would not vote. In a hypothetical race against DeSantis, 41 percent of adults nationwide said they would...

Ukraine has received a second shipment of weapons from the United States as part of $200 million in defensive aid promised amid fears of a Russian invasion. "The second bird in Kyiv! More than 80 tons of weapons to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities from our friends in the USA! And this is not the end," Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet on Sunday.

More than half of Americans view right-wing militia groups as a threat to the U.S., with a third saying they pose an "immediate and serious threat" to the country, according to a poll from The Economist/YouGov. The poll was taken following the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. Members of known right-wing extremist groups including the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and the Three-Percenters, have been charged in connection with the attack.

The Justice Department’s (DOJ) leveling of seditious conspiracy charges against the founder of the Oath Keepers has renewed interest — and in some cases faith — in DOJ and whether its investigation could yield charges against other high-level figures involved in the attack on the Capitol, including those in former President Trump’s orbit. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right militia group, was never in the Capitol on Jan. 6, but he’s been charged alongside other members who used a military “stack” formation to enter the building.