Free Republic

The newly released J6 footage is a revelation because it shows that the “insurrection” was not by, of, and for the people, it was by, of, and for the government. When it comes to events inside the Capitol, there’s growing evidence that the violence came not from the people peacefully and reverentially wandering around but from law enforcement. Certainly, the most recent footage appears to bear that out. There are two narratives about January 6. The dominant one is the Democrat narrative. Practically within minutes of events on January 6, every Democrat politician and media outlet was claiming an “insurrection.”...

--- ...then there must be another article in Politico about Republican efforts to politically assassinate Ted Cruz. For everyone who thinks only Donald Trump (or the amnesty loving Ben Carson) are the only genuine outsiders who have the credentials to fight the Washington DC establishment, read about the one man who has actually been doing it. Once again Ted Cruz is trying to defund Planned Parenthood, and once again Vichy Republicans are gearing up to frag Cruz's big tent: Ted Cruz says his hard-line strategy to defund Planned Parenthood and risk a government shutdown is about doing the “right thing”...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) blasted President Obama’s executive order on immigration, saying the president needs a “remedial civics 101” course to refresh his understanding of the Constitution's separations of power. “There is an appropriate way to address this, and it’s not amnesty,” Cornyn said on the Senate floor Thursday. “This is really a terrible precedent.”

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised on Thursday morning that Congress will respond forcefully in 2015 to President Barack Obama’s imminent executive action that will defer deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants. In a blistering speech that quoted Obama’s past statements about his limited unilateral powers on the subject of immigration, the GOP leader did not specify what action that his Republican Senate will take next year

It would be “impossible to defund President Obama’s executive order through a government spending bill, House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing said Thursday. Congress doesn’t provide funding to U.S. Citizenship and Immgiration Services (CIS), the agency responsible for issuing work permits and green cards. Instead, the agency is funded through fees. “We cannot, literally cannot, defund that agency in an appropriations bill because we don’t appropriate that agency. That agency is entirely-fee funded,” Hing told reporters.

Sen. Mitch McConnell made a clear statement Thursday: There will be no government shutdown. The Kentucky Republican, who will take over as majority leader in January, renewed his vow not to shut down the federal government as conservatives in his party called for fighting the president’s immigration proposals through spending legislation. Some Republicans in Congress are arguing that if President Barack Obama moves forward with his promise to sign executive orders addressing immigration, the GOP should attach language to spending bills that would undo the actions. Congress must pass a spending bill by Dec. 11 to prevent another government shutdown....

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, deputy leader of the Senate’s newly empowered Republicans, laid out a vision Wednesday for an era of cooperation — a chance “to restore faith in our democratic institutions” after years of partisan strife. He promised Democrats a fair shot at putting their ideas to a vote — a departure from the heavy-handed approach their own leaders took toward Republicans in recent years. He also warned that the new majority won’t tolerate unilateral action by the White House on immigration.

In a new op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Republican strategist Karl Rove warns the GOP that should they make big gains in the November midterm elections, they should focus on passing legislation rather than “score-settling” with President Barack Obama. Rove writes that he anticipates Obama to reject bills sent to him from a Republican Congress but that Obama ” deserves the chance to show he’s matured as a leader and has the energy to govern.” From the op-ed: Mr. Obama is not the only person who must decide how to proceed. Whatever path the president chooses, Republicans must settle...

Karl Rove recently tried to advise Republicans on how the party can more effectively take back the Senate in November. He made two main suggestions. One was that Republican candidates must “make the case for electing someone new who will be a check and balance in the Senate on Mr. Obama and his agenda, rather than returning a Democratic loyalist who toes his line.” Rove’s second suggestion was that the party should “offer a positive, optimistic conservative agenda to make independents who disapprove of Mr. Obama comfortable voting Republican.” Rove is right on both counts, especially about offering a positive...

NATIONAL REVIEW SEPTEMBER 30, 2014 12:34 PM God Save Us from the Loud 'I'm Staying Home This Year' Conservatives By Jim Geraghty A few thoughts from the middle of the day . . . God save us from self-professed "conservatives" who will announce they'll stay home on Election Day as a demonstration of their power. Because as we all know, you become more influential in politics and government and public life by staying home and doing less. .... Does the "I'm staying home" crowd apply this to everything in life? "I don't like the way the company is run, so...

Yesterday I noted that the tea party in big states and national elections faces a challenge both in money and support when facing competent, mainstream Republicans. To put it bluntly, there aren’t enough Republicans who think that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is a sellout or that the shutdown was a good idea to sustain the tea party in its current form. I’ve suggested that it, in essence, disappears as a distinct subset of the right and, like most insurgent movements, will be soaked up by the larger political entity, in this case the GOP. But are there other things the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican National Committee wants to take more control over how the party picks a White House nominee. The RNC was to meet Wednesday in Memphis, Tennessee, to choose members who will effectively set the calendar for 2016's long list of potential presidential contenders. If the party's chairman, Reince Priebus gets his way, the GOP will pick its nominee more quickly than during past contests and have fewer debates in which candidates could criticize each other. The RNC also was expected to put penalties in place for candidates who don't follow the committee's plans. RNC officials described...

SANFORD For months, Republican Thom Tillis’ Senate campaign touted his accomplishments and focused his attacks on Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan, acting like a frontrunner with his eye on November. Now, in the final days before the May 6 primary, Tillis is changing his strategy. Last week, he mailed a flier to voters that attacked his top GOP rival for not paying his property taxes on time. He also debuted a TV ad that trumpets his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Tillis hit the social conservative issues Saturday in his speech at the 2nd Congressional District GOP convention in Sanford....

A video clip has been posted of Speaker John A. Boehner mocking his colleagues’ reluctance to take on an immigration overhaul today while campaigning for re-election in Ohio:

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour defended Jeb Bush’s recent comments that some illegal immigration is an “act of love,” saying it’s very similar to what former President Ronald Reagan thought. “What people want you to do: Tell the truth,” Barbour said Tuesday at the LBJ Presidential Library’s Civil Rights Summit. “And if Jeb feels that way about it — it sort of reminds me of my boss, Ronald Reagan.” Barbour, who was an aide in Reagan’s administration described what the president used to call the “gates test” during a panel Tuesday with Democratic San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. “Ronald Reagan...

VIDEO AT LINK On Fox News Channel's "America's Newsroom" on Tuesday, former adviser to President George W. Bush Karl Rove reacted to remarks from former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) that called certain types of illegal immigration an "act of love"...

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy has pulled his column from Breitbart News after the site launched a California version with a lewd photoshop image of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. A McCarthy spokesperson told ABC News the images were "inappropriate," while another told the Los Angeles Times that the office "didn't condone them." “We thought it was the right thing to do to ask for the column to be removed," said Spokesperson Matt Sparks, according to the Los Angeles Times. The brash right-wing conservative news outlet launched its California coverage Monday with an ad campaign featuring a series of image...

At a time when polls show public opinion turning against the Democrats, some Republicans seem to be turning against each other. Even with the prospect of being able to win control of the Senate in this fall’s elections, some Republicans are busy manufacturing ammunition for their own circular firing squad. A Republican faction’s demonization of their own Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is a classic example. If you listen to some of those who consider themselves the only true conservatives, you would never guess that Senator McConnell received a lifetime 90 percent ranking by the American Conservative Union — and...

If 2016 brings another Bush-Clinton matchup, not all famous last names are equal at the start. The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll makes clear why it’s better to be associated with the 42nd president than the 43rd and 41st, at least for now. The poll has plenty of good news for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Two-thirds of Americans say they’d consider voting for Clinton in 2016, and a full 25 percent say they will definitely support her. Again, among all Americans – not just Democrats, or Democrats and independents – one in four say they are fully on board for Hillary...

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn’s bid for re-election got a boost this week from a GOP colleague and one of the top newspapers in his state. Mr. Cornyn, Texas Republican, will try to defend his seat against seven opponents in the party primary on March 4. He is taking heat from conservatives for supporting a procedural motion last week that cleared the way for an up-down vote to extend the nation’s borrowing authority, even though he voted against the actual measure. But Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican, told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that voters will still come out in droves for...