Free Republic

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slighted former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks Monday, saying they came up short of what DeSantis called the “gold standard” set by two of the court’s other conservative justices. When asked by radio host Hugh Hewitt if he would “pledge to the Republicans as you go around the country that your judges will be like the Trump judges,” the 44-year-old DeSantis responded: “Well, actually, I would say we’ll do better than that. “I respect the three appointees he did, but none of those three are at the same level of Justice [Clarence] Thomas and Justice...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday morning that the United States will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” a day after the U.S. announced another multibillion-dollar assistance package for the country. The U.S. announced late Thursday evening that it has approved another military aid package to Ukraine for $2.5 billion dollars, bringing up total U.S. military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of 2021 to $27.5 billion. The U.S. announcement called it “significant” and “unprecedented.” So far, the U.S. has allocated more than $100 billion in aid since the conflict began in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is vowing that his country’s forces will take back the south after a visit to front-line troops in the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv. In a virtual address late Saturday, Zelensky, who does not normally leave Kyiv due to security concerns, said he talked to troops and officials during his visit to Mykolaiv and Odesa.

President Biden said Thursday he wants to put billions of dollars into a “Build Back Better World” program for foreign countries after members of his own party stymied his domestic Build Back Better Act. “We’re going to export billions of dollars worth of product for the rest of the world,” Biden said during remarks at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. “One of the proposals I have and won’t go into now is the Build Back Better World.

Dear Friends, I received a letter from a young person asking about marriage. I asked this person if I could answer her inquiry publically . I thought that she was not only speaking for herself, but as a millennial, she may be voicing the questions of many within her generation.Marriage in particular has been undermined and assaulted, to the point that many of the young don’t even believe it to be a necessity. Yet marriage is the basic building block of a successful society. The Psalmist asked, “If the Foundations be destroyed…what will the righteous do?”.The following is the letter...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is accusing Republicans of attempting to “prevent the other side from voting” and vowed the Senate will pass the “For the People Act,” which would largely federalize future U.S. elections. “Across the country, the Republicans seem to believe that the best strategy for winning elections is to try to prevent the other side from voting,” Schumer claimed on Thursday, describing GOP voter integrity measures as attempts of “voter suppression.”

Democrat presidential candidate and billionaire Tom Steyer once again vowed to declare a state of emergency over the climate “crisis” America faces during the sixth Democrat presidential debate at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. “I am hoping, that we, in fact, that we will do what I am suggesting that we do, which is declare a state of emergency on day one of my presidency,” Steyer said in regards to the relocation of families under certain living conditions in America.

Brothers and Sisters? Q. I know that the Church believes in Mary’s perpetual virginity, but what are we to make of the passages in the Gospel that refer to Jesus’ brothers and sisters?Rose, via email A. There are a number of places in the New Testament (see Mk 3:31-34; 6:3; Mt 12:46; 13:55; Lk 8:19-20; Jn 2:12; 7:3-10; Acts 1:14; and 1 Cor 9:5) where Jesus’ kinsfolk are mentioned using terms such as “brother” (adelphos), “sister” (adelphe) or “brethren” (adelphoi). But “brother” has a wider meaning both in the Scriptures and at the time they were written. It is not...

President Donald Trump answered critics of his immigration restrictions from seven high-risk countries in the Middle East, sending a message out on Twitter. “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning,” he wrote. “Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage, protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer teared up during a press conference on Sunday, calling Trump’s executive order “mean spirited and un-American.” On Monday, he stated his intent to ask for a vote in the Senate to repeal Trump’s order. Trump did not signal any intention of...

Tim Tebow recently split with girlfriend Olivia Culpo — a former Miss USA model — and the reason is said to be the former Broncos quarterback’s abstinence pledge. Yes, that’s right, folks. You now live in a culture where a girl doesn’t want a man who respects her enough to wait until he is ready to commit to her, faithfully for life, and not just use her body for his own personal pleasure. Sports media, as you might expect, had a field day mocking Tebow and his desire to please God with his sexuality. From NewsBusters: Tim Tebow’s relationship with...

President Obama and other world leaders said Sunday there would be no lifting on the economic sanctions against Russia until it reaches a formal peace agreement with the Ukraine. Obama said they were "standing up to Russian aggression." The leaders were meeting in the small German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the annual conference of the "Group of Seven" leading democratic industrial powers, also known as the G-7. World leaders from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada, were present. It was the second year in a row Russia was barred from attending. In a joint press conference with...

Washington said Monday it will work with the Palestinian Arab unity government and maintain aid, while "watching closely" to ensure it respects the principle of non-violence, AFP reports. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington believes Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has "formed an interim technocratic government... that does not include members affiliated with Hamas." "With what we know now, we will work with this government," Psaki said. Abbas has insisted that a 'unity' government would be based on what he called"the four Palestinian principles": recognizing Israel, recognizing the terms of international agreements, and the explicit rejection of violence...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister headed to Washington on Sunday for a high-stakes meeting with President Barack Obama about U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts, vowing to maintain a tough line in the face of heavy international pressure to begin making concessions to the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu's defiant tone set the stage for what could be a difficult meeting Monday with Obama. But with the clock ticking toward an April target date for a preliminary agreement, the Israeli leader could soon be forced to begin laying out a clearer vision for a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Shortly before takeoff,...

US President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice those who killed the US ambassador to Libya during protests against a film that mocks Islam. But he told reporters that the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi would not break the bonds between the US and the new Libyan government. His election rival Mitt Romney criticised his handling of the crisis. Ambassador J Christopher Stevens reportedly died of smoke inhalation after a crowd stormed the consulate. Three other Americans were also killed and the consulate set ablaze, in what the White House described as a "complex" attack. Unconfirmed...

The mayor of Boston is vowing to block Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in the city after the company's president spoke out publicly against gay marriage. Mayor Thomas Menino told the Boston Herald on Thursday that he doesn't want a business in the city "that discriminates against a population." Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press this week that his privately owned company is "guilty as charged" in support of what he called the biblical definition of the family. The fast-food chicken sandwich chain later said that it strives to "treat every person with honor, dignity and respect --...

Okay, so today I got another of those emails. You know the kind, the If-you-don't-forward-this-you're-unpatriotic type of chain mails. This one involved the fact that, according to the email, many US Courts are taking the “so help me God” out of the swearing in statement for witnesses. Also, according to the email, NBC News took a poll and had an “overwhelming” show of support for leaving it in. The implication here is that good Christians everywhere should be outraged. I'm not. That's the problem. I have no intention of forwarding this to anyone and I won't even turn a hair...

SCHENECTADY, New York (AFP) – President Barack Obama claimed the role of champion of US businesses Friday, vowing to slip the economy into "overdrive" and enlisting corporate America in his crusade to create jobs. Obama named General Electric CEO and Chairman Jeffrey Immelt to head a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness in his latest conciliatory gesture to the business sector following a Republican mid-term election rout. "The past two years were about pulling our economy back from the brink," Obama said after touring a GE plant in upstate New York, which manufactures hardware for solar, steam and wind power...

New Speaker Vows to Share Power—a Tricky PropositionJANUARY 4, 2011 By NAFTALI BENDAVID And PATRICK O'CONNOR When John Boehner takes over one of the most powerful jobs in Washington this week, he says his first order of business is to make himself less powerful. On Wednesday the new speaker of the House of Representatives plans to offer a package of rule changes that, he says, will give minority-party members more of a say and decentralize power. In short, Ohio Republican Mr. Boehner is promising he'll be a different figure from many speakers throughout history—from Republican Joseph Cannon a century ago...

(Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed on Monday that the United States would not devalue the dollar for export advantage, saying no country could weaken its currency to gain economic health. "It is not going to happen in this country." Geithner told Silicon Valley business leaders of devaluing the dollar. Geithner broke his silence on the dollar's protracted slide ahead of this weekend's meeting of finance leaders from the Group of 20 wealthy and emerging nations in South Korea, where rising tensions over Chinese and U.S. currency valuations are expected to take center stage. "It is very important for...

Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday pushed backed against those who accuse the Justice Department of enforcing civil rights laws based on race, saying people need to just "look at the facts." "The notion that we are enforcing any civil rights laws -- voting or others -- on the basis of race, ethnicity or gender is simply false," Holder said. For more than a year, Republicans and others have been questioning why the Obama administration reversed course on a federal lawsuit against two members of the New Black Panther Party, who were videotaped outside a