Free Republic

The Senate voted Friday to not allow witnesses to testify in President Trump’s impeachment trial, paving the way for his likely acquittal next week — but two days of long speeches and a final Senate floor vote still stand in the way of his declaring victory. Here’s what’s up ahead: Senators have the coming weekend off — and the four Democrats who are running for president, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet — are expected to make a one-day dash to Iowa for some last-minute campaigning ahead of Monday’s caucuses. On Monday, the entire Senate will reconvene...

Former Israeli diplomat Abba Eban once said the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Within minutes of President Trump proposing his Middle East Peace Plan, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas had rejected the plan with “a thousand no’s” coupled with a string of epithets rarely seen in international diplomacy.This abject lack of vision and leadership by Palestinian President Abbas is tragic, for the children and grandchildren of Palestinians and Israelis alike.The state of Israel comprises a minuscule portion of land in the Middle East, yet it has become a global center of democracy, culture, commerce, and innovation....

Iran’s hard-line establishment is trying to ensure through a state propaganda campaign that the foreign operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its assassinated commander are not forgotten. Major General Qasem Soleimani -- the late commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force -- was targeted and killed by a U.S. air strike in Baghdad on January 3. Since then, Tehran’s conservative clerics and hard-line media have been paying tribute to the memory of “Martyr Soleimani,” as he’s now referred to in Iran. One apparent part of the campaign is a recent report published by the hard-line, semiofficial Fars...

“He is a decent, honorable man,” former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said in a recent interview of Mr. Romney. Mr. Biden conceded that it was unlikely that he would be running for president right now if it were Mr. Romney seeking re-election, not Mr. Trump. “I think this is Senator Romney’s moment to shine,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar... . . . “As Mitt once said in some context, ‘The worst thing that could happen to anyone in politics has already happened to me. I lost the presidency.’ It’s like the guys in Vietnam said, ‘What are you going...

"I rejoice and share my joy with you" (Phil. 2:17). True joy is directly related to godly living. Philippians is often called the epistle of joy—and rightly so because the believer's joy is its major theme. Paul loved the Philippian Christians and they loved Him. When they learned that he had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel, they were deeply concerned. Paul wrote to alleviate their fears and encourage their joy. Of his own circumstances he said, "Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share...

“You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you," said the Lion.”― C.S. Lewis, The Silver ChairWake up sleepy heads, it’s Caturday.And you’ve got a big week ahead of you.Sunday: Super bowl:Monday/Tuesday: Senate Cat fight:Tuesday night, SOTU:Every Democrat attending the State of the Union addressWednesday: Senate vote on the President’s impeachment: Democrats all vote “Aye”But once again the Big Cat prevails, because he is on the side of justice.So like I said, wake up.Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Music in The Bible) Psalm 104 Psalm 104 1 Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, you are very great;     you are clothed with splendor and majesty. 2 The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;     he stretches out the heavens like a tent 3     and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot     and rides on the wings of the wind. 4 He makes winds his messengers,[a]     flames of fire his servants. 5 He set the earth on its foundations;     it can never be moved. 6 You...

Recently-published accounts reveal that the Palestinian Authority (PA) spent almost $150 million in 2019 on salaries and other benefits for convicted terrorists and their families. According to the Israeli NGO Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), “the PA has admitted to spending no less than 517.4 million shekels ($149.7 million/€136 million) paying salaries to terrorist prisoners and released prisoners in 2019.” The NGO pointed out that “Israeli law demands that this figure be deducted from the monthly tax transfers Israel makes to the PA.” Legislation passed by the US Congress in 2018 suspended American aid to the PA for as long as...

Trump said during an event at an auto parts manufacturer in the city of Warren that his administration would grant an “extension” to Iraqi Chaldean Catholic immigrants, a group that has been targeted for immigration enforcement during his presidency. “We’re going to make sure that we do everything we can to keep people who have been good to this country out of harm’s way,” Trump said. “When I get back, we’re going to give those who need it an extension to stay in our country.” Trump hopes to be reelected in November and Michigan, which he won narrowly in 2016,...

House Democrats are fond of saying there is no dispute about the facts in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. They are right, in this sense: Republicans are dealing in facts, and Democrats in fantasy. After two marathon question-and-answer sessions in the Senate on Wednesday and Thursday, it became clear that the Democrats’ case against President Trump is essentially based on five misquotes. They are as follows: 1. Ukraine call misquotes. The investigation of the president began with a “whistleblower” complaint that claimed “the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference...

President Donald Trump’s scrutiny by Congress won’t end with his expected acquittal in the Senate. House Democrats have a list of inquiries they plan to pursue when the impeachment saga is over. “The investigations and oversight will continue,” said Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, head of the Oversight and Reform Committee, the lead investigative panel in the House. “We’ve got several cases.” Democratic-led committees in the House will keep seeking a wide range of evidence and testimony as they look into Trump’s administration, his policies and his businesses and finances. They also plan to keep a focus on his...

WASHINGTON — A Senate vote to end President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings without calling witnesses should be considered “half a trial,” the president’s former chief of staff John Kelly said Friday. “In my view, they kind of leave themselves open to a lot of criticism,” Kelly said in an interview with NJ Advance Media in advance of his Feb. 12 appearance at Drew University’s Drew Forum speaker series at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. “It seems it was half a trial,” Kelly said. Kelly said he believed former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s assertion that Trump withheld congressionally...

Everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. Every person has a purpose on this Earth. Do we believe this? "Sister Calling My Name" confronts these questions in the rawest of ways. How many people have no idea that they are amazing, that God created them for tremendous things that are sometimes small to the world, but so magnificently beautiful at the same time? "Sister" is a play by Buzz McLaughlin that is currently being performed by the Storm Theatre Company and the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in Manhattan. I'm a...

Congratulations to Britain for its exit from the European Union yesterday. Next up: the United Nations perhaps? Trump should propose it, just to watch the media . . . what? Lose their mind? How can you lose something already lost? Speaking of lost, how’s that whole impeachment thing going? Coronavirus seems to be more popular. Strap in folks and order a double espresso, because we have extra special bonus video content at the end.,p>

Rep. Ilhan Omar brought her lover Tim Mynett to Iowa with her as she stumped for Sen. Bernie Sanders, her 2020 pick. The couple attended a canvassing kick-off Friday afternoon for the Vermont senator at one of his campaign offices in Des Moines. . . . At the Mynetts December divorce court date, Beth Mynett - who asked that her maiden name of Jordan be restored -. got up and announced that she had a statement to make, telling the courtroom her husband 'had an affair with Ilhan Omar.' With the divorce done, Tim Mynett left the downtown D.C. courthouse...

With the Senate impeachment trial dominating the headlines lately, there hasn’t been much room for other news to break through. Consider, for example, the Trump administration’s publication last week of the final rules that change which agency and which regulations oversee the export of firearms and ammunition. This is newsworthy because the change was initially proposed by the Obama administration and modernizes a Cold War-era export control regime that treated a small-caliber single shot hunting rifle the same as a military tank or jet fighter. These rules still subject the export of sporting firearms and ammunition products to stringent scrutiny...

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7 KJV).

Pop star Taylor Swift describes Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) as a “homophobic racist” and “Trump in a whig” in her newly released Netflix documentary Miss Americana. But Blackburn, perhaps anticipating the attacks, took the high ground this week and issued a statement in which she offers to work with the Grammy-winning singer. “Taylor is an exceptionally gifted artist and songwriter, and Nashville is fortunate to be the center of her creative universe,” said Blackburn’s statement. “While there are policy issues on which we may always disagree, we do agree on the need to throw the entertainment community’s collective influence behind...

A thread on Twitter by Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio is revealing on many levels for all of us impeachment watchers. It reveals a fairly conservative Senator who is aware of much that has been going on around him, but unaware of so much more. The thread reveals an awareness of the deceitful nature of his Democrat opponents, but a lack of awareness of exactly how deceitful they truly are. It reveals a generally well-meaning guy who will do the right thing on this impeachment scam in the end, but who has been making his decisions based on woefully incomplete...

If you're looking forward to watching President Trump's upcoming State of the Union address but don't know when it is, do not ask any Amazon Alexa devices. On Friday evening I experimented with an Amazon Echo (a second generation Echo Dot) in my house by asking it what I thought was a rather simple question. "Alexa, when is the next State of the Union?" I asked. "The next State of the Union will occur on Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 9 p.m." Sorry, Alexa, but that is the wrong answer. The next State of the Union is actually on Tuesday,...