Free Republic

Before vetoing House Bill 228, Gov. John Kasich expressed frustration Wednesday about how politics have blocked him from passing a "Red Flag Law," allowing the courts to take away a person's gun if he or she is unstable, and the growing connection with public shootings. "It never existed in America and we can't do anything because of rotten, stinkin' politics," Kasich said. Then, he commented about House Bill 228. "So, why would I sign a bill that gives more power to the gun advocates," he said. "I hate to jump on the bash-Kasich bandwagon, but in this case, he's really...

“I do hope that somebody does run in the primary against the president,” the Arizona senator told C-SPAN on Friday. “I think Republicans need to be reminded of what conservatism really is, and what it means to be decent.” . . . “I fear for the future of the party if we don’t remember who we really are,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Call it Flake News. And it was delivered in a sharply worded dispatch. After attending Saturday’s memorial service for Sen. John McCain, his fellow senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, tweeted a message intended for President Donald Trump, The Arizona Republic reported.

(Senator Flake talked to Chuck Todd on McCain on his Sunday talk show round, saying McCain was the 'voice for civility' and especially needed in Trump era, link here) When asked if he supports a candidate in the primary in Arizona for his seat, Flake said, “I wish them well.” On his endorsement, he added, “Nobody would be asking for a Republican primary, I can tell you that. This is very much — you know, I am not happy about it, but this is the president’s party right now. I think that we’ll be sorry for that in the future,...

When Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s internal security service, told me during an early August 2016 phone call that Russia wasn’t interfering in our presidential election, I knew he was lying. Over the previous several years I had grown weary of Mr. Bortnikov’s denials of Russia’s perfidy — about its mistreatment of American diplomats and citizens in Moscow, its repeated failure to adhere to cease-fire agreements in Syria and its paramilitary intervention in eastern Ukraine, to name just a few issues. When I warned Mr. Bortnikov that Russian interference in our election was intolerable and would roil United States-Russia...

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) on Sunday suggested that President Donald Trump appeared at a campaign rally in his state on Saturday without a direct invitation from the House candidate he came to tout. Kasich, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” said he asked state Sen. Troy Balderson, the Republican candidate for a U.S. House seat in a Tuesday special election, point blank why he invited Trump to campaign for him at his event in Delaware County. “I asked him the other day, ‘Why are you bringing Trump in,’ said Kasich, who has been one of the GOP’s harshest critics of...

Apparently some Democrats in the Senate have had enough of President Trump’s “fake news” allegations, especially in the wake of all the “CNN sucks” chants at yesterday’s Trump rally in Tampa, and are taking immediate empty action:

Clinton spoke on Saturday at OZY Fest in Central Park where she was interviewed by the digital magazine's investor Laurene Jobs. 'The great mystery is why the president has not spoken up for our country,' Clinton said. 'We saw that most clearly in this most recent meeting with Putin. We don't know what was said in the room with just the two of them.' She also implied that Trump was a patsy getting played by Putin. Clinton admitted she didn't get along with Putin when she was secretary of state. 'To be fair, hardly anyone who believes in freedom gets...

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) is saying that more members of the Republican Party need to be willing to stand up to President Trump. “It’s been pretty lonely out here," Kasich told The Guardian in an interview published on Friday, alluding to how he is one of the few members of the GOP to consistently criticize the president. “Not that I mind walking a lonely road, I’ve done it most of my career, but always would be good if you had more people who are willing to stand up and say that’s the wrong direction,” Kasich added.

Full tile.... Jeff Flake takes to Senate floor to suggest Trump committed TREASON by giving 'aid and comfort' to 'enemy' Russia ..... The Trump-Helsinki summit brought new accusations in Congress Thursday, as GOP Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona accused the president of providing 'aid and comfort' to the enemy. Flake's choice of words evoked the Constitution's definition of treason – at a time when President Trump is facing a new level of scrutiny for his refusal to forcefully condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for election meddling during their summit meeting Monday in Finland. 'By choosing to reject objective reality in...

WASHINGTON — James Comey, the FBI director who was fired last year by President Trump, is urging voters to support Democrats in November's midterm elections. Comey says on Twitter that the "Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders' design that 'Ambition must ... counteract ambition.'" That refers to the need for Congress to provide checks and balances to presidential power. Comey writes: "All who believe in this country's values must vote for Democrats this fall. ... History has its eyes on us." The former FBI director recently said he no longer considers himself a Republican.

Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) is renewing his call for President Trump to release his tax returns after the president's controversial press conference with Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week. Sanford told The Washington Post’s Robert Costa on Tuesday that he doesn’t know if Putin has any compromising information on Trump, but said he wants more information about Trump’s finances in light of the president's comments while standing alongside Putin the previous day. Trump's remarks during a joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki were widely panned by U.S. lawmakers, with many Republicans and Democrats condemning his comments siding with Putin's...

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is calling on President Donald Trump to end the “heartless” policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the U.S. border. “Children shouldn’t be used as a negotiating tool,” Bush tweeted on Monday. “@realDonaldTrump should end this heartless policy and Congress should get an immigration deal done that provides for asylum reform, border security and a path to citizenship for Dreamers.” The failed presidential candidate’s plea came in response to President Trump’s tweet in which he vowed to stop “some of the worst criminals on earth,” from using children to illegally enter the U.S....

"GOP lawmaker Mark Sanford (S.C.) said the unyielding supporting Republicans are giving President Trump is a "cancerous growth" on the party. Sanford made the comments in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine two days after his defeat in Tuesday's South Carolina primary race. The outgoing congressman addressed public perception that he wasn't loyal enough to Trump and how it helped lead to this week's loss. "It is a cancerous growth," Sanford said. "The basis on which people's frustrations have been built is real and understandable in the way that at times Washington doesn't work for them or their families and...

Every time the mainstream media touts some “wonderful new economic numbers” I just want to cringe. Yes, it is true that the economic numbers have gotten slightly better since Donald Trump entered the White House, but the rosy economic picture that the mainstream media is constantly painting for all of us is completely absurd. As you are about to see, if honest numbers were being used all of our major economic numbers would be absolutely terrible. Of course we can hope for a major economic turnaround for America under Donald Trump, but we certainly are not there yet. Economist John...

Sen. Jeff Flake on Sunday did not rule out launching a Republican primary challenge to President Trump in 2020 and said he does hope a GOP alternative to Mr. Trump emerges for the next presidential election.

Continuing his cross-country book tour, former FBI Director James Comey railed against the National Rifle Association and disputed claims that he was considering running for political office. According to the Miami Herald, Comey briefly touched on gun rights in the wake of recent mass shooting tragedies, telling readers at a book event in Miami that the NRA "sells fear" to gun owners. As for specific gun laws that should be put in place to prevent similar shootings like the Parkland, Florida School shooting in February, Comey said he would support "reasonable restrictions" to current laws. He shot down criticism that...

The Titans — and the officiating crew — played right into the hands of the Patriots in Saturday night’s 35-14 rout of Tennessee in the AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium. The 14-3 Patriots, as defending Super Bowl champions, shouldn’t need such help. Not that they were turning it away or complaining. The first questionable call that went against the Titans came in the second quarter on a third-and-4 play from the Tennessee 27-yard line. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota connected with former Jets receiver Eric Decker on a pass that appeared to give Tennessee a first down to keep...

Conservatives tend to regard the growing trend of single-parent families as an issue of personal responsibility, but what if the liberals who blame society are partly right? What if they can point their finger to a bill sponsored by two Republicans and signed into law by a Republican president? Prior to the 1930s, the labor force participation rate for black Americans was roughly equal to that of whites. Following passage of the first federal minimum wage in 1931, these rates started to diverge, and from the 1950s to the present, national black unemployment has remained at double the rate for...

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders isn't a big fan of the media. Which is, of course, her right. The relationship between any White House and any press corps tasked with covering that White House is almost always fraught and fractious. But, on Monday, Sanders made an accusation that went way, way beyond the pale of the usual give and take between White House and press corps. Here's what she said: "There's a very big difference between making honest mistakes and purposefully misleading the American people. Something that happens regularly. You can't say -- I'm not done. You can't say...