Free Republic

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) on Saturday said default would confirm Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assessment of a broken U.S. political system, as the White House and Congress negotiate over the debt ceiling amid the possibility of default. “The single worst thing we could do is default. It would confirm Xi Jinping’s assessment that we have a flawed and broken political system, that we can’t solve our most basic challenges, and it would weaken us in the eyes of the rest of the world,” Coons said on MSNBC’s “Velshi.”

President Biden on Friday singled out the three Republican senators who voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, praising them for setting aside partisanship in what has become a divisive process. “Not withstanding the harassment and attacks in the hearings, I always believed that a bipartisan vote was possible,” Biden said at an event with Jackson to celebrate her confirmation. “And I hope I don’t get them in trouble, and I mean it sincerely, but I want to thank three Republicans who voted for Judge Jackson.”

Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti lacks the votes on the Senate floor to be confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to India, according to a report Sunday by Axios, which says Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has conceded defeat. Garcetti was considered a long shot for the Cabinet after Black Lives Matter activists staged protests outside his home in Los Angeles after the 2020 election, demanding President-elect Joe Biden not include him among senior administration members.

Jen Psaki won't confirm how many kids. Neither will DHS.

Roasts Schumer's hypocrisy I know, I know. Most conservatives place about as much faith in Mitch McConnell as they place in the healing benefits of copper bracelets. However, his promise - made on Fox News Sunday - is about as unconditional as it gets. Gorsuch, he claims, will be confirmed. ...And he’ll be confirmed by the end of this week.

2006, climate change experts from Bangor University in north Wales found a very special clam while dredging the seabeds of Iceland. At that time scientists counted the rings on the inside shell to determine that the clam was the ripe old age of 405. Unfortunately, by opening the clam which scientists refer to as "Ming," they killed it instantly. Cut to 2013, researchers have determined that the original calculations of Ming's age were wrong, and that the now deceased clam was actually 102 years older than originally thought. Ming was 507 years old at the time of its demise.

Israeli officials on Saturday reportedly confirmed the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike against Syria and say it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles. The officials said the shipment was not of chemical arms, but of “game changing” weapons bound for the terror group Hezbollah. One official said the target was a shipment of advanced, long-range ground-to-ground missiles.

With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said: "I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition." This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Now, comes a new ABC News/Washington Post poll with a whole harvest of revelations, among them, strong indications that Obama's liberal base is starting to crumble. Among the nuggets: Despite those hundreds of billions of blown stimulus dollars and almost as many upturn promises from...

Well, what do you know. Obama administration officials at the Department of Homeland Security deliberately misled Congress when they denied using “selective enforcement” to deport convicted criminals in the U.S. illegally. Their much-criticized “catch and release” policy was confirmed by documents obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents “show that the Obama administration is implementing ‘stealth amnesty’ which is an end-run around the rule of law and Congress,” said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.

Further confirmation came today that the GOP must play offense on Medicare, rather than getting trapped into defending the Ryan budget. The status quo is not an option. In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee today, two Medicare Trustess, Drs. Charles Blahous and Robert Reischauer, confirmed that based on our current path in 2024 there would be "actual" cuts to Medicare at 17%. They also confirmed that Medicare would end itself by 2024 unless actions are taken to save the program.

Holy Spirit Indwelling Series – Part 4 Sealed with the Spirit! Indwelling?As this series has progressed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has been presented as representative and not the same as the “gift of the Holy Spirit” or being “filled with the Spirit”. This article will focus on the idea of being sealed with the spirit, what it means, and whether or not it is an indwelling as some suppose. In conjunction with examining the terms “seal” or “sealed”, the terms “earnest” and “anointed” will also be discussed.The terms “seal” or “sealed” in the Old and New Testament are...

I don’t know whether the “Palestine Papers” published yesterday by Al Jazeera and the Guardian are real or, as Barry Rubin argues, a fake aimed at discrediting the Palestinian Authority’s current leadership. What is certainly false, however, is the claim, as Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland put it, that “Now we know. Israel had a peace partner.” If the papers are true, then, as Noah pointed out, they show the PA agreeing to let Israel keep most — though not all — of the huge Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, which are home to hundreds of thousands of Israelis. The Guardian...

EL PASO, Texas -- U.S. Marshals confirmed to ABC-7 Friday afternoon that a body found in a Sunland Park, N.M. landfill was that of a federal inmate who escaped the El Paso jail earlier in the day. Carlos Roberto Medina-Bailon, 30, of Delicias, Mexico, is believed to have escaped the El Paso County Detention Facility between 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Friday by using the garbage disposal system.

St. Pete Times: Charlie Crist says he would vote to confirm Elena Kagan, but talking to the Miami Herald editorial board the other day struggled to recall specifically why he opposed Sonia Sotomayor.

Democrats should be our first line of protection against putting a untested candidate on the Supreme court. You'd think one Democrat would wise up and point out a whole stable of qualified Judges who are ready for the job. Then, point out to those who still would take no experience that this decision may well effect their party for 50 years. And this is the Supreme Court, not some entry level job. They have no idea if this candidate really wants to be a Judge, or gets tired of the jobs and quits. At least with Sotomayer, they could argue...

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - The New York Police Department said on Saturday the incident that caused Times Square to be evacuated was what appeared to be a car bomb, which was being dismantled by officers on the scene.

Rick Sanchez: i've know rush. in person,i like him. his rhetoric,however is inexcusably divisive. he's right tho. we didn't confirm quote. our bad.

(IsraelNN.com) United States officials have confirmed that Israel Air Force warplanes bombed a truck convoy in Sudan in January. The trucks were carrying arms that would be smuggled into Gaza for use against Israel, the officials said, according to a report in the New York Times.

LIMA, Peru - A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people. Local residents told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning. Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a "rocky meteorite," based on the fragments analyzed. He said water in the meteorite's muddy crater boiled for maybe 10 minutes from the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2007 – U.S. officials in Iraq today confirmed that a Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter that crashed killing seven servicemembers Feb. 7 was shot down with anti-aircraft munitions. Officials from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) made the determination, according to a news release from Multinational Corps Iraq. "Initial evidence indicated that the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter went down as a result of mechanical failure. After further investigation using all available means, the cause of the incident has been confirmed to be hostile fire," said Marine Maj. Jeff Pool, a Multinational Force West spokesman. The actual...