Free Republic

Democrats have finally found a riot they do not support. The days of "fiery but mostly peaceful protest" coverage are behind us after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Democrat hypocrites are now conspiring with their left-wing media allies and Big Tech monopolies to cancel the opposition, and Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz is on their kill list. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who was fine with her base rioting for months last year, is now calling on Sens. Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) to resign after blaming the two senators for the violence at...

Mayor Annise Parker took a moment on Twitter to bash former Houston Astros star Lance Berkman after he voiced opposition toward the city's equal rights ordinance known as HERO. In late September, Berkman recorded an advertisement for the Campaign for Houston PAC, a group that is opposed to HERO. "My wife and I have four daughters," Berkman says in the ad. "Proposition One, the 'bathroom ordinance,' would allow troubled men to enter women's public bathrooms, showers and locker rooms. This would violate their privacy and put them in harm's way. That's just wrong." The mayor called Berkman a hypocrite for...

A Tea Party lawmaker erred last week when he filed a handwritten complaint against the judge who permitted Texas' first same-sex marriage. State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, a veteran groom with five marriages under his belt, called out the wrong judge and made a flawed assertion of Texas law

Will the latest news about Ted Cruz hurt his chances for the 2016 GOP nomination? Click to learn the betting odds for the junior Texas senator and other contenders for the Oval Office.When Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was a teenager, he was caught doing teenage things, as revealed in documents obtained by BuzzFeed. In his application to become Texas solicitor general, Cruz was required to list any prior convictions. That included one "guilty plea for minor in possession of alcohol." Apparently when Cruz was a high school senior in 1987, authorities found an unopened case of beer in his vehicle....

Megachurch pastor John Hagee is warning his San Antonio congregation and international following of a “world-shaking event that will happen between April 2014 and October 2015.” And, no, he's not talking about Fiesta. Hagee, founder of the Cornerstone Church, points to “four blood moons,” a rare astronomical event of four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad, which begins April 15. The San Antonio pastor asserts the dates of the eclipses signify a major event that will change history in a book released in October, a series of sermons and a TV special airing on Tuesday, the first...

Lots of people in the Republican party are fed up with Sen. Ted Cruz, but Sen. Rand Paul is the guy who is doing something about it. On Monday, the conservative news website, Breitbart News, published an op-ed by Paul, where the senator from Kentucky took Cruz to task -- without ever actually naming the guy who may be beloved by the Tea Party conservatives, but has earned some pretty impressive dislike from the elected members of his own party -- for his hijinks that Paul said have encouraged divisions within the party: "I don't claim to be the next...

Texas tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz tells ABC's Jonathan Karl on "This Week" that he has no regrets about the 16-week federal government shutdown. In fact, he blames President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders, ABC News reports in a story on its website.

In the five months after Houston voters forced city officials to turn off a camera surveillance system that fined motorists for running red lights, traffic accidents at those 50 intersections with 70 cameras have decreased 16 percent, according to recently released data. The drop in accidents surprised Houston police administrators who say a possible explanation is the unusually dry weather during recent months has made driving conditions safer. They also wonder if years of electronic monitoring have made Houstonians better, if not more cautious, drivers. Assistant Chief Brian Lumpkin said he had assumed accidents at those intersections were increasing since...

AUSTIN — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White has a message for President Barack Obama: Call me. Obama is scheduled to come to Texas for fundraisers on Aug. 9, but White has said he's too busy to meet with him. But the Democrat said he'd happily take a call from the president. "I'd be available to talk to the president, whoever the president of the United States is, at any time," White said on Friday. "I'm available to talk to anybody by telephone."

In her 16 years representing the Houston congressional seat first held by the legendary Barbara Jordan (and then by Mickey Leland), New York City-born attorney Sheila Jackson Lee has never been seriously challenged after she ousted incumbent Democrat Craig Washington in a bitter 1994 primary contest. The Chronicle believes she has ably represented her district and deserves to be renominated as the Democratic standard-bearer. That is not to say she has not sparked controversy and drawn criticism from various media and a minority of her constituents. Issues included her penchant for using public events like Michael Jackson's funeral for photo...

There are few more basic tenets in the U.S. Constitution than this: If you're born in the U.S., you're a citizen. But as we all know it gets a bit more complicated for some when you add illegal immigrants into the equation. Some of you on this blog have called for a crackdown on birthright citizenship. You say far too many immigrants enter the U.S. illegally and have children here.

Fresh from completing three successful terms as Houston's mayor, Bill White is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. The Chronicle believes this accomplished attorney, businessman and public administrator is far and away the most qualified candidate to represent the party in seeking to crack the Republican lock on statewide offices. In his six years running City Hall, White presided over a financial reorganization that reduced unfunded employee pension liabilities, aggressively promoted toxic air pollution enforcement, crafted innovative public safety programs, and ably directed the city's response to an influx of Hurricane Katrina refugees from New Orleans and the subsequent threats...

WASHINGTON — Critics of health care reform often point to desperate Canadians who head south for surgery to escape waiting lists. But a trend closer to home points the opposite direction: Americans heading overseas to escape the high cost of U.S. care. < snip > Once a cottage industry, medical tourism may be on the cusp of major expansion as governments from India to Singapore invest in state-of-the-art hospitals, vying for a global market. Uninsured patients currently make up the bulk of Americans venturing abroad. But Vequist's group has studied at least 50 companies that say they are open to...

...Obama appears to possess the tools to confront our myriad and daunting problems. He's thoughtful and analytical. He has met his opponents' attacks with calm and reasoned responses. Viewers of the debates saw a poised, well-prepared plausible president with well-articulated positions on the bread-and-butter issues that poll after poll indicate are the true concerns of voters. While Arizona Sen. John McCain and his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have struck an increasingly personal and negative tone in their speeches, Obama has continued to talk about issues of substance. It is true that Obama has served less than a term...

Houston is at a turning point. With a boost from noted urbanist Joel Kotkin, our city has begun recasting its national reputation from "that ugly, sprawling, weird city without zoning" to the exemplar city for "Opportunity Urbanism," a compelling new paradigm for cities in the 21st century. This paradigm asserts that the fundamental (but recently forgotten) core mission of cities is to accelerate the upward social and economic mobility of its inhabitants. This may sound obvious to the average person, but in the wonkish world of urban policy and planning, the themes of the past decade have been environmentalism (smart...

If there's one book you should read before you die, it's To Kill a Mockingbird. That's not my opinion. Apparently I was sick back in ninth grade when every other American kid read Harper Lee's novel of racism, moral courage and coming of age in 1930s Alabama. I read it for the first time only this week and have my misgivings. But according to the Guardian newspaper's Web site, a 2006 poll of librarians — British librarians — put To Kill a Mockingbird atop the list of books every adult should read before they shuffle off. Ahead of the Bible....

None.

(Ignoring the blather on Immigration and Impeachment, I proceeded to the Idiotorial remarks on the CIA leak postscript from the Houston Comical - weegee): -------------------- With the latest developments in the CIA leak case, some Bush apologists insist that it's time for a correction or contrition from those of us who spoke out about the White House's involvement. At least as far as my commentary has gone, I see no required rollback. Bush has not taken the "appropriate action" that he promised in October 2003, as Karl Rove remains on the White House payroll. Disclosure that Richard L. Armitage, when...

Write-in candidate names are not on the ballot by design. To cast a vote for one on the electronic eSlate machines, which don't have a keyboard, you'll have to use the "select" dial to choose "write-in." Even then, the names won't automatically pop up, said Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office. In each booth there will be a printed list of candidates who have been certified for the Congressional District 22 race. Using the dial and a picture of a keyboard on the screen, the voter will click the letters of the name they want. Potential...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - An average of more than 100 civilians per day were killed in Iraq last month, the United Nations reported on Tuesday, registering what appears to be the highest official monthly tally of violent deaths since the fall of Baghdad. The death toll, drawn from Iraqi government agencies, was the most precise measurement of civilian deaths provided by any government organization since the invasion and represented a substantial increase over the figures in daily media reports.In keeping with the numbers cited in the report, a suicide car bomber killed at least 53 people and wounded at least 105...