Free Republic

GOP infighting broke out again Monday as West Virginia Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship compared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to a “Swamp captain” and “the Russians.” As Politico reports, Blankenship, who owns a lot of coal in the state, was incarcerated for a year after a 2010 explosion in one of his mines and the GOP establishment has not embraced his Senate candidacy — reportedly campaigning against Blankenship with a series of attack ads purchased by a political action committee (PAC) named Mountain Family PAC. Blankenship defines his war as one with McConnell, whom he encourages to stay in...

Rand Paul: Syrian Chemical Attack A False Flag Either that or Assad is ‘dumbest dictator on the planet,’ he says Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4V3jQCi8-o The chemical attack allegedly perpetrated by the Syrian government is most likely a false flag, according to Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). When asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer if stalling Russian sanctions was the right move for Trump, Paul directed the topic to whether or not the chemical attack in Syria was even genuine. “I think before you talk about sanctions, we oughta talk about what evidence is there that Russia was complicit in this attack,” Paul said on Monday....

She added though “The Constitution gives Congress the power to authorize military action. If @realDonaldTrump wants to expand American military involvement in Syria’s civil war, he must seek approval from Congress – & provide a comprehensive strategy with clear goals & a plan to achieve them.” Her comments were echoed by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who said “I’m deeply concerned that President Trump continues to conduct military operations without any comprehensive strategy or the necessary congressional authorization.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., says he believes a majority of the public doubts the official U.S. government contention that Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical gas against the final rebel-held town near Damascus. “Anybody who has tried to explain to me why Assad would do this sounds like a conspiracy theorist,” said Massie, a libertarian Republican from Kentucky. “It requires really contorted thinking to think Assad did this. You have to come up with very complicated reasons.” “I cannot think of a reason he would,” Massie said.

uring an interview with Fox News host Harris Faulkner today U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a response letter he received from FBI Director Christopher Wray. Senator Paul inquired with the FBI Director about whether reassigned FBI Agent Peter Strzok and DOJ/FBI Attorney Lisa Page still retained their Top Secret FBI clearances. According to Senator Paul, the FBI director would not respond to specific agent inquiry, however, Wray did affirm that all existing FBI officials retain Top Secret clearances. In essence, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, despite being removed from investigative authority over their role in the political efforts to...

A Chicago aviation security officer fired after forcibly removing a United Airlines passenger is suing the airline and his former employer, according to court documents. James Long filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the department, its commissioner, Ginger Evans, and United. On April 9, 2017, aviation security officers, including Long, were called to a United flight for a passenger who refused to give up his seat. The responding officers approached the passenger, Dr. David Dao, and tried to persuade him to leave calmly, after which Dao told them, “I’m not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I don’t care...

Excerpt => PAUL: "He is looking at some kind of personal dealings with the President’s lawyer. And imagine, once they get this, they have all of the information that the President has ever discussed with the attorney and they say, 'Oh, we’re not going to use the stuff that’s attorney/client privilege.' But they’ll read it. And you think once they read it it might give them ideas of other places the look. There's this concept called parallel construction. They don’t actually use the information they read but they now have that information and can use it to go snooping in...

Design-bid-build may still be the No. 1 project delivery method for U.S. construction, but other processes are rising that could challenge DBB’s stake in how some projects are carried out.One such arrangement, public-private partnerships (P3), is gaining steam with talks from Washington, D.C., about employing the method for President Donald Trump’s $1.3 trillion infrastructure spend. While more states and local entities are successfully turning to P3s to tackle major infrastructure overhauls and new projects, the method still runs up against a perception problem. Some elected officials are hesitant to employ P3s because they don’t want to let a private firm...

Six Kentucky community banks that could be competing for business have agreed to work together as charter members of the specialty $150 million Commonwealth Infrastructure Fund to finance public-private partnerships (P3) in Kentucky.In the next few months, CIF is expected to reveal one or more inaugural deals.“We are looking at five to 10 potential projects that should start sometime in 2018. We expect to make loans to two or three projects in 2018 after the underwriting process has been completed,” said John Farris, who manages CIF. “We believe we will lend out all $150 million over three to five years...

It comes as no surprise that Congress’ $1.3 trillion dollar omnibus budget package is rubbing raw the already thin patience of the Republican base. Rather than draining the swamp, which includes seizing this historic moment of Republican control of both Congress and the White House to dramatically cut government spending, Congress instead (with the support of the White House) is spending as recklessly as when Democrats were in charge. Couple this with scant legislative victories outside of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, especially in regards to expanding gun rights, Republicans are doing little – literally – to motivate voters to...

President Trump signed the 1.2 trillion dollar Omnibus bill today with open frustration over both the process and the product of that bill. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer heaped praise on Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for their help in what Pelosi called a great bill for the American worker. What wasn’t said was how the Republican and Democrat leadership worked together to force POTUS Trump’s hand and create a voter backlash they hope will fracture Mr. Trump’s base of support among millions of Americans. image: http://dcwhispers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/aaa355.jpg “How could he sign this...

GOP Senator Rand Paul publicly announced his total opposition to President Trump’s nominees to head the State Department and the CIA on Wednesday; saying he’s “going to do everything” he can to block them from office. According to Politico, the outspoken Senator revealed his intentions while speaking with reporters at the US Capitol, saying people “complain sometimes about the filibuster” but added he plans to use the procedural maneuver to derail the nomination process. “People complain sometimes about the filibuster, they complain about trying to obstruct… “I’m going to do everything I can to block them,” said Paul. “I’m perplexed...

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he thinks President Trump’s picks to lead the State Department and CIA will make it through the Senate, despite Sen. Rand Paul’s pledge to try and block the nominees. Mr. Graham said CIA Director Mike Pompeo will make a suitable replacement for Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, since he shares Mr. Trump’s world view — including a tough line against North Korea. “He will get confirmed,” Mr. Graham told CNN’s State of the Union. Mr. Paul, a libertarian-minded Republican from Kentucky, said he fears. Mr. Pompeo is a throwback to Republicans who...

Nearly a week since U.S. President Donald Trump fired national security adviser Michael Flynn, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul advised against appointing former U.N. Ambassador and White House Chief of Staff John Bolton. Trump’s first choice, retired Navy special forces officer Robert Harward, who served under Defense Secretary John Mattis, turned down the position last week and reports say the White House has ruled out former CIA Director David Petraeus, who was ousted as the nation’s top spy amid a scandal over his sharing confidential documents with his mistress. Flynn resigned last week amid questions on whether he discussed sanctions with...

While he survived a brutal and controversial Senate primary in 2014, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, citing his failing health, is resigning effective April 1. A special election will be held to finish the remainder of his term that ends in 2020. If no one gets above 50 percent, a runoff will be held. For now, Gov. Phil Bryant will appoint an interim senator to fill the vacancy until the election. Cochran’s colleague, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI), is up for re-election this year and is facing a challenge by state Sen. Chris McDaniel. McDaniel challenged Cochran in 2014 (via NPR): I...

Congressman Thomas Massie has proposed repealing the controversial federal ban on guns within a thousand feet of a school. From cnsnews.com: Massie said the solution to school shootings is putting more than one armed guard at school or allowing teachers to be armed, adding that “98 percent of mass public shootings happen in a gun free zone.” “And we’ve labeled all of our schools as gun free zones. We need to take those labels off, and put our kids in that two percent category of being safe, instead of being in that 98 percent vulnerable category,” he said. Massie...

The abortion chain Planned Parenthood claims women are its primary clients. But last week, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky wanted its supporters to know that it serves men, too, including transgender “men [who] have a uterus.” It repeated the line “Some men have a uterus” 11 times in the tweet. In another tweet, it also claimed men have ovaries, writing, “Whoo brovaries!” The Christian Post reports conservatives quickly mocked the abortion giant for the biologically inaccurate tweet. According to the report: This is “madness” tweeted Obianuju Ekeocha, founder and president of Culture of Life Africa and author or the...

This is a video of Gov Matt Blevin explaining why he thinks there isn't a simple solution to the recent school shootings. https://www.facebook.com/GovMattBevin/videos/1814943618805523/

The clearest way to get a picture of how well Democrats are doing in 2018 is to go down the list of recent special state legislative elections: * A Florida state legislative district that Donald Trump won by five points, according to data from liberal political blog Daily Kos, is now in the hands of Democrats, who won it by eight points this month. * In January, Democrats flipped a Wisconsin state legislative district that Trump won by 20 points. * A few weeks later, Democrats flipped a Missouri state legislative district that Trump won by nearly 30 points, for...

Turnout numbers from last night’s special election in KY #HD49, which swung 86%pt toward Democrats and flipped a district from red to blue: Total turnout: 25% of 2016 ballots cast Dem.: 74% of 2016 Rep.: 11% of 2016