Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- David Koch, one of the two celebrated Koch brothers known to millions of Americans who follow the news, passed away last Friday. He was 79. Now there is only one Koch brother to appear in the news. Yet the name Koch will be around for years. One sees the name frequently when business is being discussed, in discussions of the arts, in discussions of politics, particularly libertarian politics. Does anyone stop to wonder why the name Koch appears so frequently in the news? Well, I have had some experience with the Kochs, and I have an insight into...

<p>Support for the president rebounded in the past year, with 67% of farmers saying they’d back him for reelection in 2020, according to a survey of 1,150 growers carried out by Farm Futures between July 21 and Aug. 3. That’s up from last year, when backing fell to just under 60% following the introduction of Chinese retaliatory tariffs on American soybeans...</p>

Earlier this week, former congressman and former MAGA-head Joe Walsh announced that he was challenging Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2020. Which is weird, because in 2016, Walsh was one of the guys yelling at cuck RINO traitors like me, who refused to vote for Trump because we probably wanted Hillary to get elected. Back then, Walsh was saying stuff like, "If Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket." He was all in. But apparently, riding proudly on the Trump Train didn't get Walsh the TV time he wanted, so now he's jumped off. Now he says Trump is...

Almost imperceptibly, as political discourse continues to be a discordant contest between haters and admirers of President Trump with no journalistic distinction between comment and reporting, there has been substantial progress toward an improved strategic environment for the United States and the West generally. Journalists in general and the American media in particular have never been especially adept at separating good causes from grand strategy. Even venerated commentators such as Walter Lippmann and Edward R. Murrow, let alone Walter Cronkite, tended not to see geopolitical questions outside their apparent moral effects. In the Battle of Britain, for example, it was...

President Trump received support from former Democratic National Committee chairwoman and Fox News contributor Donna Brazile in the ongoing debate over whether his rhetoric is to blame for two mass shootings earlier this month. During a Friday appearance on The Guy Benson Show on Fox News Radio, Brazile claimed that Trump had "nothing to do" with the shootings when asked if she considered Trump to be a white supremacist. "This conversation about race and racism, domestic terrorism, white supremacy, white nationalism, it is that I am profoundly saddened as an American," Brazile answered. "The reason why is to point fingers...

When a Monmouth University Poll that was released Monday showed Joe Biden dropping to third place in the Democratic presidential primary, it was immediately dismissed as an outlier by the Biden campaign. “This poll is an outlier that is contradicted by every measure of the national average,” said a Biden campaign spokesman in a statement. Still, many in the media jumped on the poll, speculating that this was the beginning of the end of his campaign. But, on Wednesday, Patrick Murray, the director of the poll, threw cold water on this idea and disavowed the results of his own...

Ah, those much-anticipated halcyon days of retirement — sleeping in, golf at will, travel too, leisurely day after leisurely day. No more whining colleagues, carping bosses, endless meetings with no result, tedious commutes.Of course, few retirements turn out that way. And now a new Associated Press poll finds that for a variety of reason about a quarter of Americans have no intention of ever retiring at all.That may turn out to be unrealistic too, given the vagaries of health for senior citizens and their family members, the rapid growth of robots and automation and the ever-changing work skill sets...

Inside a small brick building in downtown Austin, these are some of the comments in a guest book at a new exhibit called "War Remains," an interactive virtual reality taste of World War I: “I have been trying to imagine this all my life — I finally have.” “I have never been in combat and I am more certain than ever that I don’t want to be. What an amazing and terrifying experience.” The experience is based upon research into different battlefields in the First World War, explains legendary war storyteller Dan Carlin, a podcaster renowned for his Hardcore History...

In 2008, Rahm Emanuel, then-president-elect Barack Obama’s newly named chief of staff, uttered the infamous phrase: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that, it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Emanuel was referring to the economic crisis that precipitated Obama’s 2008 election victory. Once in office, the Obama administration used the economic upheaval to rapidly expand government power through several boondoggle programs. Remember the $787 billion “stimulus” package? How about “Cash for Clunkers?” Eleven years after Emanuel’s notorious quip, it seems 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Sen....

A University of California, Davis graduate was stabbed to death Tuesday evening in what appeared to be random attack while walking a dog in Washington, D.C. Margery Magill, 27, was found on a sidewalk in the northeast part of the city with multiple stab wounds. She worked part time for Rover, an online dog walking company, and was walking a dog for a family in the area, according to WRC-TV. Eliyas Aregahegne, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Wednesday. The attack was not an attempted robbery or sexually motivated, police told the news outlet, and the suspect did...

MINNEAPOLIS — Rep. Ilhan Omar’s soap-opera love life threatened to become more of a political thriller Wednesday as watchdog groups questioned whether her alleged affair with a married member of her paid political-consulting team constituted an ethics violation. “It looks like on the surface that she used campaign finance funds to benefit her paramour,” said Tom Fitton, head of conservative oversight group Judicial Watch, which last month asked the House Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate unsubstantiated claims that Omar (D – Minn.) married her brother to get him a green card. “The new reporting is additional reason for an...

In the battle between Sheetz and Wawa for Pennsylvania convenience store supremacy, Wawa just found a new supporter. Wawa, based in southeastern Pennsylvania and stretching only as far west as Lehigh Valley, was named the best fast food in the Keystone State by Food & Wine. The magazine wrote about the instate rivalry and acknowledged that Pennsylvanians take their convenience stores very seriously, but ruled, “Try the rest — Sheetz, Rutter’s, Turkey Hill, GetGo, we’re probably missing one or two — and then try the best.”

Tuesday on the “Joe Madison Show,” Fair Fight Action Chair and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said she would “love” the opportunity to be the 2020 vice-presidential candidate. When Madison asked if she would be interested in being a running mate for the eventual 2020 Democratic nominee, Abrams said, “If the question is would I like the job I’m not going to be coy and say no. Of course, I would love that opportunity.”

Non-profit government watchdog Judicial Watch announced Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court seeking a permanent injunction to bar Santa Clara County officials from enforcing a sanctuary policy that protects illegal aliens accused of heinous crimes.

When General Motors and Ford sell more cars, they are involved in more accidents. They undoubtedly advertise more in those places where they sell more cars. Does that mean that the car companies are responsible for additional accidents in those places? That they are purposefully plotting to create more accidents? Let’s hope not, but if Monday’s $570 million verdict by an Oklahoma judge against Johnson & Johnson for making opioids is any indication, those types of cases aren’t going to be far off. Oklahoma had refused to settle out of court believing that they could receive a very large verdict....

...Somewhere along the way I quoted Senator Sanders' assertion that China has "made more progress in addressing extreme poverty than any country in the history of civilization". Almost everyone on the right objected to Bernie, but many seemed awfully confused as to the precise grounds. For the first half of the People's Republic, Mao moved a lot of people out of extreme poverty by moving them into the graveyard instead: it's now almost universally recognized that he piled up more corpses than either Hitler or Stalin. For the second half of the People's Republic, Deng Xiaoping managed to persuade America...

“You think she’ll take the Fifth?” retired Judge Sheila O’Brien asked on my podcast, “The Chicago Way.” Stunning questions are often the simplest. I was stunned to the soles of my shoes. “That’s my question. Does she take the Fifth? Think of it,” O’Brien said. “You’re Kim Foxx now, and you’re thinking, ‘I’ve got to hire a lawyer.’ The county can’t pay for that, I don’t think. Hope not. You’re her lawyer now. What do you do? She has that right. Do you have her take the Fifth?” But could a Cook County prosecutor seeking reelection find refuge in the...

In God We Trust is the official motto of the United States of America. But, at least when it comes to media, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough puts his faith in a different, personal deity. On today's Morning Joe, after playing a Fox News clip of Shepard Smith reporting on the progress, or lack thereof, of building the Wall, Joe Scarborough proclaimed: "In Shep We Trust."Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Georgetown, Texas – population 75,000 – was to be the new poster child of the green movement. Environmental interest in Georgetown’s big push to generate all of its electricity from wind and solar power was amplified by three factors: the town and its mayor were nominally Republican; Georgetown is in an oil- and natural gas-rich state; and that state is deep-red Texas. Former Vice President Al Gore and other climate change luminaries feted Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross, and Ross was featured prominently at renewable energy conventions.

Seventy-five percent of Republican voters believe it really doesn't matter who the Democrats nominate because none of them will beat Donald Trump in next year's election. On the other hand, ScottRasmussen.com polling found that 49% of Democratic voters say it really doesn't matter who the Democrats nominate because any of them will beat Trump. Among all voters, 41% believe that none of the Democrats running will beat the president, while 36% believe any of them will do so. Those who aren't sure what will happen are the only ones who've got it right. It's too early to know what will...