Free Republic

In 1968, Pauline Kael, then The New Yorker's film critic, has famously been quoted as saying, "I can’t believe Nixon won. I don’t know anyone who voted for him.” The actual quote might actually have been a bit different, but the point remains: liberal elitists live in an echo chamber of their own ideas. On Monday, Phil Mattingly (recently named Kaitlin Collins' permanent replacement as a co-host of CNN This Morning) seemed to have his own Pauline Kael moment. Mattingly was commenting on a recent column by CNN analyst Ron Brownstein in The Atlantic entitled "Why Biden Just Can't Shake...

(CNN) - The National Rifle Association was already reeling from leadership shakeups and allegations of financial mismanagement when it dropped another bombshell. The NRA accused Chris Cox -- the man who had controlled the organization's lobbying and political activities for more than 15 years -- of trying to overthrow Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre, according to a lawsuit filed last month. Cox denied the charge to The New York Times, but quickly resigned. His unceremonious sacking stunned NRA board members, who saw Cox as a potential successor to LaPierre, and infuriated political staffers. Some started packing up their desks, unsure of...

On Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter and Phil Mattingly warped the recent sentencing of child abuser and Democratic mega-donor Jeffrey Epstein into a story about (who else?) Donald Trump. Following the resignation of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta — who had come under scrutiny for a shockingly favorable plea deal he had previously granted Epstein as a federal prosecutor — both Stelter and Mattingly brandished Acosta’s resignation as the latest example of instability and high turnover within the White House. While CNN’s Saturday lineup featured a handful of news briefs about Epstein’s return to prison, by Sunday the serial child trafficker and...

The tension between President Donald Trump's bellicose rhetoric and his non-interventionist foreign policy instincts was on full display Thursday afternoon as he huddled in the Situation Room. Lawmakers in the room watched as the weight of his duties as commander-in-chief bore down on him, lives hanging in the balance. Trump did not tip his hand on which way he was leaning, focusing instead on "drilling down" on the differing perspectives and arguments leveled by the assembled lawmakers, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman James Risch said. But it was clear, the Idaho Republican said, that Trump is a president who "doesn't want...

On the eve of two major immigration votes, weeks of hard-fought negotiations took a turn with a heated blowup on the House floor between two lead negotiators. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, a conservative Republican from North Carolina, erupted at House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin over their agreement involving two major immigration bills, saying several times, "I'm done," while pointing in an animated fashion at the top House Republican and raising his voice as their colleagues watched. The explosion drew widespread attention from inside the chamber and out -- and surfaced once again the long-simmering tension between House...