Free Republic

After 8 years in the political wilderness, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D–TX) is relishing the chance to “restore the credibility” of the science committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. With Democrats winning control of the House, Johnson is in line to move from ranking member to chair of the panel when the 116th Congress convenes in January 2019. And she says ending the committee’s ideologically driven fights over climate change, management of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other research topics is high on her agenda.

(CNN)First lady Melania Trump, in a remarkable move carried out by her spokeswoman, publicly pushed for the ouster of deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel. "It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that (Ricardel) no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House," the first lady's communications director Stephanie Grisham said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement amounted to a stunning public rebuke by a first lady of a senior official serving in her husband's administration. It came after reports surfaced earlier Tuesday indicating Ricardel would be pushed out of her post after...

In short, the case of Cable News Network (hereinafter “CNN”) v. President Donald J. Trump (hereinafter “Trump”), to use a legal phrase --- sucks.  I sympathize with CNN in the sense that they feel wronged that reporter Jim Acosta was bounced from the White House to report on the president and the news coming from the White House, yet they don’t have a legal leg to stand on.  The president has a right to allow or not allow anybody he wants to cover him at the White House.CNN’s claim is that the federal courts have the power to compel inclusion...

Republicans are losing their hold on upper-middle-class suburbs, and the tax reform bill may be to blame. Although a number of races are still too close to call, Democrats have taken 30 seats so far — more than the 23 GOP districts they needed to seize control of the House of Representatives. In swing districts across the country, new Democratic challengers vowed to defy the Trump administration while Republican incumbents touted the benefits of tax reform and a booming economy. But the GOP’s tax reform bill may have disenfranchised fiscal conservatives in higher-income areas, since the Trump tax cuts capped...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Seems like there is a lesson to be learned in here somewhere. – So, lessee here…the pro-Trump Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, Doug Ducey, easily won his race by more than 150,000 votes. Meanwhile, the Trump-avoiding GOP senatorial candidate, Martha McSally, who basically campaigned as the second coming of despicable RINO Jeff Flake, lost her race by about 48,000 votes at the latest count. Hmmmm. How do we explain that? Think maybe there’s a cause and effect kind of thing going on there? Nah, must be something else, because your fake news...

It was never a question of "if." It was always a matter of "when." The seizure of a New York Times reporter's phone and email records has sent a chill down the spine of every reporter concerned about protecting his or her sources. That means every serious reporter — especially those in Washington who report on politics and national security. It is disturbing because reporters need to be able to do their jobs, unfettered. But absolutely no one should be surprised. First off, the Trump administration has been all too clear about its scorn for established press rights — with...

If Donald J. Trump decides as president to throw a whistle-blower in jail for trying to talk to a reporter, or gets the F.B.I. to spy on a journalist, he will have one man to thank for bequeathing him such expansive power: Barack Obama. Mr. Trump made his animus toward the news media clear during the presidential campaign, often expressing his disgust with coverage through Twitter or in diatribes at rallies. So if his campaign is any guide, Mr. Trump seems likely to enthusiastically embrace the aggressive crackdown on journalists and whistle-blowers that is an important yet little understood component...

"We should also point out that Brenda Snipes in Broward County is a Republican appointed by former governor, then-Governor Jeb Bush," Mitchell said in a clip flagged by Mediaite. "So, she was put in by a Republican governor after the mess that we all remember from 2000. And she’s hardly a Democratic official, or someone doing the bidding of the Democratic candidates there."

Progressive activists focused on opposition to President Trump are turning their attention to another target: state-level politics. "States play a major role in national elections," Catherine Vaughan, the co-founder and CEO of Flippable, a political action committee that focuses exclusively on state governments, said during an interview broadcast on Monday's "Rising." Vaughan noted that it is state legislatures that draw the district lines that set congressional seats, and that have protected a number of GOP lawmakers. "The state policies on who gets to vote, how votes are counted, how district lines are drawn — which makes Congress so much more...

One hope for Yemenis is that the international fallout from the death of the Saudi dissident, Jamal Khashoggi, which has damaged Prince Mohammed’s international standing, might force him to relent in his unyielding prosecution of the war. Peter Salisbury, a Yemen specialist at Chatham House, said that was unlikely. “I think the Saudis have learned what they can get away with in Yemen — that western tolerance for pretty bad behavior is quite high,” he said. “If the Khashoggi murder tells us anything, it’s just how reluctant people are to rein the Saudis in.”

The headline should have been: “Security Guard Apprehends Shooter and Saves Lives.” Instead, it’s another case of the police shooting and killing an innocent black man. Eyewitnesses say that at Manny’s Blue Room Bar in Robbins, [Cook County, Chicago] Ill., security told a group of intoxicated men they had to leave. One of the men returned armed, at which point shots were exchanged between them and armed security guards. One of the guards, Jemel Roberson, 26, managed to restrain one of the gunmen. From WGN9: “He had somebody on the ground with his knee in back with his gun in...

A majority of Democrats — 61 percent — describe Republicans as “racist, “bigoted,” and “sexist,” according to a Monday-published poll commissioned by Axios. Thirty-one percent of Republicans describe Democrats the same way. The online poll surveyed 3,215 U.S. adults, and has a margin of error of three percentage points. Fifty-four percent of Democrats view Republicans as “ignorant,” with 49 percent of Republicans similarly viewing Democrats. Fifty percent of Republicans cast Democrats as “evil,” with 44 percent of Democrats doing the same with Republicans.

Many have been critical of Google’s plan to launch a censored search engine in China, now a former Facebook executive has called out Google’s CEO for lying about the company’s motives. Facebook’s former security chief Alex Stamos took to Twitter recently to attack Google CEO Sundar Pichai for his comments defending the company’s decision to move into the China market with its censored search engine known as “Project Dragonfly,” Silicon Beat reports. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Pichai stated that Google was “committed to serving users in China” and compared Chinese censorship laws to the “right...

Victoria’s Secret chief marketing officer Ed Razek apologized in a statement Friday for remarks he made in a Vogue interview published Thursday about why Victoria’s Secret hasn’t cast transgender models in their annual fashion show.

President Trump is spending Monday at the White House and had no plans to visit Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia as America observes the Veterans Day holiday. The White House announced a so-called travel lid at 10 a.m. ET, meaning that the president is not expected to hold any public events or leave the executive mansion. Trump returned to Washington on Sunday evening after a weekend in France, where he attended events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. The president paid tribute earlier in the day to U.S. and allied soldiers killed in...

From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk Published 1/30/2003 6:20 PM HIGHLANDS, N.C., Jan. 30 (UPI) -- This here's the 335th Report ta the Folks Back Home from the (More er Less) Honorable Billybob, cyberCongressman from Western Carolina. The two big subjecks rat now r Gulf War II n the state ov the U.S. economy. President Bush addressed both subjecks in his State ov the Union address Tuesday night. We'll take a look atta firs item, the impendin war agin Iraq. In partic'lar, we'll look at one part ov the opposition ta that war, namely "historians." Yer Congresscritter hazza mild...

Robert Cahaly, senior strategist for the Trafalgar Group, made a name for himself in 2016 by being the only pollster to correctly show Donald Trump with a lead in Michigan and Pennsylvania -- two key states he carried -- heading into Election Day. (He did not poll Wisconsin, another surprising win for Trump.) Cahaly also showed Trump ahead in North Carolina and Florida, both of which he won, securing his improbable 304-227 Electoral College victory over Hillary Clinton. Cahaly managed to pick up support for Trump that all other pollsters missed by employing a unique method that sought to measure...

Here is video from California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy holding a Town Hall Meeting in Bakersfield where he was asked why the Congress was allowing President Obama to create all the "Czars" he is creating. Just before he answered there were shouts from the audience of "He's a communist!" McCarthy answered the question by saying he did not believe Obama had the right to appoint these "Czars" AND give them powers that encroach on the "Checks and Balances" the Constitution requires. . . . . (Watch Video)

Over 1 million American workers with over 100 companies are set to receive a bonus, pay hike or retirement increase as a direct result of President Trump’s tax reform package.The latest list from Americans for Tax Reform, which has been collecting the names of firms paying the Trump bonus, finds that some are paying as much as $3,000.Many of those firms have reached out to Secrets to get added to the list since we’ve been publishing ATR’s list compiled by the tax reform advocate’s communications chief John Kartch.One company, IAT Insurance of Raleigh, N.C., wrote Secrets today asking to be...

North Korea is conning the United States, building up secret, smaller missile bases even after publicly touting the dismantling of its main launch site, according to a new review of satellite images by a top think tank. Citing new satellite pictures, the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Beyond Parallel program identified what appears to be missile operating bases that have never been acknowledged by North Korean officials. CSIS' conclusions were not immediately independently confirmed. The report identified about 15 to 20 bases being operated by the Korean People’s Army's Strategic Force, based on information from officials in the government, defense...