Free Republic

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said his ancestral ties to slavery do not reflect his work toward a “colorblind society.” A recent examination from Reuters found at least three of Johnson’s direct ancestors were slaveholders. “As has been well-documented, the horrific legacy of slavery touches the ancestry of political leaders across the spectrum, including Presidents Biden and Obama,” Taylor Haulsee, a spokesperson for Johnson, said in a statement to The Hill. “But the actions of people who lived hundreds of years ago do not have any bearing on the Speaker’s lifelong work for a colorblind society.”

Fox News announced on Sunday it has cut ties with former President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, a decision that comes as Donald Trump is gearing up for a 2024 presidential campaign. “We appreciate Lara’s valuable contributions across Fox News Media programming,” a Fox News spokesperson told the Washington Post. A Fox News source told the Post the decision to cut ties with Lara Trump was due to the network’s “ban on political activity.” Fox News apparently does not employ contributors who are running for office. But Lara Trump is not running for office. It appears Fox News has widened...

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appeared with an open collar at a press conference to personally model his proposed solution for Europes's looming gas crisis. "I would like you to see that I am not wearing a tie," Sanchez said. He explained that wearing open collars would make white-collar work more comfortable, and lead to reduced air conditioning usage. "This way, we can all save energy." Deutsche Welle reports that Sanchez has asked all government employees, including ministers, to avoid neckties, and hopes that the private sector will make similar changes to its dress code. Spain has worked to limit...

Five former Presidents come together for the relief of hurricane victims. But none were wearing ties. Why?

There’s no tying. There’s no tying in baseball. The most famous tie in major league history — the 2002 All-Star Game — was so infuriating and embarrassing to then-commissioner Bud Selig that it led to the Mid-Summer Classic determining home-field advantage. We like resolution. We like tradition. I get it. Yet, I think the major leagues should allow ties if a game remains deadlocked after 12 innings. I know that will anger folks who don’t want major alterations made to a game that they find close to ideal as is. But the reality is we have a pro-active commissioner, and...

Former President George W. Bush insisted Monday that “we all need answers” about possible connections between Russian officials and President Trump's associates. "I think we all need answers. ... I'm not sure the right avenue to take. I am sure, though, that that question needs to be answered,” Bush said to NBC's "Today" host Matt Lauer. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russian hackers attempted to sway the election for Trump, while multiple news reports say that Trump campaign officials had "constant" contact with Russian intelligence during the election.

The Clinton campaign is attempting once again to sweep important questions under the rug about top aide Huma Abedin, her family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Saudi Arabia, and her role in the ballooning Clinton email scandal. The New York Post ran a detailed investigative piece over the weekend about Ms. Abedin’s work at the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs from 1995 through 2008, a Sharia law journal whose editor in chief was Abedin’s own mother.   ADVERTISEMENT This is not some accidental association. Ms. Abedin was, for many years, listed as an associate editor of the London-based publication...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu headed to Moscow this morning, for his third visit to the Kremlin in nine months, as Israel-Russia ties continues to burgeon. The meeting is the fourth one between Netanyahu and Russia President Vladimir Putin during the same period, after the pair also met at the sidelines of the recent UN climate change conference in Paris. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has also met with Putin during that time, even cancelling a trip to Australia to visit the Russian leader at the Kremlin. In an illustration of the growing alliance between their two countries, this time Netanyahu is...

While the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has done little to hide its malicious anti-Israel hatred, the movement hitherto has succeeded in maintaining the appearance of legitimacy, presenting itself as the peaceful alternative to terrorism. Despite rhetoric which pro-Israel activists have noted signals a rejection of Jewish statehood per se and draws upon the kind of terrorist propaganda disseminated by Hamas and the PLO, no clear link tying BDS to supporters of terror organizations could be found. Last week, however, a former terrorism finance analyst for the US Treasury Department offered testimony to congress suggesting connections between the BDS movement...

Asia’s growing economic clout is already translating into greater political and military strength. Jews and Israelis have taken longer to grasp the importance of this shift for their own future. There are historical and political reasons for this, including Israel and the Jewish people’s privileged links with the United States, although Israel is now making efforts to strengthen its relations with Asia, including India. India fascinates many and confuses many more. Its growing importance is not always understood. In 2015, India’s population stood at 1.28 billion, with a very young median age (27 years – China’s was 36 years). In...

Compromised-Secretary Kerry's Ties to Tehran Revealed Ken Timmerman, veteran Iran watcher and and bestselling author of a 2005 investigation on Iran’s nuclear program, is compiling a dossier on Secretary of State John Kerry’s long time connections to the Islamic Regime in Tehran. The latest is a FrontPage Magazine piece: “Compromised – John Kerry has much to hide on his ties to Iran”.. These revelations keep piling about Kerry’s involvement raise questions about why he was confirmed as Hillary Clinton’s successor. The obvious answer was that the Obama White House knew that Kerry had entre to the leadership of the...

HAVANA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Cuba are set to announce the restoration of diplomatic relations on Wednesday, the result of a two-year courtship between former Cold War rivals who severed ties in 1961. The chief of the U.S. interests section in Havana will report to Cuban foreign ministry around 9 a.m. (0900 ET) to deliver a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama to Cuban President Raul Castro. Obama will then speak at 11 a.m. (1100 ET) from the White House's ceremonial Rose Garden. It was unknown whether Castro would reciprocate with comments of his own. Following 18 months...

Three Words Explain Obama’s Visit To Saudi Arabia: Stability Is King Almost 70 years ago, a fading President Franklin Roosevelt, returning from Yalta, held a historic meeting on board a U.S. destroyer with King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama met with King Salman, one of Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud’s sons. Much has changed in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. But the elements that drove FDR and all of his successors to maintain and strengthen those ties—oil and regional stability–are still in place. The United States and Saudi Arabia never shared common values. The arrest and...

Dead Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev and another man — who was killed by the FBI on Wednesday — murdered three people in Massachusetts after a drug deal went wrong in 2011, law enforcement sources tell NBC News. Sources say that what began as a drug ripoff ended in a triple homicide when Tsarnaev and friend Ibragim Todashev realized their victims would later be able to identify them. Todashev was killed by a federal agent while giving a statement on his role on Wednesday in Orlando, Fla. The man who was shot, Todashev, 27, allegedly attacked an agent with a...

Earlier this week it was discovered that on the White House website, President Barack Obama had been inserted into each and every presidential biography dating back to Calvin Coolidge with the curious exception of Gerald Ford. For instance, the White House biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt notes, “On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations.” The Daily Caller has since discovered other historical sketches the president has been written into. Here are the 10 best: 10.) In 1941, Standard...

What does Obama's racial theory Professor Derrick Bell have in common with Bill Ayers?

Chilean Men Told to Take Off Ties to Save EnergyThursday, 15 December 2011 11:25 SANTIAGO: Chile's government wants men in the country to take off their ties to help fight global warming, hoping the campaign will save on air conditioning as summer starts in the southern hemisphere, reported Reuters. "Let's all take our ties off this summer to save energy," Economy Minister Pablo Longueira says in television spots airing around the country. In the commercial, he undoes the knot of his pink and white tie and whips it off with gusto, unbuttoning the top of his shirt and smiling.

The big Sarah Palin news today is that she has lost her longtime foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann. Scheunemann is a well-known neoconservative who worked for Jesse Helms and was intimately involved in the push for the Iraq war. He later became an aide to John McCain on the 2008 presidential campaign, where he met and linked up with Palin. He's been associated with her ever since. The question is: Why did they Scheunemann, who runs the lobbying firm Orion Strategies, leave Palin now?

John C. Stone might be the most famous Green Bay Packers fan in Chicago. The 34-year-old Roseland resident was fired Monday from his job as a car salesman at an Oak Lawn Chevrolet dealership for wearing a Packers tie to work, but he’s already been offered a job at another dealership and been interviewed live on a nationwide sports radio show.

In interview to Turkish newspaper, Obama discusses Turkey-Israel ties and differences over Iran; stressing that "our partnership is resilient." US President Barack Obama said that "given the increasingly complex challenges the world faces, I believe that US-Turkish cooperation is more important now than ever," in a written response Sunday to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. In his written remarks Obama addressed among other issues, Ankara's ties with Israel, differences over Iran policy, and Turkey's bid for European Union membership; stressing above all that "our partnership is resilient." "As with our other close allies and friends, we will sometimes disagree, as was...