Free Republic

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), in partnership with the Virginia Council of Muslim Organizations (VCMO), today released the results of an exit poll indicating that Muslim voters in Virginia strongly supported now governor-elect Ralph Northam in Tuesday's election. The poll, conducted by an independent interactive voice response survey provider on behalf of CAIR and VCMO, indicated that 76 percent of registered Virginia Muslim voters turned out to the polls in the off-year election. CAIR said the more than 300 Muslim voters surveyed indicated the following preferences: Ralph Northam (D) 85% Ed Gillespie (R) 13% Cliff Hyra (L) 2%...

Veterans group claims motto ‘symbolizes the agency’s resistance to gender equity’The VA is defending its motto this week against charges that it “symbolizes​ ​the agency’s​ ​resistance​ ​to​ ​gender​ ​equity.” A portion of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865 has been deemed “sexist” as a VA motto by the nonprofit organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The group wrote a letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin this week demanding a change, which it says would “better support women.” The motto in question, in place since 1959, reads: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for...

Has the ground shifted in the biggest election of this off-year with less than two weeks to go? Until this month, Republican candidate Ed Gillespie consistently trailed in polls for the Virginia gubernatorial election to Democrat Ralph Northam. Gillespie scored a one-point edge in a mid-month Monmouth poll, but now shows a commanding eight-point lead in a Hampton University survey:

Michael Bloomberg is hoping to ride to the rescue of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam two weeks ahead of the Virginia governor's race. Everytown for Gun Safety, one the foremost gun control groups in America that is bankrolled by the former New York City mayor, will drop another $400,000 in the election after an earlier $1 million commitment, the Washington Post reports. That makes the race very much a referendum on gun control. October Week 2 | Campfire Watch Full Screen While the Bloomberg cash could rile up the Democratic base and bring Northam victory, it could just as easily backfire...

The final push. Claim at the VA was denied, BUT..... I did get what I wanted. They formally noted that my previously undiagnosed illness that I applied for was now known as XXXXXdisease. I have a specialist at the VA that had noted in my record that XXXXXdisease "as likely as not" started while in service. VA returned no evidence, but changed undiagnosed illness to XXXXdisease. Am I reading something into this? It seems like they agree...but need me to add more. So I've got witness statements. Family, friends, and potential love interests. All of which have been pushed away...

Users of the Dulles Toll Road can expect to pay more in 2019, according to a 2018 draft budget presented to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board today.No increase from the $3.50 toll ($2.50 at the plaza and $1 at the ramp) is planned in 2018; however, it is expected to jump to $4.75 the following year. Numbers presented by the Board’s Finance Committee show that is only the beginning of the hikes.In 2023, the toll is projected to go up to $6. Additional jumps of $1.25 or more are projected every five years for the following two decades, resulting...

"Failed"`Ex-POTUS, Barack Hussein Obama will campaign in support of Democrat, Progressive, Extreme Left-Wing, Governor, candidate, Northham on 10/19/2017 along with present VA Governor, Terry (The Charlottesville Murder/Riot Organizer) McAuliffe. It will be most interesting and informative to see if Obama can muster up the 20,000-30,000 attendees that POTUS, Trump receives at his rallies, with a snap of his fingers. Or...will Obama mimic Hillary Clinton with 100-200 attendees? Shucks...I'm looking for Obama to attract 100,000 folks or more, mostly ill-informed, African-Americans who have been royally screwed by Obama during his eight year, failed presidency. Can't figure that one out....but...it is as...

Bill Nutter was very sick. Not only had he just lost his second leg to diabetes, but he also suffered from a condition that could cause his heart to stop beating without warning.... At first, Waible insisted she had made the required checks on Nutter, even initialing paperwork that purported to document her visits. But she eventually confessed when an OIG investigator told her the hospital’s cameras showed she never left her computer for her entire shift, according to someone with direct knowledge. None of these facts were shared with the Nutters, family members said.

RSVP now, Friend President Obama is coming to Virginia because he knows the importance of electing Democrats like Ralph this year—leaders who are ready to fight for equality, opportunity, and progress for ALL Americans. The President will be in town next week, and we’d love for you to join us! Can you make it? WHEN: Evening of Thursday, October 19, 2017 WHERE: Richmond, Virginia I'LL BE THERE The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and space is limited, so make sure to RSVP early! As President Obama always says, there’s nothing more important than...

More than a month ago we talked about the problems that VA Secretary David Shulkin was having in attempting to fire delinquent D.C. medical center Director Brian Hawkins. The soon-to-be ex-employee was in charge of a center where unsanitary conditions were placing the lives of veterans under his care at risk. On top of that, sensitive VA documents had been sent to his private email server (wait… am I the only person on the planet without a private server?) along with various other irregularities. After being placed in an administrative position during an investigation, Shulkin moved to implement new policies...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday proposed a $9 billion plan to widen three of the state’s most congested highways — the Capital Beltway, Interstate 270 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway — in what he said would include the largest public-private partnership for highways in North America. The projects would add four toll lanes each to Maryland’s portion of the Capital Beltway (I-495) and to I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick. It would also widen the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD 295) by four toll lanes after taking over ownership from the federal government. Because of private-sector involvement, Hogan said, the plan would...

The former director of the VA Medical Center in Washington has been fired – again. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday that former director Brian Hawkins had been dismissed “for his failure to provide effective leadership to the D.C. Medical Center.” Officials said he was ousted under the VA Accountability Act, which President Trump signed into law in June. Hawkins was initially ousted in July. But the VA was forced to rehire him in August after the federal Merit Systems Protection Board ordered a stay of the firing. Hawkins has argued he was wrongly terminated. The department’s inspector general...

snip... That’s why I am proud to join the majority of my fellow veterans and other Americans who support Congress’s bipartisan work to defund painful and inefficient dog experiments at the VA. This legislation is truly a light among the gloomy partisan clouds surrounding D.C. these days. With all of D.C.’s political gridlock, my dear friend and fellow double amputee and bomb technician Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., and other House members deserve applause for unanimously passing legislation this summer to prohibit taxpayer funding for questionable VA research that causes dogs significant pain and distress. [puppers act...

Internal Department of Veterans Affairs data provided by whistleblowers reveals the agency is only filling about half of its capacity to make medical appointments, even as veterans continue to wait an average of at least 30 days before a medical appointment can be scheduled. The VA documents show that between July and September of 2017, the agency only used 51.44 percent of the appointments available across its healthcare system. VA documents also show there are currently 184,520 veterans across the nation waiting longer than 30 days for an appointment and more than 45,000 new veteran patients waiting more than 90...

Rather than fixing the issue, the hospital retaliated against Klein: “On May 28, 2016, after Klein’s superiors found out he’d blown the whistle on what he saw as serious problems, the VA closed his clinic and tried to fire him. When the agency learned Klein could not be fired because he was a whistleblower, his superiors forced him to sit in a room for a year, with no patients and no duties, all the while paying him his full salary of $250,000 a year,” a Fox New article from June stated.

Last week, the National Rifle Association endorsed the full Republican ticket -- Ed Gillespie, Jill Vogel, and John Adams. The NRA promotes policies that would make our communities, schools, and children less safe -- from allowing guns in schools to opposing universal background checks. But one Virginian is killed every 10 hours by a gun. That’s why Ralph and the Democratic ticket are proud to have an ‘F’ rating from the NRA -- because commonsense gun laws are important for the safety of the commonwealth. Will you chip in today to help us counter the NRA’s support of the GOP...

Report: Charlottesville Racist Leader Was Former Occupy Activist, Obama Supporter by Joel B. Pollak 15 Aug 2017 The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reports that Jason Kessler, the organizer of last Saturday’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is rumored to be a former Occupy Wall Street activist and supporter of Barack Obama. The left-wing SPLC is often partisan and overzealous in targeting hate groups, lumping legitimate conservative organizations together with actual extremists. Therefore its identification of Kessler’s left-wing roots is significant.

President Trump’s planned infrastructure announcement unraveled into chaos as he all but erased any credit he got on Monday for condemning white supremacists for the deadly confrontation in Charlottesville, Va. Trump said it was “a horrible day” but said several times that counter-protesters were not getting enough scrutiny for their role in the confrontation and emphasized his belief that many of the protesters who joined with white nationalists were innocent. “What about the 'alt-left' that came charging at, as you say, the 'alt-right'? Do they have any semblance of guilt?” Trump said. “They came charging with clubs in their hands,”...

I person dead, 19 injured says hospital.

President Trump unveils the new VA Telehealth system to allow Vets to get help from anywhere at anytime using their phones and computers. Includes portable medical units like what is used by government NP's can take to the vets' homes.