Free Republic

A Texas politician has claimed that he worked with a senior member of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign to convince Iran to delay releasing its hostages during the crisis of 1979 in a bid to derail Jimmy Carter's re-election bid. Ben Barnes, Texas's former lieutenant governor, has claimed in an interview with The New York Times that John Connally Jr – once a governor of the same state and a high-ranking member of Reagan's election team – took him on a secret diplomatic tour of the Middle East as part of a scheme to damage Carter by convincing Iran to...

WASHINGTON — It has been more than four decades, but Ben Barnes said he remembers it vividly. His longtime political mentor invited him on a mission to the Middle East. What Mr. Barnes said he did not realize until later was the real purpose of the mission: to sabotage the re-election campaign of the president of the United States.

US police have confirmed that a body found in Mount Rainier National Park near Seattle, Washington is the man wanted in the shooting death of a park ranger. The suspect, Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, is believed to have fled to the remote park to hide after an earlier shooting at a house party near Seattle that wounded four, two critically. Barnes had allegedly sped past a checkpoint. While one ranger began following him, Anderson eventually blocked the road to try stop him. Before fleeing, Barnes allegedly fired shots at both Anderson and the ranger who trailed him, but only Anderson...

Fund raising would not be the issue We heard from two separate sources today. As we hear it, a group of Democratic muckety-mucks are trying to persuade entrepreneur extraordinaire, Ben Barnes to challenge Senator John Cornyn in 2008. A meeting was supposedly held in recent days where supporters pitched Barnes. Dollar amounts for a campaign were discussed. The consensus was that it would take $25 million to do the job and, according to one of our sources, supporters at the meeting committed to $10 million. By himself, Barnes is credited with being able to write a seven-figure check. Besides his...

AUSTIN – Nearly 10,000 supporters of Gov. Rick Perry received a video e-mail on Tuesday telling them his GOP primary opponent, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is in cahoots with a lying, Bush-hating liberal. The Democrat in question, former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, is on the host committee for a Strayhorn fundraiser scheduled for today in Austin.

A tipster informs me that this is indeed the same Ben Barnes who appeared on the infamous September 8, 2004 60 Minutes II broadcast that also introduced the since discredited Killian memos to the American public. From Sunday's Lynn Sweet column in the Chicago Sun-Times: On Dec. 12, Blagojevich discusses the program in an event at the National Press Club hosted by Families USA. Blagojevich timed it to coincide with Democrat Governor Association meetings taking place at the same time. Later in the day, key Blagojevich kitchen Cabinet member John Wyma, a state and federal lobbyist, and his business partner,...

The Miers nomination pits a Swift Boat author against a Bush National Guard detractor--in reverse. Friday, October 21, 2005 12:01 a.m. The politics of the Harriet Miers nomination are getting stranger as attention turns toward Ms. Miers's tenure as head of the Texas Lottery Commission. Two key players in last year's presidential campaign--Jerome Corsi, co-author of the Swift Boat Veterans book "Unfit for Command," and Ben Barnes, a former Texas lieutenant governor who claimed President Bush got special treatment when he joined the Texas Air National Guard--are involved in the debate.

WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush's agents have convinced conservative Republican senators who were heartsick over his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court that they must support her to save his presidency. But that does not guarantee her confirmation. Ahead are hearings of unspeakable ugliness that can be prevented only if Democratic senators exercise unaccustomed restraint. Will the Judiciary Committee Democrats insist on putting under oath two Texas judges who are alleged to have guaranteed during a conference call of Christian conservatives that Miers would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade? Will the Democrats dig into Miers's alleged interference...

Miers to withdraw -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: October 13, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Harriet Miers is never going to be grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee. She is going to withdraw her name from consideration before such hearings ever begin. You can take that to the bank. Why? Because, even though Democrats in the Senate seem more pleased with the choice of Miers than do Republicans, the questions that must be asked of the nominee for Sandra Day O'Connor's Supreme Court seat would be among the most embarrassing ever raised about her boss, President Bush. Most of the attention...

Travis County, Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who exploded upon the American scene as a result of a grand jury indictment against Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay, is a known partisan Democrat in Texas. His history of trying to prosecute Republicans such as Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson also is widely known in Texas. The Senator Hutchinson case was thrown out when Earle admitted he could not prosecute the case due to insufficient evidence which in legalese means he had no case. His attempt to do the same thing to Bush campaign consultant Bob Bullock also failed when a grand...

Dan Rather and Mary Mapes are still embracing the veracity of content of their 60 Minutes fraudulent memos aired on September 8, 2004. They need to re-read the Report of the Independent Review Panel “Concerning President Bush’s Air National Guard Service” by Dick Thornburgh and Louis D. Boccardi. For a fair perspective of President Bush’s Air National Guard (ANG) Service, I suggest reading “Bush and I were lieutenants““ by Col. William Campenni (retired), and my article: Bush and Uncommon Valor,as well as “Bush’s Air National Guard Years“ by Byron York. For a better understanding of the Dan Rather scandal, I...

Hoaxes Propped Up CBS's Fraudulent Memos Dan Rather's CBS' 60 Minutes Hit Piece on President Bush's ANG Record based on Left-Wing Media Hoaxes. By Col. John H. Wambough, Jr. USAF (Ret.) October 22, 2004 - See Bush and Uncommon Valor www.nsar.us Article: Series One Leapfrogged Hundreds Hoax and Political Influence/Favoritism Hoax Since Left-Wing Media (LWM) has fabricated many hoaxes (concerning President Bush's Air National Guard service), it is not practical to address each of them in one article - so they will be presented to the American people in a series, starting with the “Leapfrogged Hundreds Hoax” and “Political Influence/Favoritism...

Austin "FOR A WHILE I thought about moving to Atlanta," Jeff Lewis was saying, "but then I realized the Austin connection, being here, gives us a kind of special edge, and we really, really didn't want to lose that sort of, I don't know, allure. I mean, other people do what we do, but we're here, right in this man's backyard." Jeff is barefoot and ear-ringed and prefers black--today it's black jeans under a flyaway black linen shirt, unbuttoned to the sternum. With his business partner Bill Callan, he is founder of "Two Unemployed Democrats Co." an Internet and mail-order...

BEN BARNES: I think the country is probably more divided today then it's been since the Civil War. I certainly was not alive, although some people probably think I was alive at the conclusion of the Civil War. So I wasn't there firsthand. But I believe that this country is very severely divided. Families are divided. Friends are divided. Communities are divided. Churches, schools. It's not healthy. I have a letter in my possession from my grandfather who wrote to my uncle who was on Iwo Jima. And in the first paragraph, he talks about the crops are in the...

Hinojosa coordinating with Democratic leaders tonight Leading Hidalgo County Democrats and campaign contributors are meeting tonight to plan for a possible visit by Teresa Heinz Kerry to the Rio Grande Valley in early October. Tonight's meeting, organized by U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Mercedes), takes place at the Cornerstone Grill in Edinburg, Border Buzz has learned. Valley Democrats view a visit by Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, as a substitute for a campaign swing by vice presidential candidate John Edwards that never happened. Edwards was due to visit McAllen in July for an event organized by Kerry's...

Says that Bush is a good ethical person and that her Dad has spoke out of both sides of his mouth. That Barnes has said he never helped Bush get in the TANG, but he is a liberal democrat and wants Kerry elected...

Barnes' timeline is highly suspicious. Here we see that the discovery of these documents was a deciding factor for Barnes agreeing to speak to 60 Minutes: Rumors about the memos had circulated in the Democratic Party and media circles for weeks; in fact, CBS had used their existence to help persuade Barnes to talk. He told Democratic friends before the "60 Minutes II" broadcast that if documents the network was hunting for were found—and were authentic—"the election is over." But now we learn that it was Barnes who called Dan Rather ready to talk to CBS just a few short...

Barnes' timeline is highly suspicious. Here we see that the discovery of these documents was a deciding factor for Barnes agreeing to speak to 60 Minutes: Rumors about the memos had circulated in the Democratic Party and media circles for weeks; in fact, CBS had used their existence to help persuade Barnes to talk. He told Democratic friends before the "60 Minutes II" broadcast that if documents the network was hunting for were found—and were authentic—"the election is over." But now we learn that it was Barnes who called Dan Rather ready to talk to CBS just a few short...

Commentary for June 20th, 1997 Ah, Ben Barnes. The name evokes so many fond memories our great state of Texas. It brings back thoughts of the Sharpstown scandal, of eighties-style real estate, partnerships with John Connally. It brings back memories of a young, red-headed state official who was seen as a real comer -- someone with the moxie to eventually become President of these United States. Well, that isn't going to happen. But maybe the current occupant of the White House could learn a thing or two from Ben Barnes. After all, when Bill Clinton got involved in a shady...

[graphic similar to what NYT tried to do with Bush/Swift Boat connections]