Free Republic

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is “the smartest guy, the biggest thinker” in the Republican Party as it looks toward winning the White House in 2016, GOP strategist Karl Rove tells Newsmax TV. “Six months ago, I would have said, ‘No, he's not going to run,’” Rove tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview. “But maybe he is. I certainly hope he keeps a very strong voice.”

YES, THERE ARE SPOILERS.It’s generally a bad idea to go into darkness. You tend to bump into things and hurt yourself. You break things and people will get very cross.And yes, there are fans very cross at STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS. To them, this is STAR TREK dumbed down. It’s looking backwards and recycling old storylines in a banal way. It shits on Gene Roddenberry’s legacy. It’s hollow fanservice. The counterargument is this is STAR TREK for the kids, for people who have never seen Star Trek or liked it before.I don’t hate STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS. It’s a fast,...

There is talk about Fox News reporter James Rosen being named as a co-conspirator for the crime of being a journalist. A Fox News correspondent was accused in a Justice Department affidavit of being a possible criminal "co-conspirator" for his alleged role in publishing sensitive security information -- in a leak case that takes the highly unusual step of claiming a journalist broke the law. According to court documents, the Justice Department obtained a portfolio of information about Fox News' James Rosen's conversations and visits to the State Department. This included a search warrant for his personal emails. The effort...

Fun from MSNBC’s early afternoon “news� bloc of programming via Noah Rothman. The logic is ironclad and inexorable: Doug Shulman, appointed IRS commissioner by Bush in March 2008, was so fiercely loyal to his Beltway Republican masters that he decided to risk his career to kneecap conservative insurgents’ nonprofits in 2010 … even though Bush had left office more than a year before and the GOP establishment he represented was widely loathed by pretty much everyone in America. Oh, and even though (again per Rothman) Shulman himself has donated to the DNC in the past. Say it with me, guys:...

Director J.J. Abrams' 2009 prequel to the dusty Star Trek property got the space saga out of mothballs and back on the pop culture radar. Star Trek Into Darkness resumes the franchise's penchant for futuristic allegories to modern times. Well, if you consider the Bush years the state of today's foreign policy debates.The '60s series never bludgeoned viewers with its mission statements, and the Star Trek sequel similarly embraces razzle dazzle over speechifying. Abrams is too keenly focused on ambitious action sequences, those maddening lens flares and the bond between the ship's crew that made those prior voyages such a...

Star Trek Into Darkness Dedicated To Post-9/11 Vets – Four Vets From Mission Continues Featured In Film If you watch the credits for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness you will notice that the film is dedicated to post-9/11 veterans. And the connection doesn't end there as Abrams cast four vets from the Mission Continues charity in the film.

Will the new Star Trek sequel boldly go where much of Hollywood has gone before--bashing President George W. Bush? Benedict Cumberbatch, the British actor who plays the mysterious villain in Star Trek Into Darkness, told BBC America that the new film's futuristic setting didn't stop it from reflecting on recent global events.

NORFOLK A new era in naval aviation is set to launch from the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush today, if all goes according to plan. For the first time ever, the Navy plans to catapult an unmanned aerial vehicle off a carrier flight deck, marking a strategic technological shift in naval aviation. The launch of the prototype X-47B from the Bush, steaming off the Virginia coast, follows months of shore-based launch tests at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. The objective: to show that automated aircraft can play an active role in air warfare operations at sea. "The addition...

After enduring the longest weekend of his previously unchallenged presidency, Barack Hussein Obama Monday covertly solicited advice from two of his most publicly criticized political adversaries, George W. Bush and Mitt Romney. Obama requested the meeting with Bush and Romney when his gaggle of hand picked aides failed to provide sound counsel after recent scandals with Benghazi and the IRS were forced into the liberal main stream media portraying the President as an emperor who was suddenly found to be wearing no clothes. “President Obama was blindsided by his friends in the left wing news media, and felt betrayed by...

White House spokesman Jay Carney said, in response to a question about the I.R.S. targeting conservative groups, that the I.R.S. is run by a George W. Bush political appointee: (VIDEO-AT-LINK) "I.R.S. is an independent enforcement agency," said Carney. "The -- which I believe, as I understand it, contains only two political appointees within it. The individual who is running the I.R.S. at the time was actually an appointee from the previous administration." The previous administration was George W. Bush's administration.

Pathetic. Last year Barack Obama repeatedly warned that chemical weapons use by the Syrian regime against its own people would be a “game changer.” But since evidence was found that the Assad regime used chemical weapons so far Obama has not acted. Today he blamed Bush for his inaction. “We have evidence that there has been the use of chemical weapons inside Syria. But, I don’t make decisions based on ‘perceived.’ And, I can’t organize coalitions around ‘perceived.’ We tried that in the past, by the way, and it didn’t work out well.” It’s Bush’s fault.

Houston police confirm shots fired at Bush Intl. Airport; local media report victim in Terminal B

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: So Benghazi, that's "a long time ago." "Benghazi happened a long time ago." I mean, why is everybody bringing that up now? Yet everything remains the fault of George W. Bush. From the Weekly Standard: "White House spokesman Jay Carney said in response to a question about the September 11, 2012 Benghazi terror attack that it 'happened a long time ago.' 'Let's be clear,' said Carney. "'Benghazi happened a long time ago. We are unaware of any agency blocking an employee who would like to appear before Congress to provide information related to Benghazi.'" Really? See, this...

In an interview with Bloomberg TV from the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, former Vice President Al Gore claims American democracy has been "hacked." Gore also opined on former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently commenting that she regretted her decision in Bush v. Gore.

The retired justice acknowledges that the ruling that put Bush in the White House hurt the court's reputation ... Seven years after retiring from the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor is second-guessing what she says was the most controversial ruling of her 25 years on the high court — Bush v. Gore, which decided the 2000 presidential election. O'Connor — appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981 — was the swing vote who gave conservatives a 5-4 majority, and put George W. Bush in the White House. She says now that the court only "stirred up the public" and "gave the...

NewsBusters readers know Ellen Ratner as the perilously liberal news analyst typically offering the left-wing views on Fox News Watch. On Thursday, Ratner published an article titled "George W. Bush Has Saved More Lives Than Any American President" that is guaranteed to shock the heck out of you as it angers folks on her side of the aisle: "George W. Bush, not Barack Obama, is the real American hero in Africa," she amazingly began. "Take it from me, a liberal Democrat who voted for Obama twice." After discussing her knowledge of the problems on that continent, Ratner continued her praise...

Do you wish George W. Bush was still the president? Yes No

Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 because he was not George W. Bush. In fact, he was elected because he was the farthest thing possible from Mr. Bush. On some level he knew this, which is why every time he got in trouble he'd say Bush's name. It's all his fault, you have no idea the mess I inherited. As long as Mr. Bush's memory was hovering like Boo Radley in the shadows, Mr. Obama would be OK.

Liberals called for the death of George W. Bush in the wake of the opening of the Bush Library on Thursday. I wish I could say this was unexpected from a group of people who have declared themselves "civil," but alas, who was I kidding? ...A quick internet search produces a bevy of death threats and calls for murder of President Bush. Some are very angry: Some don't really make sense:

DALLAS — Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who’d covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she’d had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on. We reminisced about all the places we’d been, all the crazy days and wild nights, all the history we’d seen — first hand. Just before we said our goodbyes, I asked her if she’d miss covering President Obama. “Not at all. He’s an inch deep. Bush is a bottomless chasm, a deep, mysterious, emotional, profound man....

At the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, President Obama and former President Clinton took to the podium to praise Bush – and in the process, stump for their version of immigration reform. Trying to leverage Republicans into handing over their principles by suddenly singing odes to the president he labeled the root of all evil, President Obama gushed over Bush “reaching across the aisle to unlikely allies like Ted Kennedy” with regard to his immigration reform effort. He continued: “Seven years ago, President Bush restarted an important conversation by speaking with the American people about our history...

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/04/25/george-w-bush-has-saved-more-lives-than-any-american-president/ George W. Bush, not Barack Obama, is the real American hero in Africa. Take it from me, a liberal Democrat who voted for Obama twice. I know a little about Africa: I have been to the continent 17 times over the last 32 years. In particular, I have a great interest in South Sudan; I first traveled there in March 2008, and I have been back 13 since. South Sudan is the mostly Christian nation that won its independence from Sudan after a half-century of civil war; in 2011, South Sudan was admitted into the United Nations as a...

There are times when the words "never" and "always" are the only ones that work. In my case, "never" is becoming the word I must use to describe how I feel about certain candidates for high office. For example, I voted four times for a Bush and once for a McCain — something I will never do again. In 1988, it was Bush the elder over Michael Dukakis. In 1992, I resisted the temptation to punish President "Read-My-Lips" by casting my ballot for Ross Perot, knowing that a vote for the pintsized Texas screwball would simply be handing the presidency...

RUSH: I didn't see it, but I'm told that Obama used a portion of his remarks at the dedication of the Bush library in Dallas today to push his immigration bill. And I am told reliably, ladies and gentlemen, that the scuttlebutt among the people in the crowd was that it was not well received, that it was not classy. There might be some blow-back on this, maybe, not predicting it, we'll see. But a reliable source who was there told me that there was all kinds of bzz bzz bzz bzz bzz in the crowd when Obama deviated from...

U.S. President Barack Obama embraces former president George W. Bush following remarks at the dedication ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, April 25, 2013. Obama is in Texas to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush in what could serve as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle against terrorism, from the Sept. 11 attacks to the Boston Marathon bombings.

A Charge to Keep by W.H.D. Koerner On the painting: Bush was so taken by it, he took the painting’s name for his own official autobiography. And here’s what he says about it: I thought I would share with you a recent bit of Texas history which epitomizes our mission. When you come into my office, please take a look at the beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve...

President Barack Obama used a part of his speech at the George W. Bush Libary opening today to push immigration reform:

I'm no art sophisticate or anything, but I know what I like. And as much as I didn't like George W Bush's spending and government expansion, I DO like his work in watercolors- the guy is good- But if you're surprised, so's Dubya... he had no idea he could paint: seems about a year ago he did some 'doodling' to explain something to the Bush daughters at the ranch one day, and and lo-and-behold a family friend in the art business told him he may have a hidden talent. Bush had read a book by Winston Churchill on amateur...

(CNN) -- Despite the many differences I had with former President George W. Bush on a range of public policy issues, or as he called them, "decision points," I found common ground with him in one area, simply because we decided to put aside partisanship and do something good. Hurricane Katrina's devastation and the bungled rescue efforts are seared in the national memory. Bush's "heckuva job" remark turned into a byword for government incompetence and public distrust. The shallowness of it coming at such a terrible and low point left deep wounds that are still healing. That was what it...

The George W. Presidential Center is a state-of-the-art facility located on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Opening to the public on May 1, 2013, the Center will house the George W. Bush Institute and the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. The Library and Museum is the 13th Presidential Library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, a Federal agency. I hope I am doing this right, and not stepping on toes, but did not see thread. http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/

Former first lady Barbara Bush said her son George W. Bush should be the last in the family line of presidents, rejecting the idea of a White House run for her other son, Jeb Bush. “There are other people out there that are very qualified and we’ve had enough Bushes,” she told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Thursday from inside her son's presidential library. When asked whether she expects Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, to make a presidential run, Mrs. Bush said there are many worthy candidates.

Former President George W. Bush says he isn’t interested in playing on the national political stage any longer. But for family, he’s making an exception. Asked in an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer whether he thinks his brother former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush should run for president in 2016, the ex-president was unequivocal. “He’d be a marvelous candidate if he chooses to do so. He doesn’t need my counsel ’cause he knows what it is, which is ‘run,’ ” the elder Bush brother said about Jeb’s possible candidacy, in an interview that first aired Wednesday on “World News with...

DALLAS—As former President George W. Bush prepares to officially open his presidential library on Thursday, a question arises as it has for his predecessors: How objective will it be about his time in the White House? Bush left office five years ago as one of the most unpopular presidents in history, his poll numbers weighed down by public discontent over his handling of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and worries about the economy. But the former president wanted to take the controversies about his presidency head-on, say several former aides who worked closely with him on the library.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House press secretary Ari Fleischer accused Sen. Hillary Clinton Friday of working to divide Americans along party lines. The former first lady responded by saying she is simply "seeking answers and information" about recent revelations that President Bush was alerted prior to September 11 of possible terrorist attacks. The row between the White House and the Democrat from New York began Thursday when Clinton appeared on the Senate floor and held up a copy of the New York Post with the headline of "Bush Knew." "The president knew what?" she asked. "My constituents would like to...

Last week’s tragic terrorist attack on the Boston marathon was a grim reminder that, while our homeland is safer today than it was before the attacks of September 11, 2001, Americans cannot take that safety for granted. The fact that we have not suffered such an attack in nearly eleven and a half years reflects the skill of our counterintelligence agencies, the FBI, and the brave men and women who are on the front lines of keeping their fellow Americans safe. But it reflects, too, the policies put in place by the administration of President George W. Bush, whose presidential...

<p>As you probably have heard, a few days ago Bill Maher shocked his liberal guest -- and much of the world -- by stating very correctly and succinctly that it is "liberal bullsh_t" to equate Christianity and Islam with respect to terror.</p>

President Barack Obama wasn’t shy about invoking Osama bin Laden’s killing during the 2012 campaign — but when it comes to his larger approach to terrorism he’s pursued a policy of speaking softly and ordering lots of drone strikes. That delicate balance was shattered by the Boston Marathon attack, thrusting a downplayed anti-terror campaign into the spotlight and the issue of terrorism to the top of Obama’s second-term priorities, at least in the short term. Obama, whose 2008 election was propelled by opposition to the Iraq War, has jettisoned the clash-of-civilizations rhetoric favored by George W. Bush — even as...

WACO, Texas—President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend a memorial service Thursday for victims of last Wednesday’s deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. The service is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. CT at Baylor University in Waco. A city official in West said the president is also expected to visit the site of the blast. The Obamas were already scheduled to be in Dallas for the opening of former President George W. Bush’s presidential library Thursday morning. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday the first couple will fly to West after the...

George Bush Says Brother Jeb Best Man For The White House April 21, 2013 Since leaving office in 2009, former President George W. Bush has offered few political insights. But when it comes to his brother, Bush has a firm opinion: Jeb Bush is the best man to be president. “Yeah, he’d be the best candidate,” tells Parade Magazine in an exclusive interview published today. “I told him he ought to run, and he didn’t answer me. No, he’d be great. “He’s got a proven track record. He was a governor of a big state. He’s very articulate. He could...

I did tell you, didn’t I, that the Spring Garden Tours were given a stay of execution? Tours of the White House itself remained canceled because the cuts have left Secret Service short on manpower to staff them. But there will be enough agents to staff the garden tours, the official said. Beautiful spring day, and the lines were long Yes, despite being sequestered in round one of the Big White’s Sequester Gesture along with the Big White tours for little children, we reinstated the garden tours when somebody pointed out that we didn’t really need extra Secret Service personnel...

George H.W. vs. Bill was Bush/Clinton I. Jeb vs. Hillary could be Bush/Clinton II. And if we’re very lucky, George P. will win his race for Texas land commissioner and Chelsea will ease into public service with a Senate seat in New York or something and we’ll be on track for Bush/Clinton III circa 2032. Two points about this. One: It’s proof of how insatiable the media’s appetite for dynastic politics is (especially Democratic dynasties) that this is biggish news today even though she said the same thing six months ago. You get the feeling that Chelsea could go on...

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan – New Zealand has withdrawn its small contingent of troops from Afghanistan. The South Pacific nation had stationed about 145 soldiers in central Bamiyan province since 2003. Ten of its soldiers died during the conflict. The withdrawal came about five months earlier than initially planned. The U.S. and its allies plan to withdraw all remaining troops by the end of 2014. In a ceremony Thursday, New Zealand lowered its flag and opened a memorial to commemorate both the New Zealand troops and Afghan security forces who died in the province. About 95 Afghan interpreters and their family members...

Nek Muhammad knew he was being followed. On a hot day in June 2004, the Pashtun tribesman was lounging inside a mud compound in South Waziristan, speaking by satellite phone to one of the many reporters who regularly interviewed him on how he had fought and humbled Pakistan’s army in the country’s western mountains. He asked one of his followers about the strange, metallic bird hovering above him. Less than 24 hours later, a missile tore through the compound, severing Muhammad’s left leg and killing him and several others, including two boys, ages 10 and 16. A Pakistani military spokesman...

It’s almost a cruel play on words. You go to the airport and bring that which you know you’ll need for the trip. Transportation Security Administration employees rifle though your bags and find that bottle of shampoo that was a little too big or the can of deodorant that had a few too many ounces. They tell you that certain items in your possession cannot be taken on board the flight and you have to leave them behind. The name they have for those goods is a hoot: “Voluntarily Abandoned Property.” … It was my “property”, but after I “voluntarily...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) will speak at a luncheon hosted by the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth on April 24, the Council announced Monday. Bush's speech coincides with a speech former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to give at the National Multi Housing Council at the Four Seasons Resort and Club, also in Dallas, on April 24. Both Bush and Clinton have been mentioned as possible presidential candidates in 2016. Clinton and Bush are also set to appear at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University on April 25. Clinton's...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has written the cover story for the April edition of Newsmax magazine, offering an optimistic view of America’s future — and straight talk about its problems — with the resounding message: “Growth is the answer” to our nagging economic woes. And the leading Republican sat down with Newsmax for a wide-ranging interview elaborating on a number of topics he discusses in his magazine feature, arguing that America can be great again if we open up the doors to economic opportunity. Bush, who served two terms as Florida’s governor, has earned a nationwide reputation for reform...

Larry Grathwohl is one of those increasingly rare individuals who has led a truly extraordinary life. However, after speaking with him I found that he is an unassuming and truly humble man who has a strong belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Larry Grathwohl BIO I joined the US Army in October of 1964 and after basic training I went through jump school and became a paratrooper assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. I went to Vietnam with the 1st Brigade as part of the 2 Battalion of the 502nd Infantry in July of 1965. I was...

It has a lot to do with the Iraq war -snip My own position on the war fits into none of these categories. Ten years ago, I was working as an editor at First Things, a monthly magazine that's aptly been described as the New York Review of Books of the religious right. (And no, that's not oxymoronic.) The magazine strongly supported George W. Bush's original conception of the War on Terror, and so did I. In his speech to Congress and the nation on September 20, 2001, Bush stated that the United States would seek to decimate al Qaeda...

[This is a companion piece to an essay I posted earlier in the week in regard to the tenth anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq: #22 The Quiet Funeral of Bush Lied - Thousands Died! Bill Clinton's war with Serbia over Kosovo in 1998 starkly illustrates the double standards of contemporary American liberals. It is written in the first person to liberals, but also for conservatives.]     Liberals believe that former President Bush lied to the American people to get support for invading Iraq (this erroneous belief will be completely debunked in #22 The Quiet Funeral of “Bush Lied – Thousands Died!”)....

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has double-digit leads over either of Florida's favorite sons, former Gov. Jeb Bush or U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, in an early look at the 2016 presidential election, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. By a 91 - 8 percent margin, consistent with margins found in other states surveyed by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, Florida voters support universal background checks for gun purchases. Voters in gun-owning households support universal background checks 88 - 11 percent. Mrs. Clinton, who shows the most strength of any potential 2016 aspirant in Quinnipiac University's national polls,...