Free Republic

Martin Eisenstadt outs himself as Carl Cameron's source for some recent Palin-mockery and delivers yet more fodder (emphasis added): As you know, I was one of the foreign policy advisers on the McCain campaign who worked with Randy Scheunemann to help prep Sarah on her debate with Joe Biden. Did we outright give her a geography quiz when we started the prep? No, of course not. But yes, in the context of the prep, it slowly became apparent that her grasp of basic geo-political knowledge had major gaps. Could she have passed a multiple choice test about South Africa or...

As Civil War battles went, it was a small and insignificant affair. But in terms of story – and especially, in terms of lessons – it’s one of my favorites. The war had not yet fully turned in October of 1864. And even though Stonewall Jackson had been dead for well over a year – killed by mistake by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville -- the Shenandoah Valley still belonged if not to Jackson then to Jackson’s ghost, for it was there that he and his “foot cavalry” had won their eternal place in Valhalla. Jackson’s tactical...

Pew Research issued a study last week that mostly got buried under all of the election polling, but which may have significant impact on Western foreign policy over the next several years. In the extract, Pew notes that anti-Semitism has risen substantially over the past four years in Europe. With the exception of the UK, the major EU nations have all gotten more hostile to Jews in general, and Israel in particular: A disturbing new trend is emerging across Europe. Anti-Semitism and xenophobia are on the rise. A growing minority of citizens in several European countries holds unfavorable opinions of...

A phalanx of liberal think tanks and interest groups -- anticipating a Democratic victory on Tuesday -- are mobilizing to push Sen. Barack Obama to the left of his campaign positions. In recent weeks, groups have held conferences, drafted policy papers and lobbied campaign advisers in the hope of influencing what they believe would be the most receptive administration to the political left since Jimmy Carter. The Obama campaign declined to comment about pressure from liberal policy groups. Left-leaning activists are trying to replicate the surge of conservative interest groups under the Reagan administration that shaped Republican politics for the...

I can not see a anything different from his normal show. Video at the link.

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! You’re about to watch history unfold. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a plan that could forever end the abuse of elephants in the world’s largest circus. PETA recently offered to provide a state-of-the art, high-tech animatronic "elephant" if the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus agrees to retire its real elephants-sparing them from painful lives in chains and servitude. The animatronic elephant would be similar to the dinosaurs currently used in the popular "Walking With Dinosaurs, the Live Experience" show that is touring the United States. Making the switch would...

The Jawa folk offer this speech by the Gipper on universal health care. Perhaps we should buy 12 minutes worth of airtime to offer this as a counter to Obama's 30 minutes worth of bologna.

Gen. David Petraeus took over U.S. Central Command during a one-hour ceremony this morning at MacDill Air Force Base, assuming responsibility for military operations in the most volatile part of the world -- the Middle East. Under a large American flag and with 84 members of Petraeus' West Point class of 1974 looking on, he accepted the CentCom battle flag from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Petraeus is widely credited with being the architect of the Iraq surge that many believe led to a dramatic reduction in violence. Now expectations are high as Petraeus tries the same thing in Afghanistan,...

In recent months, conservative commentators have devoted countless words to the American media's open bias in favor of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama. Although there is no question that their criticism is accurate, it is wrong to root that bias merely in the media's leftist sympathies. The American media's pro-Obama bias is also the consequence of their misrepresentation of outgoing President George W. Bush's record in office. And that misrepresentation, too, cannot be ascribed merely to the leftist sympathies of the media. For the media are not the source of that misrepresentation, Bush is. Bush's record in office is...

Tonight on The Factor, Dennis Miller was on and had a few choice words for the knuckleheads in West Hollywood who have an effigy of Sarah Palin hanging by a noose. Real bright bulbs, these guys. The guys also hash over what’s to come in the next few days, and joke about going Trick or Treating Friday at that home in West Hollywood.

There is an unusual television show called "Punked," in which the actor Ashton Kutcher plays strange practical jokes on other Hollywood types. In watching the Washington and Wall Street drama of the past few weeks it strikes me we are in the process of getting "punked" as a nation. I say this because turning for answers to the people who created the problem is normally the domain of strange thinking or practical jokes. In times like these, people are genuinely frightened about what comes next, but it is important they not forget Washington was instrumental in getting us here. We...

The U.S. Attorney's Office will monitor the general election in Chicago and surrounding suburbs next Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald announced Tuesday. As part of the monitoring effort, the office will operate a hotline for candidates or the public to call to report any complaints relating to voting. In addition, Assistant U.S. Attorneys will be available to respond to complaints as needed, according to a release Tuesday from Fitzgerald's office. The hotline number, staffed on Election Day only, is (312) 469-6157. "This office has a long tradition of monitoring the polls on Election Day." Fitzgerald said. "No one who...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government. Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France. But according to a senior Israeli government source, the reports reaching Israel indicate that Sarkozy views the Democratic candidate's stance on Iran as "utterly immature" and comprised of "formulations empty of all content." Obama visited Paris in July, and the Iranian issue was at the heart of his meeting with Sarkozy. At a joint press conference afterward, Obama urged Iran to accept the West's proposal...

Late Sunday, U.S. Special Forces struck positions across the Syrian-Iraq border, inside of Syria, apparently killing nine people, most of whom were non-Syrian Arab fighters on their way into Iraq. Of course there is a great cry rising from the Syrians today. For years, tons of explosives and a long line of foreign terrorists have streamed across the Syrian border into Anbar Province and Nineveh Province in Iraq. I must have spent a total of about nine months in Nineveh, about eight of which were in the capital of Mosul, and another month in Anbar. Foreign terrorists were caught or...

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's failure to form a government proved that all roads do in fact lead to Jerusalem. It was the issue of Jerusalem that deadlocked and ultimately scuttled Livni's coalition negotiations with Shas, which demanded that she pledge not to negotiate the partition of the city with the Palestinians. Livni refused to make such a pledge. And so the negotiations failed and new elections will soon be called. In refusing to agree to Shas's demand, Livni made clear that partitioning the city - that is, giving the Palestinians sovereignty over the Temple Mount and the Arab neighborhoods -...

A few days ago, Joe Biden was trotted out to make his monthly gaffe. Last time — I think it was last time; it’s hard to follow without a program — it was about how Hillary might have been a better VP candidate. This time he mentioned that a young President Obama was likely to be tested in his first six months. Anyway, that’s what he said, before being rotated back to the Cone of Silence. The thing I actually like about Joe Biden is that these gaffes of his are actually just the product of a man speaking his...

In a war where information can be more powerful than massed forces, the cellphone is a weapon. Insurgents the world over use cellphones to transmit messages, record photos and videos, and sometimes just to chat. They can record video of an attack, and transmit that video within a minute. U.S. and other technologically adept forces use machines to target cell phones. This is no secret. Not to the enemy, at least. I am especially careful not to compromise operational security (OPSEC). There are many photographs and potential dispatches that will never be published here because I do not want to...

Stung by international criticism of its presidential and congressional elections, Russia is striking back by sending a team of observers to monitor the U. S. presidential poll on Nov. 4. Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman with Russia's Foreign Ministry, says Moscow will have eight election observers attached to a monitoring mission conducted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The OSCE, which has infuriated the Kremlin in the past by criticizing elections in Russia and other post-communist states, is sending 62 election observers to the United States. The mission, headed by Audrey Glover, the top British diplomat, includes...

In a week and a half, American voters will elect the next US president. Their decision will impact the entire world. Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama now enjoys a significant lead in the polls against Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain. For McCain to win, a lot of Obama supporters will need to reassess their choice for president. This week, Obama's running-mate Senator Joseph Biden gave Obama supporters a good reason to change their minds. In much-reported remarks to campaign donors in Seattle on Sunday, Biden warned that if Obama is elected to the White House, it will take America's...

On its face, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to appear in an ad endorsing state Treasurer John Kennedy in his challenge to Sen. Mary Landrieu isn't that big a surprise. After all, Jindal is the Republican governor of the state and Kennedy is his party's Senate nominee. But, those familiar with Jindal's career -- marked almost entirely by a desire to avoid the appearance of partisanship -- see the endorsement as a sign of Jindal's long term ambitions, ambitions that could include a White House bid down the line. They point out that this is the first race Jindal has...