Free Republic

**SNIP** Indeed, when the question of using military force against Iraq was put before the U.S. Congress, 110 Democrats supported the 2002 Joint Resolution, which authorized President Bush to act as he ultimately did. Further, some very outspoken Democrats during that time said these sort of things including President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, and Senator John F. Kerry. "[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to...

(06-11) 14:24 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Friends, neighbors and a former fellow inmate of Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow took turns testifying Wednesday that the onetime Chinatown gang leader had turned his life around and should be released on bail while fighting money-laundering charges. Describing the witnesses as sincere but not fully informed, U.S. Magistrate Nathanael Cousins refused to release Chow from jail, where he has been kept since his arrest in April. While Chow has engaged in "community activities of a positive nature" since his release from federal prison in 2003 after serving time for racketeering, federal prosecutors presented evidence...

Ethan Couch, the Texas teen whose deadly drunk driving was excused by a lenient judge because of "affluenza," is serving his time in rehab on mostly taxpayers' money, RadarOnline reports. According to RadarOnline, it is largely the public who will be responsible for the now 17-year-old's $438,000-per-year rehab treatment. "Recently a judge ruled that the teen should be sent to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon. The hospital's rehab program charges $700 a day, but since it is a partially state-funded institution, Couch's parents would only be charged $38 per day for their son's treatment," Kenneth Webster, a contributor to...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to defend the prisoner exchange that lead to the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl when he testifies before the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told The Associated Press that Hagel will explain to the committee that the Obama administration had a "very small, fleeting opportunity" to secure Bergdahl's release. Bergdahl was freed on May 31 after being held captive by the Taliban for almost five full years. Kirby's description of a small window for the agreement meshed with comments by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who told...

President Obama was responsible for the decision to swap five Taliban militants for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the White House said Tuesday. The White House sought to deflect charges from congressional Republicans that the administration was trying to pin blame on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel for the trade. “The president's the commander in chief, and the president's the one that's ultimately responsible for making sure that we fulfill this commitment that we don't leave anybody behind,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. Earnest added that there was “no daylight between the president and any of his national security advisers...

While concerns about the growth of radical Islam have been with British society for some years now, few imagined that Islamists might ever attempt anything so bold as a takeover of parts of the public education system. Yet a government investigation overseen by a former counter-terror chief has revealed that this is precisely what has been happening at certain British schools. The report would seem to confirm allegations of an ambitious effort on the part of a set of hardliners who have been attempting to take over the administration of secular state schools in the city of Birmingham, Britain’s second...

**SNIP** And while Democrats haven't done much to promote the environment with their majority, they have beaten back efforts they say would harm the climate. That included a Landrieu-led effort to get a vote approving Keystone, a failure she blamed on Republicans. But opponents are pointing out that those failures weaken her message of political clout and it's led her to lose a potentially powerful ally at home. Don Briggs, the head of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, is backing Cassidy in what is essentially a proxy vote against Majority Leader Harry Reid. "I know Mary very well and...

Could Johnny Football ditch the pads and cleats for a future on the diamond as Johnny Baseball? Probably not. But he might want to consider it. The Cleveland Browns quarterback was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 28th round (No. 837 overall) of the 2014 MLB Draft Saturday. Manziel was listed as a shortstop for Texas A&M, although he hasn't stepped foot on the baseball diamond since his junior year of high school. Apparently, he was a pretty decent infielder and even talked to Texas A&M baseball coaches about joining the team in 2012.

President Barack Obama defended not telling Congress beforehand about plans to exchange five Taliban prisoners for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, saying that time was of the essence in completing the swap. Obama, saying he would make “no apologies” for the move, told NBC News in an interview that the decision was unanimous among principals in his administration and was backed by the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to excerpts released by the network. “We had to act fast in a delicate situation that required no publicity,” the president told NBC’s Brian Williams in the interview broadcast last night....

The controversial deal freeing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban prisoners will likely dominate Sunday news shows. The exchange has come under fire from lawmakers who ripped the Obama administration for not notifying Congress in advance of the swap that freed Taliban leaders from the Guantanamo Bay military facility. President Obama has made “no apologies” for securing Bergdahl’s release and said he'd do it again. Here's the lineup: ABC's "This Week" will talk with House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) about the growing criticism surrounding Obama's decision to negotiate Bergdahl's release. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) will...

National Security Adviser Susan Rice’s comments that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl served with "honor and distinction" has amplified GOP criticism of President Obama's prisoner swap and undermined Rice’s credibility on Capitol Hill. Independent experts have cast doubt on Rice’s judgment, given questions about whether Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban after deserting his post in Afghanistan. Even allies of the White House are suggesting she stay off the Sunday talk shows. “When I saw her on TV making that honor and distinction comment it just seems so phony to me,” said Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations...

**SNIP** So which federal law had Obama violated? Section 1028 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibits any funds to be used “to transfer any individual detained at Guantanamo to the custody or control of any other foreign country” unless the secretary of defense certifies to Congress, “not later than 30 days before the transfer,” that the receiving country will detain the individual appropriately and “has taken or agreed to take such actions as the Secretary of Defense determines are necessary to ensure that the individual cannot engage or re-engage in any terrorist activity.” As reported by Elizabeth...

To insurance companies, there’s no doubt that climate change is here: They are beginning to file lawsuits against small towns and cities who they say haven’t prepared for the floods and storms that will cost the companies billions in payments. Earlier this week, the U.S. arm of a major global insurance company backed away from an unprecedented lawsuit against Chicago and its suburbs for failing to prepare for heavy rains and associated flooding it claimed were fueled by global warming. While legal experts said the case was a longshot, its withdrawal didn't alter the message it contained for governments: prepare...

**SNIP** Don't expect Hillary Clinton to repudiate the EPA rule as she campaigns in 2016. She also knows where the muscle is in the new Democratic coalition. There is one political catch, however, and that is the composition of the Senate, where North Dakota gets as many votes as California. That reality might haunt Democrats this year because they are trying to hold or gain Senate seats in Kentucky, West Virginia, Montana, Alaska and Louisiana, among other right-leaning states. If voters ever figure out what Mr. Obama's carbon rule really means to their state economies, Democrats would lose every one....

WASHINGTON (AP) - A huge new paperwork headache for the government could also be jeopardizing coverage for some of the millions of people who just got health insurance under President Barack Obama's law. A government document provided to The Associated Press indicates that at least 2 million people enrolled for taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance have data discrepancies in their applications that, if unresolved, could affect what they pay for coverage, or even their legal right to benefits. The final number affected could well be higher. According to the administration the 2 million figure reflects only consumers who signed up through...

A celebration in Bowe Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho, planned for later this month has been cancelled in the wake of a firestorm of controversy over how the Army sergeant wound up as a Taliban captive. **SNIP** Town officials on Tuesday told NBC News that they had been deluged with hateful calls from people who don't think Bergdahl should be celebrated as a hero. In the Wednesday statement, the town said they had received about "100 correspondences" per day on the issue, both positive and negative. Hailey officials say they aren't cancelling because of any threat, but because of the...

WASHINGTON -- Imprisoned former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s projected release date is now Sept. 20, 2015, more than three months earlier than listed previously, federal officials confirmed Monday. In another development, Jackson has paid the $550,000 he owed the U.S. government over his misuse of campaign funds, according to a court filing. There is no connection between Jackson’s payment and his new projected release date, according to the Bureau of Prisons. “Financial obligations and release dates are unrelated,” said prisons spokesman Chris Burke.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The five Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi are being counted on to defend the Obama administration's record as November's elections creep closer. All five voted against the special investigation and most have described it as a political stunt and waste of time. Each now says it's important to participate in the GOP-led probe of how a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed at a U.S. diplomatic installation in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, and how the administration responded. They say that without their presence, Republican accusations against President Barack Obama, his...

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice pushed back on Sunday against GOP claims that the administration negotiated with terrorists by transferring five Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to Qatar in exchange for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on Saturday. "I wouldn't put it that way," Rice said on CNN's "State of the Union" when asked if the exchange means that U.S. officials can no longer say they don't negotiate with terrorists. "Why didn't you notify Congress?" Crowley asked, referencing the law that requires the president to alert Congress in 30 days before transferring any prisoners from Guantanamo Bay....

The Taliban’s release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl dominated the Sunday talk shows, pushing Friday’s resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki from the headlines. The Sunday shows were packed with Republicans launching into political attacks against President Obama and the administration for transferring five Taliban members from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar in exchange for the release of Bergdahl, the 28-year-old whom the Taliban released on Saturday, and administration officials defending the decision. "Disturbing," was how Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) put it on ABC's "This Week." "Dangerous," echoed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) on CNN's "State of The Union."...