Free Republic

"They should probably hire a media expert anyway to assist them in explaining the 2000 firearms and the possible connection in the murder of the Border Patrol Agent." -- Glenn W. Cook, 17 December 2010. This story is based on a William LaJuenesse piece on FOX this afternoon which mentioned, but did not completely put into context, an email written two days after the murder of Brian Terry by Glenn W. Cook. Once I found out of the email's existence, I checked my sources until I located one. I will say that I did not get it from anyone at...

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, on a fundraising trip through California this week, has rolled out endorsements from a bunch of GOP lawmakers. ... House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, said in Romney’s news release that President Obama’s policies have failed California and the nation, while Romney “has a proven record of job creation in both the private sector and as a governor.” Similarly, state Senate Republican Leader Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, said Romney’s record as governor “speaks for itself.” “He created jobs, balanced budgets, and cut taxes,” Dutton said. “Mitt Romney knows how the economy works...

Michael Steele’s tenure as chairman of the Republican National Committee has been marked by some stunning verbal gaffes, and serious criticism of his management decisions.  Two weeks ago, Gentry Collins resigned as political director of the RNC with a bombshell memo detailing fundraising and voter-turnout failures on Steele’s watch.  Now the Daily Caller reports that Solomon Yue, a member of the RNC executive committee, is calling for an investigation into “tens of thousands of dollars” paid to Steele’s former personal assistant, her son, and her sister. The Washington Times points out that RNC members have been uncomfortable with the...

As we enter the final week of the election, everyone wants to know how big the House GOP wave will be. No one has a precise answer yet, but if past performance is any guide, the gold-standard psephologists when it comes to political fortune-telling are Charlie Cook and Stu Rothenberg — and yesterday, both of Cook and Rothenberg showed a massive shift to the GOP. If we use the accuracy of their 2006 and 2008 predications as an indicator, we will be able get a good idea of exactly how large the wave will be from their final House-race ratings,...

A mushrooming political battle over ObamaCare involving the White House, two incumbent Pennsylvania congressmen, three Catholic hospitals and a nun has just exploded in, of all places, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Charges from the Scranton medical community of intimidation by the Obama White House and its allies are filling the air. All of this just as Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Scranton today to raise money for one of the participants.

Latest Ratings Changes Below are the 25 most recent race ratings updates from The Cook Political Report. NEW YORK | District 25: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (10/08/10) WISCONSIN | District 8: Toss Up to Lean Republican (10/08/10) VIRGINIA | District 5: Toss Up to Lean Republican (10/08/10) TEXAS | District 17: Toss Up to Lean Republican (10/08/10) VIRGINIA | District 2: Toss Up to Lean Republican (10/08/10) PENNSYLVANIA | District 3: Toss Up to Lean Republican (10/08/10) OREGON | District 5: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (10/08/10) OHIO | District 15: Toss Up to Lean Republican (10/08/10) OHIO |...

Democrats have tried building some new spin from polls like the WaPo/ABC travesty dumped yesterday, claiming to have captured momentum and assuring their supporters that the base has finally become energized enough to head off disaster on November 2nd. Veteran political analyst Charlie Cook has heard this all before, and in fact can even tell National Journal readers when — 2006, when Republicans said the exact same thing:

The survey shows the two parties still tied at 44 percent on the generic congressional ballot test among all registered voters, just as they were knotted at 43 percent in late August. The more interesting result is that the Republicans' advantage among likely voters has dropped from 9 points in August, 49 percent to 40 percent, to 3 points now, 46 percent to 43 percent. The new poll also revealed that a higher proportion of African-American and Hispanic voters appeared likely to vote than was the case a month ago. With voter turnout typically about one-third lower in midterm years...

Veteran election analyst Charlie Cook has backed away from his earlier prediction that control of the Senate was in play in this election. In light of Tuesday’s Delaware Republican primary, Cook says the odds now overwhelmingly favor the Democrats retaining their Senate majority:

President Barack Obama (D) is treating his multi gazillion dollar spend our way out of debt and unemployment stimulus as his own private make work program, tossing taxpayer dollars to favored constituents, such as unions, and to favored areas, such as his home city of Chicago. And now he's making it even more private, choosing his family's personal cook, Sam Kass, imported from Chicago, as...Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives. As reported in Judicial Watch, prior to his latest elevation Michelle Obama made Kass a "Food Initiative Coordinator" for her new healthy nutrition program which is supposed to eliminate...

In Upstate New York lies New York’s 20th Congressional District, a largely rural district currently held by vulnerable freshman Democrat Scott Murphy. Murphy narrowly won the seat by just over 700 votes on March 31, 2009 in a hard-fought special election after two-term Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand resigned to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate. Republican Chris Gibson, a retired Army Colonel, will challenge Murphy this November to take back the 20th District in a race the Cook Political Report rates as a “Toss-up.”

By Christopher Keating on May 18, 2010 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) The Cook Political Report - one of the most highly respected, non-partisan national analyses - is now saying that the U.S. Senate race in Connecticut is a toss-up. The change for the report comes on the day that The New York Times published a front-page story and released a video that shows that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that he served in Vietnam when he did not. The change in the rating for the race is a major turnaround from the conventional wisdom, which placed Blumenthal...

A KENTUCKY cook put his five-week-old son in the oven overnight while he went to bed, CNN reported. Larry Long, 33, had been smoking marijuana at the restaurant where he works before returning home to share a fifth of whiskey with the baby’s mother, Brandy Hatton, McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden said. High and drunk, he put the baby in the oven - which he left switched off and slightly ajar - and went to bed. It wasn’t until he woke at 5.30am (local time) to hear the baby’s cries coming from the oven that he realised what he had...

Political handicapper Charlie Cook said that it was "very hard to come up with a scenario where Democrats don't lose the House" in an interview with National Journal late last week. Cook, who, in the interest of full disclosure, gave the Fix our first job in political Washington, went on to note that while House Republicans have their fair share of problems but "you could triple the Republican Party's problems and I'd still rather have their problems than the problems facing Democrats." VIDEO AT LINK

Since my earlier blogpost on the results of the February 2 Illinois primary, I’ve had the chance to crunch some more numbers, with help from the websites of the election boards of Chicago, suburban Cook County and the other 101 counties of Illinois. Here are the results in tabular form, with the number of votes cast for senator in the Republican and Democratic primaries. I’ve listed separately the results in Chicago, suburban Cook County, the Collar Counties and Downstate. The Collar Counties are DuPage, Kane (including the city of Aurora), Kendall, Lake and Will; returns from McHenry were unavailable and...

It is almost 24 hours after polls closed her in Illinois and still, STILL there are seventy-two precincts in Chicago and Cook County that haven't reported. SEVENTY-TWO!!

Democrats’ fortunes continue to deteriorate, according to veteran election analyst Charlie Cook: Technically, not enough Democratic seats are in extreme jeopardy for analysts to conclude that the party will lose the chamber. But if Democrats stay on their current downward trajectory, their majority will be history. The retirements that are likely to result from almost any deterioration in the House Democrats’ current situation would reduce their chances of maintaining control to 50-50.

Scott Brown’s stunning Massachusetts Senate victory is an “air-raid siren” for the Democratic Party, according to veteran election analyst Charlie Cook. “ (B)y now it seems impossible for Democrats to deny that something has gone terribly wrong for their party,” he said. Some Democrats are blaming Coakley for her admittedly woeful campaign, Cook says. But they made the same argument after losing gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. “Each of those candidates had flaws, of course, but at some point a party’s blame game becomes an exercise in denial,” he said.

The veteran election analyst says the last several weeks have been “gruesome” and “psychologically devastating” for the Democrats. Cook on vulnerable Senate Democrat seats: The most endangered, after Dorgan’s open seat in North Dakota, are the open seats in Delaware and Illinois, followed by (Nevada-based Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; and Arlen Specter, D-Pa. Add in Dodd’s open seat and that of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and that puts a total of nine seats in play. And that doesn’t even include the Jan. 19 Massachusetts special election, where GOP state Sen. Scott Brown may...

In the wake of the Rasmussen poll showing GOP’s Scott Brown down just 9 points vs. Democrat Martha Coakley (and just 2 points among those saying they’re sure to vote), the Cook Political Report has moved the Massachusetts Senate race from “solidly” Democratic to “likely.” Cook still believes Brown has an uphill battle to win in the very blue Bay State. But an upset would have major implications, including possibly blocking the health care overhaul. Brown likely needs low turnout, so the conservative grass roots may want to keep the chatter down.

That's seven Democratic Senate seats in real danger, and that doesn't include the Delaware open seat if GOP Rep. Michael Castle runs, or if Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in New York faces a top-drawer challenger.

FORT HUACHUCA — The downturn in the economy led one man to find a better path to financial security for his family. For 36-year-old Angel Ruiz, that avenue was to enlist in the Army. Now a private first class assigned as a cook to Company B, 40th Signal Battalion, Ruiz said becoming a soldier has provided him “security and peace of mind” when it comes to ensuring his wife and two children will continue to have support. He used to provide that support by working as a lead cook at a number of resorts. Taking a break from preparing deep-fried...

Charlie Cook, one of the best political handicappers in the business, sent out a special update to Cook Political Report subscribers Thursday that should send shivers down Democratic spines. Reviewing recent polling and the 2010 election landscape, Cook can envision a scenario in which Democratic House losses could exceed 20 seats. "These data confirm anecdotal evidence, and our own view, that the situation this summer has slipped completely out of control for President Obama and Congressional Democrats. Today, The Cook Political Report’s Congressional election model, based on individual races, is pointing toward a net Democratic loss of between six and...

TAMPA, Fla. – An American soldier questioning the eligibility of President Barack Obama to hold office has had his latest legal challenge dismissed "as frivolous and wholly without merit." The Aug. 6 ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara came less than two hours after motions were filed by Maj. Stefan Cook, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve who is seeking a firm determination whether the commander in chief of the Armed Forces is a "natural born citizen," a constitutional requirement for those holding the presidency. "There was no reasoning, no nothing," said Maj. Cook, who noted previous...

Obama Used 39 Social Security Numbers?topic posted Mon, July 27, 2009 - 5:43 PM "Dr. Taitz brings forward allegations that Barrack Obama is unlawfully holding the position as President of the United States. She currently is representing approx. 170 military members including commissioned officers in a lawsuit to force Barrack Obama to produce his birth cirtificate, proving that he is eligible to hold the position of President."

Behind the scenes, at many military bases across the country and around the world, a not-too quiet challenge is developing against Barack Obama and his questionable qualifications to be President of the United States. Most FReepers are familiar with the ongoing civil litigation against Obama. Plaintiffs claim he is not constitutionally qualified to be president because he does not meet the legal description of a “natural-born citizen.” Obama’s lawyers have never entered pleadings on the MERITS of the plaintiffs’ cases. They oppose the plaintiffs’ suits on the issue of “standing.” They claim the plaintiff’s do not have a right to...

"Cook v Obama Complaint filed today cook-v-obama-tro-fl Tampa, Florida 33602-3800 MAJOR STEFAN FREDERICK COOK, Plaintiff, Civil Action Number: v. 8:09-cv-01382-RAL-EAJ SIMTECH, INC., LARRY GRICE, CEO OF SIMTECH, DEFENSE SECURITY SERVICES, COLONEL LOUIS B. WINGATE, DR. ROBERT M. GATES, UNITED TRIAL-BY-JURY DEMANDED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, Pursuant to 28 USC §1861 and BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, de facto Seventh Amendment PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES, Defendants. COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES, DECLARATORY JUDGMENT, AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 1. Comes now the Plaintiff Stefan Frederick Cook with this Complaint, Declaratory Judgment, and Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction to preserve the status quo...

A Lutz Army reservist who claims he was fired from his job after fighting his deployment to Afghanistan on the grounds President Barack Obama is not an American citizen is asking a federal judge here to order his former employer to rehire him. A federal judge in Georgia dismissed a petition by Stefan Frederick Cook earlier this month after the Army revoked Cook's deployment orders. Cook's motion had sought an injunction preventing his deployment. Cook says in his Tampa complaint that his private employer, military contractor Simtech Corp. of Odessa, was pressured by the Department of Defense to fire him...

Progressives now say US Born requirement for Presidency should be abolished by Eric Dondero All of a sudden, the issue of concientious objecter Major Stefan Cook has thrust the Obama birth certificate issue into the national limelight. It’s moved from so-called “fringe” blogs and news websites such as World Net Daily, Free Republic, Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs and Libertarian Republican, into the mainstream media. On Monday Fox News did a segment on it for their 5:00 pm News Hour. CNN’s Lou Dobbs covered the story yesterday. And even CBS and the LA Times have done articles on it. And today,...

The case of the missing birth certificate grows more and more curious. It has been fascinating to see how quickly various news sites have been frantically altering their assertions regarding Obama's birth hospital ever since Jerome Corsi broke the news of Barack Obama's letter to the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children on July 6. This means that Obama was either born twice in Hawaii, or he was not born at Queen's Medical Center, as he claimed in 2007 when he first announced his presidential candidacy in Springfield, Ill. The attempt of the Obama administration to confuse the issue...

When Ledger-Enquirer reporter Lily Gordon wrote a short story Monday afternoon about a U.S. Army major filing a suit in federal court to stop his deployment to Afghanistan, she was not prepared for the reaction. The article sparked the highest volume of traffic ever by a single story in the history of ledger-enquirer.com. The more than 1,000 comments from readers included written threats against the newspaper. “All I did was a write a story on an open public document and it set off a powder keg,” Gordon said Friday. Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook and his lawyer, Orly Taitz, filed the...

On TV Tonight 7pm ET FACEOFF: Is Obama eligible for presidency? New questions are being raised about President Obama’s eligibility to be president. The latest comes from U.S. Army Reserve Major Stefan Cook. He refused deployment to Afghanistan. Cook claimed his orders were illegal, because President Obama wasn’t born in the United States…. making him ineligible to be president and Commander-in-chief.

On the eve of a hearing that might have determined the legality of Army Reserve Major Stefan Cook’s deployment orders to Afghanistan, the Pentagon revoked the orders without explanation. Major Cook’s attorney, Orly Taitz, had filed a motion requesting a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, seeking to delay the deployment until the authority of the chain of command through which the order was issued was properly established. Specifically, the motion demanded proof of the validity of Barack Obama’s claim to the presidency of the United States and, consequently, to the office...

A judge in Georgia has dismissed a case brought by a U.S. Army reservist whose orders to deploy to Afghanistan were jerked when he challenged President Obama's eligibility, telling the officer's lawyer the case would be handled better in Florida where the lawyer lives. According to Orly Taitz, an attorney for Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, the instructions came at today's hearing scheduled in Georgia by U.S. District Judge Clay Land. The hearing was on a complaint originally challenging the legality of Cook's deployment orders – he was to have reported to Ft. Benning in Georgia this week to be deployed...

FORT LEE, Va., July 16, 2009 – Army Sgt. 1st Class Brad Turner, also known as “The Grill Sergeant,” often treats others using his culinary expertise. But recently, Turner got a treat of his own. Army Sgt. 1st Class Brad Turner, known as “The Grill Sergeant,” takes a look at what Chef Bobby Flay cooked up for an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," filmed at Fort Lee, Va., July 2, 2009. The episode will air on the Food Network later this year. U.S. Army photo by Kimberly Fritz   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Turner recently returned here,...

Rob Lamb: Time to show what you’re made of Admiral Michael Mullen, CJCS General James E Cartwright USMC, VCJCS General George W. Casey, Jr. USA Admiral Gary Roughead, USN General Norton A. Schwartz, USAF General James T. Conway, USMC Gentlemen: We are now in a situation where those who desire to extricate themselves from the War On Terror, or any other military obligation, may do so by challenging their orders. All one needs to do is question the legitimacy of the alleged president, Soetoro, and they are immediately released. What will you do if all the military want to know...

A federal judge this morning dismissed the suit filed here by a U.S. Army reservist who says he shouldn't have to go to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama was never eligible to be president. Judge Clay Land sided with the defense, which claimed in its response to Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook's suit, filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, that Cook’s suit is “moot” in that he already has been told he doesn’t have to go to Afghanistan, so the relief he is seeking has been granted. "Federal court only has authority...

You know when a liberal has lost any capability to understand the common American when they completely miss the pain that liberal tax hikers cause the average citizen in this country. Charlie Cook recently showed this elitist attitude in a National Journal column on the outrageous costs of the Cap and Trade bill – better called the Cap and Tax bill. Of course, to him, the tax hike on the average American is not a big deal and he doesn’t understand how anyone could be upset over it all. Cook is perplexed why Washington pols were “getting an earful” from...

Hannity: Now, we told you yesterday about an Army reserve soldier who has challenged his deployment orders on the ground that President Obama is not proven he is a US Citizen.... Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLYcDV5-Iro

The Department of Defense has compelled a private employer to fire a U.S. Army Reserve major from his civilian job after he had his military deployment orders revoked for arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office. According to the CEO of Simtech Inc., a private company contracted by the Defense Security Services, an agency of the Department of Defense, the federal agency has compelled the termination of Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook. Cook's attorney, Orly Taitz, wrote in her blog that Simtech CEO Larry Grice said he would try...

The Department of Defense has compelled a private employer to fire a U.S. Army Reserve major from his civilian job after he had his military deployment orders revoked for arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office. According to the CEO of Simtech Inc., a private company contracted by the Defense Security Services, an agency of the Department of Defense, the federal government has compelled the termination of Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook. Cook's attorney, Orly Taitz, wrote in her blog that Simtech CEO Larry Grice said he would try...

A controversial suit brought by a U.S. Army reservist has been joined by a retired Army two-star general and an active reserve Air Force lieutenant colonel. Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook filed the suit July 8 in federal court here asking for conscientious objector status and a preliminary injunction based upon his belief that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. But before the issue got to court, Cook’s orders to deploy to Afghanistan were revoked. Lt. Col. Maria Quon, U.S. Army Public Affairs...

The attorney representing an Army major fighting deployment to Afghanistan because he believes Barack Obama is not legally his commander-in-chief is declaring victory after the Soldier's orders were revoked yesterday. California lawyer Orly Taitz says any service member may now refuse any order by questioning Obama's legitimacy. "Do you know what this means?" Taitz asked in a telephone interview with Military.com Tuesday, about an hour after hearing from Maj. Stefan Cook, the officer fighting his deployment to Afghanistan. "It means the Obama administration has blinked. They have no cards to play with. The moment I filed a lawsuit, they didn't...

BORN IN THE USA? Pentagon orders soldier fired for challenging prez Army warrior terminated from job after questioning Obama eligibility. The Department of Defense has compelled a private employer to fire a U.S. Army Reserve major from his civilian job after he had his military deployment orders revoked for arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office.......

Lou Dobbs currently question the legitimacy of Obama's Certification of Live Birth! Listen live at http://www.loudobbs.com/ Guest lineup includes Dr. Orly Taitz Attorney, Representing Major Stefan Frederick Cook And Alan Keyes!

APPLICATION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION Plaintiff Major Stefan Frederick Cook previously received from the Defendants in this cause what appear to be facially valid orders from Colonel Wanda L. Good mobilizing him to active duty with the United States Army in Afghanistan on July 15-18, 2009 (Exhibit A). Plaintiff filed his Original Application for TRO on Friday July 10, 2009, and on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 his deployment to Afghanistan was revoked by order of Colonel Louis B. Wingate, apparently Col. Good’s successor at Army Human Resources Command in St. Louis (Exhibit B). This unexpected action does not in any way,...

On Tuesday, Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook’s orders to head for Afghanistan were revoked. Under normal circumstances, this would not make for remarkable news. Maj. Cook, however, has refused to deploy until Barack Obama produces credible proof that he is indeed a natural-born citizen of the United States. Maj. Cook and his attorney Orly Taitz have voiced concerns that, if Obama’s legitimacy is questionable, Maj. Cook may not be protected by the Geneva accords, as he will have been sent to war illegally. Interestingly, the military revoked the order rather than fight Maj. Cook’s refusal. Keith Olbermann, in a desire to...

A U.S. Army Reserve major from Florida scheduled to report for deployment to Afghanistan within days has had his military orders revoked after arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office. His attorney, Orly Taitz, confirmed to WND the military has rescinded his impending deployment orders. "We won! We won before we even arrived," she said with excitement. "It means that the military has nothing to show for Obama. It means that the military has directly responded by saying Obama is illegitimate – and they cannot fight it. Therefore,...

Maj. Stefan F. Cook, who is refusing to be deployed because of his belief in conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama’s citizenship, is a member of, and frequent poster at, the conservative Website FreeRepublic. Cook, who posts under the name “roaddog727,” revealed his identity in a post about the veteran networking site Together We Served. . He’s been a member of the site for nearly six years; on his profile page he calls himself a “staunch Republican and defender of the faith” and lists his favorite authors as “Robert A. Heinlein, Larry Niven, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Clancey...

A U.S. Army Reserve major from Florida scheduled to report for deployment to Afghanistan within days has had his military orders revoked after he argued that he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his legitimacy for office. His attorney, Orly Taitz, confirmed to WND the military has rescinded his impending deployment orders. "We won! We won before we even arrived," she said with excitement. "It means that the military has nothing to show for Obama. It means that the military has directly responded by saying Obama is illegitimate – and they cannot fight...