Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama's cherished Blackberry slipped through his fingers Friday — but it was only a butterfingers moment. Obama, who has been reluctant to relinquish the device when he becomes president, dropped his Blackberry and its hard plastic case onto an airport tarmac as he emerged from his fortified vehicle. A Secret Service agent hustled to pick it up.

Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week. Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential "bubble." "I think we're going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN," he said. "So I make sure...

At 8 pm, just as pres bush began his farewell speech peotus obama left blair house for the 30 second drive to equinox restaurant on connecticut and I st. Pool is holding outside... DEVELOPING...

(entitled "Friend Mao")

There is some encouraging data in a new Pew media poll. It gives us strong reason to believe we can turn things around if we can stop the so- called Fairness Doctrine. Pew found 4 groups of news consumers: those who go to all sources, 23%, only Internet news gatherers 13%, only old media news consumers 46%, and the clueless who don’t care 18%. The “newspapers only” readers dropped 7 points to 27% since 2006 which is good news. But the really good news is: for the first time the number of both online and radio news (outlets we have...

This could ruin their reputation: President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday evening attending a dinner party at the home of conservative columnist George Will, attended by fellow conservatives William Kristol and David Brooks.

Do you need Obama coverage 24 hours a day? In several markets, Comcast cable is launching an all-Obama, On Demand channel. (In D.C., it's channel 963). Leading up to Inauguration, the channel will offer a number of Obama-related programs, according to a release: "Barack Obama’s most famous speeches to date, from his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 through his election night victory speech in Grant Park; Barack Obama biography; Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech; a tour of the White House; and the history of Air Force One."

As Barack Obama builds his administration and prepares to take office next week, his political team is quietly planning for a nationwide hiring binge that would marshal an army of full-time organizers to press the new president's agenda and lay the foundation for his reelection. The organization, known internally as "Barack Obama 2.0," is being designed to sustain a grass-roots network of millions that was mobilized last year to elect Obama and now is widely considered the country's most potent political machine. Organizers and even Republicans say the scope of this permanent campaign structure is unprecedented for a president. People...

Michelle and Barack Obama attend a seaside memorial for his grandmother, "Toot." HONOLULU - President-elect Barack Obama gathered with family and friends on Tuesday for a private memorial service for the beloved grandmother who helped raise him. Madelyn Payne Dunham, known to her friends as "Toot", died Nov. 2, two days before Obama won election to become the nation's first African-American president. She was 86. Obama did not speak to reporters at the small home that had been converted into the First Unitarian Church in the neighborhood of Nuuanu. Aides said Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her husband, Konrad Ng,...

Remember those staged photos of Bill and Hillary Clinton dancing on the beach once upon a time? You have to wonder. The Obama 'pec' photos were taken on a public beach. Some accounts said the photographer had approval to take those shots. All of a sudden, the bad buzz about links between Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama was gone for a while, replaced by good buzz about presidential pecs," noted Tim Graham of the Media Research Center. "There's some bathing-suit bias, too. When beauty queen photos of [Alaska Republican Gov.] Sarah Palin surfaced during the presidential campaign, the...

Violent Sex Offender Attacks Reporters When Confronted at His Home

Veteran reporter and talk radio host Andrea Shea King reported this weekend at her blog, The Radio Patriot that a close friend of the Reagan family has contradicted the claim by the Obama administration-in-waiting that President-elect Obama had a "warm conversation" with former First Lady Nancy Reagan when he called her to apologize for insulting her at a press conference Friday afternoon.Responding to a question by Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times about whether he had consulted with "any living ex-presidents", Obama replied:"In terms of speaking to former presidents, I've spoken to all of them that are living. Obviously, President...

This Sunday, October 12th, please join President Bill Clinton for a rally in Roanoke, where he will talk about Barack's vision for creating the kind of change we need. Change We Need Rally with President Bill Clinton Market Square 1 Market Square Roanoke, VA Public Entrances: Corner of Jefferson St. and Campbell St. Corner of Church Ave. and Market St. Sunday, October 12th Gates Open: 4:45 p.m. Program Begins: 6:15 p.m. http://va.barackobama.com/Roanoke The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required; however an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For...

Barney Frank: Sarah Palin’s family life is fair game Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - Updated 5m ago WASHINGTON - Rep. Barney Frank is among the first Democrats to publicly say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s family background, including the pregnancy of her unwed teenage daughter, should be fair game for campaign discussion. Republicans have stressed Palin’s conservative family values in announcing her selection as John McCain’s running mate. Frank says the disclosure about her daughter undercuts conservative claims that liberalism harms family life. Frank said Palin’s family is "in great turmoil." Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said he considers family...

 

The Indiana State Police are looking for a 65-year-old former pastor they believe took thousands of dollars from his Topeka church. David Eugene Troyer of Fort Wayne was the pastor of Maple Grove Church in LaGrange County until last fall. But in October, church officials asked Troyer to step down after they discovered the silver-haired pastor misappropriated about $40,000 of church funds, police said. LaGrange County Prosecutor Jeff Wible charged Troyer with five counts of forgery, according to police. Authorities said Troyer would go to the church’s bookkeeper and ask for money to help someone in need, saying he already...

NASHUA – A top Clinton adviser faces charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated after city police caught him speeding through Greeley Park a day before the state primary. Sidney Blumenthal, longtime friend and senior adviser to presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. was allegedly driving a rented car north on Concord Street at a speed of 70 mph when Nashua Police Sgt. Mike Masella decided to stop it at about 12:30 a.m. Monday. -snip- Blumenthal was arrested after completing the test and taken to the police department where he refused to take a breath test and was booked on...

NASHUA – A top Clinton adviser faces charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated after city police caught him speeding through Greeley Park a day before the state primary. Sidney Blumenthal, longtime friend and senior adviser to presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. was allegedly driving a rented car north on Concord Street at a speed of 70 mph when Nashua Police Sgt. Mike Masella decided to stop it at about 12:30 a.m. Monday.

Samaritans Disrupt Alleged Rape in Progress Five Young Adults Tackle, Detain Rape Suspect Until Police Arrive By DAVID SCHOETZ Oct. 29, 2007 Five good Samaritans disrupted the alleged rape of a 22-year-old Oregon woman, chasing down and tackling the suspect until authorities arrived, police said. Police in Salem, Ore., responded to a 911 call early Saturday morning from a young woman who reported that she and four friends had just confronted a man who appeared to be raping an unidentified woman along a busy road about three miles from the city's downtown. When police arrived, they found a bloodied 37-year-old...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A city councilman apparently committed suicide Friday, hours after he resigned amid allegations he sexually abused two teenage girls and a woman, authorities said. John Bryan, 56, was found by a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, slumped in a golf cart in the garage of Floral City home he owned. Paramedics were called and pronounced Bryan dead, Citrus County Sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney said. Click here to read report on poltician's suicide on MyFOXTampaBay.com http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=CE271684D3A19841653191FA2DE52F5C?contentId=4295411&version=9&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 A riding lawn mower was running in the garage and two nearby four-wheelers also appeared to have been running at...