Free Republic

Barack Obama has published an enemies list and conspiracy web on his presidential campaign website, Fight the Smears.The site lists conservative activists David Bossie, Floyd Brown, Bob Perry, Craig Shirley, Bruce Hawkins and James Lacy.The Obama campaign posted an accompanying graphic that lays out a web of connections between the conservatives, groups they represent and their efforts opposing liberals, including "Swift Boat", "Clinton Impeachment" and "Willie Horton Ad".The text never connects any of those listed to 'smears' against Obama, but instead lists their politcal sins such as working with the Minutemen, Ann Coulter, Gary Aldrich, donating to the Swift Boat...

There's a splendid controversy brewing at the University of Chicago--at least we'll consider it splendid so long as it has a happy ending, which now seems likely. The U of C may be best known these days as home to the law school where Barack Obama used to lecture on constitutional law (twice a week!), but in simpler times it was most famous as the academic perch of the great free-market economist Milton Friedman, who died in 2006. So when a prestigious university wants to name a research center after its most celebrated (Nobel prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, etc.,...

More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report. Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.

As I was 'channel surfing' at my grandmother's house in San Juan this past weekend, I came upon TeleSUR, the new Hugo Chavez T.V. venture, live from Caracas. The programming I saw -- after enduring a cooking show featuring how to make 'arepas', the equivalent in Venezuela of 'pancakes' -- started with anti-U.S., anti-'Imperialists', anti-Bush, et.al. from their news proogramming dept. and then, in the entertainment dept., a segment featuring a musician named Rene Calle 13, who basically told the audience: "F*ck George Bush, he's the worse president ever". Here in the U.S. we have Al Jazeera and other international...

How do you get the Associated Press to use the word "terrorism" in an article without scare quotes?

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Venezuelan armed forces occupied 32 sugar plantations Thursday, the latest in a wave of takeovers that some say is a bid by President Hugo Chavez to regain political momentum and reverse his recent slide in the polls. The farms in Lara state were taken over by army units at the request of the Chavez government's National Land Institute, or INTI. The institute in recent years has handled the takeover of thousands of acres of farmland and turned them over to worker cooperatives. The government last week said it would seize privately owned cement manufacturers, and Wednesday it...

Muhammad Al-Munajid: Some of these heretics say: "Islam is not the private property of anyone." So what do they want? They say: "No sect has a monopoly on Islam." So what do they want? They say: "We want to issue rulings." Someone who is ignorant, who does not know any Arabic, or who has no knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence wants to issue rulings?! They say: "We reinterpret the texts." There is a very dangerous conspiracy against the religion of Islam in newspapers and in what these people say. A journalist, or one of those lowlifes, wants to... These people are...

A judge on Thursday dropped nearly half the charges against "private eye to the stars" Anthony Pellicano and a co-defendant at the request of prosecutors, who were preparing to rest their case in the wiretapping and bribery trial. The 28 counts against Pellicano and ex-Los Angeles police sergeant Mark Arneson were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer after federal prosecutors said that witnesses required to prove them could not be brought to court. Both men still face 35 counts in the case, which centers on accusations that Pellicano wiretapped telephones and bribed police and telephone company officials to run...

Immigration agent Cory Voorhis was found not guilty of violating the law by accessing a confidential government database for political purposes — providing information on illegal immigrants used in a campaign attack ad against now-Gov. Bill Ritter. The federal courtroom was full, with some 50 supporters of Voorhis and members of the public. The jury apparently rejected the prosecution's argument that they would have to find Voorhis guilty simply if he exceeded his authority in going on the National Crime Information Center computer to obtain information on illegal aliens who won plea bargains while Ritter was district attorney. Voorhis admitted...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Security agents and paramilitary police in riot gear are surrounding a Harare hotel housing foreign journalists. A man answering the phone at the hotel says they are taking away some reporters. The man refused to give his name but said about 30 police entered the hotel Thursday and were preparing to take away four or five journalists. Foreign journalists have been in Zimbabwe to cover elections in which President Robert Mugabe's party lost control of parliament. He is apparently facing a runoff for the presidency. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information....

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban shoppers are snapping up DVD players, motorbikes and electric rice cookers that are going on sale to the general public for the first time. Lines stretch out the doors of major government department stores as Cubans gaze at the new gadgets on display. The goods that went on sale Tuesday previously were available only to foreigners. But the government of new President Raul Castro has lifted that ban. There was no sign yet of two highly anticipated items: computers and microwaves, though salespeople said computers would soon hit the shelves.

HEMPSTEAD -- The Trans Texas Corridor may be the most controversial highway ever built in Texas. That is, if it ever gets built. All month, there have been public hearings throughout the area where people have been showing up in droves to oppose it. People don’t drive very fast on Odis Styers’ family ranch near Hempstead, but TxDOT wants that to change. “It’s quiet, it’s peaceful,” Styers said. “It’s a shame a road is gonna mess it up.” The road is the Trans Texas Corridor. The plans call for it to come through here, and with it: separate lanes for...

Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg Description: “Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst? Glenn's Comments: Fascism with a smiley face, it's already here. Mentioned: January 14, 2008

In the ‘90s, Judicial Watch, an organization that seeks to hold Democrats and Republicans accountable to the law, pursued members of the Clinton administration. Larry Klayman, the organization’s founder, filed several lawsuits to expose alleged cover-ups in Commerce Department trade missions and the suicide of White House aide Vincent Foster. When George W. Bush became president, Klayman demonstrated that he could also go after Republicans. In 2002, he sued the Bush administration in an unsuccessful attempt to gain access to documents and information about Vice President Dick Cheney’s secret energy task force. Now the self-described “public interest group” may have...

Authorities have fired an official in central China after city inspectors beat to death a man who filmed their confrontation with villagers, China's Xinhua news agency reports. The killing has sparked outrage in China, with thousands expressing outrage in Chinese Internet chat rooms, often the only outlet for public criticism of the government. The incident has also alarmed advocates of press freedom, who say municipal authorities had no right to attack a man for simply filming them. Police have detained 24 municipal inspectors and are investigating more than 100 in the death of Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive,...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — An outspoken Saudi blogger is being held for “purposes of interrogation,” the Saudi Interior Ministry confirmed Tuesday. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached by telephone, said the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was “being questioned about specific violations of nonsecurity laws.” Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Farhan, 32, of Jidda, was arrested Dec. 10 at his office, local news sources reported. Two weeks before his arrest, he wrote a letter to friends warning them that it was imminent. “I was told that...

CAIRO, Egypt — In Iran, a large red icon pops up on computer screens. In Syria, there's a discreet note from the filter. Other Arab nations display "blocked" in bold lettering or issue crafty "page not found" replies. However the censors put it, the message is clear: You're not permitted to see this Web site. Governments in the Middle East are stepping up a campaign of censorship and surveillance in an effort to prevent an estimated 33.5 million Internet users from viewing a variety of Web sites whose topics range from human rights to pornography. As a result, millions of...

Written in an age in which minutemen rose to dress and fight at a moment’s notice, the Second Amendment was no doubt motivated by a young nation’s concern for its own safety and stability. But now, when the United States is protected by the most powerful security forces on the globe, the Second Amendment is neither relevant nor useful. Rather, it has become an impediment to vital public policy, and it should be repealed and replaced with nuanced federal legislation. Despite the controversy surrounding the Second Amendment, arguments about its relevancy have not surfaced in the Supreme Court since 1939,...

KABUL, Afghanistan — A teenage boy who was teaching English at a local school was dragged into the street and executed by Taliban militants, the provincial police chief reported. The brutal killing sparked a clash that left two suspected Islamist fighters and two policemen dead, an official said. "The boy, who was teaching English to other students after school hours, had been warned by the militants to stop teaching," provincial police chief Esmatuallh Alizai said. Taliban militants have killed several teachers and students in the past for attending the government-run schools, which they regard as un-Islamic. -snip-

A UNC-Chapel Hill professor says John Edwards' presidential campaign tried to kill a student's video story about the campaign's headquarters. In an interview with State Government Radio, Associate Professor C.A. Tuggle said that he received phone calls from two top staffers for the former North Carolina senator. The journalism professor said the staffers threatened to cut off access to Edwards to all UNC student groups if the student-run television program aired a segment critical of the location of the Chapel Hill headquarters. "I'm dumbfounded by it," Tuggle told the radio station. "I can't imagine that a national campaign would spend...

Abstract: "The Irony of Populism: The Republican Shift and the Inevitability of American Aristocracy" analyzes the shift in the role of the Supreme Court following the movement towards a democratic Senate which culminated in the Seventeenth Amendment. The Supreme Court's shift is presented as the inevitable result of the system of mixed government that underlies the constitutional order, which orders American Government into democratic, aristocratic, and monarchical parts. While in the original conception of the constitution the Senate was the aristocratic part, the Senate would become part of the democratic part with the Seventeenth Amendment and prior procedural changes. Into...

<p>FLASH: Rush Limbaugh to auction off Harry Reid's letter to CLEAR CHANNEL on EBAY; Money goes to Marine Charity.... Developing...</p>

DUMP RUSH We can't let Rush Limbaugh call our troops "phony soldiers" - email Congress and urge them to take Rush off Armed Forces Radio! October 2, 2007 We're far from giving up. Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled any American soldier who supports an end to the war in Iraq as "phony."1. We challenged Limbaugh through an email campaign to invite VoteVets.org's Jon Soltz to his show and repeat these same insults to an Iraq war veteran's face. Over 10,000 of you responded and emailed Rush -- but to our disappointment, he has refused to respond to our request....

I want to talk about an online slime machine known as Media Matters for America. It is a tax-exempt organization which states its purpose as countering conservatives in the media. I have said before that Media Matters was started with help from Hillary Clinton and took George Soros' money. Media Matters has written to me and all my bosses saying my charge is a lie, that it is an independent organization which plays no political favorites and has never received slime machine cash from Soros-funded Democracy Alliance. Here are the facts: Media Matters was started in offices provided by the...

In a blog to the Huffington Post, former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark called for Congress to immediately take steps to remove conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio. Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled any American soldier who supports an end to the war in Iraq as "phony," noted Clark. "We challenged Limbaugh through an email campaign to invite VoteVets.org's Jon Soltz to his show and repeat these same insults to an Iraq war veteran's face. Over 10,000 people responded and emailed Rush -- but to our disappointment, he has refused to respond to our request. "It's time...

Washington, DC—Senate Democrats today sent the following letter to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, calling on him to publicly repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s characterization of troops who speak out against the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.” Despite recent Republican comments condemning verbal attacks on our troops, when given the opportunity to join us in signing this letter, not a single one did so. The text of the letter is below and attached: October 2, 2007 Mr. Mark P. Mays CEO, Clear Channel Communications Inc. 200 East Basse Road San Antonio, TX 78209 Dear Mr. Mays, At the time...

110TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. Honoring all Americans serving in the Armed Forces of the United States and condemning the attack by broadcaster Rush Limbaugh on the integrity and professionalism of some of those Americans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. UDALL of Colorado submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Honoring all Americans serving in the Armed Forces of the United States and condemning the attack by broadcaster Rush Limbaugh on the integrity and professionalism of some of those Americans. Whereas on September 26, 2007, the broadcaster Rush Limbaugh told...

It looks as if the media will have to find another pretentious intellectual to refer to as “the conscience of the American theater” (according to The Boston Globe), “the moralist of the American theater” (The New York Times), and, most gratuitously, “the moralist of the past American century” (The Denver Post). In fact, given their track record, elitist intellectuals should probably refrain from using the word “moralist” altogether. Those words were written about Arthur Miller, the playwright who became famous by penning dreary plays about America’s alleged failures. Miller’s pompous liberalism has been forced upon high school and college students...

Oh, if we all just disappeared. According to The World Without Us, Alan Weisman's strangely comforting vision of human annihilation, the Earth would be a lot better off. In his doomsday scenario, freshwater floods would course through the New York subway system, ailanthus roots would heave up sidewalks, and a parade of coyotes, bears, and deer would eventually trot across the George Washington Bridge and repopulate Manhattan. Nature lovers can take solace in the idea that the planet will thrive once we've finally destroyed ourselves with global warming. But Weisman takes the fantasy one step further: Let's not wait for...

Last Friday, I inadvertently found myself in the midst of the opening salvo of a battle to turn the Twin Cities upside down next year. I was driving home at rush hour from downtown Minneapolis, when several hundred bicyclists blocked the street leading to Interstate 394. My fellow motorists and I sat obligingly for several minutes, missing green light after green light. Finally, folks began angrily honking their horns. If two police cars hadn't moved the riders along, people might have leaped from their cars to take on the bicyclists themselves. Later, the protest ride turned ugly. Two officers tried...

Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, headlined Al Gore's Live Earth concert in Hamburg July 7. This is a man who advocated author Salman Rushdie's death. In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the execution of Rushdie. Yusuf, who converted to Islam in the 1970s, was asked about the fatwa during a UK TV program on April 15, 1989. Geoffrey Robinson: “You don't think that this man deserves to die?” Yusuf: “Who, Salman Rushdie?... Yes, Yes.” After all of the denials and obfuscations by Yusuf, the smoking gun is now available on YouTube where Yusuf can be seen and...

Last week, I bemoaned New York Times columnist David Brooks's eagerness to have government impose force on others. He was promoting programs like "National Service." Why are many conservatives so eager to wield force? Conservatives used to complain when so-called liberals did that. That same week I happened to interview filmmaker Michael Moore for "20/20." Moore wants government to monopolize health care. His new film, "Sicko," argues that Canada and France approach paradise because their governments provide health care and more. This brought him standing ovations in Cannes. "But government is force," I said to him. He was incredulous. Michael...

.....the liberal argument will be: how can anyone object to protecting people from “hate speech?” The liberal success in the Imus case shows the potent political impact of such a charge. It guarantees that the liberal media will not rally to the defense of freedom of speech by conservative broadcasters. The reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine will likely follow the Congress passing¯and a Democratic president signing¯a bill outlawing “hate crimes.” Bush has promised a veto of a “hate crimes” bill if it passes the U.S. Senate (it has already passed the House). ...... USNewswire/ -- In a column and special...

ABC's "World News Now," a news program that airs at 3:30 am Eastern, when most people in the U.S. are fast asleep, replayed Jake Tapper's earlier "World News" report on the war of words between Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards, and Ann Coulter during its broadcast on Thursday.At the conclusion of the report, hosts Taina Hernandez and Ryan Owens had a brief exchange, in which Owens proposed an "Ann Coulter blackout," similar to a "Paris Hilton blackout" that the program apparently has, and Hernandez, as a counterproposal, joked, "Or we can pit them together in...

Virginia motorists convicted of minor traffic violations will face a new, multi-year tax beginning July 1. Led by state Delegate David B. Albo (R-Springfield), lawmakers slipped a driver responsibility tax into a larger transportation funding bill signed by Governor Tim Kaine (D) in April. Albo, a senior partner in the Albo & Oblon, LLP traffic law firm, can expect to see a significant increase in business as motorists seek to protect their wallet from traffic tickets that come with assessments of up to $3000 in addition to an annual point tax that tops out at $700 a year for as...

CEI's 'Send Your Underwear to the Undersecretary' Campaign Goes *Virtual* Faster Relief for People Tired of 'Regulatory Wedgie' by CEI Staff June 18, 2007 Washington, D.C., June 18, 2007— CEI’s campaign against the U.S. Department of Energy’s disastrous washing machine efficiency rules has gone virtual. Rather than physically mailing underwear to the Undersecretary of Energy, the public can now email “virtual underwear” from CEI’s website with a few mouse clicks. This makes it far easier for those fed up with poor-performing washers to register their protests with the agency. This is the latest salvo in CEI’s campaign against the DoE...

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) -- A pro-abortion Kansas state lawmaker who received only a slap on the wrist for attacking a pro-life advocate at a campaign rally for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is now the subject of a lawsuit. Rep. Vaughn Flora, a Democrat, was found guilty of battery and fined $100 but the pro-life protester says that was a light punishment. Flora attacked pro-life advocate Troy Newman at the rally while Newman poked fun at Sebelius over the issue of abortion. During the September 9 rally, Newman dressed up in a cockroach outfit and donned a Sebelius mask and pretended to...

How do you spell hypocrite? Apparently it's J-O-L-I-E as the puff-lipped actress proves by banning Fox News from being permitted to interview her to promote her new role as the wife of martyred reporter Daniel Pearl in the upcoming movie "A Mighty Heart." As Jolie touts press freedom, her newest pet cause, she inexplicably put several restrictions on that very freedom of the press -- and not just against Fox News. Fox News' Roger Friedman reports Jolie's hypocrisy.'Mighty' Hypocrite Angelina Jolie Bans FOX and Others From Premiere But Jolie turns out to be a mighty hypocrite when it comes to...

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 1:26 p.m. EDT Cancel Rush Limbaugh Or Lose Contract The government in Broward County, Fla., is seeking to cut ties with a local radio station – because it also broadcasts Rush Limbaugh’s show. Station WIOD AM-610 has been the official channel for emergency information from the county government for the past year. But the County Commission, made up of all Democrats, refused to renew the relationship on Tuesday. Commissioner Stacy Ritter said she did not want the county to be linked to a station "that’s out of step with area politics,” the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports....

About 50 people rallied outside Atlanta City Hall this afternoon to protest a proposed city ordinance that would regulate the location of counter-protesters at gatherings that have a permit from the city to hold an outdoor event. The proposal is designedregulate the location of counter-protesters at gatherings that have a permit from the city to hold an outdoor event. The proposal is designed to protect the organizer of the event from having its message interfered with by counter-demonstrators, according to Robin Shahar, a city attorney. The example cited in the legislation is that the message of vegetarians holding an event...

A city councilman expressed outrage today that the council will consider a proclamation initially drafted by a protest group that calls for restricting police tactics during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. The one-page proclamation headed for a council vote next Monday is based on a compromise version of the original statement proposed by the Recreate 68 Alliance, which is organizing protests for the 2008 Denver convention. The group's Web site vows to make Chicago's 1968 Democratic National Convention — notorious for its brutal, bloody clashes between Chicago police and anti-Vietnam War protesters — "look like a small get-together...

Handing out anti-gay fliers is apparently a risky act in Crystal Lake, Illinois. A 16-year-old girl who did so was charged with a felony hate crime and held without bail at a juvenile detention center for more than two weeks. Then the judge relented and let her go home. But the girl is being treated like a dangerous mafia chieftain: she was brought to court in leg shackles, she wears an electronic ankle device, and her phone calls and Internet use are being monitored. Her trial starts on Tuesday, June 5. One of her friends, also 16, will be tried...

WATCH THE VIDEO AND PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS There is a reason that CNN has been known as CLINTON NEWS NETWORK. Rick Kaplan made it so. And now, it gets even better. The man in charge of the polling for CNN is a personal friend and big donor of the Clintons. Learn all about Vinod Gupta. He is in the perfect position to skew poll questions to benefit Hillary. BILL'S UGLY BUDDY (PAYMENTS FROM SCANDAL-TIED FIRM) CNN Pollster Vinod Gupta donates $1000 to Hillary Clinton - "She'll be our next President" CLINTON PAL EYEBALLED (InfoUSA CEO Vinod...

These were gathered by one of our local (Bay Area) talk-show hosts. These people are certifiable. "We already have too much economic growth in the United States. Economic growth in rich countries like ours is the disease, not the cure." Paul Elrich, Stanford University biologist and Advisor to Albert Gore "I think if we don't overthrow capitalism, we don't have a chance of saving the world ecologically. I think it is possible to have an ecological society under socialism. I don't think it's possible under capitalism." Judi Barri of Earth First! "Capitalism is a cancer in the biosphere." Dave Foreman,...

SANDLE, REIFF and YOUNG, P.C. 50 E Street, S.E., Suite 300 Washington DC 20003 Telephone: 202.479.XXXX FAX: 202.479.XXXX May 10, 2007 VIA E-Mail Mr. James C Robinson FreeRepublic.com PO Box 9771 Fresno, CA 93794 Re: Statement re Democratic National Committee Dear Mr Robinson: We are writing on behalf of our client, the Democratic National Committee (DNC). A post by “coffee260” on FreeRepublic.com today states that this morning, on the Quinn & Rose show on XM, co-host Quin stated that the DNC chairman, Gov. Howard Dean had called Gov Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kans) “around 5:00am on morning after a tornado destroyed the...

In January, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before a Senate subcommittee regarding President Bush's new Middle East foreign policy and to answer questions regarding the funding of 21,500 additional troops and ancillary personnel to send to the war in Iraq – a subcommittee now controlled by the Democrats and the mercurial Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Normally, in a time of war when you have one party that controls the executive branch and another party controlling the legislative branch, the debate at these hearings can become exceedingly combative. Why? As President George W. Bush descends into the oblivion of lame-duck...

Death threats. Harassing phone calls. Threatening e-mails. Such was a day in the life of Drew Johnson a few weeks ago. His crime? Johnson is president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a free-market think tank that broke one of the juiciest stories of 2007. A day after the Academy Awards, on Feb. 26, Johnson’s organization reported details of Al Gore’s enormous utility bill. The former vice president had consumed nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in a single year -- more than 20 times the national average. The story skyrocketed to the top headline on the Drudge Report,...

The Thought Police By Chuck Colson 5/1/2007 What the Hate Crimes Law Would Do In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, the government Thought Police constantly spies on citizens to make sure they are not thinking rebellious thoughts. Thought crimes are severely punished by Big Brother. 1984 was intended as a warning against totalitarian governments that enslave and control their citizens. Never have we needed this warning more urgently than now, because America’s Thought Police are knocking on your door. Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes...

Have no fear fellow citizens, Media Matters For America is going to protect you from hearing "hate speech" on your radio.As many here know, Media Matters is run by the professional propaganda hack David Brock. Mr. Brock jumps on any chance to try to control free speech in this country. And the "nappy-headed" Imus incident is proving to be no exception. From Media Matters: DNC propagandist David Brock.It's not just Imus Thu, Apr 12, 2007 6:55pm EST On April 11, NBC News announced that it was dropping MSNBC's simulcast of Imus in the Morning in the wake of the controversy that...

(2007-04-12) — Just a day after MSNBC dropped its televised simulcast of WFAN’s Imus in the Morning radio program, the Rev. Al Sharpton called for the termination of every member of the news media who repeated, reprinted or replayed Don Imus’ derogatory remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. “It’s a civil rights issue,” said Mr. Sharpton, a professional former presidential candidate. “Everybody needs to be fired immediately, with no exceptions. The reporters who repeated the insult are worse than Imus, because people actually pay attention to some of them.” Mr. Sharpton said that he should not be fired, however,...