Free Republic

Most voters think Congress’s ethics have gotten worse in the past two years, according to a new poll in key battleg

Who funds Media Matters? Well, we know the loathsome George Soros was Media Matters' sugar daddy. But it won't release its donor list, which it's not required to. But it likes to play games with donor lists filed by others who are required to reveal names, like candidates.

Today the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Snyder v. Phelps, a case about the nature and scope of basic rights -- those of free speech vs. those of privacy. But this case is fundamentally about wrongs and the law's imperfect ability to redress them. The facts of the case are well known. Matthew Snyder, a Marine lance corporal from Westminster, Md., was killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2006. The Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church traveled more than 1,000 miles to Maryland to picket his funeral and draw attention...

We are now exactly four weeks away from the historic Nov. 2 election and the DUmmies are already preparing their excuses in advance for losing. And what is their big excuse? We all know the answer. STOLEN ELECTION. Yes, whenever the Democrats do good in elections, it was conducted fairly. However, when the Democrats lose then it is time for the DUmmies to trot out their all time favorite excuse about a STOLEN ELECTION. This time they aren't even waiting for the election to take place as you can see in this THREAD, "Citizens: learn about the pre-election polling...

In trying to understand how so many Americans adore people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh I have come to this critical understanding: Poorly educated, terribly informed, intellectually deficient and downright stupid people need idols. They feel angry, frustrated, ignored, cheated and disillusioned by so much going on in American society. They find the emotional, political and philosophical rants by talk show, loud mouth celebrities matching and justifying their feelings. Of course, those celebrities work hard to fan the flames of all that unhappiness and discontent, and also perpetuate ignorance. They sell stupidity to gullible dummies,...

MEXICO CITY - New investment from Mexico's Televisa in Spanish-language U.S. broadcaster Univision will tighten the company's grip on a growing U.S. Hispanic market. Televisa, the soap-opera powerhouse that is the top media company in Mexico and one of Latin America's biggest, is investing $1.2 billion for a stake of up to 40 percent in Univision, rekindling a relationship damaged in recent years by royalty payment disputes and management fights. The news propelled Televisa's stock up nearly 10 percent in trade in New York and nearly 9 percent in Mexico City. The agreement makes Televisa the main provider of content...

MTV Networks is planning to host a live town hall with President Obama October 14, an executive familiar with the program confirms to TVNewser. The town hall, which was first reported this morning by Politico’s Playbook, will be held Thursday October 14 at 4 PM, and will run on MTV, BET, CMT, MTV Tr3s and other MTV Networks. The executive also said the event would be streamed live online via the network’s websites. Politico reports that MTV’s Sway Calloway, CMT’s Kate Cook and BET’s April Woodard will host the town hall, which will have an audience comprised of young people.

Ed Rendell to left on MSNBC: ‘Get over it’ By: Andy Barr October 5, 2010 12:44 PM EDT Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says discouraged liberals need to “get over it” and support the Democratic Party, before they regret it. “This isn't about President [Barack] Obama,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Last Word” Monday night. “It's about whether the Democratic Party, not perfect, but certainly bent on trying to preserve theories in government and progressive practices, is going to be in charge of the Congress or the Republican Party. And it's not the Republican Party of old. This is a scary Republican...

MSNBC, once the also-ran, now the No. 2 cable news channel, has a new tagline that embraces its progressive political identity. The tagline, “Lean Forward,” will be publicly unveiled Tuesday, at the start of a two-year advertising campaign intended to raise awareness of the channel among viewers, advertisers and distributors. The tagline “defines us and defines our competition,” said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, his inference being that the Fox News Channel, the No. 1 cable news channel and a home for conservatives, is leaning backwards. Fox’s best-known tagline is “Fair and Balanced.” Some of the new MSNBC ads...

ONE NATION WORKING TOGETHER, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2 Screen Actors Guild is proud to support the One Nation Working Together March in Washington D.C., and in cities across the country, this Saturday, October 2. We represent the most diverse membership of any labor union on earth. We have members who are months-old, others in their nineties and every age in between. We are conservatives, moderates, progressives and liberals, non-believers and people of every faith, members of every ethnic group and national heritage, gender identity, sexual orientation, and physical ability. In short, we are a microcosm of the rich diversity of the...

A new poll released by Gallup shows that American distrust in the mass media has reached a record high. This is the fourth straight year that a majority of respondents have said that they have little or no trust in the media, but the 57% who say that this year is a new record for the poll. According to the poll, 48% of respondents say the media is too liberal, 15% say it is too conservative and 33% say it is “just right.” You can see how the responses have changed over the years here: (snip to picture of chart)...

I don't think I ever want to meet Steven Thrasher in person. Aside from the fact that the NPR and Village Voice contributor has an ominously violent last name, this dude is p!ssed. Despite this, I'll admit that while reading his recent Voice cover essay on the insanity of white America, I occasionally pictured myself giving Mr. Thrasher a hug. Don't worry, Steven, I'd whisper: Christine O'Donnell is down 15 percent in Delaware. The Islamic community center near Ground Zero will soon be a reality. A single tweet from Sarah Palin doesn't signal the end of white American sanity. (In fact, there is...

Sarah Palin could be President Obama's savior. When it comes to the 2012 presidential race, a new poll suggests President Obama could lose - unless he's running against Sarah Palin. The Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll shows a majority of Americans are considering voting against Mr. Obama. 44 percent of those surveyed say they will vote to replace Mr. Obama and 13 percent say they'll consider voting for someone else. Only 38 percent say he deserves re-election. Voters are down on the president for lots of reasons, but especially his policies. By double digits, they disapprove of his new health...

Here is the clip of the episode:http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/video/?pid=7p3QiYThMTIUDCMr5ROZPGGQ8ZBkilIx

There's a scene toward the end of the great movie Lawrence of Arabia when the Bedouin warriors seize Damascus, their long yearned for and hard-fought prize at last within their grasp. Alas, chaos soon grips the occupiers. Fires break out over the city and the new, bickering rulers of Damascus find themselves impotent. They know nothing about electrical grids, or how to operate the water system, or how to govern. Meanwhile the British Army sits on the sidelines — and waits. In short order the frustrated Bedouins, completely bumfuzzled over the complexities of modernity, return to what they know best...

The Internet giant AOL libeled Free Republic as "hosting child pornography" in an article published Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at their Daily Finance news site. The site's masthead reads: Daily Finance An AOL Money & Finance Site.Authored by Daily Finance media columnist Jeff Bercovici, the article entitled Muzzled Reporter Says 'Maw of Yahoo' No Place for Journalism tells the story about John Cook's reasons for leaving Yahoo News and returning to his previous gig with Gawker. According to the article, Cook was the senior national affairs reporter for Yahoo's The Upshot news blog. Bercovici notes that he and Cook are...

Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert is slated to testify at a congressional hearing Friday on immigration titled “Protecting America’s Harvest,” two sources have told The Daily Caller. One Republican source said Colbert will be testifying “in character,” the Bill O’Reilly-like muse Colbert uses for his show. A Judiciary Committee spokeswoman, confirming Colbert would testify, said the hearing matter was a “serious issue . . . this is not a TV stunt.” Some Republicans have already expressed unhappiness with Colbert witnessing at the hearing, thinking it would make light of a serious issue. The hearing is before the House Judiciary Committee’s...

THERE’S always a revolution of some sort going on in America, be it political, cultural, or technological. Chairman Mao, who loved revolution, would have been envious of America. Now that summer has ended, the United States is gripped by revolutionary political fever as the November mid-term election approaches. The only thing on Washington’s mind right now is domestic politics. Eighty per cent of voters are angry at government and frightened by the nation’s sagging economy and nearly 10% jobless rate. High unemployment is always very bad news for the party in power. President Barack Obama’s ratings have plummeted. Democrats are...

Given both hosts' penchant for satire, it was unclear whether the rallies would actually take place............. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have set October 30 as the date for their respective rallies. "A million moderate march, where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says, 'We are here! We ... are only here until 6 though, because we have a sitter,'"Stewart said. "Now is not the time to take it down a notch. Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom," Colbert said. The announcements...

As the Tea Party movement has loomed ever larger on the U.S. political scene, increasing attention has been paid to where the money flowing into the movement is coming from.There was New Yorker writer Jane Mayer's recent opus about the quiet money links between billionaire Koch brothers and the Tea Party movement. That controversial piece has gotten a lot of attention and some push back from one of its main subjects, David KochThe Kochs made much of their money in the oil industry and as Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep discussed with Dave Levinthal, editor of the OpenSecretsblog for the Center for Responsive...