Free Republic

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Weekly Standard editor, and FNC contributor, Bill Kristol predicted Sarah Palin’s path to the White House in 2012. He predicted that Palin would become a leader of conservatives, the leader of the GOP, and then president, just like Obama did. According to Kristol, Palin is just like Obama. Here is the video courtesy of Think Progress: (VIDEO AT LINK) Kristol said, "Barack Obama ran for Senate in 2004, was elected to the Senate and the moment he was sworn in began running for president of the United States. He had no Senate leadership record...

As I write this, the ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, is reportedly aboard a plane, trying to return home. The Honduran military has reportedly been ordered to stop him. Zelaya was ejected by his fellow Hondurans after he made a shady play to revise his country’s constitution to keep himself in power. Appropriately, for someone who already belongs to the thuggish club of pals of Venezuela’s would-be president-for-life, Hugo Chavez, Zelaya — according to the AP – is traveling in a Venezuelan jet. And accompanying him is the last thing Honduras, or any other other embattled democracy needs: The...

As research for an upcoming column on the many drawbacks of the cap-and-trade bill now before the Senate, I spent some time speaking with Christopher C. Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Horner is author of "Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats Fraud and Deception to Keep You Misinformed." Our discussion went on at some length and Horner made many excellent points about the hype over the threat of anthropogenic (man-made) global warming. That discussion can go on forever and I can't include much of it here. But I will point to an interesting little item that's...

As speculation swirled that her decision was connected to a pending corruption investigation, Mrs Palin's lawyer issued a four-page letter warning legal action against bloggers and US publications that reprinted the allegations, which she strongly denies. "To the extent several websites ... are now claiming as 'fact' that Governor Palin resigned because she is 'under federal investigation' for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation," said Thomas Van Flein, her lawyer, in a statement. He also told the Anchorage Daily News that he was unaware of any criminal investigation involving...

Eight days before the election, I spent 20 minutes alone with Sarah Palin on her campaign bus between rallies in Leesburg, Va., and Fredericksburg, George Washington's childhood home. Our encounter brought to mind a crusty Texas editor's description of politicians who didn't know what they didn't know: Delusions of adequacy. By then, John McCain's handlers were so spooked by the disastrous Katie Couric interview they'd hermetically sealed his running mate from media interrogators. But Tucker Eskew, the savvy Republican operative running her road show, graciously offered some "face time" - if our conversation was off the record. Reluctantly, I took...

Have you ever wondered what the last change to the U.S. Constitution was, before the delegates at Philadelphia signed it? It was actually pretty momentous. The Constitution provides that in the lower house of Congress “the Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.” The last change was from “one for every forty Thousand” to “one for every thirty Thousand.” Who made it? And why? Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts explained that “if it was not too late he could wish [this change], for the purpose of lessening objections...

With all the wailing about Bush supposedly doing things his own way and not by the rule of law I wonder if those same people will have a problem with this: With the clock running out on a new US-Russian arms treaty before the previous Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires on December 5, a senior White House official said Sunday said that the difficulty of the task might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate’s constitutional role in ratifying treaties by enforcing certain aspects of a new deal on an executive levels and a “provisional basis” until the Senate ratifies...

When Pope Benedict XVI greets U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican on July 10, the symbolism and sheer star power of the encounter will keep the pundits chattering away. The photo op alone is worth a thousand words: The 82-year-old man in white, the world's most recognizable religious leader and head of its largest single denomination comes face-to-face with the charismatic first black President of the world's last superpower. And the scheduling efforts of both the Vatican and the White House suggest a shared appreciation of the symbolic weight the first encounter between Obama and Benedict could carry. It...

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya prepared to fly back home on Sunday, setting the stage for a possible confrontation as the interim government that has defied international pressure said it would not let him enter the country. Honduras' interim government, slapped with suspension from the Organization of American States over its refusal to reinstate Zelaya, said it would refuse Zelaya permission to land... Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, a leftist ally of Zelaya's, said U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto would accompany the ousted president on his planned return to Honduras. "There is a great mobilization of people...

Ms. “You Betcha” really outdid herself Friday. In a breathless, rambling, manic and, let’s be honest here, downright nutty address outside her Wasilla home, the self-described “pit bull with lipstick” shocked and amused the political world by announcing she’s quitting, mid-term, as Alaska’s governor. Why?

Breaking his silence regarding the resignation of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, talk titan Rush Limbaugh tells the Radio Equalizer that rumblings about her personal and political future are "all speculation".

Veterans In Politics Talk Show Introduces Clark County Republican Party Chairman Candidate Debate LIVE on www.AllTalkRadio.net July 11: Clark County Republican Party Chairman Candidate Debate the following candidates will be participating Mr. Jim Jonas, Mr. Dave McGowan, and Mr. Steve Esh:: "Veterans In Politics" is a weekly radio show produced by the Veterans In Politics International and hosted by Steve Sanson and co-hosted by Ronda Baldwin Kennedy on www.alltalkradio.net. The "Veterans In Politics" show is live every Saturday 2:05 PM Pacific Time you can call in and speak to the guest or/and hosts at (702) 309-6690.

"You're the problem!" one crowd member hollered. "You voted for TARP," yelled another. Boos interrupted Cornyn, who won his second term last year, after he said: "This is a day of celebration, the day we celebrate our Founders, who defied empires and declared their independence."

At this moment, the Kang Nam, a tramp freighter, looks as if it is heading back to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It left the North Korean port of Nampo on June 17 and, after hugging the Chinese coast, made it as far south as the waters off Vietnam. At the end of last month, the rusting ship made a U-turn on the high seas and set a course for China. According to most reports, the North Korean freighter was on its way to Burma. This saga is not over, but it’s clear the Kang Nam will not, at...

Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin is expected to travel widely, campaigning for Republican candidates after startling America by suddenly quitting her job. One of America's most unconventional politicians, she left the country reeling on Friday evening by declaring that she is resigning her office this month and deriding the "superficial political blood sport." Almost a year after bursting on to the national scene as John McCain's presidential running mate, Mrs Palin, 45, has now made an unpredictable leap into the unknown. Speculation is at fever pitch that she will seek her party's nomination for the 2012 presidential race. Mrs Palin offered...

File this under: It ain't braggin' if it's true.This weekend, Free Republic won a battle in the political and cultural wars over Sarah Palin by exposing an article published by the Huffington Post that mockingly attacked the Alaska governor and her infant son Trig over Trig being born with Down syndrome.The exposure by Free Republic went viral to Twitter, Newsbusters and Hot Air (includes screen grab) as well as numerous blogs. The Huffington Post pulled the article within hours and issued an apology. The author of the piece of work, Erik Sean Nelson, issued his own apology via e-mail and...

Sarah Palin's abrupt decision to step down as governor of Alaska has left many people on both sides of the aisle scratching their heads. Palin has successfully survived fifteen ethics complaints. Her Lt. Governor, Sean Parnell who will succeed her at the end of this month, said Sunday that "she has plenty of time now within which to define how she will further her core values." Her announcement leaves open the possibility that she will run for higher office. Some on the right, such as William Kristol of the Weekly Standard, have said her move was 'crazy like a fox',...

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston city councilor charged with extortion alleges the state's former U.S. attorney targeted him at the behest of former Attorney General John Ashcroft. City Councilor Chuck Turner sent an e-mail to supporters before a court hearing Thursday suggesting Michael Sullivan sought indictments against him and former Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, another prominent black politician, because he was trying to ingratiate himself with Ashcroft — for whom he now works. "I personally believe that former Attorney General Ashcroft said to Sullivan that if he could take down Senator Wilkerson and myself, he would put up the money to...

There is a current offer to join the NRA for FREE for one year. I would not have considered this to be important a year ago, but now, I wanted to stand with others for our constitional rights. http://www.thunderfap.com/miscellaneous-samples.htm

Mike Huckabee, himself once an object of significant media attention, has always chafed a bit at Sarah Palin's rise. And in two different bytes on "Fox News Sunday" today he didn't mince words about her decision to resign. "In a primary this is going to be an issue she'll have to face. Will she be able to withstand the pressure?" he asked. And, referring to the ethics inquiries Palin faces, Huckabee said of his own time as a GOP governor in an overwhelmingly Democratic state:"If that had been the case for me, I would've quit in my first month. If...

Washington - They're known as "monuments to me," airports, bridges and courthouses named after the lawmakers who secured the federal funds to build them. Dave Obey says he won't allow any more earmarks for such projects - even though his name is already etched on a building back home in Wausau.The David R. Obey Center for Health Sciences at Northcentral Technical College features a water wall, atrium and a state-of-the-art surgical suite. It was constructed thanks to a $20 million earmark the Wisconsin congressman tucked into a federal spending bill in 2001.Obey did not specify that the building be...

Palin bashing in sport for some journalists.

Obama and TV Networks Forge Relationship Updated: Sunday, 05 Jul 2009, 1:00 PM EDT Published : Sunday, 05 Jul 2009, 12:59 PM EDT By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer NEW YORK - Even President Barack Obama, a gleam in his eye as he talked at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner two weeks ago, seemed to recognize the special relationship he's forged with TV networks in the opening months of his administration. "A few nights ago I was up tossing and turning and trying to figure out exactly what to say," he said. "Finally, when I couldn't get back...

3:22 Mario Diaz At first you can feel very proud that a Hispanic has been nominated. You have to look deeper because we can not allow any politician to bribe us, to manipulate us through emotion and pride. We have to dig deeper because the implications are enormous. 3:59 Sonia Sotomayor Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know and I know this is on tape and I should never say that because we don't "make law." I know. (Audience laughter) OK (laughter) I know. I know. I'm not promoting it. I'm not advocating it. I'm you...

Myth: Sarah Palin is finished after resigning as governor of Alaska. With Governor Sarah Palin’s resignation as governor of Alaska, many feel that she is finished as a presidential hopeful. It may indeed mark the voluntary retirement of Sarah Palin, but I think her resignation is more likely to offend people in political circles than most voters. Was it honorable for Palin to resign, to “bail out” on the people of her state, as Senator Lisa Murkowski put it? The fact of the matter is that if Palin chooses to make a presidential run, her approach may be more fitting...

From Gov. Palin via Twitter: See letter from my attorney on baseless allegations of past 24hrs @ http://tinyurl.com/l4ct5n(excerpt)The Palin-hating left has been salivating this weekend over lies that began at an Alaska ankle biter website, percolated up to the national nutroots and got mentioned on several major liberal media outlets. At Conservatives 4 Palin, Mel traces the genesis of the rumors through the land of the loonies. Start at the bottom of the post and read up. In a telephone interview with Josh Meyer of the LA Times, an FBI spokesman in Alaska dismissed the leftist lies that an FBI...

Vice President Joe Biden says the U.S. will not stand in Israel's way if Israel believes military action is needed to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat. Biden says the U.S. "cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."

Read Alinsky Perfected Part I first! ~~~ THE COMPLAINTS With Sarah's resignation, it's obviously going to be "series" time again... Palin may be stepping away from her gubernatorial duties, but it's readily apparent no vaccine exists for Palin Derangement. No conservative figure brings out the wrath, disdain, and downright ugly side of liberal progressives (and some GOPers) than the mere mention of the name, Sarah Palin. Downright funny to watch, it is. So I suspect I, and the other authors will be contributing often to a new FA category called the "Trials and Tribulations" of Sarah. In this segment, I'll...

Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside; this is based on the principle that every positive has its negative. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. from Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals Alinsky was an expert at teaching “have nots” how to take power away from the “haves”. But even Saul himself would have to admire how the anti-Palin attack machine is not only waging a relentless legal (and media) campaign war on a soon to be former Governor for a political...

Whether the name of Richie Urso ever makes it into the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich next June is anybody's guess. You've probably never heard of Richie Urso. But the FBI sure has heard of him. His is a classic Chicago story, about a beefy yet charming guy born on Grand Avenue, who got in trouble with the law as a kid, only to make political friends and become extremely wealthy. He was arrested once for jewelry theft in the '60s by the Outfit's top Chicago police detective, William Hanhardt. Urso's alleged partner in the theft was the...

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up. Biden, in an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," said the nation's 9.5 percent unemployment rate is "much too high." "The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there," Biden said. "We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery...

(CNN) — The "architect" of George W. Bush's successful presidential campaigns has questions about Sarah Palin's resignation as governor. "It's a risky strategy," Republican campaign mastermind Karl Rove told "Fox News Sunday." Palin's unexpected announcement Friday that she will step down with 18 months left in her first term has left many in her party "a little perplexed," said Rove, whom Bush dubbed "The Architect" for managing his two victorious campaigns in 2000 and 2004.

The latest issue of Vanity Fair isn't even on newsstands yet and it's already making headlines for a not-so-politely titled article, "It Came from Wasilla," about Gov. Sarah Palin. William Kristol at the Weekly Standard is calling it a "hit piece," taking writer Todd Purdum to task for his "dubious claims." A blogger at the Atlantic writes that the article "paints a gruesome picture" of the governor. Politico's Jonathan Martin mulls the "political fallout from the very tough piece."

LISTS IRISH HIDEAWAY'S WORTH AS MERE $638G Sen Dodd (D-Conn) may have low-balled value of Ireland vacation property. Dodd's financial disclosures claim $638,000 for his 3-bedroom cottage on 10 acres with breathtaking views of the Atlantic......Dodd's next-door neighbor was selling for $1.2M. "Dodd continues to mislead about the property's value," charged DC-based ethics watchdog, Judicial Watch. Dodd purchased 1/3 interest for $160,000 with William Kessinger, Kansas, who was a business partner of disgraced Bear Stearns principal Edward Downe Jr, Dodd's longtime friend. Downe pleaded guilty to insider trading and securities fraud in 1993 but was pardoned, at Dodd's urging, by...

ABC News: "The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy," Biden told George Stephanopoulos during an interview on "This Week" in Iraq. Biden acknowledged administration officials were too optimistic earlier this year when they predicted the unemployment rate would peak at 8 percent as part of their effort to sell the stimulus package. The national unemployment rate has ballooned to 9.5 percent in June -- the worst in 26 years. "The truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited," said Biden, who is leading the administration's effort to implement it's $787 billion...

With Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed budget stalemated in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, 600 unhappy taxpayers rallied in Chambersburg’s center square Saturday to declare their independence from looming tax increases. Likening their protest to that of a group of Boston patriots in 1776, Franklin County, Pa., joined in the nationwide TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party movement against taxation and government spending.

Jamie Dupree Cap and Trade Extras By Jamie Dupree @ July 2, 2009 12:00 AM Permalink | Comments (50) | TrackBacks (0) I know, I know. I'm probably boring you to death by going through the Cap and Trade bill with a fine tooth comb. But today, let's talk about how it would direct money to the working poor in America. On page 1193, the bill would add a section to the Social Security Act on an "Energy Refund Program." Basically, those making no more than 150% of the poverty line, would get monthly cash payments from the government to...

For years, Democrats clamored for the closing of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using the prison to pummel President George W. Bush for abusing his authority, violating domestic and international law, and tarnishing the reputation of the United States... Now lawmakers are making it nearly impossible for President Obama to close the notorious prison by year's end, as he promised to do. Ms. Feinstein, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) and 88 other senators -- including every Republican -- voted to attach to a must-pass, supplemental war spending bill several provisions that tie the president's hands. Ms....

The man known as Joe the Plumber said in an Austin speech Friday that in his profession, if you don't do the job right, you'll get called back to fix it.

In the snow-covered parking lot of a McDonald's in Detroit two years ago, City Council member Monica Conyers met with a waste-management consultant who slipped her an envelope stuffed with as much as $3,000 in cash. The under-the-table payment, made shortly after she cast the swing vote on a $1 billion city sludge deal, drove Conyers's guilty plea to a bribery charge that could send the Democratic politician to prison for up to five years. Conyers emerged for her court hearing late last week in the same building where her husband, John Conyers Jr. (D), who has served in the...

After his reelection as Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad extends an invitation to his American counterpart Barack Obama for a debate before the eyes of the world. Addressing Iranian heads of medical universities on Saturday, President Ahmadinejad offered to debate President Obama at the United Nations headquarters in New York before the eyes of all nations of the world. President Ahmadinejad had previously urged a debate with former US president George W. Bush. The Iranian president wrote an 18-page letter to President Bush in 2006 that touched on religious values, history and international relations. The letter was viewed as an offer...

Father Ly on trial in 2007 Hanoi, Vietnam, Jul 3, 2009 / 07:33 pm (CNA).- On Wednesday 37 members of the U.S. Senate called on President Nguyen Minh Triet to release Fr. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, a longtime human rights advocate.The bipartisan group of Senators, led by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) cited “serious flaws” concerning the priest’s arrest, trial and imprisonment. They asked the Vietnamese president to facilitate Father Ly’s “immediate and unconditional release from prison” and to allow him to return home and work without restrictions on his “internationally guaranteed” freedom of expression, association...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- California's campaigns introduce candidates not only to the state's voters but to its immensity. In Bakersfield, Meg Whitman, 52, the former CEO of eBay who is campaigning for the 2010 Republican gubernatorial nomination, learned about carrots. In 1968, the Grimm brothers were selling vegetables at a roadside stand in Anaheim. They moved to Bakersfield and today Grimmway Farms and one rival provide 80 percent of the nation's carrots, partly because the brothers figured out how to make the vegetables pleasingly uniform in shape. Who knew? Whitman didn't, and the story, which she tells enthusiastically and at...

Opponents -- and even some former allies -- were quick to criticize Sarah Palin's announcement Friday that she will step down as governor of Alaska. The suddenness of the decision have some thinking that she's tired of political life; that she'll hit the lecture circuit to rebuild her financial fortunes; even that she'll become a "conservative Oprah" Palin, though, posted to her Facebook page yesterday that she has a "higher calling": "I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values . . . how sad that Washington and the media never understand; it's...

"Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me." That's the complaint of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the anti-Semitic, radical minister who was Barack Obama's spiritual mentor for two decades. In other words, a nefarious group of people around Obama are forcing the president to behave contrary to his interests and instincts. Such are the Sauron-like powers ascribed to Obama advisors who, having eaten of the fruit of the matzo, now control the president and vast swaths of the nation. "Them Jews" around Obama have been the object of much attention, especially eliciting the adoration of secular Jewish liberals who...

The accomplished Alaskan governor can gaze into the face of tiny Trig and inherently know that she still has much to learn, even from her little guy. Meanwhile, her less accomplished critics gaze mostly into TV cameras (and mirrors) and have convinced themselves that they already know it all. Well gosh darn. Who is right? Palin v. the pundits demonstrates a profound disconnect that explains not only how and why the pundit class remains so incapable of understanding her (and much of America), it is a decent microcosm of the bigger political debate going on in this country. To the...

There is a point in tournament poker where one player doesn't have the chips to play out the next raise, but they have great cards, so they call "all in." At that point, nobody can raise them and the hand gets played out -- either to a game changing win or a total loss for the person who made the call. It appears Sarah Palin decided she and her family could no longer deal with the thousand cuts, so she is "all in." Palin may well decide to stay home and make macaroni and cheese for the kids, but history...

Even for a nonconformist, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin defies political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early. Supporters and critics alike say the former GOP vice presidential candidate’s resignation, announced Friday afternoon and effective July 26, is an inexplicable move for a high profile Republican widely seen as a contender for a White House run in 2012. A half-term governor campaigning for president? --snip-- Pam Pryor, a spokeswoman for Palin’s political action committee, said the group continues to accept donations on its Web site, which saw an uptick in contributions Friday afternoon.(continued at...

Washington -- President Barack Obama's landmark bill on energy and global warming squeaked through the House this week only after the White House made dozens of concessions to coal, manufacturing and other interests. As the battle moves to the Senate, Obama faces demands for more concessions, including to open the coastline to offshore oil and gas drilling. The Senate will take up issues that were glossed over or omitted from the House bill. Among them is giving the government sweeping new powers to overcome local objections and approve thousands of miles of new transmission lines to carry electricity to coastal...

Now, Sarah’s Folly By MAUREEN DOWD Published: July 4, 2009 WASHINGTON Sarah Palin showed on Friday that in one respect at least, she is qualified to be president. Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy. Usually we don’t find that exquisite battiness in our leaders until they’ve been battered by sordid scandals like Watergate (Nixon), gnawing problems like Vietnam (L.B.J.), or scary threats like biological terrorism (Cheney). When Lyndon Johnson was president, some of his staff began to think of him as “a sick man,” as Bill Moyers told Arthur Schlesinger Jr. Moyers and his fellow Johnson aide Dick Goodwin even...