Free Republic

Maryam Monsef, one of the more disappointing of Justin Trudeau’s cabinet appointments — and that’s saying a lot — draped herself in further glory on Wednesday, when, in an appeal to the Taliban for restraint during the ongoing evacuation flights from Kabul, she referred to them as “brothers.”... Well, that oughta take care of that. A statement, in English, from a junior minister in a minority government from a marginally competent (at best) middle-power can’t help but be heard in the corridors of power around the world and especially in Kabul, where the Taliban is now consolidating its rule. Monsef’s...

Justin Trudeau wants his government upgraded from a minority to a majority. The problem is that, judging from its results, the progressive program he has enacted over the past six years is a firing offence, not grounds for promotion.... So, under Trudeau’s progressive program, economic growth in Canada was worse than the United States before the pandemic, has been worse since the pandemic began, and, all signals indicate, will face new government-imposed obstacles in the future.... The numbers do not lie; over the past six years, Canada has become a worse place to do business.... Such are the results of...

What’s most fascinating about this election is the contrast between a decent, mature and serious leader like O’Toole and the “boys” who now head the Liberal and NDP parties. The Conservative leader is a man who combines the discipline and strategic aptitude of a military officer with the attention to detail and precision of a corporate lawyer who worked with sophisticated clients. The others pose and posture as leaders.... This “Recovery Plan” is not dumbed down. This is not platitudes. This is not screed or scripture, nor immoderate in any way. This is not talking points written out by consultants...

We have had Live Threads here at Freerepublic for the count for the last three Australian Federal elections - in 2004 which ended in conservative victory, then again in 2007 which ended in defeat for the conservatives and a Labor government, and then again in 2010 which gave us a hung Parliament, where Labor continued governing with the support of the Greens and independents. This is the live thread for 2013 - polls close and the count begins in about 10 minutes. Polls and exit polls indicate a victory for the conservative coalition under Tony Abbott is highly likely. A...

And only some, but this Friday night news dump serves another purpose. The mainstream media finally had to talk about the bundling Jon Corzine did for Barack Obama this year in the context of the MF Global scandal and the disappearance of $1.2 billion in customer funds: President Barack ObamaÂ’s re-election campaign has returned campaign contributions from Jon S. Corzine, former chairman and chief executive officer of MF Global Holdings Ltd., according to a Democratic official.Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee refunded the money from the former New Jersey governor out of an abundance of caution, said the...

A shareholder group is gaining momentum in its efforts to pressure companies to disclose charitable giving -- with donations linked to the Rev. Jesse Jackson... The National Legal and Policy Center has stepped up efforts to require corporations to disclose more details about their donations... The Rainbow/PUSH Citizen Education Fund, which in 2001 provided payments to Jackson's former mistress. The Church Falls, Va.-based non-profit group hit two shareholders meetings this week -- Boeing on Monday and PepsiCo Inc. on Wednesday. "Many shareholders would certainly object to their money going to a controversial and divisive figure like Jesse Jackson," said Peter...

A key prosecution witness testified Wednesday that she was instructed by the national finance director for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign to falsify costs for a star-studded fundraiser held on the eve of the 2000 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. Gretta Nock, a professional event planner, said she did not think it was her place to question Clinton Finance Director David Rosen and went along with the alleged scheme. Rosen is charged with causing the Clinton Senate campaign to underreport more than $800,000 in expenses to the Federal Election Commission. As a result, the campaign was able to spend more "hard"...

Insta Pundit University of Tennessee School of Law Knoxville, TN February 10, 2009 Dear Mr. Pundit, I am writing to inform you that the Federal Election Commission has voted unanimously to support my recommendation that there is "reason to believe" that you have violated federal election law. Pursuant to that finding, the Commission has opened an investigation of these violations. I hereby direct you to provide sworn written answers to the following questions related to your violation of federal election law. 1. Did you on or before August 30, 2008, state on your "blog" that "If elected, Hillary Clinton will...

...The Federal Election Commission could not have foreseen that when it required employment information on political donations of over $200, it would expose scandalous uniformity in a university community that advertises its diversity.... Campus bloggers computed the percentages of Kerry contributions over Bush: Cornell 93%, Dartmouth 97%, Yale 93%, Brown 89%. Personally, I greatly enjoy being in the conservative opposition. My colleagues are cordial, and since I'm not looking for promotions I willingly sustain an occasional snub for the greater advantage of being able to speak my mind. Students making the transition from liberal to conservative are often wounded by...

(CBS) Historically, when polls show that voters feel the country is headed in the wrong direction and that they are worried about the president’s handling of the economy, that president, whoever he is, is going to have a tough time getting re-elected. Add on voter worry about this president’s handling of the war in Iraq and you would think that that would make it very hard for him to win re-election. Yet, the new CBS News/New York Times poll suggests all of the above, but it also reports something else -- that George Bush has now opened a 9-point lead...

Thirty-seven percent of decided voters in Canada support the Liberal Party, 29% support the Conservative Party, 19% support the NDP, and 11% support the Bloc Quebecois.

Service Employees International Union's political committee and three New York City union groups have agreed to pay $262,000 in penalties for campaign finance violations, including improper record-keeping. The civil penalties, announced Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission, involve violations from 1998 to 2000. SEIU's political campaign committee, known as COPE, paid $75,000 in penalties last December. Under an agreement reached with the FEC last month, New York's Health and Human Service Union 1199, Local 1199 Federal Political Action Fund and 1199 SEIU Federal Political Action Fund shared an additional $187,000 in fines. Among the violations, the FEC found that in...