Free Republic

Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both said they would replace Bernanke, not reappoint him. Rep. Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. And it was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more quantitative easing by the Fed would be "almost treasonous." Republicans in Washington are equally unimpressed by Bernanke. Rep. Paul Ryan recently criticized the Fed for bankrolling our huge budget deficits and thereby accommodating...

I don't know the source of this pic.

Last week it was all the outrage that Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer pointed her finger at President Obama. Some pundits, including Bill Maher, said this incident was unprecedented. It turns out, that is not true. In an August 2006 interview of then President George W. Bush the anchor of NBC's "Nightly News" Brian Williams pointed his finger in the former Commander in Chief's face several times. Williams seemed doubtful of Bush's reading habits, which at the time included a book about a French philosopher and another book about the battle of New Orleans.

I have grown cynical of party politics in mature democracies, including the most exciting democracy of all, the United States. In the middle of a spectrum exclusively defined by Republicans and Democrats, personality and style must be favored over platforms that few candidates are ever able to implement. So many people are bored by politics in the U.S. that half of the voters don’t bother to vote. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If politics does not affect the daily life of citizens, to the extent that most can choose to ignore it, then some wisdom has been found...

The Republican candidates for president outlined their visions for fighting terrorism and keeping the country safe during a CNN debate Tuesday held just down the street from the White House they hope to occupy. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the latest GOP frontrunner in this volatile primary season, sparred with libertarian-leaning Texas Rep. Ron Paul over the Patriot Act as the debate opened, with Gingrich calling for an even more robust version of the law. "I would look at strengthening it because the dangers that are posed are so great," Gingrich said. Paul, who has been sharply critical of the...

Today's liberals would have you believe they occupy the moral high ground on every political and cultural issue. But have you ever taken inventory of their double standards? The left's inconsistency in applying their principles based on the party affiliation of those they're judging, gives fuller meaning to the concept of moral relativism. The only thing that's consistent is their reliable inconsistency, whether in the area of economic, social or national defense issues. Let's consider just a few examples: -- When "bimbo eruptions" threatened to derail Bill Clinton's campaign, his hit squad, the commander in chief of which was Hillary...

Occasionally the Washington Post does some real reporting. Yesterday Zachery Goldfarb did an analysis of the aggregate profits over the past three years for the major banks and financial institutions as compared to the eight years of the Bush administration. The finding: these firms have accumulated more profit in the three years of the Obama administration than they did in the two terms of George W. Bush. In an interview with Mr. Goldfarb on NPR when asked what kind of companies and how this happened, replied: We're talking about banks, the big ones you've heard of, Citigroup, Bank of America....

Ever since he won the Florida U.S. Senate seat, folks have been talking up Marco Rubio's vice-presidential credentials. But Condoleezza Rice, who has been in the news a lot lately, is a better bet to be the No. 2 candidate for a Mitt Romney or Rick Perry candidacy. Here's why.

I remember when it was socially acceptable to like and even admire Dick Cheney, whose memoir In My Time was greeted last month with unanimous catcalls from members of the mainstream press. For more than two decades, Washington’s mainstreamers considered Cheney a rare clubbable Republican—genial, brainy (he studied for a Ph.D. in political science), and safe. You could invite him to a dinner party and know he wouldn’t start spouting Bible verses and frighten the caterers. “Cheney is smart, he is tough, and he is totally trustworthy,” wrote the Washington Post’s David Broder, who served as unofficial spokesman for the...

An internal U.S. Department of Homeland Security document indicates that a controversial program designed to predict whether a person will commit a crime is already being tested on some members of the public voluntarily, CNET has learned. If this sounds a bit like the Tom Cruise movie called "Minority Report," or the CBS drama "Person of Interest," it is. But where "Minority Report" author Philip K. Dick enlisted psychics to predict crimes, DHS is betting on algorithms: it's building a "prototype screening facility" that it hopes will use factors such as ethnicity, gender, breathing, and heart rate to "detect cues...

Vice President Joe Biden said in a live interview with Miami public radio station WLRN Thursday that the Obama administration - not the Bush administration - now has ownership of the struggling U.S. economy. Biden said Americans have "good reason to be upset" because they lost jobs because of the recession, "something they didn't have a thing to do with creating." "Even though 50-some percent of the American people think the economy tanked because of the last administration, that's not relevant," said the vice president. "What's relevant is we're in charge."

On September 10, 2011 at 12:30 p.m. EST, almost ten years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Flight 93 National Memorial will be dedicated. Following a decade of healing, the promise of this sacred ground will finally be realized. The Memorial Plaza and Field of Honor will be the first features of the memorial to be completed for dedication, and will be permanently open to the public after the September 10 ceremony. Be a part of this remarkable moment. Coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m. EST – watch the dedication ceremony LIVE at History.com.

Pat Buchanan regularly serves as Morning Joe's lone conservative in the show's self-described 10:1 ratio of lib to conservative guests. But Buchanan this morning demonstrated that he is anything but a Republican partisan. Sounding more like Barney Frank after a bad night's sleep, Buchanan blasted President George W. Bush, claiming 43 "broke the Republican party and frankly he broke the United States as a superpower." View the video here.

FLASHBACK--George W. Bush Gives Up Golf: ‘Playing Golf During a War Sends Wrong Message’ Monday, August 22, 2011 By Penny Starr (CNSNews.com) – The White House has released some information about President Barack Obama’s vacation on Massachusetts’ upscale Martha’s Vineyard including his golf games, but no open press coverage of his time on the links has been allowed. President George W. Bush, who routinely allowed journalists to accompany him on golf outings early in his presidency, told Politico in May 2008 that he decided to give up the game in August 2003 after a bomb attack on the United Nations...

(How do you know Rick Perry’s lying? Well, you know the joke. Watch his lips move and see who he remind you of.)  They say first impressions are lasting ones. And if you’ve been following my comments on the potential 2012 Republicans presidential field, you know that my first impression of most of them is that they are either boobs or frauds.There is one contender who does not meet that definition. Texas Congressman Ron Paul is neither a boob nor a fraud. He’s the only Republican in the field who has been a consistent adherent to the constitution during his entire political...

This is a REAL Commander in Chief. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TiGYDvc4lU

George W Bush says his blank reaction to the first news of the Sept 11 attacks while US president was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis. In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Mr Bush reflected on what was going through his mind when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center. Mr Bush was visiting a Florida classroom at the time, and the incident - which was caught by television cameras - has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently dazed response...

In what critics call a classic case of the government working at cross purposes, Washington is forcing residents across the country to install mercury lighting inside their homes while phasing out mercury lighting outside homes to protect the environment. Yes, you read that right. In 2005, Congress passed a law banning mercury vapor streetlights – two years before it banned incandescent light bulbs in favor of mercury vapor compact florescent bulbs. Under the Energy Policy Act, signed by President Bush in August 2005, manufacturers cannot make or import ballasts for mercury vapor lights after Jan. 1, 2008. According to the...

After Years of Struggle, South Sudan Becomes a New Nation By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN JUBA, South Sudan — The celebrations erupted at midnight. Thousands of revelers poured into Juba’s steamy streets in the predawn hours on Saturday, hoisting enormous flags, singing, dancing and leaping on the back of cars. “Freedom!” they screamed. A new nation was being born in what used to be a forlorn, war-racked patch of Africa, and to many it seemed nothing short of miraculous. After more than five decades of an underdog, guerrilla struggle and two million lives lost, the Republic of South Sudan, Africa’s 54th state,...

JUBA — Saturday meant that South Sudan and its black tribesmen would for the first time be linked politically with sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya and Uganda are already laying strong economic ties with their northern neighbor, an oil-rich country that may one day ship its oil to a Kenyan port, instead of through the pipelines controlled by Khartoum. "From today our identity is southern and African, not Arabic and Muslim," read a hand-painted sign that one man carried as he walked through the crowds. South Sudan first celebrated its new status with a a raucous street party at midnight. At a...

JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan became the world's newest nation early Saturday, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of at least 2 million people. Residents of the new nation — the Republic of South Sudan — danced in the streets, banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world's newest president, Salva Kiir. South Sudan earned independence at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the culmination of a January independence vote guaranteed in a 2005 peace deal that ended the most recent north-south war. Saturday's early morning celebrations were joyous...

A quasi-scandal has broken out at Arkansas’ Russellville Middle School. The school’s yearbook featured a list of the “Top 5 Worst People of All Time.” Some of the world’s most horrific murderers and maniacs were included: Adolph Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, Charles Manson… Few people would argue that these individuals don’t deserve a spot on that roster. Each went on murderous rampages and were, arguably, mentally-imbalanced. However, it‘s the list’s last two names that are causing a stir: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. The former president and vice-president don’t seem to share many characteristics with the other men they...

George W. Bush made $15M on speaking circuit By: Jennifer Epstein May 20, 2011 09:05 AM EDT Before he left the White House, George W. Bush said he had plans to “replenish the ol’ coffers” by making a ‘ridiculous’ amount of money on the lecture circuit. Like other recent former presidents, he’s done just that. In the two years since leaving office, Bush has earned an estimated $15 million at $100,000 to $150,000 per speech, the Center for Public Integrity reported Friday. Bush’s spokesman, David Sherzer, said the former president has delivered about 140 paid speeches. Sherzer did not immediately...

As lefties gloat over the political implications of Osama bin Laden’s demise, and the media ramp up an “Obama bounce� meme, conservatives should politely but persistently shift the conversation from politics to policy. In my latest column for Townhall, I draw on a number of fascinating news accounts elucidating how the our military and intelligence community finally nailed bin Laden. US officials describe a “mosaic� of intelligence that ultimately led a team of Navy SEALs to a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan — suggesting that it took many years and myriad sources to pinpoint bin Laden’s precise location. As we now...

~ EXCERPT ~ There has rarely been a starker juxtaposition of evil and innocence than the moment President George W. Bush received the news about 9/11 while reading The Pet Goat with second-graders in Sarasota, Florida. Seven-year-olds can't understand what Islamic terrorism is all about. But they know when an adult's face is telling them something is very wrong — and none of the students sitting in Sandra Kay Daniels' class at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning can forget the sudden, devastated change in Bush's expression when White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card whispered the terrible news...

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said this week that the only way to end the drug violence plaguing his country is for the United States to legalize drugs. "As a country, we are going through problems due to the fact that the United States consumes too many drugs," Fox, who served as Mexico's president from 2000-2006, told reporters Monday night before a speech at the Turkish-American Chamber of Commerce in San Antonio. "I would recommend to legalize, de-penalize all drugs," Fox added. He said the drug violence threatens to rip his country apart. It has claimed more than 37,000 lives...

U.S. forces finally found al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan's border, but in a million-dollar compound in an upscale suburb of Pakistan's capital, with his youngest wife, U.S. officials said early on Monday. They were led to the fortress-like three-story building after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. "Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with...

Commenting on the death of Osama Bin Laden, Rep. Gary Ackerman has gloated: "this is the 'Mission Accomplished' moment President Bush only fantasized about." Could the Dem from New York have gotten the inspiration for his taunt from Andrea Mitchell? The question arises because in the run-up to President Obama's announcement last night, Mitchell said something similar, if not quite as pointedly partisan. Not only did Mitchell throw Mission Accomplished in Pres. Bush's face, she also, for purposes of taking another slap at Pres. Bush, misrepresented the history of Tora Bora. Mitchell claimed that John Kerry made it a 2004...

SNIP Bush called the operation a “momentous achievement” that “marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.” “I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude,” the former president said in a statement. “The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.” Former President Bill Clinton, who was in office for...

At his birth certificate press conference yesterday, Obama put it this way: "We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have more important things to do. I have more important things to do." Then he took off for Chicago to put in some "important" face time on Oprah's show. An alert reader who serves in one of the branches of the military points out what President Bush was up to while Obama was attending to business on Oprah: TERLINGUA, Texas (AP) -- Kenneth Butler touched the metal end of his prosthetic arm instinctively as he recalled the...

Former President George W. Bush is going on a three-day mountain bike ride in Texas with soldiers who were wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan to help raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. He appeared with George Stephanopoulos this morning to promote the cause and seemed to be in a great mood as he playfully joked “you haven’t lost a step Stephanopoulos.” Bush tried to keep the interview focused on his bike ride, even laughing how the wounded soldier sitting next to him with one leg is faster than he is on a bicycle. Yet Stephanopoulos couldn’t resist...

Tomorrow the W100 will begin with a 12 mile (19.4 km) ride in the heat of the day. A grueling 30 mile (48.3 km) ride will follow on Tuesday, with President Bush and the warriors finishing up the last 20 miles (32.3) on Wednesday. Stay tuned here for pictures from the trail, video of the ride and daily photo albums. Until then, get a sneak peek at some of the rough terrain and trails President Bush and 14 wounded warriors will be taking on over the next three days:Some of the trail is wide enough for vehicles and several bikes.Parts...

Joe Scarborough has unloaded on the moral preening and hypocrisy of President Obama and his supporters over Gitmo and military tribunals. In the wake of AG Eric Holder's announcement that not only will Gitmo remain open, but that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other accused terrorists will be tried there before military tribunals, Scarborough unleashed an extended, scathing indictment on today's Morning Joe. Mika Brzezinski did her best, fighting a rear-guard action in defense of the president. View video here.

coworkers compare Libya and Iraq

Do people's politics color their views on the issues, even on life-and-death ones like war? Yeah. Happens on all sides. But for Cenk Uygur to rip Republicans for having supported Pres. Bush on Iraq while criticizing Pres. Obama on Libya is nothing short of grotesque . . . given that Uygur now supports Obama on Libya, while when it came to Iraq and its aftermath he wanted W . . . imprisoned for at least ten years. Adding fuel to the bonfire of Uygur's hypocrisy is his failure to mention that as a senator-cum-presidential-candidate, Obama himself laid out a doctrine...

Of all the Obama sycophants in the press, could the president possibly have a more abject apologist than Jonathan Alter? The MNSBC analyst gave a groveling demonstration of his devotion in an interview with Willie Geist on The Daily Rundown this morning. Beyond the predictable swipes at W, notable was the essential incoherence of Alter's defense of PBO's foreign policy. At one point, as you'll see, Alter contradicts himself in the very same breath. View video here.

Elisabeth Bumiller, a Pentagon correspondent with The New York Times, visited campus on Wednesday, where she spoke to students at the Brimhall building and the Kennedy Center. She has been with The New York Times since 1995, and has recently reported on Egypt’s turmoil and the U.S. military’s intensifying relationship with China. Bumiller has also spent time oversees with George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The Daily Universe sat down with Bumiller to discuss her dealings with the Pentagon, the New York Times and various government leaders. SNIP DU: What are some of the biggest misconceptions about President...

A college student from Saudi Arabia studying chemical engineering in Texas has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on U.S. targets using explosive chemicals. Khalid Aldawsari, who is legally in the U.S. on a student visa, allegedly targeted the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush. He was arrested late Tuesday on a federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. “Yesterday’s arrest demonstrates the need for and the importance of vigilance and the willingness of private individuals and companies to ask questions and contact the authorities when confronted with suspicious...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 — Seven years ago this month, President Bill Clinton's economic advisers told him Mexico was hours away from economic default and perhaps chaos on the streets. Mr. Clinton ordered an unpopular multibillion-dollar bailout, over the objections of Congress, but with the support of a prominent Republican governor, George W. Bush of Texas. When Argentina barreled toward a similar default in recent weeks, it was Mr. Bush who had to make the bailout call — and his decision was to let Argentina suffer the consequences of its own economic mismanagement. His aides argue that the circumstances were somewhat ...

President George W. Bush has canceled an event in the famously neutral country Switzerland because of expected protests to his presence there. Bush was supposed to give the keynote address at a Jewish group's charity gala on Feb. 12 in Geneva. Leftist groups had planned to protest the visit, according to news agencies. But several human rights groups had also filed criminal complaints against Bush, demanding that he be taken into custody if he stepped on Swiss soil and investigated for allegations of ordering torture.

George W. Bush to Pass on Switzerland Trip Share posted at 8:45 pm on February 5, 2011 by Jazz Shaw regular view Previous signs of “Miss me yet?� may have sprung up around various points in the United States, but in certain portions of Europe the 43rd president is still not getting a warm reception. After agreeing to assist in a charity event for a Jewish group in Switzerland, warning signs indicated that some left wing groups were preparing a decidedly hostile welcome for Bush and the trip had to be canceled. President George W. Bush has canceled an...

Bush cancels Switzerland visit under threat of protests, efforts to arrest him By Bridget Johnson - 02/05/11 09:59 AM ET President George W. Bush has canceled an event in the famously neutral country Switzerland because of expected protests to his presence there. Bush was supposed to give the keynote address at a Jewish group's charity gala on Feb. 12 in Geneva. Leftist groups had planned to protest the visit, according to news agencies. But several human rights groups had also filed criminal complaints against Bush, demanding that he be taken into custody if he stepped on Swiss soil and investigated...

Stick a fork in him. George W. Bush is done with politics. The ex-President told C-SPAN he has no plans to raise cash, stump for Republican candidates and even appear on television.

Is David Gregory trying to raise his profile by becoming more overtly partisan? Gregory struck what at one point seemed to me a hostile tone in his questioning of conservative Sen. Tom Coburn on last week's Meet The Press. Then, on today's Morning Joe, Gregory went out of his way to defend Pres. Obama's history of being less-than-friendly to business. And the MTP host did it in a way that will warm White House hearts: by blaming George W. Bush. The subject at hand was PBO's naming of GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to replace Paul Volcker as a key economic...

Greenlit by Dubya, accelerated by Obama. Or at least, that’s what the cyborg time travelers who brought the worm back from the future would have you believe. The evidence is only circumstantial, but … there’s an awful lot of it. Behind Dimona’s barbed wire, the experts say, Israel has spun nuclear centrifuges virtually identical to Iran’s at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich uranium. They say Dimona tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, a destructive program that appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s...

On Sunday, the southern Sudanese began voting on a referendum to secede from the Republic of Sudan and establish their own sovereign nation. By all accounts, they will soon secede from the Arab, Islamic country and form an independent African, Christian and animist state. The consequences of their actions will reverberate around the world. This week’s referendum takes place in accordance with the US-brokered Comprehensive Peace Treaty between the Khartoum government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed on January 9, 2005. The CPT officially ended the second Sudanese Civil War that began in 1983. The South Sudanese referendum will...

Paul Krugman is back to discussing income inequality on his blog, following a very negative reaction to his disgraceful column on the Tucson shootings, in which he led a left wing chorus arguing that Gabrielle Giffords was brought down by a gunman undoubtedly influenced by Arizona's climate of hate, engendered by talk radio, Sarah Palin, Fox News, and other assorted villains on the right. Krugman writes for the New York Times, and the paper's editorial on the mass murder doubled down on Krugman's obnoxious take on the event. Charles Krauthammer did the best, and hopefully lasting damage to Krugman's already...

In 2006, the film "Death of a President" was released. Where was the media's outrage then? Sources: Internet Movie Database entryGeorge Bush assassination film wins top awardWikipedia entry, Death of a President Where has the media been while Leftists accused President George W. Bush of murdering 3000 people, and of taking the nation to war for "unjust" reasons? 911truth.orgFahrenheit 9/11, by Michael MooreWhat about Alec Baldwin's terrible rhetoric on the "Conan O'Brien Show," where he screamed that Rep. Henry Hyde and family, including children, should be dragged out into the streets and stoned to death?

As a Christmas present I received a copy of Decision Points, abridged CD audio by Random House Audio. When I placed Disc 1 into my laptop disc drive, Windows Media Player attempts to pull the cover art from the internet. Apparently someone is trying to sell some music. Very poor taste nonetheless. Instead of viewing the book cover, I see this: A quick Google search leads me to DJ Flash's MySpace page: And to his "record label" . . .

Some very interesting things have emerged in Gallup’s 2010 “Most Admired” survey. That America’s most admired man is Barack Obama is not one of them. He is the president, you know. And even when his job-approval ratings took a dramatic downward turn, polls continued to show that Americans liked him as a person, policies aside. May he figure out how to turn this enduring admiration into collective and sustainable national purpose. Now for the fun part: Guess who has the No. 2 spot. None other than George W. Bush. Normally, there’d be nothing remarkable in the last president being the...