Free Republic

When last we left Dean Chambers, the Duffield, Va., resident was licking his wounds in Virginia’s coal fields, trying to figure out how he’d fooled himself and much of a nation into believing the Mitt Romney would win the election. Chambers, 45, the founder of UnskewedPolls.com, ultimately decided he had incorrectly forecast that too few Democrats would vote. He admitted this mistake. Now, it appears he’s reconsidering. Recently he launched a new website, BarackOFraudo.com. It seeks to understand how four states that he had incorrectly predicted would go to Romney — Virginia, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania — actually went to...

Oddly enough, perhaps the biggest loser in last week’s Republican debacle wasn’t even on the ballot. He didn’t shake a single hand, nuzzle the napes of any newborn babes or promise eager voters pie in the sky or peace on Earth. His name was Karl Rove. And all he actually did was squander a staggering $300 million by backing candidates who turned winnable races into laughable routs, producing tepid ads transforming would-be zealots into couch potatoes and firmly establishing himself as the political world’s pre-eminent empty-suit analyst. Perhaps even worse, he set himself up as the clearinghouse for wealthy conservative...

You can even register your wedding on his campaign website. Could he be any more pompous?

As Michelle Obama does the television show rounds this week, it is not just her new book that she is showcasing. The First Lady, notorious for her demure, arm-baring outfits, also appears to be showing off her wardrobe, making the most of costume changes between each television appearance. On Tuesday, Mrs Obama appeared on both Good Morning America, The View and The Daily Show to promote her new gardening book and to discuss her healthy eating campaign.

Ethics: As Democrats demonize Wall Street CEOs as the "greedy" fiends of the financial crisis, they've lined their own pockets — both before and after the crisis. Nancy Pelosi's just the latest example. The former House speaker allegedly gamed financial reforms to boost her personal stock portfolio. The brewing scandal is complicated, but here's the Reader's Digest version: After a Pelosi staffer left to lobby on behalf of credit-card giant Visa, Pelosi delayed bringing to the House floor a bill to end lucrative "swipe fees" for Visa and other credit providers. The bill couldn't have come at a worse time...

HOLY S*** GUYS STRUGGLE STRIKES GOLD AGAIN! http://il.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20110324_0000757.NIL.htm/qx LOLOLOLOLLLOLOLOLOLOLOOLOL So that’s why Zuckerman wants money! Send this to Cain and all your media outlets!

<p>For those of us who experienced the 1960s firsthand, there is something familiar about the Occupy Wall Street protests. But it isn't what the critics are harping about. Yes, there's a certain tie-dye feeling to the encampment at Zuccotti Park, where I wandered around last week. But when people refer to the protesters as "hippies" and sneer about their hygiene, they miss the point entirely. Those who focus on the look and feel of the OWS movement ignore the obvious fact that, like the early protesters of the 1960s, they are mainly educated, middle-class and completely sincere.</p>

A fight has broken out between the White House, its defenders and a conservative public watchdog group over first lady Michelle Obama's travel costs and how they are calculated. The dispute stems from a Judicial Watch release yesterday, reported by Whispers, that said the first lady's June goodwill mission to Africa cost $424,142 just for her Air Force C32A. Judicial Watch said it used Pentagon calculations to come up with the price to taxpayers, multiplying the hourly cost of $12,188 by the number of flight hours, 34.8. [Read: Michelle Obama's Africa Trip Cost More than $424,142.] The White House later...

“I was not always the very best student that I could be when I was in high school, and certainly not when I was in middle school,” Obama said, speaking at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. “I did not love every class I took. I wasn’t always paying attention the way I should have,” Obama said. “I remember when I was in 8th grade I had to take a class called ethics. Now, ethics is about right and wrong, but if you’d ask me what my favorite subject was back in 8th grade, it was basketball. I don’t think ethics...

The heckler was booed by the crowd when he began his rant with "The Christian God is the only and only true living God. The creator of heaven and the universe." "Jesus Christ is God! Jesus Christ is God! Jesus Christ is God! Jesus Christ is the son of God!" the man continued. "You're the antichrist!" the man said. The crowd responded with an enthusiastic cheer of "four more years" afterward. "First of all, I agree Jesus Christ is the Lord. I believe in that," Obama said to tepid applause.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a fiery summons to an important voting bloc, President Barack Obama told blacks on Saturday to quit crying and complaining and "put on your marching shoes" to follow him into battle for jobs and opportunity. And though he didn't say it directly, for a second term, too. Obama's speech to the annual awards dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus was his answer to increasingly vocal griping from black leaders that he's been giving away too much in talks with Republicans -- and not doing enough to fight black unemployment, which is nearly double the national average...

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama stands with U.S. tennis player Serena Williams (R) as she takes part in a "Let's Move" tennis clinic at the U.S. Open to promote physical activity for kids, in New York September 9, 2011.

<p>European royals make do with a less lavish lifestyle than the supposed citizen-executive of a so-called republic.</p> <p>This will be grand news to Schylar Capo, eleven years old, of Virginia, who made the mistake of rescuing a woodpecker from the jaws of a cat and nursing him back to health for a couple of days, and for her pains, was visited by a federal Fish & Wildlife gauleiter (with accompanying state troopers) who charged her with illegal transportation of a protected species and issued her a $535 fine. If the federal child-abuser has that much time on his hands, he should have charged the cat, who was illegally transporting the protected species from his gullet to his intestine.</p>

A Day in the Life of the Clear and Pres_ent Danger in the WH (and the golf course too) Now on Vacation .. Whew! But, rumor is .. He's coming back! :-o

(CNSNews.com) – At a hastily convened news conference Friday evening, President Obama offered his explanation of why debt negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner fizzled, and he once again raised the specter of entitlement checks not going out if the debt ceiling isn’t raised soon. “Well, when it comes to all the checks, not just Social Security -- veterans, people with disabilities -- about 70 million checks are sent out each month -- if we default then we’re going to have to make adjustments. And I’m already consulting with (Treasury) Secretary (Tim) Geithner in terms of what the consequences would...

President Obama laments the debt talks: "All these conversations I've had over the last three weeks -- I could have been spending time with Malia and Sasha instead."

First lady takes on ‘food deserts’ Posted by: CNN White House Producer Alexander Mooney Michelle Obama unveiled the latest push in her healthy-eating campaign Wednesday, announcing several national and regional food retailers have pledged to expand into a string of low-income markets where finding nutritious food options is nearly impossible. “If a parent wants to pack a piece of fruit in a child’s lunch, if a parent wants to add some lettuce to a salad at dinner, they shouldn’t have to take three city busses…to go to another community to make that possible,” the first lady said at during a...

"Better Homes and Gardens" hasn't had a public figure on its cover in 48 years. With President Obama's approval rating plummeting along with the nation's employment picture, they must have figured now was the time to break with tradition and do an ultimate exposure puff piece on his wife: Better Homes and Gardens will feature First Lady Michelle Obama on the cover of its August issue - the first public figure to grace the magazine's cover in 48 years. Obama will be the focus of an article on healthful eating for children. The issue will hit newsstands July 19. Editors...

EXCERPT A Washington Post journalist on the scene confirmed the first lady, who’s made a cause out of child nutrition, ordered a ShackBurger, fries, chocolate shake and a Diet Coke while the street and sidewalk in front of the usually-packed Shake Shack were closed by security during her visit. According to nutritional information on Shake Shack’s Web site, the meal amounted to 1,700 calories.

WASHINGTON – Michelle Obama announced Friday that she's heading to Africa on an official visit later this month, stopping in South Africa and Botswana to continue her work encouraging young people around the world to become active in their countries. The first lady will visit Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa and Gaborone, Botswana, during the June 21-26 trip.

    The First Lady is not content with corrupting American children at the White House. In a Q&A with British high school girls at Oxford University Michelle continued to promote the rapper Common. Bizarre. And then we had a poetry night and Common was there. He's very cute. But everybody from poet laureates to hip-hop folks, being able to mix up the world in that very interesting way, the White House allows you to do that. A bitter Michelle can't help getting a dig in about "the White House" allowing her to "mix up the world." (Did she really go...

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) - First lady Michelle Obama urged more than 1,000 cadets Friday night on the brink of graduating to keep in mind the families of the soldiers they will lead. Obama addressed the white-clad cadets and their families gathered in the U.S. Military Academy's castle-like mess hall for a graduation-eve banquet. It marked her first visit to the storied academy and dovetails with her recent work on behalf of military families. She noted that more than half of service members are married and 40 percent have two or more kids.

There's a psychologist who can predict with 91% accuracy whether a relationship will live or die. His name is Dr. John Gottman, and he runs something called The Marriage Clinic. Gottman uses several factors to determine which marriages will succeed or fail. But the main one is this: contempt. If a spouse mocks the other, talks down to him, rolls eyes, or sneers, that marriage is a goner. Gottman's seminal research reminds me of my friend, Laura, and her relationship with boyfriend, Justin. On the surface, the couple seemed perfectly matched: they were both teachers, runners, and avid skiers. But...

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) - First lady Michelle Obama said Saturday that the U.S. military specialists who killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden showed "the very essence" of public service. Mrs. Obama made her first public remarks about bin Laden's death during the commencement address at University of Northern Iowa. U.S. officials have said Navy SEALs shot and killed bin Laden and four others Monday at his luxury compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

It makes me SICK to think this poser is getting all the glory for killing UBL, and struted around like a peacock today down at Ground Zero, when he attended the "church" of Rev. Wright who famously said, on the first Sunday after 9/11, "America's chickens have come home to roost. Not God Bless America, but G-D America." While the story is Obama was not there that sunday, I will NEVER believe that he did not know that is how Rev. Wright felt. Yet after that, he continued to attend that "church" and had Wright following him around on the...

<p>The first lady went to Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail Village on Saturday night, dining on a pickled pumpkin salad with arugula and a braised ancho-chile short rib with hominy wild mushrooms and sauteed kale.</p> <p>“Yes, it's true, the first lady dined at our restaurant tonight and seemed to really enjoy it,” chef and owner Kelly Liken said.</p>

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to students during his visit to Parkville Middle School and Center of Technology in Parkville, Maryland February 14, 2011.

GULFPORT -- A woman who made false claims for disaster assistance, by using the same fraudulent address in Stone County as a relative, has been sentenced to six months in prison. U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden sentenced Brandy N. Meadows on Thursday, and ordered her to help make restitution of $33,000 to FEMA. The judge ordered her to forfeit $26,200. Meadows faced prosecution on multiple charges but pleaded guilty in October to one count of theft of public money. She falsely claimed she was living in a mobile home on Camp Road in Wiggins when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005....

Federal authorities have opened a criminal investigation of Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell to determine if the former Senate candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of a client who has been questioned as part of the probe. The case, which has been assigned to two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents in Delaware, has not been brought before a grand jury. Matt Moran, O'Donnell's former campaign manager, did not immediately respond...

Another "slow news day" fake news story about Christine O'Donnell was generated from a non-event on Wednesday, December 30. What do journalists do when there isn't any news? MAKE IT UP! The Associated Press reported that a single person was interviewed in the routine handling of the September 21, 2010 complaint by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). That is exactly what is expected, nothing new, and does not indicate that anything new has happened. In response to a September 2010, complaints by the left-wing Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (C.R.E.W.) and Delaware Republican Chair Tom...

The decision by First Lady Michelle Obama to leave on schedule for her two-week Hawaii vacation and not wait a few days for her delayed husband will probably cost taxpayers more than $63,000 in additional expenses, according to a White House Dossier analysis. President Obama was supposed to depart for Hawaii Saturday, but decided to stay in Washington until Congress finishes its work for the year. He’s now expected to depart today or tomorrow. But Mrs. Obama chose to leave without him Saturday, taking their two children and the dog along with her.

Battle-weary Bay State Democrats are getting squeezed by U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry this Christmas, as the nation’s richest senator puts the arm on cash-strapped party donors to fill his campaign war chest — even though he’s not up for re-election for another four years. “I think people feel very tapped-out,” said Phil Johnston, former Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman, who is helping to organize Kerry’s Dec. 13 gala. Johnston, who said he is seeing steady ticket sales, still expects a full house. “It’s a measure of John Kerry’s strength among Democrats that this event should be hugely successful,” he said....

The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama urged Japanese youth to "study English, and see the world" during a speech and Q&A session at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Saturday. The Dalai Lama, currently visiting Japan, made the remarks, when he touched on the problem of the increasing number of Japanese youth committing suicide. "Now, you should participate, wisely, (in) the outside world. But, the youth of Japan remain here, and (having) some problems here. Go (to the) outside world! To Arabia, Africa, Latin America ... You can make many contributions," the Dalai Lama said. The Dalai Lama...

Even a day at the beach is done in presidential style for the First Family. Currently enjoying a relaxing California vacation , Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha arrived at the extravagant beachside mansion of billionaire financial mogul, Howard Marks, on Wednesday afternoon. RadarOnline.com exclusively learned that mother and daughter pulled into the luxurious private estate in Malibu over looking the Pacific Ocean at 3 p.m. They were escorted by a police motorcade and spent a perfect summer day by the beach.

AP photo from article Church website photo of Steve Anderson YUMA, AZ -- Steven Anderson, who ministers at Faithful Word Baptist Church, said he prays for the death of President Barack Obama in a sermon to his congregation. "I'm not going to pray for his good," Anderson said in the sermon. "I'm going to pray he dies and goes to hell." The sermon, which was titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama," was also featured on CNN last week due to the nature of its content, and has since been shown on other programs such as Fox News, MSNBC, ABC...

California consumer affairs chief resigns Carrie Lopez, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, resigned Friday in the wake of disclosures about expenses she charged to taxpayers. Carrie Lopez quits when shown results of a state audit that found questionable expenses she incurred. The findings went beyond those reported earlier this month by The Times, an official says. By Michael Rothfeld March 28, 2009 Reporting from Sacramento -- The director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs resigned Friday in the wake of disclosures about expenses she charged to taxpayers, including for transportation to attend a Justin Timberlake concert...

Monday morning Tulsa Today posted an analysis by veteran New York journalist and the recipient of seven Long Island Press Awards, Joan Swirsky, titled, “The Great Birth Certificate Scandal/Cover-Up of ‘08” questioning the missing Barack Obama birth certificate and his eligibility to serve as President of the United States. ImageTwo hours and 10,000 page views later, our local Internet Service Provider and domain hosting service, Tulsa Connect locked us off the Internet. This action was taken without warning or formal notice, but after several telephone conversations the picture became clear. Our agreement with Tulsa Connect was for “shared hosting” service....

Former U.S. presidential candidate Al Gore delivers a speech on America's future energy needs in Washington July 17, 2008.

Barack Obama's campaign changed the rules of a highly publicized fundraiser Tuesday, after gambling regulators said the contest — a chance at one of 10 trips to the Democratic National Convention — was an illegal lottery. "We are happy to have resolved this issue working closely with state officials," said Nick Kimball, spokesman for the Obama campaign ... A spokesman for the Colorado Secretary of State said Democrats would have to get a license if they were conducting "a standard raffle where they're buying tickets" in order to win. But under the new rules, supporters don't have to donate money...

Barack Obama just delivered a speech on patriotism in Independence, Mo., hometown of what was once America's most powerful haberdasher, and offered a mild rebuke to Wesley Clark, who took on John McCain's military record the other day in rather scorching terms. And just to make it clear, an Obama spokesman sent out this brief statement as Obama was speaking: "As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and, of course, he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark." Obama's speech focused on his own sense of patriotism, quoting Mark Twain (it's good to quote...

Hillary Clinton’s campaign has made little secret that it has been routinely outspent by rival Barack Obama in the extended race for the Democratic presidential nomination and has been forced to curtail checks for some of its vendors and staff. But stiffing your high school alma mater? That’s apparently the case, according to federal campaign disclosure reports that show that among more than $8.7 million listed as debts, the Clinton campaign owed $3,161 to Maine South High School in Park Ridge for renting the school for an event, as well as for catering.

In a speech on Iraq policy delivered Monday at George Washington University, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton recalled facing “sniper fire” on her 1996 trip to Bosnia to visit U.S. troops on a peacekeeping mission. But reporters traveling with the then-First Lady made no reference to any “sniper fire” at the time, and pictures of Clinton arriving at the main air base in Tuzla don’t show anyone ducking or covering. Here’s how Clinton began her speech: Good morning. I want to thank Secretary West for his years of service, not only as Secretary of the Army, but also to the...

Websters II New College Dictionary: "ghoul": 1. an evil spirit or demon in Muslim folklore said to plunder graves and feed on corpses. 2. a grave robber. 3. One who delights in the morbid or loathsome. 4. A former NYC Mayor who earns tens of million dollars and catapults to frontrunner status among Republican presidential hopefuls by standing on the corpses of 3,000 dead 9/11 victims and hundreds of dead and thousands of sick first responders. For anyone who has watched the career of the angry, egomaniacal, authoritarian, thin-skinned, Nixonian, thrice divorced, former Mayor of NY City, it was just...

The most appealing thing about Hillary Rodham Clinton has always been her enemies, who often seem not in their right mind, screaming that she is a murderer and calling her names like "Her Thighness." They make you want to like her. Yet in interviews across the country with women of all ages, races, income brackets and points of view, one of the rare patches of common ground was skepticism about the first female presidential contender with a serious shot at the White House. Over 18 months, I traveled to 20 states listening to women speak at length about what they...

Sen. Hillary Clinton did it again! The former first-lady-turned-presidental-hopeful broke out in a singsong Southern twang before a black audience -- this time in NYC!. Clinton was addressing the National Action Network, a civil rights group founded by Rev. Al Sharpton, on Friday.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu9TQq0C3Ac

Instead of talking in sweeping platitudes about "ethics reform," Senate Democrats might want to prove they mean it by dumping their ethically challenged majority leader, Harry Reid. The Nevada lawmaker has been implicated in yet another land scheme that this time could net him a tidy $50,000 to $290,000. Los Angeles Times investigative reporters Chuck Neubauer and Tom Hamburger, this week revealed that Reid paid $166 an acre for valuable northern Arizona land whose market value, according to the county assessor, four years ago was worth $2,144 an acre. Who would be a big enough fool to sell Reid the...

Geopolitics: Radical chic is thriving in the whirl of parties at the United Nations these days, and no one is being courted more solicitously as one of the downtrodden than Evo Morales of Bolivia. You remember "radical chic," don't you? The 1960s and 1970s phenomenon, described by Tom Wolfe in his "Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers" tells how New York's glitterati threw black-tie parties to court supposedly "real" revolutionaries — like Black Panthers, Puerto Rican separatists or Indian liberationists — in a bid to feel "authentic." It's been a long time, but radical chic isn't dead. Which explains why...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

Excerpts of former President Bill Clinton's remarks earlier this month at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colo. I don't know how long they can make this old dog hunt. Ever since 2000, the 2002 and 2004 elections were about, "No matter how bad you think we are, you can't vote for them, because you can't trust them to defend the country. And oh, by the way, forget about global warming; let's talk about flag burning and gay marriage." I mean, I just don't know how long you can milk that old cow without its milk running dry. ... My...