Free Republic

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Chris Dodd's barbers are back. The Democratic presidential candidate began running two television ads in Iowa on Thursday that feature actors playing small-town barbers. The barbers, used in a previous Dodd ad, take swipes at rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards. One commercial shows the barbers in their shop, watching a Clinton ad in which she discusses her plan to expand health coverage. "Is that a new plan?" asks one barber. "The only way you're going to get health care passed is to bring Democrats and Republicans together," the other says. The exchange highlights Clinton's...

Police this week are continuing their investigation into a Florida man believed to be the former chief of staff for a U.S. senator who crashed the fundraiser of Presidential candidate John Edwards in Chilmark on Friday by passing himself off as a campaign official. Police say 31-year-old Michael Duga used a credential identifying himself as the chief of staff to former Sen. Maxwell Cleland of Georgia to gain access to the event. Once inside, he purported to be a top official for the Edwards campaign to some while representing himself as a paying guests to others. According to Mr. MacDonald,...

ELIZABETH EDWARDS complained to the Progressive magazine that anti-war critics such as Sen. Barack Obama are "behaving in a holier-than-thou" manner on Iraq. Too bad for Edwards that Obama opposed the war in Iraq in 2002, while her husband then-Sen. John Edwards - as well as Sens. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Christopher Dodd - voted for the Iraq war resolution. Holier-than-thou anti-war Democrats. Isn't that phrase redundant? Elizabeth Edwards now is more than John Edwards' wife. She has become his Spiro Agnew. Remember Agnew, President Richard M. Nixon's first vice president and designated hatchet man, known famously for dismissing...

If he weren't rich, handsome and so well married, you might feel a little sorry for John Edwards. Never before in the 231-year history of our republic have the inalienable traits that Edwards possesses -- his fair skin and a Y chromosome -- been anything but a prerequisite for presidential politics. Today, his race and gender stand a chance of derailing his campaign altogether. (snip) The Edwards campaign presents his progressive evolution as a return to his core beliefs. "In 2004 he was consultant-driven," says Moulitsas. "In his gut he was against the war, but Bob Shrum talked him into...

Just as our troops are fighting the terrorists in Iraq so we don't have to face them here at home, I watched the Democratic Party presidential debate on Monday so you wouldn't need to let those egregious people into your own living rooms. (Although, obviously, our troops in Iraq face deadly duty, while I only face deadly dull duty.) But I did learn a few things. For the first time Monday, CNN provided us with sustained close-up shots of Sen. John Edwards' haircut, and I can now understand why he paid between $400-$1,200 a cut. At middle range, it looks...

RUSH: Story today, John Solomon, Washington Post. "Splitting Hairs, Edwards's Stylist Tells His Side of Story. For four decades, Joseph Torrenueva has cut the hair of Hollywood celebrities, from Marlon Brando to Bob Barker," did you see, by the way, speaking of Bob Barker, the Clintons were in some sort of Fourth of July parade yesterday or day before, they were out there in Iowa for four days, and apparently some old women that were just there, because it's something to do to get out of the house, saw Clinton and Hillary walking down the street and they started screaming,...

For four decades, Joseph Torrenueva has cut the hair of Hollywood celebrities, including Marlon Brando and Bob Barker, so when a friend told him in 2003 that a presidential candidate needed grooming advice, he agreed to help. The Beverly Hills hairstylist, a Democrat, said he hit it off with then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) at a meeting in Los Angeles that brought several fashion experts together to advise the candidate on his appearance. Since then, Torrenueva has cut Edwards's hair at least 16 times. At first, the haircuts were free. But because Torrenueva often had to fly somewhere on the campaign...

One of the leading Democrat candidates, known for his fabulously-coiffed hair, believes that we need not be concerned with the global Islamic fascists. Yes, presidential hopeful Senator John Edwards gives speeches that dramatically minimize what he calls "the Bush administration's War on Terror." He is certainly not an ignorant man, yet like other Democrats, he is willing to sell out America, Iraq, and our troops for his own political gain. Immediately after the attacks of 9/11/01, most people understood that terrorism is real and not just a "bumper sticker slogan." However Señor Fancy Face is putting forth more than his...

Link Only: Democrats prefer Edwards in new poll

Iran bans 'Western' haircuts for men April 30, 2007 TEHRAN'S barbers are to stop offering Iranian men unconventional Western hairstyles amid a nationwide crackdown on dressing deemed to be unIslamic, the Etemad newspaper reported on Sunday. The paper quoted the head of the Tehran barbers' association as saying police had issued a directive forbidding its members from giving men offbeat hairstyles that are all the rage in more affluent parts of the capital. "Currently some salons use Western grooming methods to create styles that are in line with the European and American ones," said the association's head, Mohammad Eftekhari-Fard. "The...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat John Edwards is trying to get out of a hairy situation, reimbursing his presidential campaign $800 for two visits with a Beverly Hills stylist. Two $400 cuts by stylist Joseph Torrenueva, who told The Associated Press that the former North Carolina senator is a longtime client, showed up on Edwards' campaign spending reports filed this weekend. Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz said it never should have been there. "The bill was sent to the campaign. It was inadvertently paid," Schultz said. "John Edwards will be reimbursing the campaign." Edwards is also the subject of a popular YouTube...

WASHINGTON - Looking pretty is costing John Edwards' presidential campaign a lot of pennies. The Democrat's campaign committee picked up the tab for two haircuts at $400 each by celebrity stylist Joseph Torrenueva of Beverly Hills, Calif., according to a financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission. FEC records show Edwards also availed himself of $250 in services from a trendy salon and spa in Dubuque, Iowa, and $225 in services from the Pink Sapphire in Manchester, N.H., which is described on its Web site as "a unique boutique for the mind, body and face" that caters mostly to...

Apparently, Kevin Federline wasn't the only warm-blooded being Britney Spears ousted from her home this year. Once the proud owner of pampered pooches Bit-Bit, Lacy and Lucky, Spears ended the year dog-less, a feat that earned her the title of World's Worst Celebrity Dog Owner in an online poll of readers of Hollywood Dog and New York Dog magazines. "Britney was the overwhelming choice," editor Hilary O'Hagan said in a statement. "She once had three Chihuahuas and never left home without at least one of them on her arm. As soon as she met K-Fed and had kids, they disappeared."...

With the global rise of political Islamism, many pundits have recently begun paying closer attention to the writings of Egyptian scholar and Muslim Brotherhood publicist Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), whose radical Milestones and 30-volume In the Shade of the Koran are said to be masterpieces of jihadist thought and persuasion. These writings, which some analysts consider to be an ideological influence on violent Islamist movements such as al-Qaida, contain an uncompromising anti-Western slant that Qutb supports with observations from his travel experiences in the United States. In these classic jihadist works, Qutb is never all that specific about how and where...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents Friday near the notorious airport road and other districts of western Baghdad, arresting nearly 60 people as the sounds of a rousing song, "Where are the terrorists now?" blared from police car loudspeakers. The fiercest clashes occurred in the Jihad district along the main road to Baghdad International Airport — scene of numerous bombings and ambushes. U.S. attack helicopters roamed the skies and the rattle of automatic weapons fire echoed through the streets as motorists abandoned their vehicles and merchants shuttered their shops. Iraqi troops armed with rifles and machine guns blocked...

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Apollo moon mission astronaut Neil Armstrong has threatened to sue a barbershop owner who collected Armstrong's hair after a trim and sold it for $3,000. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, used to go to Marx's Barber Shop in Lebanon about once a month for a cut. That stopped when he learned that owner Marx Sizemore had collected his hair clippings from the floor and sold them in May 2004 to a collector. "I didn't deny it or anything," Sizemore said. "I told him I did it." Sizemore said Armstrong asked him to try...

Love it or hate it, you have to admit: A mullet hairstyle is distinctive There are two kinds of people in this country, and forget that blue-state, red-state thing. You're either for a mullet or against a mullet. What's a mullet? Do not mock us. Yes, a mullet is a spiny-finned, feeble-toothed fish, but we all know it's so much more. A mullet is a hairstyle characterized by the hair cut short in front and on the sides but kept long down the back. It's not a cutting-edge style. But recently, the mullet has re-emerged as a pop culture object...

If I was on one of my adventures around the world, I am about positive I would love to meet Senator John Kerry and his interesting, outspoken, alternate wife. They are fluent in worldly matters and could partake in lively conversations on global issues. As an Australian, I am filled with interest meeting people from every walk of life. Always. That’s the essence of my culture. But, there are some people you would love to have a beer with but would never do business with. That’s the savvy, yet kind, heart of Australia… you can welcome everyone, but never give...

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry flew his Washington hairdresser to Pittsburgh for a touch-up on the Friday before his recent appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Matt Drudge writes at www.drudgereport.com. Cristophe stylist Isabelle Goetz was flown to Pittsburgh at great cost, Mr. Drudge said. "Her entire schedule had to be rearranged," an anonymous source said. A Kerry campaign spokesman refused to say whether the hairdresser flew by private jet on April 16 or on the official Kerry For President campaign plane. "The total expense for the hair touch-up is estimated to be more than $1,000," Mr. Drudge said, citing...