Free Republic

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he is not flip-flopping when it comes to support of the federal stimulus package championed by Democrats, saying his comments earlier this week to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer were more about the actual stimulus legislation passed by Congress, and not the effort itself. “I think the question posed to me was, ‘Did you endorse this specific bill?’” Crist told reporters Friday after speaking to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices policy institute in Tampa. “And I said, ‘No, I didn’t,’ but the concept I thought, and still believe, was important, necessary and it helped...

We still don’t know what was behind the killings at Ft. Hood this afternoon, in which 11 soldiers and the killer died, but President Obama’s rushed press conference was surprising in its flippancy nonetheless. Before he got to the issue on everyone’s mind — namely the deaths of Americans in uniform — the president gave a “shout-out” to government bureaucrats gathered for a previously scheduled conference at the Interior Department, complete with appreciative chuckles. He treated the event like a pep rally rather than a tragic occasion with a wider audience than those gathered in the room. I wonder how...

NOVEMBER 2, 2009 GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill By GREG HITT WASHINGTON -- Republicans are preparing an alternative health-care bill to Democratic legislation, House Republican Leader John Boehner said, marking a shift in strategy as the full House is set to begin debate on the issue this week. Mr. Boehner said Sunday the Republican bill would extend health-insurance coverage to "millions" of Americans but wouldn't try to match the scope of the House Democratic bill unveiled last week. The Democratic legislation, if passed, is estimated to expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans now without insurance....

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Friday that Americans are in the toughest times he can remember and that President Barack Obama hasn't brought the change in Washington that he promised. The Arizona Republican spoke at a town hall Friday to a couple hundred people at Mesa's Central Christian Church, reiterating many of the same arguments he's made in recent similar events. McCain took to the stage with standing ovations and an aim to address key issues affecting Arizonans, such as the economy, health care reform, the war in Afghanistan, among other things.

Video at link.

Nothing to fear—yet Gene Lyons Nobody should be surprised to see the nation’s esteemed celebrity news media align with FOX News against the White House, although even a cynical observer like me found the unanimity mildly shocking. Don’t they remember what journalism was supposed to be? Supposedly, the press regulates its own behavior. In reality, that’s been a joke for two decades. “Claiming the moral authority of a code of professional ethics it idealizes in the abstract but repudiates in practice,” I wrote in 2003, “today’s Washington press corps has grown as decadent and self-protective as any politician or interest...

Super Gaff-O-Matic! Biden Reveals Entire Fisker LineupBy Marty Padgett October 27th, 2009 Auto Show picture of concept Fisker Karma S Vice President Joe Biden, known for repeated instances of foot-in-mouth disease, unwittingly spilled the beans on Fisker Automotive's plan for a Delaware-built, three-vehicle family of plug-in hybrids. Fox News reports that Biden told press gathered in Wilmington, Del., that Fisker would eventually build 100,000 plug-in hybrid sedans, coupes and crossovers "every single year." In a follow-up interview, founder Henrik Fisker told Fox that Biden "definitely told what our product plans are." Fisker's gambit in the government's full-court press for electrified...

In 12 years, Antoine Walker(notes) made more than $110 million playing professional basketball moderately well. Take away taxes, throw in some adidas endorsement money and a "NBA Live 99" cover, and he's left with, what, $60-to-65 million? Whatever the details, it was a big chunk of change, which, amazingly, wasn't enough. "[Walker] liked to move in an outsized entourage; his mother estimates that, during his playing days, he was supporting 70 friends and family members in one way or another. And speaking of his mother, he built her a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10...

Republicans on Wednesday called for an investigation into allegations that President Barack Obama gave top donors special access to the White House. The Republican National Committee (RNC) demanded an investigation into a report published in The Washington Times that top donors to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had been rewarded with access to privileged White House tours, behind-the-scenes briefings and other perks. "The seriousness of this issue requires an immediate investigation looking into the degree and details of fundraising efforts between the White House and DNC, whether there was any quid pro quo offered to donors, and the names of...

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) appeared on the Neil Cavuto show, and was asked for his take on the NY-23 special election, which has seen a split in Republican ranks between supporters of moderate GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava, against Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman.

BBC LATEST: Headline Only US President Obama Says He Will Not Rush "Solemn Decision" To Commit Troops To Afghanistan

House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) stressed Wednesday that both parties needed to work together to rein in the "reckless spending" that has brought federal deficit to its record high. In an op-ed published this morning in the USA Today, Boehner also responded to the editorial board's criticism that his party was without "credible conservative ideas for fixing" the country's burgeoning federal deficit and debt -- an argument, he said, that overlooked the many alternative plans his colleagues have offered to stabilize the economy and address such issues as climate change and healthcare reform. "As I've stated before, Republicans lost...

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - January 6, 2009 (SocalWeather.Org) Hurricane Force Santa Ana Winds Set To Pound Southern California Growing concerns that damaging Santa Ana Winds are about to hit Southern California prompts a Santa Ana Wind Watch. The Southern California Weather Authority has issued a Santa Ana Wind Watch effective this Friday until next week. The Santa Ana Wind pattern is upon us and we will most likely see damaging winds in the area. The weather authority issued a press release on January 4, 2009 that spoke of the event. Project UJEAS ES1 handled the event well and the "in the...

The Southern California Weather Authority has issued a Santa Ana Wind Warning effective Friday into next week. The warning has replaced the Santa Ana Wind Watch was means a pending situation is on hand. The warning signals that the more serious event is likely to happen and conditions are favorable for such. "These values are nearly the same as the strong event of October 2007, "said Meteorologist Kevin Martin of the Southern California Weather Authority. "I do know for sure that hurricane force winds will happen in some populated zones. The pass and canyon regions will open up best overnight...

Meteorologist Kevin Martin predicted in the Summer of 2008 that the California rainy season would be above average in many spots and give an edge on the state's suffered drought. We are in a state of emergency due to the drought in California. We haven't seen much rain where it is needed for several years. That is just the way California is. SCWXA Meteorologist Kevin Martin expects March to bring more storms to help the drought situation.

Once again, the nightly train wreck known as CNN Headline News "The Joy Behar Show" took another jab at conservatism, particularly Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Only this time, Behar threw in a couple of old standbys for whom lefties are fixated upon assaulting - former President George W. Bush and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Behar, on her Oct. 17 CNN HLN program, suggested to radio show talk host and former child-star actor Danny Bonaduce there was a trend - that people who have had struggles with chemical addictions are now outspoken, particularly those on the right that Behar...

(CNN) – Meghan McCain says she's ready to quit Twitter all together after generating a wave of criticism from users of the popular social networking site Wednesday night for posting a picture of herself in a tank top that left little to the twitterverse's imagination. The controversy began quietly enough when McCain, the vocal daughter of the former Republican presidential candidate, tweeted that her self described "spontaneous" night in included reading a biography of the iconic artist Andy Warhol and ordering takeout. It was there the 24-year old McCain posted the photo of herself wearing a tank top that generated...

ANYTHING to distract from passage of Obamacare!

Yesterday, Emily Gillette filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont, setting the stage for a legal battle, according to the Burlington Free Press. Three years ago, Gillette, her husband, Brad, and their then 22-month-old daughter, River, were ordered to leave a plane at Vermont's Burlington International Airport. It was a New York-bound Delta Connections flight operated by Freedom Airlines. Gillette was nursing River when a flight attendant asked her to cover up. Gillette refused. The flight attendant asked again, offering a blanket. The then 27-year-old mother continued to refuse. The flight attendant "pointed to the exit...

In the Long Run, the GOP Must Be Inclusive. BY MICHAEL GERSON Mel Martinez's recent resignation from the U.S. Senate was for personal and family reasons. But the departure of the Republican Party's most visible Hispanic leader crackles with political symbolism. Martinez does not consider himself disillusioned, but he is "frustrated." "There are lots of Hispanics to the right of you and me on immigration," he told me, "but they think, 'Republicans just don't like us.' " Martinez makes clear that a number of his Senate colleagues were "conservative, but not inflammatory." Other elected Republicans, however, made "pretty divisive use...

(President Barack Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., pause atop the stairs from Air Force One upon their arrival at Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 15. Sen. Specter trails Pa. Republican Senate Candidate Pat Toomey in a new Quinnipiac University poll.) (Joseph Kaczmarek/Associated Press) Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey now leads incumbent Democrat Arlen Specter 43 percent to 42 percent among the state’s registered voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Mr. Specter switched parties from Republican to Democratic in April, explaining that he had no interest in staying in a party that would not nominate him...

Senator Rowland Burris of Illinois, the Senator who was appointed to fill President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, blames George Bush for Chicago not getting the Olympics in 2016. Burris stated in an interview, shortly after the announcement, that the image of the U. S. has been so tarnished in the last 8 years that, even Barack Obama making an unprecedented pitch for the games could not overcome the hatred the world has for us as a result of George Bush.

A communique from the conscience of our nation, who was so troubled by Joe Wilson’s outburst that she not only made sure he was censured — after he apologized to Obama — but then proceeded to tear up publicly over the state of political discourse in America, just to let you know how much she cares. How much ? This much: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says there’s no reason for Rep. Alan Grayson to apologize for his “Die quickly” remark, since Republicans have made statements just as outrageous as his. “If anybody’s going apologize, everybody should apologize,” Pelosi told...

"I think it's kind of an exciting time. I mean, everyone is cutting back. It's happening in every industry - including our own.”

With growing pressure for decisions on life-or-death issues in Afghanistan and Iran, this morning the White House announced that President Obama will soon travel to…Copenhagen. Obama will be in Denmark for just a few hours -- he leaves this Thursday and returns Friday -- which is just enough time to make a pitch for Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. He'll be following First Lady Michelle Obama, who is also going to Copenhagen as part of the promote-Chicago team. Here is the White House press release:.....

As I reported yesterday, talk show host and MSNBC’s lowest rated host Ed Schultz Wednesday stated Republicans “want to see you dead,� “kinda like it� when women without insurance get cancer, and suggested Sen. Olympia Snowe allow cancerous tumors to spread through her body for two weeks before seeking treatment. Last night, he offered wimpy “clarifications� that neither apologized for his outrageous remarks nor clarified anything. At one point, he made a defense out of his character, saying, “for clarification, those of you who watch ‘The Ed Show’ or listen to the Ed Schultz radio show, you know exactly...

A man has been arrested in France after driving to a police station to distribute Alcoholics Anonymous leaflets - while drunk. Gendarmes became suspicious when they smelled alcohol on the 56-year-old man's breath, after he arrived to drop off the pamphlets at the station in Neuf-Brisach, eastern France. A blood test revealed that he had almost twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. The man, who has a previous drink-driving conviction, has had his licence confiscated, and is due to appear in court in December, where he could face up to four years in jail.

Barack Obama got to play peacemaker during his staged meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. In a throwback to Bill Clinton's famous photo op on the White House Lawn with Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, Obama stood between the men, holding their arms as the two shook hands.

(SNIP) Looney was demonstrating how to use the different safety mechanisms on several guns. Witnesses told authorities that Looney would put the guns to his head, ask his girlfriend if she thought the gun would go off, then pull the trigger.

Another moment of lunacy from this nation’s biggest Oval Office mistake of the 20th century — which may be akin to saying “water is still wet,” but we should be keeping a tally. While in Columbia, former President Jimmy Carter told an interviewer that the Bush administration “could have been involved” in the 2002 coup attempt against Venezuelan wanna-be dictator Hugo Chavez. Dan Calabrese unloads on America’s worst ex-president: On Sunday, Jimmeh told the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo that he believes the Bush Administration was likely behind a coup against Hugo Chavez in 2002 in Venezuela. “I think there is...

(Wellford, SC)—The Mayor of Wellford is defending her policy which bans police officers in that city from chasing suspects. Sallie Peake says the policy also includes vehicle chases along with pursuits on foot. A memo issued on September 2nd from Peake to all Wellford officers reads: “As of this date, there are to be no more foot chases when a suspect runs. I do not want anyone chasing after any suspects whatsoever.“

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said she worries that the protests of President Obama's health-care legislation may be of a similar nature to anti-gay rhetoric in the late 1970s in San Francisco, which culminated in the assassinations of two of her home town's political leaders. Pelosi, responding to a question about anti-Obama sentiment, said that partisans on all sides of an issue have the right to voice their opinion. But after pausing, she added: "I have concerns about some of the language that is being used, because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco....

Some unprecedented news today, folks. Never in the history of the United Nations has a U.S. President taken the chairmanship of the powerful UN Security Council. Perhaps it is because of what could arguably be a Constitutional prohibition against doing so. To wit: Section 9 of the Constitution says:

Caption the Sith Lord Obama.

For some people in this country, Obama will always be an angel.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former President George W. Bush "seemed to feel considerable unease" with John McCain as the Republican presidential nominee, according to ex-speechwriter Matt Latimer in his tell-all memoir on his days in the White House. In Latimer's new book, "Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor," set to hit bookstores on September 22, he reveals Bush's reactions to the economic collapse, the presidential campaign, and other memorable events. GQ published an excerpt from the memoir in its October issue. Latimer said Bush liked Mitt Romney best and that he was "clearly not impressed with the McCain operation." Latimer...

An semi-armless teenager who acted as getaway driver on a jewellery heist, driving at 100mph during a police pursuit "despite needing somebody to change the gears for him", has escaped jail, the Telegraph reports. John Smith, 18 - who has no arms below the elbow - was in charge of a Ford Focus during the robbery of Ernest Jones in Hempstead Valley shopping centre near Rainham, Kent, on 17 December last year.

GREER, S.C. -- Police in South Carolina say a man is recovering in a Georgia burn center after he chased a rabbit into a power station and was shocked with thousands of volts of electricity. Asher had been listed as a missing person before he walked into a Greer hospital nude and covered with burns. The 38-year-old man climbed an electrical transformer assembly, likely grabbing equipment that had 100,000 volts of electricity running through it. Authorities have not said why he was chasing the rabbit.

Did President Obama's speech Wednesday night detailing more about his health care plan change your mind?

~ EXCERPT ~ Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) apologized Wednesday night to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for shouting “You lie!” during President Obama’s healthcare speech before a joint session of Congress. Emanuel accepted Wilson’s apology on behalf of the president, according to a Democratic source familiar with the call. In addition to his phone call to Emanuel, Wilson also issued a statement separately, calling his comments “inappropriate and regrettable.”

(snip) McCain also spoke about the raft of national spending bills over the past year, including the $787 billion financial bailout of 2008, $700 billion for the stimulus plan and the $83 billion rescue of the auto industry. Taken with other measures, the spending would saddle the country with as much as $9 trillion of debt future generations would have to pay, the senator said. "What I'm wary about is that we're committing an act of generational theft," McCain said.(snip) He advocated for reforms of Medicare, saying the system likely would go broke within seven years if Congress and the...

<p>I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.</p> <p>I made a first post in the general section yesterday and would like to see what sort of opinions I can find here amongst those who perhaps have a more relogiously attuned perspective.</p>

China alarmed by US money printing The US Federal Reserve's policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy By Comment on this article Working for the Yankee dollar: Beijing is said to be dismayed by the Fed's recourse to 'credit easing' Photo: Reuters Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee and now head of China's green energy drive, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed's recourse to "credit easing". "We hope...

Shortly after the announcement of Ted Kennedy's death, I had already received several interview requests. I declined them, not wanting to be uncharitable to the man upon his death. Since then, I've seen the need to step up and provide some clarification. The issue is a remarkable 1983 KGB document on Kennedy, which I published in my 2006 book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism (HarperCollins). The document is a May 14, 1983 memo from KGB head Victor Chebrikov to his boss, the odious Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov, designated with the highest classification. It concerns a...

Barack Obama is committing the same mistakes made by policymakers during the Great Depression, according to a new study endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan. By Edmund Conway Published: 06 Sep 2009 History repeating itself? President Obama has been accused by some economists of making the same mistakes policymakers in the US made in the Great Depression, which followed the Wall Street crash of 1929. His policies even have the potential to consign the US to a similar fate as Argentina, which suffered a painful and humiliating slide from first to Third World status last century, the paper says. There...

Sen. John McCain blasted Democrats' plans for a health-care overhaul Friday in Oro Valley at the annual conference of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. In a generally jovial mood at the Hilton El Conquistador Golf and Tennis Resort, before an adoring crowd that gave him two standing ovations, he joked: "Every place I go, everybody says, 'I voted for ya,' 'I voted for ya.' I'm about to demand a recount." . . . . . On whether he would vote for health-care reform if the public option were removed:"It would have to depend on the legislation. There are...

Do you think President Obama’s planned web cast speech to grade school students is appropriate?

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker Believes There is Still Room for Compromise on Health Care. BY SHAILAGH MURRAY Republican Sen. Bob Corker stood before a packed high school auditorium this week for his 24th and final town hall meeting of the summer, sketching out his vision for the bipartisan health-care plan he says he is convinced Congress can pass.

Once again, a NASA space probe is supporting the 6,000-year biblical age of the solar system...

TEA PARTY EXPRESS CONDEMNS HARRY REID’S ATTACK ON LAS VEGAS NEWSPAPER Reid Expresses Hope for Job Losses of Hundreds at Las Vegas Paper As the Tea Party Express (website: http://www.TeaPartyExpress.org) crosses through Nevada (holding 5 tea party rallies in the state), the Las Vegas Review Journal newspaper is reporting that Senator Harry Reid launched a broadside against the newspaper, telling advertising director Bob Brown: “I hope you go out of business.” At a time when Nevada is suffering an unemployment rate of over 12%, Harry Reid has revealed he hopes hundreds more will become unemployed at the Las Vegas newspaper....