Free Republic

They can kill from more than four football fields away, shred police officers' vests, fire up to 75 bullets at a time - and they're increasingly showing up in criminals' hands. Last year, Fort Wayne Police seized 31 semiautomatic rifles, compared with two in 2003, the last year of the federal assault weapons ban that limited the sale of the rifles. The seizure increase and more reports of criminals using the rifles concerns Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York. “The fact that we have these relatively cheap, assault weapon-type firearms out there, it's not only a hazard to the public,...

The Obama administration has taken a look and after production of 187 aircraft, "the administration proposes to terminate the F-22 Raptor program," and close the Raptor production line. ~snip~ The OMB states that the 187 examples of the F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter, supported by the planned fleet growth of Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) to 2,443 aircraft, "will meet DOD's requirements to maintain air superiority." And, according to the OMB, the Department of Defense agrees. But while the F-22 has frequently been attacked for its expense it has rarely (if ever) been attacked for its demonstrated real-world abilities.

On Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough nailed the Washington press corps for its sycophantish performance at the White House Correspondents Association dinner this past Saturday night: “like a bunch of teenage girls waiting for a Bay City Rollers concert, waiting to scream at the top of their [lungs].” Mika Brzezinski, agreeing with Joe, lifted the veil on the goings-on behind the scenes, describing an enraptured TV production crew scrambling to get the most flattering shots of the prez and First Lady. View video here.

My post the other day, MSNBC Hides Obama's Dijon Mustard (aka Dijongate), has hit a nerve unlike anything else I have written. The post concerned the lunch trip of Obama and Biden to a burger shop to get a "Hell Burger." I accept that this should not have been news, but the White House image makers wanted to portray the two as just regular guys out at the local diner, so the event was hyped. MSNBC just happened to be in the burger place with cameras rolling when Obama and Biden came in and ordered. Again, not sure why MSNBC...

Unemployment rate hits 8.9%

Now that we're more than 100 days into the Obama presidency, the handwriting is on the wall regarding our new leader's game plan for America. Spend other people's money like a drunken sailor. Let every enemy on the planet know there's a wimp in the White House. Let every ally know the wimp in the White House will do nothing to help them when push comes to shove. Let the 50 states know there's a power coup in play that strips them of constitutionally guaranteed liberties. Let every company know that neither they nor their non-union employees are safe from...

Michael Savage is banned from the UK. That is not important, the reason why is compelling ... "I think it's important that people understand the sorts of values and sorts of standards that we have here, the fact that it's a privilege to come and the sort of things that mean you won't be welcome in this country," Ms Smith told GMTV. "Coming to this country is a privilege. If you can't live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what's more, now...

Sixteen people banned from entering the UK are "named and shamed" by the Home Office. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she decided to make public the names of 16 people banned since October last year so others could better understand what sort of behaviour Britain was not prepared to tolerate. The list includes hate preachers, anti-gay protesters and a far- right US talk show host.

The Republican base is behaving like a guy who just got dumped by his wife.If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments. It's been a week now, and I still don't know what those "tea bag" protests were about. I saw signs protesting abortion, illegal immigrants, the bank bailout and that gay guy who's going to win "American Idol." But it wasn't tax day that made them crazy; it was election day. Because that's...

House Republicans are calling on Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to step down or be fired in the wake of a controversial department memo that has sparked indignant battle cries from conservatives and some veterans. “Singling out political opponents for working against the ruling party is precisely the tactic of every tyrannical government from Red China to Venezuela," said Texas Rep. John Carter, a member of the party's elected leadership who has organized an hour of floor speeches Wednesday night to call for Napolitano's ouster. “The first step in the process is creating unfounded public suspicion of political opponents, followed...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Millions of people jobless. Billions of dollars in bailouts. Trillions of dollars in U.S. debt. And yet, for the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is on the right track. In a sign that Barack Obama has inspired hopes for a brighter future in the first 100 days of his presidency, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 48 percent of Americans believe the United States is headed in the right direction — compared with 44 percent who disagree. The "right direction" number is up 8 points since February and a remarkable 31...

For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future. Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. It shows most Americans consider their new president to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington. Nobody knows how long...

With growing violence on the U.S.-Mexico border fueled by powerful drug cartels, officials from both countries have been repeating a shocking statistic to suggest this isn't just a Mexican problem. But Obama, Clinton and others have left out important qualifiers when citing the 90 percent statistic, which originates from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency doesn't have statistics for all weapons in Mexico, where gun sales are largely prohibited; it is based on only guns that the Mexican government sent to the ATF for tracing and that the ATF found were traceable.

I am offended, just like an old-fashioned feminist. So, I’m sure, is Mother Gaia herself. Offended, because Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just officially declared carbon dioxide (CO2) to be a poison. (Sigh.) You can’t even expel air anymore without ticking off our PC commissars. Did you know you can die from drinking too much distilled water? Or from breathing too much pure oxygen? Oxidation products actually kill people — they cause a huge variety of fatal diseases. The only solution is to stop breathing. All the molecules of life are also molecules of death. The old medicos used...

"Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste. They are opportunities to do big things." - Rahm Emmanuel In our recent election, many Americans voted for a Savior, not a president. Americans were enamored with the idea of making history in this election, and in that sense we have gotten what we wanted. Unfortunately, Barack Obama is the wrong man, and this is definitely the wrong time. In fact, the timing couldn't be worse. We have in recent years vastly expanded the powers and autonomy of the Executive Branch, removing checks and balances along the way. Owing in...

Obama Repeats '90 Percent' Stat for U.S. Guns Recovered in Mexico The White House stands by the president's use of the word "recovered" in describing the role firearms smuggled from the U.S. play in Mexico's drug war. By Major Garrett FOXNews.com Sunday, April 19, 2009 PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago -- What's the difference between "recovered" and "traceable" when it comes to firearms seized in Mexico's bloody war against drug cartels? The White House says none. But that's a distinction with a difference, even if President Obama used the words interchangeably last week to talk about the role firearms smuggled from...

"I decided not to bring Bo today," President Obama said this morning as he prepared to speak about taxes. And why was he not bringing the family's new six-month-old Portuguese Water Dog? "Because he stepped on my economic speech yesterday," the president joked. With that, the president talked about tax day, making the argument that April 15th will be less painful for most Americans because of his actions. "I know that April 15th isn't exactly everyone's favorite date on the calendar," he said as he stood in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, flanked by nine American taxpayers. "But it is...

BY MOST people’s standards Barack Obama has had an excellent week. He enjoyed a counter-Carter moment when navy commandos rescued an American hostage, leaving three kidnappers dead. He gave a measured speech on the economy. And, to cap it all, he gave his daughters a Portuguese water dog named “Bo”. What’s not to like? Plenty, according to some people. Mr Obama may be widely admired both at home and abroad. But there are millions of Americans who do not like the cut of his jib—and a few whose dislike boils over into white-hot hatred. The American Spectator, which came of...

If the Obama administration has taken flak for suggesting that conservative groups might be home to domestic terrorists, it looks like some House Democrat leaders are willing to go even further: But in an interview on Fox TV in San Francisco, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chalked up the GOP grass-roots effort as “AstroTurf.” “This initiative is funded by the high end; we call it AstroTurf, it's not really a grass-roots movement. It's AstroTurf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class,” Pelosi said....

Yesterday, Roger Hedgecock and the Liberty Papers posted an unclassified DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis report titled:Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.The “report” was one of the most embarrassingly shoddy pieces of propaganda I’d ever read out of DHS. I couldn’t believe it was real.I spent the day chasing down DHS spokespeople, who have been tied up preparing for a very important homeland security event later today: The First Lady is coming to visit their Washington office. Priorities, you know.Well, the press office got back to me and verified that the document...