Free Republic

It was "completely inappropriate" for Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly to ask President Obama about the people who "hate" him, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday. Pelosi said O'Reilly's question, during an interview before Sunday's Super Bowl, made her wince upon hearing it again on Monday. "Just seeing it again ... I thought was a completely inappropriate question, of course beautifully handled by the president," Pelosi told host Gayle King on the Oprah Radio network. "To hear this used in the presence of the president of the United States — I think we all have to recognize that...

Their lavish wedding last summer had the world captivated. But it seems that the honeymoon period is already over for Chelsea Clinton and her new husband. Marc Mezvinsky has quit his job as an investment banker in favour of a three-month break at the exclusive ski resort of Jackson Hole in Wyoming. But rather than accompanying her husband on the extended break, the Secretary of State's daughter will be remaining in New York instead. The nature of the couple's temporary separation remains something of a mystery. Mr Mezvinsky, 33, is still listed as a partner on the website of hedge...

It's a metaphysical certitude that whenever anything happens in the Middle East, the media will quickly blame former President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Not missing the opportunity to do so, Chris Matthews began the 5PM installment of "Hardball" Friday connecting the riots in Egypt to a man that has been out of office for two years (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Trouble on the Nile. Let`s play HARDBALL. Good evening. I`m Chris Matthews in Washington. Leading off tonight: Unrest in Egypt. Proving the Iraq war wasn`t needed, these protests in Egypt, as...

Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday. He was 96. LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said. LaLanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end, Hersh said. "I have not only lost my husband and a great American icon, but the best friend and most loving partner anyone could ever hope for," Elaine...

From Tritter: Michael Steele drops out of RNC chair race, saying: "It's very clear that the party wants to do something different." - NBC Story developing....

In the span of a single news cycle, Republicans got a jarring reminder of two forces that could prevent them from retaking the presidency in next year. At sunrise in the East on Wednesday, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has little interest — or capacity — in moving beyond her brand of grievance-based politics. And at sundown in the West, Barack Obama reminded even his critics of his ability to rally disparate Americans around a message of reconciliation. Palin was defiant, making the case in a taped speech she posted online why the nation’s heated political debate should continue unabated...

The eldest son of disgraced financier Bernard Madoff hanged himself by a dog leash in his apartment Saturday after two years of "unrelenting pressure" following his father's arrest in a multibillion-dollar fraud that enveloped the entire family, law enforcement officials and a family attorney said. Mark Madoff was found hanging from a ceiling pipe in the living room of his SoHo loft apartment on Saturday, the second anniversary of Madoff's arrest in a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that swindled thousands of investors of their life savings, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. His 2-year-old son was sleeping in the...

President Obama on Monday proposed a two-year freeze on federal pay, saying federal workers must sacrifice to reduce the nation’s budget deficit. Obama made the announcement a day before he is to meet with Republican leaders about a lame-duck session expected to be dominated by tax and spending issues. Obama called for Republicans and Democrats to come together with a renewed sense of sobriety in dealing with the federal deficit, beginning with the two-year freeze on federal pay. “The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require some hard sacrifice,” Obama said in remarks from...

Legendary funny man Leslie Nielsen died today of complications of pneumonia in a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, this according to his agent. He was 84. His agent tells TMZ Nielsen passed surrounded by his wife and friends at about 5:34 PM ET. Nielsen was best known for his roles in "Airplane" and the "Naked Gun" series. His "Airplane" co-star, Barbara Billingsley, passed away last month. Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious. Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley. Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it? Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay—once one of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress—was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts against DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces up to life in prison on the money laundering charge. Prosecutors said DeLay, who once held the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives and whose heavy-handed style earned him the nickname "the Hammer," used his political action committee to...

Jimmy Carter said Sunday that Fox News commentators including Glenn Beck have “deliberately distorted” the news. Speaking on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” Sunday, the former Democratic president took aim at the cable news channel climate, often a target for President Obama as well who says he tries to avoid the cable chatter. “The talk shows with Glenn Beck and others on Fox News, I think, have deliberately distorted the news. And it’s become highly competitive,” Carter said. “And my Republican friends say that MSNBC might be just as biased on the other side in supporting the Democratic Party, the liberal element.”...

A tutorial on how to carve a pumpkin by shooting it and carve a Jack-O-Lantern. See video here!

RASMUSSEN: The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 25% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20.

Worst... President... Ever... Barack Obama added a new line to his speech yesterday. Now he says, “Republicans gotta sit in back.” Classy.

<p>The wife of the imam behind the Ground Zero Victory Mosque told ABC they have received death threats… But they’re going ahead with their mosque anyway.</p> <p>On the same broadcast Muslim leader Anjem Choudary, a former British solicitors and Islamic cleric, told an audience this week that eventually you’ll see global Islamic rule including here in the United States.</p>

He was arrested for protecting his property and family. But it’s how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line. He got an AK-47 assault rifle, pulled the trigger and he ended up in jail, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman. George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home. “I went around...

Pop-singer Sheryl Crow has always been outspoken about her own political views, but now she's telling former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to zip it. "I saw you ranting on TV today, I heard you tell me to reload. You got a lot of nerve to talk that way, someone unplug the microphone," sings Crow in her new anthem, "Say What You Want," which was released in late July. The angsty, politically-charged song makes plenty of references to "kool-aid drinking," "talking heads" and, of course, "ignorance." "I'm tired of all the fighting, cynicism and back biting. Can't even hear myself...

It seems like a nice gesture – an e-mail message from a loving wife, urging thousands of people to join her in wishing her husband a happy 49th birthday by signing an electronic birthday card. But in Washington, D.C., nothing is that simple. The wife, in this case, is First lLdy Michelle Obama, and the message is being sent by the Democratic Party to people on its list nationwide. And underlying the birthday wishes, the message is political: The electronic card to Barack Obama also is a Democratic Party fundraiser.“Every year, our family tries to come up with a fun...

<p>A House committee has filed ethics charges against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.).</p> <p>The charges were announced in a statement from the chairwoman and ranking Republican on the House ethics committee.</p> <p>The statement said an investigative subcommittee had transmitted a “statement of alleged violation” against Rangel, and that the House ethics panel would set up subcommittee to determine whether any counts in the statement “have been proved by clear and convincing evidence and to make findings of fact.”</p>

Former President Bill Clinton said Sunday that Barack Obama is doing a “better job than he’s given credit for.” Clinton, speaking in Cape Town, South Africa as part of the Fortune/Time/CNN Global Forum, said that public perception of the president has lagged behind what he has done to benefit the country. “I think he's done a better job than he's given credit for,” Clinton said. “I feel very strongly about this.” The former president, who, like Obama, saw his polling numbers dip dramatically during his second year in office, said that Obama is not fully “responsible” for how he is...