Free Republic

I have some breaking news to report: The AZ Conservative site and stories written by John Semmens are SATIRE. As in The Onion. As in Aristophanes. As in Jonathon Swift. They are NOT real news stories. Many FReepers are becoming koolaid drinkers over SATIRICAL CONTENT. It is not real. It is meant for your amusement. Please realize this lest we turn into Daily Kos of the right. That is all.

Stand up and Fight!

Not everyone's drinking the Kool-Aid these days. Larry Carlton, a guitar player's guitar player, happened to be doing a series of shows in Chelsea this weekend, at the Blue Note.He played masterfully for an hour and a half, with a pick-up bassist (can't recall his name) and drummer (Billy Kilson, "one of the world's best," according to Mr. Carlton) . It was a rather smoothy-jazzy affair, without the ass-kicking solo work I'd hoped to hear, but after all it was a Sunday night, 8pm show (for those unfamiliar with Larry Carlton, he's the ace that played the great solo on...

McCain slammed economic adviser Phil Gramm for his “mental recession” and “nation of whiners” comment. He said he didn’t agree with him and even proposed a position in a McCain administration -- ambassador to Belarus, “though I’m not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that,” McCain said. “I don’t agree with Sen. Gramm,” McCain said at a news conference this afternoon. “I believe that the person here in Michigan who just lost their job, isn’t suffering from a ‘mental recession.’ The mother here who is trying to get enough money to feed her children, isn’t ‘whining.’” “Phil Gramm doesn’t...

He’s harbored the dream of being president for quite a long time. He’s been through this presidential business once before. He’s been blessed with decades of access to the nation’s best, brightest, most accomplished minds. He sewed up his nomination months before his rival. Yet, to this point in the campaign, the man who hopes to loom extra large in the public consciousness has steadily diminished from John McCain to a Johnny evocative of a candidate in the last presidential election. The stock response for this diminution is to blame it on managers who haven’t brought focus to John’s campaign,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nothing personal, Sen. Obama, but our re-election comes first. Barack Obama, for all his attention and primary successes, does not go over so well in a fair number of Democratic lawmakers' home districts. So it seems there is little chance that some will endorse him for president.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has launched a Web site to dispel rumors about his faith and patriotism and his wife's views on race that have dogged his candidacy for more than a year.

Can someone please post this AP article? To quote the story's first sentence: "Call them Kool-Aid drinkers."

Obama has twice apologized since implying that U.S. troops had died in vain, telling a rally crowd in Ames, Iowa, on Sunday, "We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized, and should never been waged, and on which we have now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sometimes touted as a contender for the Republican vice-presidential slot, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has aired her thoughts on race in the United States, a prominent issue in the presidential election campaign. Rice, the top ranking African-American in President George W. Bush's cabinet, told The Washington Times she had watched Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama's major speech on race last week. "I think it was important that he (Obama) gave it for a whole host of reasons," said Rice in a transcript of the interview released by the State Department on Friday. Obama would be...

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Their Republican friends were aghast. "They told us we're crazy, that if Barack Obama gets elected the first thing he'll do is raise taxes and take all our money," Robert Stross says with a laugh. But Stross, 39, and his wife Ann Wann, 41 -- both lifelong Republicans -- knew what they were in for. They knew when they disclosed in this space back in February 2007 that they were fed up with George Bush and were joining the Obama for president movement, that they would endure a lot of flack from their fellow Republicans. Indeed, just a day or...

The increasing vitriol of the Democratic presidential WrestleMania shouldn't distract from the opportunity before progressives. The election this year has the potential to be not simply a change election but a sea-change election, one that marks the end of the conservative era that has dominated our politics for nearly three decades. It could be the progressive equivalent of the conservative triumph of 1980. In 1980 Ronald Reagan, the self-described "movement conservative," took the White House from incumbent Jimmy Carter while Republicans picked up thirty-four seats in the House and gained control of the Senate, sweeping out liberal stalwarts like George...

The pic begs for a good caption...have at it! Looks pretty chilly to be hawking Kool-Aid...but then cultists have a different nearvous system apparently.

As he noted in his State of the Union address, the President will be hosting the North American Leaders' Summit on April 21-22 in New Orleans. This fourth meeting of North American leaders since 2005 will continue our work on Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) initiatives. It will also serve as an opportunity for the three leaders to discuss hemispheric and global issues of importance to North America.

At the Mackinac Island Conference we began Plan B: Promoting her as a VP. This strategy cut down on our costs significantly, and was more appealing to those who already had a favorite for Pres. Mr. Rusher explained the demographic aspect of the idea: appealing to black voters and female voters. These two blocks are DNC strongholds. This is a good idea strategically, BUT we need to focus on what she has done under the Bush presidencies (both 41 and 43). *As an expert on Russian affairs, she was able to stand up to Yeltsin and build relations with Putin....

Even with their candidate out of the race, Fred Thompson’s supporters can make a big impact in Florida. They should do so by supporting Rudy Giuliani. More than any other candidate, Rudy matches Thompson’s conservative credentials in the three most important areas: he offers a conservative economic policy, an explicit promise to nominate only “strict constructionist” judges, and a strong dedication to national security. On the economy, social issues, and defense, a Giuliani presidency will take the nation in a clearly conservative direction—and he can actually beat Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in November. With a win—or a strong showing—in...

* Immigration: As late as last year, the candidate who now ridicules amnesty proposals said: "I don't believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country. With these 11 million people, let's have them registered, know who they are. Those who've been arrested or convicted of crimes shouldn't be here; those that are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship, as they would from their home country.'' Wasn't that pretty much the Bush party line? * Gun control: He supported bans on so-called "assault weapons."...

The smiling photo of Gavin Newsom and the city seal emblazoned on a booklet called "The Way to Happiness" sure make it seem as though San Francisco's mayor is heartily endorsing Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings. The booklet's back cover even shows a letter of support purportedly written by Newsom that echoes some of the mayor's favorite buzzwords: San Francisco is "a city of innovation" and is "the finest city in the world." But the giveaway is in the second paragraph, in which the fictitious letter from Newsom says San Francisco is home to "740,000 souls." He usually prefers...

The far left’s campaign to rehabilitate the CBS Killian memos and attack the bloggers who discredited them is in full bloom today, as Sidney Blumenthal makes a ludicrous, stupid accusation in an article for Salon.com: Dan Rather stands by his story. "..Within minutes of the conclusion of the broadcast, conservative bloggers launched a counterattack. The chief of these critics was a Republican Party activist in Georgia. Almost certainly, these bloggers, who had been part of meetings or conference calls organized by Karl Rove’s political operation, coordinated their actions with Rove’s office..." Rove? Karl Rove? If only this Blumenthal tool knew...

It is clear that Rudy Giuliani is the right man at the right time. Rudy is already showing the leadership skills of a President and it is still early on the campaign. In the Fox News debate, Rudy stressed to the American people that we as a nation must focus on the terrorists’ war against us and our economy. Those are the defining issues of our time, and we need a strong leader like Rudy who is focused on defending this country against terrorism and growing our economy. Rudy’s answers on foreign policy issues show that he will not let...

With Westwood One looking into the possibility of putting itself on the market, Bear Stearns says the radio syndicator is “taking the right steps,” but, they wonder, “will the market cooperate?” In their report, Bear Stearns writes that a “loss of talk shows has impacted results. Westwood One is a leader in network radio news, entertainment, sports and traffic. With the loss of Howard Stern, Don Imus, & Jim Cramer, Westwood One has lost audience share in the talk radio genre. To be fair, CBS developed the Stern, Imus and Cramer shows, which reduced Westwood One's economic exposure to these...

McCain announces on Letterman tonight he is running for President, says source that sat through the taping... He was sitting in the chair when he told Dave and the audience. He was wildly applauded.... MORE...

Sunday, February 25, 2007 -- East County Congressman Duncan Hunter drew a sellout crowd to his first major campaign breakfast in San Diego. KUSI's Doug Curlee shows us how the presidential candidate is trying to reel in local voters.

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Most of the potential GOP candidates for president fall somewhere along the scale ranging from reliably pro-life to opposing abortion but supporting embryonic stem cell research. Rudy Giuliani falls squarely in the pro-abortion camp but he's now trying to reassure pro-life voters he's not that bad. Giuliani has always been in favor of legalized abortion -- even supporting the grisly partial-birth abortion procedure that kills an unborn child halfway through the birthing process. On the Fox news program Hannity & Colmes on Monday night he used some pretty strong language against abortion, though he admitted he...

Perhaps in an attempt to surpass David Gregory, CNN reporter Suzanne Malveaux derided President Bush as a "Kool-Aid" drinker who won’t admit failure in Iraq. In a report for the Friday edition of "American Morning," the White House correspondent discussed Bush’s news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In additional fits of bias, Malveaux, described the President’s frustration at the lack of progress in Iraq as "the closest you'll get from this president to admitting failure" and noted that "for Mr. Bush, it's not easy to admit mistakes."

Jones is sometimes described as a religious fanatic, as a man who used faith to do monstrous things. The truth is his faith wasn’t, as many presume, in Christianity. He believed in Marx more than in Christ. Jones baptized people “in the holy name of socialism” and called himself the Socialist Worker God.

[MY COMMENT: KEEP IN MIND HE'S BEEN A "GOP LOSES BIG GUY FROM THE GET GO," SO THIS IS REALLY IMPRESSIVE] Some gop chatter... [Rich Lowry] ...from an informal gathering of GOP insiders with their last hunches: They are now optimistic about holding the Harris seat, FL-13. Not counting out Chocola, IN-2, or TX-22. They lament Anne Northup, a famously tough campaigner, is ending on a positive note. (Shrewd GOP strategists have wanted candidates to close negative.) Jean Schmidt, OH-2, apparently headed in the wrong direction. Chabot, OH-1, "flip a coin." A NY insider thinks Sweeney, NY-20, loses (domestic disturbance...

AT the polls next week, many Americans will cast their ballots on the basis of what's going on in Iraq. This is not surprising. The war was always opposed by a large and vocal segment of the U.S. political and cultural elite. With the economy doing well and the nation so far protected against a repeat of 9/11, the American opposition has few horses to run against President Bush and his party. And Iraq is an attractive horse, illustrated by gruesome TV images almost every night. Most Americans are unfamiliar with Iraq's complex political, ethnic, religious and cultural realities. So,...

Socialism is best because under socialism. No one has to worry about being poor or starving to death. No one is poor, unemployed, discriminated, everyone is equal reguardless or race or creed. Today such ideas are condemned as evil. Any attempt to protest against slavery and genocide and human rights violations are met with the cries of COMMUNISM! By the religious right and then they conjure up stories about Stalin, Gulags, tortue, police state etc. So therefore we must stick with the current system of sweat shop slavery, poverty and racism while rich people who already have all they will...

ISM sending "human shields" to Lebanon to aid Hezbollah By Lee Kaplan Wednesday, August 9, 2006 Adam Shapiro, one of the founders of the International Solidarity Movement, has resurfaced after a long hiatus and has teamed up with Northern California ISM’s Leader, Paul LaRudee, to create a program for ISM "activists" to act as human shields for Hezbollah in Lebanon. The ISM has acted as human shields for Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PFLP in the West Bank and Gaza for the last four years, according to Shapiro’s wife and ISM co-founder, Huwaida Arraf. LaRudee was recently caught by Israeli...

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney is controversial and outspoken, independent and unrepentant, all of which have endeared her to a dedicated corps of loyal supporters in her metro Atlanta district -- but not to a majority of her fellow Democrats who turned out in Tuesday's primary runoff. For the second time in three election cycles, McKinney was defeated in a Democratic primary in Georgia's 4th District, this time by Hank Johnson, a former DeKalb County commissioner who thumped her by a margin of 59-41 percent. Despite her defeat, McKinney was unbowed, unleashing a stemwinder of a concession speech...

Conspiracy theorists are never satisfied with the most straightforward explanation for a tragedy. They demand layer upon layer of complexity to feed their fantasy that world events are manipulated by small groups of utterly amoral insiders. Still, it is striking that a new poll finds more than a third - 36 percent of Americans - believe it is probable that the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon were an "inside job," that U.S. government officials either abetted the attacks or did nothing to stop them. It is one thing when a nutty fringe refuses to accept the...

JIYEH, Lebanon, July 28 — As Israel continues the bombing campaign that has turned parts of Lebanon into rubble, environmentalists are warning of widespread and lasting damage. Spilled and burning oil, along with forest fires, toxic waste flows and growing garbage heaps have gone from nuisances to threats to people and wildlife, they say, marring a country traditionally known for its clean air and scenic greenery. Continues ...============================================================= Media drink Hezbollah Kool-Aid, as "losing" side -- Israel -- widens control of southern Lebanon Has the critics' response to Israel's response been disproportionate? Just now there is growing criticism that Israel's...

Some 1,000 people take part in march held in protest of Israeli operations in Lebanon, Gaza. Demonstrators call on government to cease military actions, negotiate for release of hostages Some 1,000 protestors joined Sunday evening in a rally in Tel Aviv to protest the IDF strikes in Southern Lebanon. Police have arrested three of the protesters claiming they were holding a demonstration without a permit. The protesters, who marched from Hen Boulevards toward King George Street, chanted slogans such as "Olmert agreed with Bush: War and occupation." "Stop the war monstrosity," and "Say no to the brutal bombardments on Gaza."...

It sounds as if the Democrats are getting their political message together — by moving towards a message that is less-defensive. One that raises a key concern independent voters have had about the present incarnation of the Republican Party. First, note this from New York Senator Hillary Clinton: One day after suffering a pair of defeats on the Senate floor, Democratic leaders argued yesterday that their internal divisions over Iraq will help push the country toward a change in policy and accused Republicans of blindly following President Bush on a path that has been disastrous for the nation.Sen. Hillary Rodham...

Back in 2004, I published The Real Matrix, in seven parts (read them here). I had little idea how the process outlined there would accelerate in 2005 and 2006. Indeed, even those still "plugged in" ought to be wondering why the U.S. Senate just gave thumbs-up (62 yeas vs. 26 nays) to an immigration bill that most of the public does not want, and that would clearly be destructive of this country's long-term best interests – educationally, culturally, and economically. Those of us out here in the Desert of the Real are aware that the Senate just took us one...

Responding to a WorldNetDaily report, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is demanding the Bush administration fully disclose the activities of an office implementing a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada that apparently could lead to a North American union, despite having no authorization from Congress. As WND reported, the White House has established working groups, under the North American Free Trade Agreement office in the Department of Commerce, to implement the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, signed by President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, March 23, 2005. The groups, however, have...

Author Jerome Corsi and Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., will be guests tomorrow on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show to discuss the White House's effort to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada that could lead to a North American union, despite having no authorization from Congress. Corsi and Tancredo will join Liddy for the entire 11 a.m. hour, Eastern time, and take calls from listeners. Corsi reported this week that Bush administration working groups have not disclosed the results of their work despite two years of massive effort within the executive branches of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The...

Despite having no authorization from Congress, the Bush administration has launched extensive working-group activity to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada. The membership of the working groups has not been published, nor has their work product been disclosed, despite two years of massive effort within the executive branches of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The groups, working under the North American Free Trade Association office in the Department of Commerce, are to implement the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, signed by President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, on...

Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn. Once complete, the new road will allow containers from the Far East to enter the United States through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, bypassing the Longshoreman’s Union in the process. The Mexican trucks, without the involvement of the Teamsters Union, will drive on what will be the nation’s most modern highway straight into the heart of...

President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy. Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA to include Canada, setting the stage for North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What the Bush administration truly wants is the free, unimpeded movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada. President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and...

President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada. This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy. Secretly, the Bush administration is pursuing a policy to expand NAFTA politically, setting the stage for a North American Union designed to encompass the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. What the Bush administration truly wants is the free, unimpeded movement of people across open borders with Mexico and Canada. President Bush intends to abrogate U.S. sovereignty to the North American Union, a new economic and political...

What a moron. Ann Coulter, that is. After calling a group of 9/11 widows "harpies" who seem to be "enjoying their husbands' deaths" in her new book, the conservative pundit has gone too far. She even added: "And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy..." Huh? Ugly is the only way I can describe what Coulter has written. Now I understand why Time magazine put her on the cover a few years ago and made her look...

It's the end of an Era of Shameless Self-Hype. The Puffed Up Verbose One who uses five melodramatic words when just one would work, Pied Piper Pitt, is leaving DUmmieland. And what was the reason for this sudden departure? Most likely it was the result of recently getting egg on his face for backing up the "integrity" of JASON LEOPOLD. As the Lib of the infamous team of Leopold and Lib, Pitt stuck his neck out backing the journalistic credentials of the factually challenged Leopold who stated that Karl Rove received a target letter from Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. When...

The third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was marked over the weekend by a wave of protests around the world. Most of the marches in America were spearheaded by United for Peace and Justice, the nation’s largest anti-war coalition. United for Peace and Justice is a large umbrella association of more than thirteen hundred local and national groups who have joined together to protest the immoral and disastrous Iraq War and oppose our government’s policy of permanent warfare and empire-building. The organization’s recent press release tells us of a massive effort planned for the week of March 15...

http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/nation/10024757.html According to a Gulf News poll, 64 per cent of readers say the DP World affair "changed their opinion for the worst" about investing in the United States. A number of businessmen told the newspaper yesterday that Arab investors would think about other destinations. The majority agreed that DP World has been forced out of the US port operations due to "racism". President George W. Bush admitted Congress has sent the "wrong message" to the rest of the world. We don't feel that DP World lost. It in fact won the respect of the international business community when it...

Dubai Ports Worls to divest itself of all American interests

JERUSALEM, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The Palestinian prime minister-designate said Hamas is "ready to recognize" Israel if it gives the Palestinian people their full rights and a state in lands occupied since 1967, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hamas chose Ismail Haniyeh, a 43-year-old Gazan viewed by many Palestinians as a pragmatist, as the new prime minister after sweeping the elections on Jan. 25. The group hopes to complete forming a Palestinian government within two weeks. "If Israel declares that it will give the Palestinian people a state and give them back all their rights, then we are...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The second in command at the Pentagon said Thursday that people who publicly oppose allowing a Middle Eastern company to take over management of some U.S. ports could be threatening national security. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England told the Senate Armed Services Committee that blocking the deal could ostracize one of the United States' few Arab allies. "The terrorists want our nation to become distrustful," England said. "They want us to become paranoid and isolationist, and my view is we cannot allow this to happen. It needs to be just the opposite." The comments came as administration...