Free Republic

Hillary Clinton says there’s “growing awareness” that Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was probably shot down by Russian insurgents — but argued that European leaders must “take the lead” on any action if that proves to be the case. Clinton made the comments about the doomed plane in a wide-ranging interview with TV host Charlie Rose set to air Thursday night. Portions of the taped interview were released ahead of airtime.

I'm listening to chuck bagel talk to troops. Eyes are glazed over in the audience. He is one of the most uninspiring speakers I have ever heard. God help us if we are ever attacked.

As in 2009, Hamas is using Shifa Hospital to hide its leadership, and as in 2012, it is using the hospital as part of its war effort (link in Hebrew) (Hat Tip: Shaul). This one is only three short paragraphs, so I will translate it and then ask a question. A journalist source who is close to security sources in the Middle East says 'Hamas' leadership is taking advantage of the underground structures underneath the Shifa Central Hospital in Gaza as a hideout for commanders and Hamas leaders to protect them against attack by the Israel Air Force. "In...

Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that he has appointed a “working group” of House Republicans tasked to respond to the border crisis involving the surge of unaccompanied minors trying to enter the United States illegally. (SNIP) Members of the working group include Republican Reps. John Carter of Texas, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, Kay Granger of Texas, Michael McCaul of Texas, Steve Pearce of New Mexico and Matt Salmon of Arizona. Granger chairs the subcommittee that oversees funding for the State Department and foreign operations.

Insiders also tell the New York Post the naked pictures were allegedly posted on a blog purportedly belonging to Morales, and it's illegal in California to falsely impersonate others online. More woes for Charney: On Friday, a video of him dancing naked in front of two female employees surfaced.

If character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking, World War II Gen. Dwight Eisenhower radiated it on D-Day’s eve, writing that “any blame … is mine alone” in never-delivered remarks known as “In Case of Failure.” In making one of history’s toughest and most consequential decisions — unlike those chronicled in Hillary Clinton’s new memoir “Hard Choices” — Eisenhower prepared for the worst as 150,000 men readied for a veritable suicide mission 70 years ago this month. Willing to shoulder failure’s blame, even without knowing its reason, Eisenhower publicly attributed the anticipated victory to liberty’s cause and the...

Now they have it. Now tea party-backers finally have a strong conservative in the Republican leadership of the GOP-controlled House: Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was elected by party members on Thursday to the No. 3 job in the leadership. The Louisianan will take the position of whip, making him responsible for corralling votes in order to pass legislation. He fills the slot left vacant by Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, who was elected – and elevated – to the No. 2 job of majority leader, who decides what legislation comes to a vote. The changes were triggered by...

The sixth-year blues have caught up to Barack Obama … with a vengeance. In an NBC/WSJ poll taken before the meltdown in Iraq, Obama gets his lowest marks ever on foreign policy, where his claim to “smart power” has evidently reached its expiration date. But the real danger to Obama and to Democrats vying for office in less than five months is the vote of no confidence in Obama’s leadership: The percentage of Americans approving of President Barack Obama’s handling of foreign policy issues has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency as he faces multiple overseas challenges,...

No matter what happens next week, the full slate of leaders will face another vote in November or early December after the midterms. Conservative challengers who passed on this rapid race now have more than five months to prepare anew and build up their base of support within the conference. In his Thursday statement announcing his decision not to run, Hensarling said he had concluded that this was “not the right race at the right time” – a signal he is keeping his options open and could challenge McCarthy or Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in the fall. Even before Cantor’s...

<p>Ted Cruz at republican leadership conference #rlc2014. ted cruz led the republican leadership conference charge to shut down the republican leadership conference ted cruz United States Ted Cruz at republican leadership conference #rlc2014. ted cruz led the republican leadership conference charge to shut down the republican leadership conference ted cruzgovernment over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act last fall, the general consensus, including among many of his Republican colleagues, was that the move would be a disaster for the GOP. But during a speech at the Republican Leadership Conference on Saturday, Cruz attempted to recast the shutdown as the one thing that could help his party take back the Senate in this year's midterm elections. hot news 24/7 sucks dick.</p>

PARIS -- An intriguing social phenomenon prompted a horrific killing spree in Santa Barbara, California, last week, and the same phenomenon might help explain the surprising results of last weekend's European Parliament elections. The suspected Santa Barbara killer, 22-year old Elliot Rodger, left behind a 141-page diatribe and multiple online videos expressing frustration over a failure to score with the opposite sex, despite ticking what he considered to be all the right boxes: a BMW, nice clothes and good looks. He couldn't figure out why that wasn't enough. Worse, why would college women instead gravitate towards loudmouth jerks? I...

After outlining his vision for United States foreign policy to during his West Point commencement address on Wednesday morning, Barack Obama asserted, "This is American leadership. This is American strength." "In each case, we built coalitions to respond to a specific challenge. Now we need to do more to strengthen the institutions that can anticipate and prevent them from spreading," Obama continued in reference to the United States handling of Iran, Syria and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. "For example, NATO is the strongest alliance the world has ever known. But we are now working with NATO allies...

There are people who are leaders simply because of their position, and then there are leaders who are in their positions because they've earned them. You want to be in the latter camp. In anticipation of Memorial Day, the folks at finance career site OneWire released an interview with one of our nation’s greatest military leaders: Lieutenant General Joseph Anderson, Commanding General of Fort Bragg and the XVIII Airborne Division, and he shared some thoughts about how to know if you've earned the right to lead. -SNIP- First and foremost are they selfless servants? Why are they serving and what’s...

Since the 1960's era of peace, drugs and "free love," Christians, conservatives and patriots have largely departed the critical heart shaping, storytelling, teaching and communication roles that are essential to preserving America's culture. Rather than "standing in the gap" with courage, the majority of media conservatives and Christians have chosen to take the path of least resistance, sprinting away from the "public square" when demonstrably false, vicious lies and personal attacks are directed our way. We have largely shown the opposite of courage under fire. Turning the other cheek is one thing. Running and hiding like cowards is something quite...

Rome Friends and I kept seeing groups of Poles who'd taken planes or 20-hour bus rides to be here for the canonization of John Paul II. They did not look wealthy. A lot of them wouldn't have had tickets to the big mass because the Vatican kept saying there were no tickets. (In fact there were, and they were thoughtfully color-coded.) A lot of them knew they'd spend a rainy night on the floor of a church or, some of them, wrapped in plastic parkas as they slept on the street on yoga mats they carried on their backpacks. Many...

JULY 4, 1976 ENTEBBE, UGANDA – Led by Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, crack Israeli commandos race from their airplanes covered by the midnight darkness. Methodically, they approach a non-descript airline terminal, burst inside, killing the stunned terrorists. Helpless and shocked, 103 hostages lift their heads and gratefully weep at the mesmerizing sight of their saviors. As the alarms begin to sound, the Israeli soldiers strike with surgical precision and speed — a lightning bolt of controlled, finely rehearsed fury. It is all over in a few minutes. Terrorists lay dead. The hostages rush out to board the transport planes waiting...

credit Greg Nash Conservatives in Iowa and New Hampshire are preparing a hero’s welcome for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after he showed up Senate Republican leaders during a crucial vote on the debt limit. Cruz infuriated his Senate Republican colleagues this week when he filibustered a clean bill to raise the debt limit. His objection forced Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and 11 other Republicans to vote with Democrats to advance the legislation. But in Iowa and New Hampshire, two important presidential primary states, conservative activists are cheering Cruz’s stand and buzzing about a possible presidential run in 2016....

Note: This list was taken in part from the Washington Post article titled Obama’s 2013 State of the Union proposals: What flopped and what succeeded. You can check there for much more detail, and their take on Zero's brilliant leadership. Not surprisingly, I was a tad more critical of the Community Organizer than they were. Who's right ... well, judge for yourself. Zero's 2013 State of the Union proposals: Realize massive Medicare savings through reformsStatus: Obamacare is a disaster and he's out of other bright ideas. Close tax loopholes for the wealthyStatus: And spank the fat-cat donors that put these...

As a Swede, I've found out Brits, Germans, Danes, Americans and many other members of fellow Christian nations disapprove of the way in which we have chose to handle Muslim immigration to our soil. I personally, do not agree with the conduct of my nation's government. There is no reason why Europe should be flooded by Muslims. Let's send them back! But what is the nature of the apparatus letting them all in here? There is something very, very wrong here, but Sherlock Holmes won't be needed to smell what's wrong. All of Western leaders have betrayed Western ideology. The...

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is releasing his memoir, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” a 600-page book that offers a stark, insider’s view of Washington, the Pentagon, Congress and America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (You can read an exclusive WSJ excerpt.) Here’s a look at some of the book’s most riveting revelations:1. Contempt for Congress Mr. Gates expresses open disdain for Congress and the way lawmakers treated him when he testified at hearings. “I saw most of Congress as uncivil, incompetent at fulfilling their basic constitutional responsibilities (such as timely appropriations), micromanagerial, parochial, hypocritical, egotistical, thin-skinned and...