Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Scrooge came early on Christmas Eve this year -- and he looks strangely like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Instead of "bah humbug," he delivered the U.S. Senate's version of "health care reform" -- the most expensive legislation ever passed by the Congress of the United States and the greatest expansion of government power in our nation's history. Now that's some Christmas present -- and a different way of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. If the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate succeed in cobbling together a final bill after the new year begins, every American...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is Time magazine's "Person of the Year." Twelve months ago, the "honor" went to then-President-elect Barack Obama. Notably, the 1932 recipient was President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who asserted in his March 4, 1933, inaugural address, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Mr. Roosevelt went on to describe the economic anxieties of millions left jobless in a deepening depression as "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." He then served notice that if the "national emergency" required it, he would "ask the Congress for the one...

WASHINGTON -- When I was a young Marine, we were encouraged to read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" as a primer on conflict. Our mentors were officers and senior noncommissioned officers who had served in World War II, Korea and the early days of the conflict in Indochina. These were serious men for whom the profession of arms was no trivial matter. They taught us that Sun Tzu's tome, from the sixth century B.C., was relevant to the fight we were headed for in Vietnam and would serve us well in the future. According to Sun Tzu, "The art...

Oliver L. North, host of FOX News Channel’s documentary series "War Stories," is temporarily off the air while he undergoes treatment for prostate cancer, POLITICO has learned. North’s prognosis is excellent, according to sources. North, the Iran-contra figure, became a popular conservative radio host and U.S. Senate candidate in Virginia in 1994. “War Stories” bills itself as profiling “the wars and warriors that shaped American military history.” When he visits military bases, soldiers and Marines scramble for the autograph of the man they call “Colonel North” but who introduces himself with a breezy, “Ollie North.” From North’s biography on FoxNews.com:...

WASHINGTON -- The commander in chief's Dec. 1 lecture at the U.S. Military Academy has to go down in history as one of the strangest presentations ever offered by a wartime president. The robotically delivered address is defended by administration officials as the culmination of a carefully thought-out "strategy review," in which Mr. Obama proffered the "rationale" for deploying additional troops and explained "The Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan." Unfortunately, it failed to do any of this. Though he was standing before West Point's Corps of Cadets, the president's remarks were devoid of strategic vision, lacking any definition of...

WASHINGTON -- America is at war. According to the latest opinion polls, that is not what many Americans want to hear as we celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday. Our political "leaders" don't want to acknowledge this war. Our media do their best to ignore it. Most of our society, businesses and industries are removed from it. What little manufacturing remains in this country turns out products other than those used by our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines. Our allies largely abandoned this fight long ago, and our entertainment industry openly mocks and condemns it. The fact remains, however, that America...

This week, while "the most traveled president in history" was on his latest foreign adventure and bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito, the rest of the O-Team was busy kowtowing to political correctness. The headlines tell the story: "(Defense Secretary Robert) Gates Condemns Leaks on Fort Hood Investigation," and "Gates Says 'Shut Up' About Fort Hood." "Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Terror Trials in New York City for 9-11-01 Plotters." "Guantanamo Detainees to Illinois Prison." All three of these actions -- the Gates outburst, the Holder decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 conspirators in a Manhattan federal...

BRANSON, Mo. -- They have come from every state in the union -- more than 50,000 veterans and their families. They are here to celebrate "Veterans Homecoming Week" in a city that "never forgets our heroes," where businesses proclaim to "hire veterans first" and entertainers proudly announce the units with which they served -- to the applause and cheers of fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines. They come for reunions with comrades from campaigns in faraway places and to remember their shared sacrifice in long-ago battles. They come here because Tony Orlando's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole...

In the three decades since the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the rhetoric of revolutionary Islam is little changed. Only now they are building nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them.

WASHINGTON -- In what has turned out to be the bloodiest month of the war in Afghanistan, there is a growing chorus of critics who claim that the fight is no longer worth the cost. Though most of those saying so aren't paying the price, the toll was evident at Dover Air Force Base early Thursday morning as 21 flag-draped gunmetal transfer cases were conveyed solemnly from the ramp of an Air Force C-17. Ten of those aboard -- seven U.S. Army soldiers and three special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration -- were killed the night of Monday, Oct....

PIERRE, S.D. -- It's already the front edge of winter in America's Great Plains. Here, where the air is clear and crisp, there is a passion for walking behind a good dog while hunting pheasants, and a good "alibi" for missing a fast-flying bird is an art form. "It was too low for a good shot" or "I didn't want to hit the dog" will get the taleteller extra credit for "prudence" -- once or twice. But if creative excuses exceed the number of birds brought home for dinner, a hunter soon loses the respect of his peers. Even the...

The U.S. dollar isn't the only currency headed to new lows. After months of drifting along in "the winds of change," America's diplomatic credibility is sinking alongside the greenback. The Obama White House and the so-called mainstream media -- preoccupied with hoopla over "health care reform," meaningless drivel about the 2016 Olympics and the vacuous award of a Nobel Peace Prize -- barely have noticed the water flooding into our ship of state. Unfortunately, the Iranians, North Koreans, Russians and the Taliban all have been paying attention. Don't count on any of them to help bail out our boat. On...

WASHINGTON -- Eight years ago this week, just 25 days after the vicious attacks of 9/11, the U.S. struck back at the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Thirty-three days later, U.S.-supported Northern Alliance troops were in Kabul, and the remnants of al-Qaida and its Taliban hosts were in retreat to Kandahar and mountain redoubts along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. All of this was preceded by intense diplomacy and a virtually nonstop publicly aired series of presidential announcements, news conferences, speeches, debates and discussions at the White House, from the badly damaged Pentagon, in congressional hearings -- even at the United Nations....

At the conclusion of the 1939 movie, "Gone With the Wind," Vivian Leigh, playing Scarlett O'Hara, defers decision on what to do about the major crisis in her life with the phrase, "After all, tomorrow is another day." Unfortunately, the Obama White House seems to have adopted Scarlett's decision-making process for the war in Afghanistan. Note to the O-Team: Kabul isn't Tara and Americans are dying while the commander in chief dithers. On Wednesday, September 30, a full month after General Stanley McChrystal submitted his "assessment" of the situation in Afghanistan, President Obama convened a three-hour meeting of his "national...

WASHINGTON -- At the conclusion of the 1939 movie "Gone With the Wind," Vivien Leigh, playing Scarlett O'Hara, defers decision on what to do about the major crisis in her life with this sentence: "After all, tomorrow is another day." Unfortunately, the Obama White House seems to have adopted Scarlett's decision-making process for the war in Afghanistan. Note to the O-Team: Kabul isn't Tara -- and Americans are dying while the commander in chief dithers. On Wednesday, Sept. 30, a full month after Gen. Stanley McChrystal submitted his "assessment" of the situation in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama convened a three-hour meeting...

KABUL -- Our Fox News' "War Stories" team is cleaning our gear and packing up to go home. The special operations teams that "hosted" us for a half-dozen carefully planned and executed raids against the Taliban have showered us with patches, "challenge coins" and mementos accumulated since we arrived last month. We even got to shower ourselves. While on operations, we've shot hours of videotape of their backs and legs and on their bases and taken hundreds of photos with their cameras because we're not allowed to show most of their faces. On our last night "in country," we sat...

According to colleagues back home, our Fox News team here in Afghanistan has missed all the excitement. They note that since we left the USA last month, Washington has been the scene of the largest peaceful protest in history against a sitting government. We didn't get to see a bold congressman rise during a televised joint session of Congress to accuse the president of the United States of prevaricating. We were unable to witness the outing of White House "green jobs czar" Van Jones or the sudden demise of a corrupt, scandal-ridden, "anti-poverty" organization called ACORN. And because we don't...

KHAN NESHIN, Afghanistan — We're with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion in southern Helmand province, just 75 kilometers from Pakistan, in "battle space" that was the heart of Taliban territory until a few weeks ago. When these Marines fought their way into this dusty district capital in July, the Taliban were stunned. No Afghan government or coalition authorities had been here since 2002. Taliban leaders across the border in Pakistan told their minions to fight back. They did, and it was a terrible mistake. Scores of them died trying to stop the joint American/Afghan National Army troops from establishing...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Last month, our Fox News' "War Stories" team was in Colombia, covering the tough fight against a narco-insurgency, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. This month, we're in Afghanistan, covering another narco-insurgency, the Taliban. In Colombia, cocaine fuels and funds the terror. Here in Afghanistan, it's opium. Despite extraordinary differences in culture, climate and terrain, there are dramatic parallels in the two campaigns. More importantly, lessons learned in the Andean basin are being applied here in the shadows of the Hindu Kush. Both countries have isolated agricultural populations vulnerable to coercion by insurgents financed by...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- It is amazing how a change of geography can alter perception. In the weeks leading up to this, my 16th Fox News deployment to cover the fight against radical Islamic terror, the news was full of attacks on civilian contractors. The target: those who have been providing support for U.S. military and intelligence operations since Sept. 11. "Contractor" is the new "dirty word" in the so-called mainstream media -- and in Washington. On Capitol Hill, contractors are the Rodney Dangerfields of the war -- they just "get no respect." Here, where the war is being fought, contractors...

WASHINGTON — Last week's brief "Three Amigos" summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, has been all but forgotten in the growing storm over "health care reform." That may be what the three North American heads of state, Presidents Felipe Calderon and Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, wanted. All three leaders did their best to ignore the skunk at their picnic — the serious threat posed to all of us by narco-terrorism. If comments after the confab reflect their thinking, thousands of dead and wounded at the hands of violent drug cartels warrant less attention than the "threat" of global...

WASHINGTON — Racing through the Phoenix airport, a Wall Street Journal headline immediately captured my eye: "Taliban Now Winning." I grabbed the newspaper and headed for my flight. By the time I arrived in Washington, I had a half-dozen e-mails from my Fox News colleagues asking for my assessment of the situation. There was also a "be prepared" message from my boss alerting me to pack my kit for another trip to the Hindu Kush. Seeing as I haven't been there for a year, it seemed like a good time to get smart about what's happening behind the headlines. Here...

Former President William Jefferson Blythe Clinton has returned from Pyongyang, North Korea, with Al Gore's employees Laura Ling and Euna Lee. The two women, reporters for Gore's Current TV operation, were seized by North Korean border guards March 17 along the frozen Tumen River -- the border between North Korea and China. On June 8, following a five-day "trial," Pyongyang's Central Court convicted the women of "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry" and sentenced them to 12 years' hard labor. On Tuesday, Aug. 4, Mr. Clinton, accompanied by a doctor and his former chief of staff John...

GEORGETOWN, S.C. -- They don't look like al-Qaida terrorists. Their photos in the local newspaper look menacing enough -- but more like a crew that might knock over a convenience store or an ATM at a gas station. Their apprehension this week by FBI agents in Raleigh, N.C., has their neighbors here talking about "homegrown jihadis" and has prompted the O-Team Department of Homeland Security to warn about "American extremists" once again. The seven men were arrested Monday, the same day President Barack Obama tendered his much-acclaimed invitation to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James...

GEORGETOWN, S.C. -- He was standing at the counter when I entered the store. As he paid the clerk, he turned, and I noticed, in this order, his beard, his T-shirt, which had "Marines" emblazoned on the front, and his cane. His prosthetic foot still was masked by the counter when I said, "Semper fi, leatherneck." He smiled and replied: "Semper fi to you, too, Colonel. You were embedded with my unit in Afghanistan last year." We spoke for a few minutes. He had been wounded by the favorite weapon of radical Islamic terror, an IED. He's minus some of...

BOGOTA — He calls himself "Cesar," but his real name is Gerardo Aguilar Ramirez. As "comandante" of the 1st Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — and one of the top 10 leaders of the hyper-violent FARC — he has well-earned credentials as a drug-dealing terrorist with a penchant for trading in hostages. This Thursday, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents put Ramirez, aka Cesar, in shackles, marched him aboard an aircraft here in Bogota, and took him to the U.S. to stand trial for his crimes. Our Fox News' "War Stories" team was here to record the event...

WASHINGTON — The glow is off the rose. The euphoria is gone. The thrilled, awe-inspired crowds are no longer there. No, that's not a reflection on the recent Michael Jackson media madness. Instead, it's a summary of the Obama family outing to Russia, Italy and Africa. Other than a week's respite from the deepening U.S. financial crisis, the collapse of constitutional government in Honduras, and staged photo ops, the trip yielded little to give the American people hope that the O-Team comprehends the dangers we face in this world — or what to do about them. The trip to Chad...

WASHINGTON -- It took the Obama administration eight days to figure out whether Iranians being gunned down for protesting a fraudulent election and demanding basic civil liberties deserved to be acknowledged by the president of the United States. It took the O-Team less than eight hours to side with Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega over the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. As we now have come to expect, Mr. Obama got it wrong again, but this time, nobody noticed. The U.S. news media, preoccupied with the sudden demise of Michael Jackson, ignored the event...

WASHINGTON — It took the Obama administration eight days to figure out whether Iranians being gunned down for protesting a fraudulent election and demanding basic civil liberties deserved to be acknowledged by the president of the United States. It took the O-Team less than eight hours to side with Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega over the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. As we now have come to expect, Mr. Obama got it wrong again, but this time, nobody noticed. The U.S. news media, preoccupied with the sudden demise of Michael Jackson, ignored the event...

David Limbaugh speaks at 9 AM & 10:45 AM. Lt. Col. Oliver North will speak at 7 PM.

WASHINGTON -- My old American Heritage Dictionary defines "sovereignty" as "complete independence and self-government." Our Declaration of Independence affirms, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." In January 2000, Jesse Helms, the legendary U.S. senator from North Carolina, succinctly summed up the meaning of these words for the United Nations Security Council by explaining that "nations derive their sovereignty -- their legitimacy -- from the consent of the governed." The ayatollahs brutally...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia. "What are you Americans thinking?" asked the young woman in perfect, if slightly accented, English. She was wearing a name tag with "Marie" in both Cyrillic and English and had greeted us pleasantly when we had ducked out of the rain and into her store to buy postcards and mementos for our grandchildren. Her question about American "thinking" came in the midst of a conversation about how dramatically life in Russia had changed during her 27 brief years. "What do you mean?" I asked. "What are you Americans thinking about freedom?" Marie asked. Somewhat perplexed, I answered,...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- "What are you Americans thinking?" asked the young woman in perfect, if slightly accented, English. She was wearing a name tag with "Marie" in both Cyrillic and Latin print and had greeted us pleasantly when we ducked out of the rain and into her store to buy postcards and mementos for our grandchildren. Her question about American "thinking" came in the midst of a conversation about how dramatically life in Russia had changed during her 27 brief years. "What do you mean?" I replied. "What are you Americans thinking about freedom?" Marie asked. Somewhat perplexed, I...

(CNSNews.com) - Retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, host of Fox News’ “War Stories,” said on CNSNews.com’s “Online with Terry Jeffrey” that he was “deeply alarmed” by aspects of President Obama’s speech in Cairo, Egypt, last week, saying he believes Obama is “a president who deeply seeks affirmation from America’s enemies." North was asked about a passage in Obama’s highly publicized speech to the Muslim world, delivered at Cairo University last Thursday, in which Obama said that after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks the United States took actions that contradicted American traditions and ideals. “9/11 was an enormous trauma...

COPENHAGEN -- Here in Europe, there is little media coverage about North Korea's May 25 nuclear weapons test or its increasingly frequent ballistic missile launches. There is even less mention of Pyongyang's decision to sentence two American female journalists to "12 years of reform through hard labor" for "committing hostilities" and illegal entry. North Korea's flagrant violations of international law, repeated breaches of United Nations resolutions, rampant human rights abuses, wholesale currency counterfeiting, transnational kidnappings, threats of aggression and active state sponsorship of terrorism simply do not raise European ire. It wasn't always that way. Fifty-nine years ago this month,...

As the Grand Apology Tour swept into Saudi Arabia, the al Qaeda terror chieftain released yet another audiotaped diatribe, condemning "U.S. aggression" in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Though Mr. Obama's carefully scripted "grand gesture" before a thoroughly screened audience in Cairo was simultaneously translated into a half-dozen tongues and broadcast around the world, it wasn't enough to push the bin Laden commentary off Islamic Web sites. That's because bin Laden "gets it" and Mr. Obama doesn't.

WASHINGTON -- According to the mighty Wurlitzer in the White House press office, this week's penitent presidential venture to the Middle East has been "historic" and a "new beginning" for our relationship with Islam. Unfortunately for Mr. Obama -- and his campaign promise to make a major speech in a Muslim capital -- Osama bin Laden didn't play along. That's the trouble with homicidal megalomaniacs; they very often don't abide by the rules of "acceptable behavior." As the Grand Apology Tour swept into Saudi Arabia, the al-Qaida terror chieftain released yet another diatribe on audiotape, condemning "U.S. aggression" in Afghanistan...

WASHINGTON -- During the presidential campaign, then-Sen. Barack Obama famously said he was willing to meet "without preconditions" with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. It was a pledge that he repeated -- with minor modifications -- throughout his campaign, and it never failed to bring forth enthusiastic applause. Last November, the voters endorsed the approach and handed him a sweeping victory. But that commitment -- like his oft-repeated promise to close Gitmo -- may prove to be our undoing. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't just idealistic American voters who were listening to Mr. Obama's naive...

WASHINGTON — On May 14, Israelis celebrated their 61st Independence Day. Less than 96 hours later, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, arrived at the White House in an effort to ensure that the Jewish state will survive to commemorate another anniversary. In 1948, when Israel was founded by survivors of the Holocaust, they pledged, "Never again!" Then the tiny Jewish state, about the size of New Jersey, had a population of fewer than 850,000 and was surrounded by hostile neighbors intent on its destruction. Today 7.2 million people call Israel their home, and the country has the only functioning democratic...

WASHINGTON -- It is said that there are two kinds of lawyers: those who know the law and those who know the judge. And then there is Harold Koh, the man who is likely to be the next legal adviser to the State Department. Koh most recently served as dean of the Yale Law School and before that as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor in the Clinton administration. He is a prolific author and a legal activist of the left. Earlier this week, his nomination to be Foggy Bottom's barrister was approved by the Senate...

Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday April 29, in an East Room press conference, President Obama claimed, "We have rejected the false choice between our security and our ideals by closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay." That simply isn't true. What he did do was to issue an executive order directing the facility be closed by January 2010, little more than seven months from now. Unfortunately, Obama in his naïve exuberance to fulfill a pledge that had earned standing ovations and rave reviews from the mainstream media during the presidential campaign, really didn't have a plan. That's now coming back...

WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday evening, all but one of America's television networks blew off their prime-time programs and dutifully trotted off to the White House to cover an hourlong self-congratulatory news conference celebrating the first 100 days of the Obama administration. Only Fox kept regularly scheduled programming -- the network's new hit "Lie to Me." ABC, CBS and NBC should have used the same title for the O-Team's news conference. The Fox "reality drama" drew a million more American viewers than any network airing Mr. Obama's version of "Lie to Me." Those who tuned in to the White House coverage...

WASHINGTON -- At times during our history, international events have provided starring roles for American presidents. Teddy Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War. John Kennedy's pledge of solidarity, "Ich bin ein Berliner," offered hope to captive people behind the iron curtain. Richard Nixon's "secret" trip to Beijing precipitated still ongoing changes in the People's Republic of China. Ronald Reagan's tough diplomacy -- and his decision to rebuild America's defenses -- turned the tide of the Cold War and hastened the end of an aptly named evil empire. Then there are world events...

WASHINGTON -- According to the U.S. government, I am an extremist. I am a Christian and meet regularly with other Christians to study God's word. My faith convinces me the prophecies in the Holy Bible are true. I believe in the sanctity of human life, oppose abortion, and want to preserve marriage as the union of a man and a woman. I am a veteran with skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. I own several firearms, and I frequently shoot them, buy ammunition, and consider efforts to infringe on my Second Amendment rights to be wrong...

The traveling, never-ending campaign road show came home this week. POTUS is back in Washington from his “I like you-you like me,” excellent adventure in Europe and “surprise” trip to Baghdad. It was nice of Obama to thank the troops. He should have bowed to them instead of King Abdullah. Members of the O-Team, recovering from late-night teleprompter edits, grand parties and jet-lag now deny that the apparently obsequious gesture to the Saudi king was really a “bow.” Perhaps it would be better described as a “curtsey.” Whatever it was, the Arab press applauded the moment as servile -- and...

The traveling, never-ending campaign roadshow came home this week. The president of the United States is back in Washington from his "I like you, you like me" excellent adventure in Europe and "surprise" trip to Baghdad. It was nice of POTUS to thank the troops. He should have bowed to them instead of to King Abdullah. Members of the O-Team -- recovering from late-night teleprompter edits, grand parties and jet lag -- now deny that the apparently obsequious gesture to the Saudi king was really a "bow." Perhaps it would be better described as a "curtsy." Whatever it was --...

WASHINGTON -- Julius Caesar was murdered by Brutus and his friends in the Roman legislature on the ides of March 44 B.C. Free enterprise died at the hands of Barack and his friends in the American legislature on the 30th of March 2009. The following day, those same ministers of American government completed the death warrant for civic duty in our republic. They called it the "Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act." The bill passed -- as did the killing of Caesar -- with overwhelming support from the legislature. It was a remarkable performance, worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy. In...

On Nov. 9, Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, famously described the Obama administration's philosophy for governing. "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. What I mean by that is it is an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before." O-Team sycophants in the so-called mainstream media chuckled. Conservatives were alarmed. We now know we had reason to be. At the time Mr. Emanuel made his comment - five days after the election - we thought he was referring to the ongoing "economic crisis" to justify life-altering legislation on new government spending, social entitlements,...

WASHINGTON -- On Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008, Rahm Emanuel, now the White House chief of staff, famously described the future Obama administration's philosophy for governing: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before." "O-Team" sycophants in the so-called mainstream media chuckled. Conservatives were alarmed. We now know we had reason to be. At the time Emanuel made his comment -- five days after the election -- we thought he was referring to the ongoing economic crisis to...

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan."WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs claims this is its "mission." The slogan -- extracted from the last paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address -- is inscribed proudly on metal plaques at the entrance of the VA's headquarters in Washington. The Obama administration made a mockery of this pledge by proposing to charge veterans' private insurance companies for treatment of service-connected injuries, wounds or sickness. Had the White House not rescinded this immoral and unethical proposal, the VA could have been sued...