Free Republic

October 11, 2008 Contact: Press Office NASCAR Legend Richard Petty Endorses John McCain ARLINGTON, VA -- McCain-Palin 2008 today announced that Richard Petty, widely known as the greatest driver in NASCAR history, is endorsing John McCain for president. Petty is announcing his endorsement at today's Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. "What we need right now in these uncertain times is a steady hand on the wheel -- a leader we can trust to put country first, ahead of politics," Petty said. "John McCain has always done that, and if you need proof, think about...

Republican candidate Senator John McCain scored perhaps the biggest own goal of the US presidential campaign so far when he admitted that he did not know how many houses he owned. For a candidate who portrays himself as a man of the people the blunder was potentially hugely damaging, coming at a time when many Americans are struggling with rising inflation, energy costs and unemployment. Asked about his properties on the campaign trail, Mr McCain told Politico.com: "I think - I'll have my staff get to you. It's condominiums where - I'll have them get to you." The senator and...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A 60-year-old tourist died after he crashed while driving a Richard Petty Driving Experience NASCAR vehicle at the Daytona International Speedway. Track officials said Robert Boswell was driving around the speedway Sunday night when he somehow lost control of the race car and crashed into a wall. Boswell was transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, where he was declared dead at about 7 p.m., officials said. Cars can reach speeds of 120 mph in the simulated stock car racing attraction at the Daytona Beach International Speedway. An autopsy is being conducted to determine if any health...

"Pot calling the kettle black" is how we might feel tempted to characterize Jimmy Carter's embarrassing assault on George W. Bush and Tony Blair for their part in liberating Iraq: "overt reversal of America's values," "abominable," "subservient," blah, blah, blah. Giving way to such a temptation would amount to putting Bush and Blair on the same level as Jimmy Carter. No way. When it comes to incompetence, Carter stands splendidly alone among modern presidents. It was never the way of James Earl Carter Jr., to keep his moral pronouncements to himself, but this past weekend's tirade — petty, vain, spiteful...

In taking back control of the House, Democrats also are restoring the old names used for committees when they last headed them in 1994.Republicans swept into power in that year's midterm elections had created their own monikers for several committees. As part of the rules changes adopted this week, Democrats reclaimed the old names for several committee and created a new name for one other panel: • The Committee on Education and the Workforce was changed back to its pre-1995 name, Education and Labor. Tom Kiley, a spokesman for incoming chairman George Miller, D-Calif., said Miller "believed that the name...

U.S. President George W. Bush looks on as Hank Gissom casts a fishing line at Victory Junction gang Camp in Randleman, North Carolina, October 18, 2006

Bush To Visit Kyle Petty's Children's Camp On WednesdayPOSTED: 10:14 am EDT October 16, 2006 GREENSBORO, N.C. -- President Bush is making another visit to North Carolina. The White House says Bush will visit an elementary school and a children's camp started by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty on Wednesday. Bush also plans to have lunch with local community leaders before visiting Waldo C. Falkener Elementary School in Greensboro, where he's scheduled to talk about his No Child Left Behind initiative. The president will then visit Victory Junction Gang Camp for ill and disabled kids in Randleman. Officials at The White...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is considered a front-runner for the 2008 race, but does McCain have the temperament to be president? But to insiders who know him, McCain has an irrational, explosive side that make many of them question whether he is fit to serve as president and be commander in chief. Nowhere is that sentiment stronger than in the Senate, where McCain has few friends or supporters. In fact, when McCain ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, only four Republican senators endorsed him. "I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

<p>Thanks to John McCain, Free Republic will shut down tomorrow at high noon for 30 days. No non government approved electioneering messages may be transmitted over the internet for the 30 days immediately preceding a primary election.</p> <p>That is all.</p>

Yes kids!For only $12,500 you too can have Helen Thomas give a lecture at your event.I'm sure it's a rousing good time!

George Allen, the not-so-bright, tobacco-dipping, football-quoting Senator from Virginia, is quickly emerging as the right wing's potential answer to John McCain come 2008. Allen solidified his standing as an inside the Beltway rising star by winning the Conservative Political Action Conference's '08 straw poll on Saturday, besting McCain 22 to 20 percent. He also won the title of "America's Best Senator" from Muslims for Bush. Since we're likely to be hearing Allen's name more and more in the coming months, let's take a look back at what he thinks of the pressing issues of the day, starting with the selection...

It isn’t too often that one who pens opinion articles will fully allow himself to “let it all out,” and quite possibly say more than ever intended. Here then, is one of those rare times--a time when I cannot contain myself, consequences be damned. For today, I will speak in no uncertain terms about one of America’s greatest elective mistakes, James Earl Carter, Jr. That is the last time I will use Carter’s full Christian name in this space, so cherish the reference if you must. But even that simple courtesy should be denied, in my mind. If one were...

Jimmy Carter may or may not have been the worst president of the 20th century — history will have the final word on that — but his disgraceful performance yesterday at Coretta Scott King's funeral marks him as the most shameless. Maybe of all time. There is, after all, a time and place for everything — but not for Carter. In a reprehensible (albeit typical) display of tone-deafness, the former president used the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King's widow to score cheap points against President Bush. (He wasn't alone in that regard, more of which in a bit.) Carter...

Jimmy Carter shows his only colors are all partisan.. Deciding to desecrate the funeral of Coretta Scott King , the former president decided to ignore the grief of the King Family, to throw away the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., and focused his speech on attacking the President of the United States. Why? Because he could so he did. This is the essence of hate.. Why the Left Wing is so bereft of leadership, bereft of a path, bereft of morals. Their whole platform is simple hate. “I hate the President”, “I hate the USA”, “I hate Children”, “I...

"Thousands Remember Coretta Scott King" ---------- I was watching Fox News and they showed Jimmy Carter speaking at Coretta Scott King's funeral, and sure enough, he started talking about illegal wire-tapping and other examples of government run amok. I am appalled that he would use this opportunity to bash the President, but not really surprised. :-(

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

Yaa, you repukes are not doing so well, huh? Imagine, you repukes control the presidency, both houses of Congress, and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Yet the Supreme Court thre out sodomy laws in all 50 states and recognized the right of government to seize land for any reason. And you couldn't pass your Social Security changes could you? Sorry, that was your last shot. Come November, we're going to start seeing more Democratic faces in the House. It's the end for you guys. You guys are celebrating when Bush's numbers go *up* to 45%. Then Faux...

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...

Why does anybody support George w Bush as President? He is clearly the worst President I have ever seen -- a complete disaster. And before you say anything, I have been a registered Republican for 25 years.

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

Lies of omission about 9/11 -- stoking fears of terrorism THEY WANT YOU TO BE AFRAID The following post was censored by freerepublic.com shortly after it was posted on their "public" forum on 9/11/04. That forum is designed to appear as though it is a community forum open to all, but this post only received three responses before it and its replies were deleted, and a repeat posting at 4 am PST on 9/20/04 didn't stay online for 5 minutes! Someone is apparently watching closely over the content of the freerepublic.com forums and censoring them 24/7 (though they might have...

<p>You people are jerks. Not likeable jerks either, but the kind folks would like to smack in the back of the head with a shovel. Think Judge Snells from Caddyshack or Neidermier from Animal House.</p> <p>I know this probably comes as a shock to you, but if you do some serious soul searching, you'll realize that I am right.</p>

Concluding Question: The Meta-Group and the United States Government It seems clear that the meta-group, with its influential connections on at least three continents, was powerful enough to effect changes, through the Russian 9/11, in Russian history. The question arises whether they could similarly effect changes in American history as well. As we have seen Russian sources claim that the U.S. Government has had access to he meta-group, for such especially sensitive projects as the assassination of Abu al Walid al-Hamadi. They claim the meta-group's involvement in a number of U.S.-sponsored regime changes in eastern Europe, from the overthrow of...

George Will is quite rightly recognized as among the two or three finest pundits of the last 25 years. Put aside his bow ties and his very well known love of baseball: Will has consistently produced entertaining and insightful prose over a very long period of time. It is simply wrong to reject Will as "no big deal." But he can and does throw spokes, and he did so in Sunday's column. From Will's column: "Last week's ruling divided the justices into unlikely cohorts, thereby providing a timely reminder that concepts such as ``judicial activism,'' ``strict construction'' and ``original intent''...

Supreme Court confirmation battles usually involve excavations of the nominee's judicial opinions, legal briefs and decades-old government memos. Harriet Miers is the first nominee to hit trouble because of thank-you letters. Miers's paper trail may be relatively short, but it makes plain that her climb through Texas legal circles and into George W. Bush's inner circle was aided by a penchant for cheerful personal notes. Years later, even some of her supporters are cringing -- and her opponents are viciously making merry -- at the public disclosure of this correspondence and other writings from the 1990s. Bush may have enjoyed...

WASHINGTON -- Senate confirmation of President Bush's choice to be U.S. ambassador to the European Union has been delayed for several weeks, and the nominee may not take his post until well into November. Bush's choice as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is serving under a recess appointment and may never be confirmed. The reason: the individual whims of two Republican senators. Freshman Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida last week temporarily blocked the confirmation of longtime Republican stalwart C. Boyden Gray to the EU for petty political reasons. Much more serious because its effect looks permanent, Sen. George Voinovich...

'Iron Lady' wants to kick out foreign petty crooks By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 01/10/2005) Foreigners living in Holland who repeatedly commit petty crimes will face deportation, under plans announced by the country's immigration minister yesterday. The shift in policy lowers the legal threshold for deporting immigrants holding Dutch residence permits. At the moment, they face expulsion only for serious crimes, such as kidnapping or murder. The policy change was put to the cabinet by the "Iron Lady" of Dutch politics, Rita Verdonk.A spokesman for Mrs Verdonk said she took action after an advisory panel urged the government to...

A lot of liberal bloggers are commenting on this picture. Apparently Bush didn’t button the top button of his shirt in the correct position. Is it just me or is it a bit hypocritical for Democrats to be commenting on people’s clothes after this:

When terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans came together in grief and resolve, rallying behind President Bush in an extraordinary show of national unity. But when Hurricane Katrina hit last week, the opposite occurred, with Americans dividing along sharply partisan lines in their judgment of the president's and the federal government's response. The starkly different verdicts on Bush's stewardship of the two biggest crises of his presidency underscore the deepening polarization of the electorate that has occurred on his watch. This gaping divide has left the president with no reservoir of good will among his political opponents at a...

He is paying the back tax after rules change; now Hill Country property brings scrutiny WASHINGTON - Presidential adviser Karl Rove may live in Washington. But in his heart — and for voting purposes — he remains a Texan. Which means he is not legally entitled to the homestead deduction and property tax cap he's been getting on his Washington home for the past 3 1/2 years. Last week, the District of Columbia tax collector was alerted to the problem. And Rove agreed to reimburse the District for an estimated $3,400 in back taxes, city officials said. But now some...

There have been a great number of petty and unfair attacks leveled at George W. Bush in the past five years. He's slow witted. He surrounds himself with incompetent "yes men." He's Hitler. But the pettiest and least fair to date is the charge that President Bush exercises too much. For whatever reason, liberals have developed an obsession with the president's "obsession" with physical fitness. Last month the New Republic's Jonathan Chait, writing in the Los Angeles Times, castigated President Bush for his "obsession with exercise that borders on the creepy." "Bush's insistence that the entire populace follow his example,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The first week of June has been remarkable in our nation's history. It was this week in 1776 that a congressional committee was formed to start drafting a Bill of Particulars for King George to consider. Just a month later, it was ratified as the Declaration of Independence. It was during this week in 1942 that the battle of Midway -- the turning point in World War II in the Pacific -- was fought. Within days, Congress was deliberating appropriations for more carriers. In 1944, this was the week during which hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers...

Many argue that communism will never be possible because of "human nature". The essence of this false argument is the belief that a communist society would consist of an all-powerful central government that would tell everybody what to do--and would therefore undermine the creative initiative of individuals and the search for happiness. • This argument is based on two false assumptions: (1) It assumes that a communist society will look like the former Soviet Union, or the current China, North Korea, etc (ie: corrupt police states with a feudal-style ruling class) (2) It assumes that people will only work in...

Gas costs so much. I cant afford it. Why want Bush do something? Don't say he can't. His daddy or his handlers could be on the phone in 2 minutes with the Rothchilds and by 1 week, oil prices would be under $20 and gas would be 1 dollar a gallon. You know it and I know it. Why want he? Do you know? Is there sombody we can call? Plaese advice.

MSNBC's "Hardball" host Chris Matthews suggested last night that the high point of President Bush's State of the Union Address - the emotional hug between grateful Iraqi voter Safia Taleb al-Suhail and Janet Norwood, mother of a Marine who died liberating her country - was staged by the White House. The cynical host apparently first voiced his skepticism during a commercial break. His comments were immediately seized upon by "Hardball" guest, MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan when the show returned.

Smarting over the prospect that President Bush's policy in Iraq was vindicated by Sunday's historic election, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declined on Monday to offer any congratulations, choosing instead to insult his intelligence. Speaking of the warm reception Bush is likely to enjoy when he delivers the State of the Union Address later this week, the top House Democrat told the National Press Club: "You really don't have to have very [good] communication skills if you have a couple of hundred people who will jump to their feet when you recite the ABCs," she said. In comments on Sunday,...

Ted Kennedy's contemptible foreign policy speech deliberately timed just prior to the Iraqi election was bad enough. But Kennedy didn't just come within one state's electors of becoming president. John Kerry did, and his regrettable remarks on "Meet the Press" demonstrate how scary that is.

January 30, 2005Failed presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry whines about the Iraqi Vote on "Meet The Press"...   click here for really large version This is an email-able, copyright-ready graphic you can use in emails, on blogs, in flyers, on posters... anything that's noncommercial.

A bitter-sounding Sen. John Kerry dismissed the historic Iraqi election on Sunday, warning Americans not to "overhype" the watershed event. "No one in the United States should try to overhype this election," Kerry told NBC's "Meet the Press." The failed presidential candidate questioned the historic referendum's legitimacy, saying, "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote." Kerry also pooh-poohed reports of a surprisingly high 72 percent turnout by Iraqi voters, insisting instead that the election has "gone as expected." Asked if he thought Iraq was now less of...

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Sunday that when the full Senate debates the nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice to be Secretary of State on Tuesday, she intends to repeat charges that Rice deliberately misled the nation about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "I will lay out again on the Senate floor [why] I do not believe [she] has been candid with the American people," Sen. Boxer told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." "[She's] gone on shows like yours and made statements that I don't think were true, or they were half-true, didn't tell the whole story, didn't level...

No Name Calling Week?     1/12/2005By Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D.Yes, name-calling is wrong. But this event’s sponsors reveal the agenda behind banning it. “There is a special place in hell for people like you!” These words were directed at me by a teacher during this past summer’s National Education Association (NEA) convention in Washington, D.C. This delegate to the NEA convention made his prediction in response to my presence at the NEA’s Ex-Gay Educators’ Caucus booth in the convention exhibit hall. His cheery salutation caught me off-guard given the message of tolerance and acceptance I had been hearing around the exhibit hall....

France has found a new tale of good and evil about which to make clever conversation. As usual the villains are capitalism and America, and “globalization” is the bogeyman combining the two malign forces which have, in their paranoid vision, conspired to diminish la France. Ho hum. The New York Times informs us that Parisian wine and film circles are abuzz with discussion of the surprise hit documentary Mondevino, which reportedly decries the “globalization” and “homogenization” of the world wine industry. Those under attack include Robert Parker, the American wine critic whose tastes have become the single most influential factor...

I was just watching CNN's coverage of the tsunami disaster and they had Patrick Leahy on commenting about it. He went to great lengths to state that the President had waited to long to make a public statement about the crisis and that our initial offer of $35 million dollars was not nearly enough. To her credit, the interviewer said that the White House was claiming that the President's critics were unwilling to give him credit for anything he did to which Leahy responded that he would give credit when credit was due.

WASHINGTON - President Bush tripped over his tongue again yesterday, inadvertently suggesting that he and his administration are plotting new ways to harm America. At a White House ceremony where he signed the $417 billion defense spending bill for the 2005 fiscal year, Bush uttered another of his celebrated malapropisms. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," he said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." Bush's latest verbal bobble was reminiscent of a similar gaffe made by former President Jimmy Carter on Nov. 1, 1980,...

President Bush offered up a new entry for his catalog of "Bushisms" on Thursday, declaring that his administration will "never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people." Bush misspoke as he delivered a speech at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion defense spending bill. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." No one in Bush's audience of military brass or Pentagon chiefs reacted. The president was working his way toward a...

Respect. That's what we offer when we honor those who've passed before us. And we witnessed this upon the passing of Ronald Reagan. Hundreds of thousands traveled to Washington for the national and state funerals and the Capitol viewing and to Simi Valley. Millions more watched worldwide. But some were unable to put aside their political differences. Now its time spotlight those deserving of public shame for their atrocious behavior. French President Jacques Chirac boycotted the state funeral even though he was already in the U.S. Democratic National Committee staffers ordered interns who lowered the American flag to half-staff to...