Free Republic

As a graduate of the Yale class of 1966, I resent the self-serving lies and misrepresentations advanced by my classmate John Kerry. Herewith, a few corrections: John Kerry has been using the Pershing name to dramatize his Vietnam experience, claiming to have been a close friend of Richard Pershing, the grandson of General (Black Jack) Pershing. Richard Pershing was a member of the Yale class of 1966, and he was killed in Vietnam shortly after we graduated. However, Kerry's constant references to his 'dearest' friend are exaggerated and exploitative. In fact, Dick Pershing and I roomed together for all 4...

Lou Dobbs says President Bush and Congress are part of an "elitist war on the middle class" President Bush says that the installation of the new Iraqi government was a "watershed event," but at the same time warns Americans of the challenges and loss as we continue to prosecute the war against Iraqi insurgents. Sen. Harry Reid declares that legislation that would render English the national language is racist. Thirty-seven Democrats vote for full amnesty for all illegal aliens in this country, even though nobody really knows whether the number is 11 million, 12 million or 20 million. The Senate...

When Democratic Party leaders "found God in the 2004 exit polls," as Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. likes to say, no one expected instant results. Many of the party's early efforts to attract religious voters, after all, were scattershot and not a little awkward. No one knew quite what the "faith staffer"—a new breed of legislative aide—was supposed to do, and random-seeming insertions of Bible verses into floor speeches came off as Tourette's syndrome for Democrats. In the longer run, though, the new focus on forming relationships with religious communities and voters has been the right move for a...

Sheldon's new book, blasting "elites" and "phonies" in Dem Party who were too cheap to help start Air America Believe it or not, I am not trying to offend anyone with my posts. ... many criticisms have been directed at me for the “problems” that Air America has had during its “birth pangs.” Almost 5 years ago I started the Air America project and invested over $3 Million on the start of a liberal radio network. In fact, Arianna invited me to her house in November, 2002 to present some of my ideas with a group of Hollywood elites trying...

One of the first words I learned from the New Testament when I was a kid was “hypocrite.” It seems like Jesus was always saying “thou hypocrite” to someone or another, kind of mad-like. I wasn’t sure what he had against these hypocrites and what that word meant, but grownups said it was because the religious leaders of his day were hypocrites. I asked Daddy what a hypocrite was and he said it was someone who was kind of a fake. So Jesus didn’t like fakes and he told them so to their faces, even when they were powerful, important...

Terry Villaire, 69, has a neatly trimmed black goatee, pudgy expressive hands and penetrating dark eyes that are hard to avoid, even from the back pew.During a recent Mass at Holy Angels Parish in Fort Lauderdale, Villaire seemed more like a party host than a presiding bishop as he circulated, distributing kisses on ready lips and cheeks. Just as effortlessly, he slipped into the solemnity of a centuries-old ritual, singing over a wine chalice and wafers.''Our motto is love without judgment, and that's piqued some curiosity,'' said Villaire, a former Roman Catholic priest who's now a bishop in an independent...

Evangelical Filmmakers Criticized for Hiring Gay Actor By NEELA BANERJEE Published: February 2, 2006 WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — Christian ministers were enthusiastic at the early private screenings of "End of the Spear," made by Every Tribe Entertainment, an evangelical film company. But days before the film's premiere, a controversy erupted over the casting of a gay actor that has all but eclipsed the movie and revealed fault lines among evangelicals. /snip Many evangelicals are concerned that young people inspired by the movie will look up Mr. Allen on the Web and "get exposed to his views on homosexuality, and that...

Hey Gang : Let’s Start a Web Site ! (A Cynical Look at Internet Foundations ) Let’s say we’ve got a message to put across – on the Web. We’re not completely sure what we want to say – and won’t know until we see who is willing to come up with the money. Should we make it Liberal ? Nah. That’s been done to death. Besides,Liberals are generally cheapskates ! Ditto for Conservatives. All the corporate funding is pretty well spoken for. Libertarian sounds attractive – mostly because nobody can really define what Libertarians stand for . Like the...

A Liberal's Limousine Culture War/A.J. DiCintio June 4-5, 2005 - “Liberals: This affluent group...make up 17% of [the] general public and 19% of registered voters.” - The Pew Research Center, Beyond Red vs. Blue, May 10, 2005. Among the 17% of the public who identify themselves as “Liberals,” surely you can recognize the sub-group called “Limousine Liberals,” those Liberals whose children hop a limo to a private school while mom and dad instruct their driver to drop them off at the Capitol, where they will testify against every kind of “faith based” initiative designed to help children trapped in failing...

With the President back at his Crawford ranch, the anti-war protest right outside his ranch is getting a lot more media attention. ABC7 looks at who is financing the operation and who's providing on-the-ground support. The camp at Crawford is full of Cindy Sheehan supporters, people from all walks of life. But off to the side are a small group of professionals, skilled in politics and public relations who are marketing her message. Cindy Sheehan kneels before a cross with her son's name on it, touches his picture, wipes her tears. It's an outpouring of emotion that is part of...

Senator Hillary Clinton (L) arrives for the world premier of Miramax Film's 'The Great Raid' with Senator John McCain at the Uptown Theatre in Washington, D.C. July 28, 2005. REUTERS/Jeffrey Snyder

MIDI - MANDY (Barry Manilow) Last week while we were in bed "Let's get Karl Rove," you said We can pull it off...the press will play What we start, I know, won't go away Together we'd be helping Hillary We'd set it up easily Wilson will comply...and so will his wife For the RNC, we'd cause so much strife Oh, Mandy...you must put on that leather pink burqa It's not my fault, you know Oh, Mandy...even with Viagra, it won't work-a If you let your face show...oh, Mandy True believers, that we are We'll be following her star We'll...

According to Bob Geldof, two billion people watched his snazzy Live8 concert thingamajig. Therefore, he declared, "It's now for the leaders to act." He also added, "Now feel the force of the gale that's hit you." At the top of Geldof's gale-force demands: debt relief for African nations. O.K., so here's what I'm confused about. People watched a concert, which was chockablock with acts supposedly popular with the young 'uns and old 'uns alike. From Snoop Dogg, Will Smith, and Coldplay to the more aged likes of Madonna, Sting, and Bono. There were even a few troubadours with last names...

I found these comments all posted through out the internet. I found them... inlightening. We managed to get rid of Daschle, opening up a window of opportunities for Democrats to get a real Democrat in as Minority leader. But if you were wondering what direction the Democrats are planning to go, well, they've sent us a signal and selected Harry Reid of Nevada as Senate Minority leader. Republicans might find it hard to pigeonhole Reid as a liberal since his anti-abortion, anti-gun-control views are contrary to Democratic dogma. He was among the minority of Democrats who voted for a ban...

I have been puzzled about the lack of conversation about the appearance of such opposing views between sKerry's crewmen, and the Swiftvets. It just stands to reason that one of the groups is just flat wrong (I didn't say lied). It intrigued me that so many, who are against sKerry, could be ofset by so few that support him. It is almost as if the media thinks that the public would buy off on a conspiracy of such a grand scale.I got curious about the motivation of the supporters. While many have postulated about $$$ or some plum position in...

The gigolo and the ambulance chaser. For this dynamic duo all of Boston is to be placed under house arrest for four days later this month? For what sounds like the bad pilot of a UPN sitcom. Lurch meets Opie, as somebody put it on a message board yesterday. The TV Land ticket. From a chicken in every pot to a lawyer in every ambulance. The trial lawyers have been holding a convention here the last few days. Considering how many of the same $500-an-hour shysters will be flying back here in three weeks, why couldn't the Dems have just...

My political credo is simple and many people share it: I am against phonies. A cultural establishment that (on the whole) doesn't give a damn about World War II or its veterans thinks it can undo a half-century of indifference verging on contempt by repeating a silly phrase ("the greatest generation") like a magic spell while deploying fulsome praise like carpet bombing. The campaign is especially intense among members of the 1960s generation who once chose to treat all present and former soldiers like dirt and are willing at long last to risk some friendly words about World War II...

House Democrats are preparing a “Catholic Voting Scorecard” in an effort to show that Catholic Democratic lawmakers have adhered more closely to the position of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy on key issues than their Catholic Republican counterparts. Democratic sources say Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Nicholas Lampson (D-Texas), both Catholics, are spearheading the project, which will compare the votes of Catholic members of both parties on a number of key issues that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops identified as its legislative priorities. Nearly 27 percent of House members are Catholic. The votes, some of which go back several Congresses,...

In the space of a month, the CBS News program "60 Minutes" has landed two highly sought-after interviews with authors of books promising news-making revelations about the Bush administration. In both cases the interviews stayed in the corporate family. A week from tonight, "60 Minutes" will have a long interview with Bob Woodward, whose soon-to-be-released book, "Plan of Attack," reportedly will contain important new details about the administration's decision to go to war against Iraq. The Woodward interview, already taped, follows a similar interview with Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism official whose book, "Against All Enemies," described the administration...

I was out at an event the other night and I heard an interesting story. It comes from Acts. At one point, Peter and John (whose names stand for faith and love) were going to the Temple. There was a man in the community who had been lame from birth. Keep that in mind -- he was lame from birth. Now, every day this man was carried to the Temple and was laid outside the gate to beg for money while his family went inside to worship. Well, here come Peter and John, and the man asked them for money....