Free Republic

Russia’s must be challenged to provide evidence for the unsubstantiated allegations presented as the grounds for its occupation of Ukrainian territory. Let them present it now to an international committee whose findings would be made public including on Crimean and Russian TV

  Those who would rule know one thing for certain: Win the battle of ideas and you win control of everything. In an open, democratic society such as ours, freedom of speech and what John Stuart Mill called "the marketplace of ideas" are huge benefits. They enable all of us, even the most marginalized, to make our case to the public, to be heard. They allow reason to be inserted into public debate as an essential part of the checks and balances of the democratic process. This is a healthy thing, vital for our republic. But for those who...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Fearful members. Declining church attendance. Concerned pastors. Uncertain futures. Despite dramatic changes in the life of many Hispanic congregations in Alabama with the new immigration law, the news isn't all bad. "A lot of people left," Carlos Gomez said of the Hispanic congregation he leads at First Baptist Church in Center Point. "I called them back and some of them returned. But I know of another ministry that is close to me here in town that had around 120, and now it has about 40." Reports of decreased attendance in Hispanic congregations are common since the...

Rick Perry Slams ‘Job-killing’ Regulations for Unemployment Report The State Column | Staff | Saturday, September 03, 2011 Texas Governor Rick Perry, an official candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, slammed the latest unemployment report on Friday. Perry’s comments were made on the heels of the US Department of Labor’s release of the August unemployment report. The newest unemployment figures show that the nation’s unemployment rate remains at 9.1 percent.“President Obama’s job-killing polices continue to wreak havoc on the American economy,� Perry said on Friday. Perry has long been a fan of reducing the number of regulations on small businesses....

Americans are unimpressed with their political leaders' handling of the debt ceiling crisis, with a new CBS News poll showing a majority disapprove of all the involved parties' conduct, but Republicans in Congress fare the worst, with just 21 percent backing their resistance to raising taxes. President Obama earned the most generous approval ratings for his handling of the weeks-old negotiations, but still more people said they disapproved (48 percent) than approved (43 percent) of what he has done and said. What Do You Think? Will lawmakers forge a debt deal by Aug. 2? YesNoNot sureVote View results Tune into...

The US government is offering contracts to create software to manage "fake people" on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues. The contract calls for the development of "Persona Management Software" which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week.

When we elected President Obama, Democrats made a choice to embrace the fight for change that matters. We renewed our focus on organizing alongside everyday Americans, growing more inclusive than ever before. We took on the special interests, opposed their agenda -- and we are delivering results for the people of this country. We are working to move America forward. That's why we are introducing a new look for Democrats to match this message -- a change that amplifies our focus on renewing the foundations that make this country great. We're launching an updated website, filled with innovations that will...

Stocks rose Friday and bond prices fell after the government reported that U.S. economic growth didn't slow as much as feared. Comments from Ben Bernanke also helped send stocks higher. The Federal Reserve chairman, speaking at the central bank's annual conference, reaffirmed his outlook for economic growth next year and said the Fed was ready to take extra steps to stimulate the economy if needed. Stocks stumbled briefly after Intel Corp. lowered its revenue estimate but then resumed their upward march. The Dow Jones industrial average and other market barometers all gained more than 1 percent. The downward revision in...

As stated in the Secure Arkansas Updates story, KARK Channel 4 did a story which attempts to merge the Arkansas Tea Party movement with racist Billy Roper. With no video or picture footage of Roper at any of the many Tea Party meetings and events across the state, KARK put a translucent picture of Roper and a Nazi Flag over a picture of Tea Party Activist at the Arkansas State Capitol. Here is a video taken during the April 15th 2010 Tea Party protest. After the National Anthem and some other announcements, a statement about the position of the Arkansas...

You didn't see this on CNN or Fox News or NBC: President Obama awkwardly introducing Chile's president, Sebastián Piñera, to the Netherlands' prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, at the recent nuclear security summit. "You know, uh, you've met Jan?" the president says tentatively as the other world leaders stand aside like shy kids at a dance. Or this: Obama, playfully doing his best impression of Muhammad Ali, throwing mock punches into the midsection of a costumed Easter Bunny following the White House Easter Egg Roll. You didn't see it on the networks because the behind-the-scenes video was only available on...

Just thought I'd let you know that the latest media-targeted phrase circulating through the prominent leftist blogosphere tonight is: "ETHNIC VOTER CLEANSING" In regard to the Arizona law. This is how our friends on the left coordinate the media attacks/talking points for the weekend cycle.

...and is covering the deathcare signing. Excuse me while I go barf!

Like at a lot of publications, Newsweek was forced to start its week over when the earthquake hit Haiti. Give the magazine credit for an artful recovery. The Washington Post Co.-owned publication has tapped President Barack Obama to pen a cover story on Haiti for the Jan. 25 issue hitting newsstands on Monday. Newsweek was readying a story about the Google-China row when the earthquake hit. Editor Jon Meacham scrapped his plans and hit the phones in search of the highest authority he could find to weigh in, according to a person familiar with the matter. He reached David Axelrod,...

President Obama yesterday rolled out the red carpet -- and handed out doctors' white coats as well, just so nobody missed his hard-sell health-care message. In a heavy-handed attempt at reviving support for health-care reform, the White House orchestrated a massive photo op to buttress its claim that front-line physicians support Obama. A sea of 150 white-coated doctors, all enthusiastically supportive of the president and representing all 50 states, looked as if they were at a costume party as they posed in the Rose Garden before hearing Obama's pitch for the Democratic overhaul bills moving through Congress.

Ah, Kansas, the home of hard working, god-fearing, regular average Americans. You would never know that if you read Thomas Frank's bestselling book "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Frank paints the picture of the plains state as a land of conservative morons who self abuse themselves by following evil Republicans, who use trickery to create a backlash effect to past liberal doctrines. As a Kansan who read Frank's book cover to cover, and had been besmirched by the demeaning description of Kansas conservatives therein, my preliminary critique of his book was that it was of the same quality as what...

Some parents are concerned about a speech President Barack Obama plans to make to students across the country on Tuesday. The White House says the speech is mainly intended to be motivational, telling children about the benefits of education and inspiring them to be good students.

What could go wrong? Seriously, Tapper’s being a tiny bit paranoid about this in my opinion, but don’t let me stand in the way of a good hand-wringing about Obama starting his own nascent propaganda bureau. Besides, JT’s honest enough to wink at how much the media slobbers over The One: Read the TV pool report: “Your Pool was not allowed to go over and shoot POTUS with the team shooting hoops. We protested loudly.”Now we know why: Obama White House officials decided to do their own media report on the visit, complete with cuts, interviews, and chyrons identifying who’s...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ____________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2009 President Obama Launches Office of Public Engagement: A New Name, Mission for White House Liaison Office - Also unveils Citizens’ Briefing Book with ideas from Americans across the country - WASHINGTON - President Obama today announced a new name and a new mission for the White House office charged with dealing most closely with the American people. The Office of Public Liaison is now the Office of Public Engagement. OPE, along with the Office of...

Says “Not Amused” That President of the United States Was “Used for Propaganda Purposes by Anti-American Socialist Dictator” --------- Washington, Apr 22 - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence gave the following statement today at the House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “Thank you for your service to the country in this post and over many years. I want to raise an issue with you that has come up in this hearing before. And I want to raise it with great respect to you and to the President of the United States of America that you serve....

It is very important that we force the media to hear and see us. Before Rush, before FOX, before the internet, the left was successful at making a caricature out of conservatives and Republicans. They painted the conservatives as whacko people who are missing teeth that go to militia meetings and then go home to sleep with their daughters and beat their wives. We saw how they dealt with those that don't get with the program (Ruby Ridge, Waco). They don't understand the founding forefather's intent and have no intention of upholding this nation's charter with its people, the United...

Part I: Non-ContradictionChapter X: Wyatt’s TorchSynopsisDagny and Hank visit the county seat and discover that the Twentieth Century Motor Company is tied up in litigation with two owners vying in court for possession. Mark Yonts of the People’s Mortgage Company of Rome, Wisconsin, an S&L known for easy credit, had sold the company to a concern in South Dakota and had used it again as collateral for a loan from a bank in Illinois. When his S&L collapsed, he disappeared after stripping the factory of its assets. All records are gone due to a courthouse fire. They visit Mayor Bascom...

Economic Recovery: The ink on the latest bank bailout plan hadn't even dried before it was being panned on both the left and right. But if it's so bad, why did stocks rally so impressively after it was announced?Of course, one day's run-up can run down just as fast. But we've learned over the years to respect the market in ways we don't respect the pundits. Markets, after all, represent the collective wisdom of thousands of people and institutions around the world with trillions of dollars at stake. And, collectively, markets seem relieved at the Treasury plan. After Treasury Secretary...

“Let's take a look at the top 1 percent, the truly "evil" in the Obama-Pelosi-Reid worldview. According to the IRS, they earn about 20 percent of the income in America, but pay 40 percent of the income tax. The top 5 percent pay 60 percent of the income tax. The top 10 percent pay 70 percent of the income tax.”

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a newly-released video recording of a November 20, 2008 suicide truck bombing attack on a joint-U.S.-Afghan military base in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost. The video shows footage of the bomber—identified as \"Qari Abu Omar”, a “patient man with experience in jihad”—as he assists in the preparation of nearly 3,000kg of explosives, his farewell More.. to the camera, and the subsequent blast itself.

The Palestinian terrorists in Gaza are expert at manipulating the news media to their point of view. Already, the top media outlets have filled television screens with human interest stories of Palestinian women and children being blown to bits by the overpowering and relentless Israeli Defense Forces. Story after story appears with frantic Palestinian women crying out that their lives are disrupted by these terrible bombing raids, that there is no food to feed their families, that their husbands are missing. And while they are talking, there is chaos in the background of bombed out buildings and B-roll of children...

His loss would be disastrous for the media and political establishment. CLEVELAND—If Barack Obama wins the election, it will be historic. And if he loses, it will be pretty historic, too: It would mark the biggest collective error in the history of the media and political establishment An Obama loss would mean the majority of pundits, reporters and analysts were wrong. Pollsters would have to find a new line of work, since Obama has been ahead in all 159 polls taken in the last six weeks. The massive crowds that have regularly turned out to see Obama would turn out...

There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization. I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Best part starts about 1:20 in!!! This really is a must see video....

As a glorious preview of improvements to political freedoms in an Obama administration, his campaign directed the third phase for the Current Truth Squads' assault on counterrevolutionary holdouts: Legal Stormtruthers. A group of high-ranking Missouri apparatchiks - including St. Louis sheriffs and top prosecutors - are threatening to target anyone they determine is contradicting the Current Truth™ about their chosen candidate for President. "This is the radical change we've been waiting for, and there's more where that came from," commented the local Truth Squad Standartenfuehrer on condition of anonymity. . Frankly, we were a bit underwhelmed by the Party's earlier...

The campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., likes to herald the independence of its new running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States. And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always."

The crimes of georgian's army in S. Ossetia.

Over the last seven years, the lunatic fringe in control of the Republican Party -- the people who believe in torture but don't believe in evolution -- have hijacked our democracy, aided and abetted by the news media. The heart of the problem is not the bias of Fox News or the blowhards on AM talk radio but a mainstream media that has completely internalized how the right frames all political debate. The right-wing message has become a part of the news media's DNA. The latest confirmation came with this week's announcement that Tony Snow, formerly a host at Fox...

Turn on the lights the party's just beginning.

Nicely illustrated with pages like this: Democrats make sure we share our toys, just like mommy does. Democrats make sure we are always safe, just like mommy does. Democrats make sure children can go to school, just like mommy does.

All God's Children (Mark Walton in Manila, Philipines) Smokey Mountain in Manila, Philipines is a community built on a trash dump where over 25,000 people subsists "among methane fumes scavenging hope and survival from droppings of garbage truck." For many children living in Smokey Mountain, the way out is death. Yet, for most Filipinos in Manila, artificial contraception is not a choice since 80% are Roman Catholic. For the orthodox, users of contraception are considered sinners "if they know it to be wrong, and understand it to be wrong." Natural birth control through the rhythm method (avoiding sex during period...

A recent opinion poll conducted by Yury Levada’s Research Center showed that 30 percent of Russians believe that the USA’s Central Intelligence Agency is a terrorist organization. Almost one-third of the polled Russian people therefore agreed with Iranian officials who ascribed USA’s CIA and Armed Forces to terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, 32 percent of Russian citizens are certain that the CIA has nothing in common with terrorism. In the meantime, up to 70 percent of Russians condemn the intention of the US administration to conduct pinpoint strikes on the camps of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and nuclear objects of Iran. Only...

DEFINITION: Swiftboating; Speaking TRUTH in the face of Democrat Propoganda The Idiots at Kos have a huge thread running on the exposure of the "SCHIP" family by Free Republic members, that Rush mentioned today, and it's utterly HILARIOUS! They are freaking out that we would DARE to question thier "Facts"... "UPDATE #2 Whiskeyfire has a very informative blog on this too (hat tip nyseer courtesy of Atrios) As the day goes on, bigger and bigger smear merchants are picking this up (including The Weekly Standard). All are (of course) listing Free Republic as the mother source. This limits any culpability...

269 reply's, most bashing America and the Administration, and not a SINGLE LINK to a Reliable FACT that backs up these numbers... Welcome to the world of LEFTIST PROPOGANDA MEANWHILE, the documented and PROVABLE deaths are: Documented civilian deaths from violence 73,713 – 80,333 http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/ Can someone explain to me why fallacies like this are allowed, and even REINFORCED by so many on the left? A Couple of KOS'rs attemted to procvide the FACTS, but were largely ignored..... The postings on this do provide a glimpse into the insane lunatics that have taken control of the Democratic Party.

VENICE (Reuters) - A new film about the real-life rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers who also murdered her family stunned the Venice festival, with shocking images that left some viewers in tears. "Redacted", by U.S. director Brian De Palma, is one of at least eight American films on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months and the first of two movies on the conflict screening in Venice's main competition. Inspired by one of the most serious crimes committed by American soldiers in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, it is...

Fortunately, I missed last week’s episode of the Fox network show, “So, You Think You Can Dance?” If I had seen it, I might have damaged my TV set. According to Newsbusters, the show featured a dance judge wearing Marine Dress Blues with upside-down Marine emblems on the sleeves and anti-war dances by the contestants. Video at Weblogging. The moonbat judge had absolutely no idea–no, none at all–that wearing Marine insignias upside-down would offend anyone.-SNIP-But the problem didn’t stop with her. Adding to the perfect storm of controversy on Wednesday night’s show was Dance’s other Emmy-nominated choreographer, Wade Robson. He...

Morning Edition, July 3, 2007 · President Bush's decision to commute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence proves that "this administration is corrupt to the core," said Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the former diplomat whose wife was at the center of the CIA leak investigation that sparked the Libby case. In denouncing the Bush administration, Wilson told NPR, "I would only hope that Americans now realize, with this subversion of our system of justice and the rule of law in this country, just exactly how corrupt they are." After Wilson wrote skeptically about U.S. claims that Iraq was shopping for enriched...

(CNSNews.com) - Charging that "right-wing talk reigns supreme on America's airwaves," two liberal groups on Thursday called for increased government regulation and greater diversity of commercial radio station owners to "close the gap" between the amount of conservative and "progressive" talk. An analyst with a conservative media watchdog group responded by calling the organizations' recommendations an example of "amazing liberal hypocrisy." "There's very little free speech and free choice in a market system that pushes one-sided information 90 percent of the time," said John Halpin, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress (CAP) and one of the authors...

Memo to Dems on Iraq: The Post-Veto Strategy President Bush today reiterated his insistence that he will veto the current Iraq supplemental spending bill. There is a decent chance this is a poker-style bluff - an attempt to stop the House and Senate's success so far in moving through a bill that ends the war. (Snip) Karl Rove understands that the veto will make Bush the one "cutting off funds to the troops" - the attack the White House and the Republican machine have used to berate Democrats. This was, after all, one of the big reasons Democrats attached binding...

Living in a “red” state appears to be more hazardous to the health of millions of American children, according to startling data contained in a major new book, “Homeland Insecurity… American Children at Risk” available free to parents, policymakers and other concerned Americans. The factors weighed in the “Homeland Insecurity” ranking includes such diverse indicators as inadequate pre-natal care, lack of health care insurance coverage, early death, child abuse, hunger and teen incarceration. Based on a diverse range of 11 child-related statistical measures, nine of the 10 top states with the best outcomes for children today are “blue” states (Wisconsin,...

Deep inside the heart of the "Green Zone", the heavily fortified administrative compound in Baghdad, lies one of the most carefully guarded secrets of the war in Iraq. It is a cell from a small and anonymous British Army unit that goes by the deliberately meaningless name of the Joint Support Group (JSG), and it has proved to be one of the Coalition's most effective and deadly weapons in the fight against terror. Its members - servicemen and women of all ranks recruited from all three of the Armed Forces - are trained to turn hardened terrorists into coalition spies...

In today's Independent, Patrick Cockburn writes: There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an unpremeditated massacre. A picture is beginning to emerge of a clash between an Iraqi Shia tribe on a pilgrimage to Najaf and an Iraqi army checkpoint that led the US to intervene with devastating effect. The involvement of Ahmed al-Hassani (also known as Abu Kamar),...

A major journalistic scandal was finally acknowledged during the long news hole leading up to the New Year's celebrations when the headlines were consumed by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's execution and the funeral of former U.S. President Gerald Ford. It was revealed last week that in April 2006 The New York Times Magazine published a long cover story that hinged on a blatant lie. The facts of the case came to light in November through the efforts of a pro-life Web site, LifeSiteNews.com. At first, The Times editors stonewalled over the facts, then they covered up the reporter's...

Did anyone see last night's episode? My daughter likes it but I don't usually watch. The liberals are fighting back, trying to indoctrinate the sheeple that illegals aren't doing anyone any harm, shouldn't face any illegal action, not even deportation. The illegals were good people with whom anyone could identify, and were generally portrayed in a totally sympathetic light.

I have decided to start an intermittent thread to document the rantings of the TRULY insane liberals of the left, from Yahoo's financial boards! (These nuts think they can sway the opinions of the folks there!) I wish I could call these The Yahoo Funnies, but these are ANYTHING but funny.... These people would utterly astound and frighten most sane Americans, and they compromise the base of the "Netroots", typing away from the dank darkness of mommy's basement.... Most of these comments are Drive-By Sloganeering, with no attempt to explain or defend it, but it is repeated THOUSANDS of times...

(2006-09-08) — Top Senate Democrats, outraged over inaccuracies in the upcoming ABC mini-series The Path to 9/11, today said that in addition to yanking the network’s broadcast license, if the show airs Democrats might also withhold from ABC News the daily distribution of Democrat talking points. A spokesman for Disney-owned ABC News said that while the network could weather the revocation of its broadcast license, thanks to the proliferation of cable and satellite TV, the loss of the Democrat talking points would force the news division to hire dozens of new reporters to fill the void in its newscasts. Meanwhile,...