Free Republic

President Obama’s announcement regarding U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan – after three months of indecision – brought partisan hypocrisy into sharp focus. He owed his election to a cult of personality and the promise of change, but his aura lost much of its luster as the country found itself still mired in economic crisis and embroiled in two wars after his first year in office. Polls show that the independent voters who were essential to his victory are not likely to support him again because the reality did not reinforce the promise. The same introspection cannot be found among his...

Michele Bachmann and the Republicans’ “House Call” that drew thousands had the effect that I was expecting; Obama is planning on going to Walter Reed to avoid protesters on Friday, and then twist some arms and create some tingles on Saturday, Chicago style, before the House vote that will establish 118 new government agencies to take away what is left of our freedom. He is probably expecting the protesters to be gone by Saturday’s vote. Now why would the Tea Party Patriots do that? Good luck with that Mr. pResident. If you do get this POS bill passed, 2010 is...

After hearing from an angry parent, I reached out to "Queen Sister," a colorful activist who has been at the forefront of rallies to stop the violence near Fenger High School. It's not surprising that Queen Sister's mailbox is full. Last time I saw her, she was outside Fenger yelling through a bullhorn. Since the fatal beating of Derrion Albert -- a tragedy that was captured on video -- activists like Queen Sister have been in great demand. And since U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan (US Dept of Ed & Chicago Dept of Education) promised millions of dollars to quell...

Free People Need No Leader Throughout the summer’s town halls and protests, a passing question has been raised again and again by the media and their consorts: who is this movement’s “leader?� The assumption behind the question reveals something interesting about the questioners’ perspective. To ask this question, the questioner must believe that average people require a “leader� to tell them what they do and don’t want, what they must or mustn’t do and where they must or mustn’t do it. While it’s certainly true that we who resist federal intrusion into our every action must have representatives, free people...

In this blog post, the author, who says he/she is the child of a Behesht Zahra cemetery worker, writes about reports of the secret burials of many victims of Iran's postelection violence: I am a student and my mother is an employee at the cemetery. Our financial situation isn’t good and all of us are loyal supporters of [Iranian President Mahmud] Ahmadinejad. (You may judge this as you wish!) Even though I am aware that he has won the presidency through a fraudulent election, it is because of Ahmadinejad's government that cemetery employees can own a house after so many...

On Wednesday, August 12, a man holding a sign that said “Death to Obamaâ€� at a town hall meeting in Maryland was detained and turned over to the Secret Service for questioning, which is pursuing an investigation into charging him with threatening the president. As well they should. I fully and absolutely agree with this arrest, since anyone who threatens the president is breaking the law and should be prosecuted. It doesn’t matter that Obama was not at the meeting nor that the man was unarmed: the threat all on its own is a federal crime, according to the United...

Despite the repugnant abuses inflicted on guards by the terrorist detainees at GITMO, that facility must remain open. Irrespective of critics, who are angered over the Ritz-Carlton treatment accorded to some of the world's most loathsome terrorists who must be confined in that facility. Ritz-Carlton treatment? You bet! Scores of terrorist complicit detainees who were ordered released from GITMO have returned to their Islamist jihad against the West. Unlike detainees at GITMO confined in that facility for attacking U.S./Coalition forces in Afghanistan, or engaging in other terror activity, -- the detainees in seven secret Iranian political prisons are in real...

Report Doggett meetup Rundberg 8/8/09 Bill and I got there about 10:30 an hour before. There were about 20 people lined up on the sidewalk holding pro-public option signs. I had my personal poll and another one with Rush's questions about the bill. Picked the wrong guy to talk to, he kinda got huffy about the Dump Doggett card and when he saw the bill(HR 3200) said “oh you are one of those”……I guess “those” means someone who reads the bill and wants to discuss the bill. We moved on. Basil was lost so talked her to the place and...

I hope I can do this, and I hope our Mods will give me a little latitude with this request if it is too far out of line. I tried and tried to find the right, and some really good pictures I would like to have for an article. I hope some of you can help. It is amazing how all the "bad" pictures for liberal protestors and unruly Obama mobs/supporters are being removed from many of the search engines. I need some of them for my article. So I hope some of you have them and can forward me...

When a group of older folks refused to leave California Sen. Diane Feinstein's West Los Angles office last week, it could be a sign that Democrats will have to find a places in which to cower to avoid the anger coming from the public. When Feinstein refused to talk to them about Medicare, they remained in her outer office for six hours until the police used a ruse to eject them. Some may be tried for trespassing on property that is being paid for the taxpayers.

A written exam administered by the Pentagon labels "protests" as a form of “low-level terrorism” — enraging civil liberties advocates and activist groups who say it shows blatant disregard of the First Amendment. The written exam, given as part of Department of Defense employees’ routine training, includes a multiple-choice question that asks: “Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism?” — Attacking the Pentagon — IEDs — Hate crimes against racial groups — Protests The correct answer, according to the exam, is "Protests."

A few ridiculous moments in time... Slideshow...

GREEN BAY - Organizers said about 1,000 people lined the east side of Packerland Drive Thursday morning to protest President Obama's stop in Green Bay. Stretching four blocks long, the protest parked itself along the motorcade route between Austin Straubel Airport and Green Bay Southwest High School.

LINK ONLY http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20090612/SHE0101/906120401/1973/SHE0205

Many people opposed to President Obama's policies used the streets of Packerland Drive in Green Bay to send their message.

Companies: After an all-out war on oil companies from the left in recent years, it bodes well for the future to see Big Oil now recognizing the attack it's under and its duty to fight back. Witness Chevron and Exxon Mobil.Shareholder meetings can be pro forma affairs, but not for major oil companies, which have become a lightning rod for the anti-corporate sentiment gaining traction in U.S. political life since around 2006. Wednesday, Chevron was descended upon by a zoo-full of San Francisco leftists pushing rain forest sentimentalism, Burma, and other pet causes dear to the no-soap crowd. They journeyed...

Even as average Americans were planning to get out in towns and cities to demonstrate against Big Government and Big Taxes, Federal Bureau of Intelligence Investigation (FBI) surveillance was being unleashed upon them. In fact, unsuspecting Tax Day TEA Party participants were being closely watched during the demonstration planning stages in a covert operation that began on or about March 23, 2009. If you one of the estimated 750,000 Americans who attended one of about 600 TEA parties last week, you might have seen media cameras covering the event. Media cameras, however, were not the only cameras taking video at...

London - Angry protestors shouting "shame on you" and "storm the banks" clashed with police outside the Bank of England during anti-globalization demonstrations in London Wednesday. Some 4,000 demonstrators converged on the central bank in the City of London, where windows of banks and offices were smashed. Police said 11 people had been arrested by lunchtime and riot police had been deployed. At one point, several hundred demonstrators attempted to break through barriers to reach the heavily-guarded and boarded-up central bank building. Windows at the Royal Bank of Scotland, which has been a key target for critics during the banking...

(IsraelNN.com) A Dutch magistrate gave one man a € 400 fine and another 30 hours community service and a three-week suspended prison sentence for shouting anti-Semitic slogans during a demonstration against Israel's military operations in Gaza. The two protestors were found guilty of shouting “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” during a demonstration by about 100 people in the center of the city of Utrecht last month. The judge stated that he wanted to send a message that such behavior would not be tolerated, the ANP news agency reports. “You can shout many things at a demonstration, but this is...

"Where is the Money?" Where is the Outrage?? by: Tom McClusky The Washington Post today has an article on how protestors are currently in Washington to protest that the federal government isn't providing the victims enough money (presumably because they believe President Bush created the storm with his weather controlling machine.)  The Post article certainly romanticizes the protestors: "They came to Washington yesterday from temporary housing, from apartments in Houston, hotel rooms in Dallas and spare bedrooms in cousins' homes. They came to say that the only place they really want to go is home."  What the Post fails to mention is...

WASHINGTON — Protesters, a fixture of every inauguration since President Nixon’s in 1973, were few and scattered on Tuesday as Barack Obama assumed the presidency. It appeared there were far more vendors looking to make a buck selling Inaugural Chocolate Bars and Obama Incense than protesters seeking to make a statement.

Protesters march down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 during a 'No on Prop 8'' rally. In a heartbreaking defeat for the gay-rights movement, California voters put a stop to gay marriage, creating uncertainty about the legal status of 18,000 same-sex couples who tied the knot during a four-month window of opportunity opened by the state's highest court. Hundreds demonstrate outside the Los Angeles Mormon Temple against the Church's support of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that banned gay marriage, in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. Protesters hold signs...

Blacks rally against Obama. 10+ hold homemade signs. Intentional, well executed protest inside Obama rally. Obama shaken.

CORAL GABLES, Florida (AFP) - Around 20 African-Americans heckled Barack Obama at a rally here Friday, screaming chants and holding up placards accusing the White House hopeful of selling out the black community. As the Democrat, who would be the first African-American US president, spoke, the protestors jumped up from their seats in a corner high up in the University of Miami's basketball arena. One of their signs said: "Barack Obama endorsed by KKK (Ku Klux Klan)."

Mascots representing the Republican party (L) and the Democratic party (R) ride around on Segway personal transporters at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 2, 2008. Cindy McCain (R), wife of presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain and first lady Laura Bush arrive onstage to speak together at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 1, 2008 BOTH VERY CLASSY LADIES, IMO Delegates are reflected in and distorted by a decorative mirror on the floor of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 1, 2008. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt...

Protesters harassed two state delegations in St. Paul to attend the Republican National Convention Monday. Someone threw a rock through the window as delegates from Alabama rode their bus to the Xcel Energy Center, where RNC events took place. And masked protesters confronted and harassed the Connecticut delegation — several of them were spat upon, roughed up and doused with a mixture of water and bleach.

Aided by informants planted in protest groups, authorities raided at least six buildings across St. Paul and Minneapolis to stop an "anarchist" plan to disrupt this week's Republican National Convention. From Friday night through Saturday afternoon, officers surrounded houses, broke down doors, handcuffed scores of people and confiscated suspected tools of civil disobedience. The show of force was led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with the FBI, Minneapolis and St. Paul police, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and other agencies. But a St. Paul City Council member described it as excessive, while activists, many of whom were...

In November 2006, Pelosi explained the significance behind the record voter turnout that helped shift the balance of power in Washington for the first time in 12 years. “People voted for change and they voted for Democrats who will take our country in a new direction,” Pelosi said during a victory speech in San Francisco on Nov. 8, 2006. But Pelosi, who became House Speaker, never managed to exact the change she promised. She explained that she and her colleagues tried vigorously to pass legislation to end the war in Iraq. "The public doesn’t want to know about process and...

A federal judge in Minneapolis issued a decision today, upholding the terms of a demonstration permit issued by the St. Paul police department for an antiwar march at the Republican National Convention. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen rejected virtually every argument made by attorneys for the protest group who had sought a march route that would have come close to encircling the Xcel Energy Center and would have continued later into the day so delegates would see the demonstrators when they arrived for an evening session on Sept. 1. Citing past court decisions, Ericksen adopted the view of the St....

Prez at Furman by: Deborah Lambert, June 25, 2008 While ignoring faculty protesters during his commencement address at Furman University (SC), President Bush nevertheless decided to meet the issue head-on. Thanking the profs for their devotion to improving the lives of young people, he said that he too, was a believer in free speech, “and to prove it, I’m about to give you one.” The President noted that Governor Mark Sanford, also present at the ceremony, graduated 25 years ago when his father, George H.W. Bush, was the speaker. Commenting on that coincidence, he said this means that “some at...

A pro-family activist and former presidential candidate says it is outrageous that military personnel in uniform, who use public transportation while traveling to the Pentagon, are being publically harassed by anti-war leftists. The Air Force recently issued a security advisory, relating several incidents where military personnel have been approached by individuals expressing themselves as anti-government and shouting anti-war sentiments. Gary Bauer, Chairman of American Values, says in one case a woman in uniform was followed as she exited a Washington, D.C., subway train and a left wing thug continued to berate her as she exited the metro station. Bauer believes...

Two people protesting the construction of Interstate 69 have pitched a tent roughly 30 feet off the ground in a cluster of trees near the Gibson-Warrick County line. The two men who appeared to be in their 20s caused a headache Monday for Indiana State Police and Indiana Conservation officers, who considered removing them from the tree before ultimately deciding to leave them there. State police received a tip around 1 p.m. and used a helicopter to spot the men, with several patrol officers assisting on the ground. The land, located near the intersection of Indiana 57 and Indiana 68,...

BURBANK – About 50 people are rallying at Disney Studios to protest questions that ABC News journalists asked the Democratic presidential candidates during a debate earlier this week. Protestors waved signs Friday that read “Restore the Fourth Estate” and “ABC is TMZ,” referring to the online celebrity site. Organizer Rick Jacobs criticizes ABC for focusing on the past gaffes of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, instead of issues like the war in Iraq and the American economy. Jacobs says he was offended that Obama was asked why he hasn't worn an American flag pin on his lapel. “Patriotism...

CHINA has told Australia its army should oversee the local leg of the Olympic torch relay amid mounting security concerns. Chinese officials have asked Australian Federal Police to hand over security to its own forces to ensure protests do not mar the relay when it lands in Australia next month. The move – which has been rebuffed by the AFP – comes as Beijing reels from an embarrassing relay launch in Greece when human rights activists hijacked the event. China has responded by radically cutting back its relay legs in cities where it expects more trouble, police sources told The...

In Tucson, 40 to 50 supporters of U.S. troops and the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq demonstrated peacefully on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the war's start. Across the street from the demonstration in front of a Midtown military recruiting station, a handful of protesters faced off with anti-war signs. --- snip ---

"Judge orders one of the last fur companies to pay the legal bills of protesters who assisted in putting them out of business."

Tribute to Islamic Rage Boy! Funny!

SIERRA VISTA — For the second year in a row, protesters against alleged torture practices being taught on the post were arrested Sunday on charges of trespassing. Two of the three had met Army officials Thursday and were briefed on the human intelligence collector’s course, which includes interrogation methods. Mary Burton Riseley, 65, a Quaker from New Mexico and the Rev. Jerry Zawada, 70, of Nevada had met with post officials last week. Joining them was Betsy Lamb, 69, of Oregon as they walked across Buffalo Soldier Trail just before 1 p.m. Sunday. They were taken into custody by post...

FORT HUACHUCA — It was a meeting of polar opposites. On one side of a conference room on this Southern Arizona post were three people who wanted to know why the Army teaches torture techniques. On the other side were four soldiers — three officers and one chief warrant officer — who said the Army does not teach torture and does not condone such practices. For some, the meeting, which was approved at the highest level of the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, may seem strange, since two of the three civilians have protested outside the fort in the past,...

MINNEAPOLIS - Shrouded in black, with a bandanna masking her face, a self-proclaimed anarchist slips into her combat boots and dashes through town, tossing a Molotov cocktail here, launching a bowling ball there. The YouTube video is more parody than threat: The flaming cocktail ignites a charcoal grill, and the bowling ball knocks down pins instead of crashing through a Navy recruiting office window. But as the video fades to black, the message on-screen is clear: "We're getting ready. What are you doing?" With less than 10 months to go before the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St.Paul, activists are already...

Protestors play drums as they demonstrate against what they feel is a possible U.S.-government involvement in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a loss of personal freedoms as a result of counter-terrorism security measures, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007 at Seattle's Pike Place Market. About 300 protestors from a variety of anti-war and Sept. 11 conspiracy organizations spent most of Tuesday demonstrating around Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Stacy 'Banjo Man' Samuels, left, talks with Jon LeTowt, right, of Sonoma, Calif., during a CodePink 'general strike' outside the Federal building in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. The pair were protesting...

Two women wore the bunny costumes. "Our whole body is painted white literally from head to toe. We have on white panties, pasties and we have bunny ears complete with a cottontail and heels," said Meggan Anderson. Meggan Anderson said there's a purpose to the costume. "We hope to accomplish and persuade PetSmart to stop selling rabbits," Anderson said. "There's so many dying in shelters. You know, they're the third most surrendered animals next to dogs and cats. Every bunny that PetSmart sells is one in a shelter that dies." About 11 Peta members carried signs saying "No Bunny Likes...

Protestors march through the streets of Ottawa 19 Aug on their way to Parliment building to protest the upcoming Security and Prosperity Partnership Summit. The leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico are expected to meet Monday at this log cabin resort, near Ottawa, for a two-day summit to bolster trilateral trade and security.(AFP/David Boily)

An environmental protester hugs a British police officer Saturday near London's Heathrow Airport. Organizers hope to attract as many as 1,500 people today to protest a proposed third runway at the airport and greenhouse gases released by air travel. LONDON — For the hundreds of climate-change activists who have camped out near Heathrow Airport for the past week, there is only one way to reduce the carbon footprint of aircraft: Stop flying so much. "Aviation is a luxury we can live without," said a protester named Merrick. Booming air travel, he said, is multiplying greenhouse gases just as the climate-change...

Energy activists chain themselves up inside an Asheville bank in protest of the company's energy policies. A group calling itself "The Climate Convergence" has been gathering in Transylvania County since last week. Monday they staged a protest in front of the Bank of America building on Patton Avenue. Police say 5 protesters chained themselves to fixtures inside the lobby of the bank, they were all arrested. Police worked to move activists off the street and they largely complied after a strong law enforcement presence showed up, including some K-9 officers. The activists say Bank of America has bad policies toward...

armed police will use anti-terrorism powers to "deal robustly" with climate change protesters at Heathrow next week, as confrontations threaten to bring major delays to the already overstretched airport. Up to 1,800 extra officers will be drafted in to prevent an estimated 1,500 people disrupting the airport over the period of the camp for climate change, which is due to begin on Tuesday. The police have been told to use stop and search powers against the protesters, who have pledged to take direct action on August 18 and 19 but not to endanger life. Article continues The Metropolitan police chief,...

CN halts rail operations, embargoes all traffic in Toronto-Montreal corridor, following illegal blockade of rail line MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(MARKET WIRE)--Jun 29, 2007 -- CN today halted freight operations and embargoed all traffic on its Toronto-Montreal main line after reportedly armed native protesters erected an illegal blockade on the company's tracks near the eastern Ontario town of Marysville, located approximately 10 miles east of Belleville, Ont. CN obtained an injunction barring illegal occupation of the rail corridor when First Nations protesters blocked the line in April of this year. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) refused to enforce the order issued by...

..... a robust greeting in the predominantly Muslim country. Huge banners proclaimed "Proud to be Partners," and billboards read "President Bush in Albania Making History." Red-white-and-blue paper top hats with stars on top were passed out to well-wishers in this Balkan nation. Albania has such an affinity for America that it issued three postage stamps with Bush's picture and the Statue of Liberty and renamed a street in front of parliament in his honor. "I love to come to countries that are working hard to establish institutions necessary for democracies to survive," Bush said.

GOFFSTOWN – Instead of a bullhorn, Steve Lindsey held a slide trombone, blaring away as cars passed through the main entrance to St. Anselm College yesterday afternoon. At his feet was a handwritten sign: "Honk to Impeach." Although the election to replace President Bush is barely more than a year away, Lindsey is still eager to see Bush impeached. "One, he doesn't learn from experience and, two, we were led into war on false pretexts," the Keene native said. As for the eight Democratic candidates coming to campus that evening to debate the war and other issues, Lindsey, a cab...

MOSCOW (AP) -- Police detained gay rights activists, among them European lawmakers, as they tried to present a letter to Moscow's mayor Sunday in a demonstration that also attracted a hostile crowd of people who punched and threw eggs at the activists. The letter, signed by some 40 European lawmakers, appealed the city's ban on a march that would have taken place Sunday to mark the 14th anniversary of Russia decriminalizing homosexuality. Police quickly grabbed about a dozen demonstrators and forced them into a bus, including the Russian gay rights movement leader Nikolai Alexeyev. Police then hustled away others, including...