Free Republic

I never will forget meeting former North Carolina State Senator Hugh Webster my senior year of high school. He came to my school and had lunch with the seniors. As he sat down beside me, I asked him to tell me what he most loved and hated about being in Raleigh. I don't remember what he most loved, but I'll never forget what he most hated. In the words of Mr. Webster, "I don't deal well with incompetent people." At that point, I knew Mr. Webster and I were kindred spirits. I too don't deal well with incompetent people. As...

Rochester, N.Y. —After nearly 20 hours of deliberating, a jury has found Roderick Scott not guilty of manslaughter. Scott says he never meant to shoot and kill 16-year-old Christopher Cervini in April, when he caught the teenager and two others breaking into cars in his neighborhood. Scott faced a charge of first-degree manslaughter. His trial in state Supreme Court began Nov. 30. Scott says Cervini threatened him — and he fired his gun in self-defense.... Assistant District Attorney Julie Finnochio said she respects the verdict and recognizes that it was a difficult case. "I just hope it's not a message...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologize up front for this vanity, but this photo is very telling. In the photo, we see our military rendering honors to the Veterans (both deceased and still with us). Why is it that this punk stands there with his hands folded? He makes it really obvious that he could really care less about America and our great Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen and Merchant Marines. Why does he fail to salute our Veterans and our great society?

Obama declares swine flu emergency 9 mins ago WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a "national emergency," the White House said Saturday, as the United States reels from millions of cases of infection and over 1,000 deaths.

Video if his punk anthem...

A New Jersey man with a lengthy rap sheet was indicted yesterday for preying on senior citizens in a months-long mugging spree through Greenwich Village and Chelsea. The oldest of Robert Stewart's victims was 91, prosecutors said. [snip] ...he accosted the 91-year-old man, whom he'd followed into a building on West 12th Street. He hit him in the head and took $400 from his wallet, investigators said.

(CNN) -- The guitarist stands in front of a mirror messing with his mohawk. The drummer strikes a wild tempo. The singer rips off his T-shirt and begins to scream the lyrics. Basim Usmani is bassist for The Kominas, a group that blends traditional sounds with punk rock beats. They're young. They're punk. And they're rocking both their Muslim and American worlds with their music, lyrics and style. "A lot of times people say, 'Oh wow, look, brown people playing music' [but] it's more than that," said 25-year-old Pakistani-American Shahjehan Khan, the lead singer for a Muslim punk band, The...

Chris Ann Cleland, a real estate agent from Prince William County, Virginia discusses her disappointment with President Obama. Chris Ann Cleland voted for Barack Hussein Obama because of his promise of hope and change but as reality catches up with the promise Ms. Cleland is forced to reconcile Obama’s words with his deeds. (see story) According to a Gallup poll last week, about 52 percent of Americans approved of Obama's job as president, the lowest number of his tenure. Somashekhar reports that Stephanie Slater, 44,has been disturbed by the large Wall Street bonuses that Obama doesn't seem to be able...

Before I start getting inundated with lib pushback that the right wingers are the violent ones, let me remind you all of two things that have come from this modern era leftist movement in America. Back during the campaign, Obama encouraged his supporters to be very much in the face of those who worked against him: "I want you to argue with them and get in their face..." Now, Obama is telling his drones that it is time to "get fired up again." But there is another rule issued down from on high. This time, you are not only to...

It’s looking more and more like the forged “Kenyan birth certificate” released by Orly Taitz on Sunday was a prank by a supporter of President Obama. Politijab points to an anonymous blogger at FearlessBlogging, who has uploaded four photos of the original forgery and a mocking declaration: Fine cotton business paper: $11 Inkjet printer: $35 1940 Royal Model KMM manual typewriter: $10 2 Shilling coin: $1 Pilot Varsity fountain pen: $3 Punkin’ the Birthers: Priceless

Running with the least money and fewest ties to vote-rich Northern Virginia, State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds has won the three-way Democratic primary for governor, paving the way for a rematch with Republican Bob McDonnell in the fall. Deeds, 51, a country lawyer from Bath County in the western part of the state, was viewed as an unlikely winner against two Northern Virginians with entrenched political ties. Known for his moderate views on such issues as gun rights, but also appreciated for his folksy style and attention to the Washington suburbs' cry for road improvements, Deeds was leading in Fairfax,...

Lonewolf Diaries: Barack Obama is “Not My President” by Steven Crowder I know, I know. It’s cliche and trust me, I hated the punks/celebrities who wore those slogan t-shirts throughout the Bush administration as much as the rest of you. The day Obama was elected, like many of you I told myself “Well, I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my President and I’ll support him.” A few months later, times have changed and I feel the need to officially declare that Barack Obama is “Not My President.” If you disagree, feel free to smack me around a little. If...

Every time I read about Daniel Hood, I feel worse for Xavier Ramos. Hood is an offensive lineman from Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic High who signed a letter of intent earlier this week to play football at Tennessee. He will be on scholarship in the fall. Five years ago, Hood was convicted of kidnapping and aggravated rape. According to court documents published by the Knoxville News-Sentinel, as a 13-year-old Hood helped a 17-year-old boy bind Hood's 14-year-old cousin to a bed with duct tape and then watched as the older boy sexually assaulted her with a household object. -snip- That player...

There is a single name that comes up in every attempt to get the Obama Eligibility issue before the Supreme Court, Court Clerk Danny Bickle. The disturbing thing is that I can find no reference to him anywhere other than as a blocking or impeding party in this issue. Does anyone know who this public servant is, what his education and qualifications are to be a Court Clerk with the Supreme Court of the United States? We need to know who paid for his education, what his current income and assets are, and if they are commensurate with his position....

INDIANAPOLIS — Police say an 18-year-old Indianapolis man severely beat his girlfriend's 14-month-old daughter because the girl failed to show respect. Tayaun Chism was arrested on preliminary charges of neglect of a dependent and child abuse in the beating of Lilliana Goodman. Police Sgt. Paul Thompson says Chism is accused of beating the girl with a belt for more than an hour for being disrespectful and not eating her food.

Here’s how I greeted the news of Barack Obama’s victory on election night last November: “Say hello to the punk presidency.” I was hardly out of line, basing the president-elect’s moniker on his poor behavior during the primary and general election campaigns, best exemplified in May and November YouTube videos. In each case — the first in reference to Hillary Clinton, the second to John McCain — Obama scratched his face with his middle finger and seemed, along with part of each crowd, to smile at the “cuteness” of what he had just done. As I said on election eve,...

Clips of Barack Obama using the kind of language not normally associated with a US President are spreading like wildfire online. The clips are from the audiobook version of Barack Obama's autobiography, Dreams from my Father, which is read by the president himself. They include quotes attributed to a schoolfriend of Obama's who had a rich vocabulary which is reproduced in graphic detail in the book. US actress April Winchell has posted audio clips of President Obama reading some of Ray's fruitier expressions on her website, www.aprilwinchell.com. She writes: "You're about to hear the President of United States using language...

President Barack Obama has brought a more relaxed style to the White House, according to Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times, among other things going suit coat-less in the Oval Office and allowing others to do the same. Obama critics will probably hold this against him and mark him down as disrespecting the presidency. But the Oval Office is an office after all, even if it is the world's most famous one. At bottom, it is a work space albeit it holds an almost sacred place in the hearts of many Americans. Most Americans probably won't begrudge Obama...

At 8 pm, just as pres bush began his farewell speech peotus obama left blair house for the 30 second drive to equinox restaurant on connecticut and I st. Pool is holding outside... DEVELOPING...

Five years ago, young Muslims across the United States began reading and passing along a blurry, photocopied novel called “The Taqwacores,� about imaginary punk rock Muslims in Buffalo. “This book helped me create my identity,� said Naina Syed, 14, a high school freshman in Coventry, Conn. A Muslim born in Pakistan, Naina said she spent hours on the phone listening to her older sister read the novel to her. “When I finally read the book for myself,� she said, “it was an amazing experience.� The novel is “The Catcher in the Rye� for young Muslims, said Carl W. Ernst, a...

As a prank, students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county's Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students and even teachers. Students from Richard Montgomery High School dubbed the prank the Speed Camera "Pimping" game, according to a parent of a student enrolled at one of the high schools. Originating from Wootton High School, the parent said, students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that "mimic" those on Maryland license...

Barack Obama, Time's Person Of The Year, as you've never seen him before ...Barack Obama was yesterday named as Time magazine’s Person of the Year, as a set of never-seen-before photographs emerged of the American president-elect... The black and white pictures show the dandily dressed Obama, aged around 19, smoking a cigarette whilst sitting on a wooden bench and leaning against a wall. The future Democratic leader of the free world was spotted by aspiring photographer Lisa Jack in the canteen at Los Angeles’ Occidental College and happily agreed to model for her.... ...Ms Jack...lost touch with Mr Obama shortly...

Barack Obama conducted his first press conference as President Elect, with Vice President Elect Joe Biden and his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at his side and his economic advisors, looking appropriately dour and serious, standing behind him. There was not much in the way of news made at the Obama press conference, aside from a shot taken at an old lady named Nancy Reagan. The majority of the questions were about the current economic situation and what Obama intends to do about it. The short answer appears to be the enactment of some kind of economic stimulus package, the...

Drudge has pic of Obama flipping McCain the bird on top of his site!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2008 AT 10:54 AM "Punk Rock Republicans" POSTED BY MEGHAN I am often asked what my favorite band of all time is, and for me it is an incredibly difficult decision - almost impossible. However, if I had to pick a band, it would probably be The Ramones. I have been a fan since around sixth grade when I first heard the song "I Want To Be Sedated" on the radio and was immediately hooked (I even had my first kiss while "Beat on the Brat" was playing in the background). The power, impact and influence of...

Mordecai Specktor says his 19-year-old son, Max, "has never been in a fight" and is "not a violent person." "He's an anarchist," said Specktor, the publisher and editor of Minnesota's Jewish newspaper, the American Jewish World. He's also "a University of Minnesota student, Jewishly educated." His son, he said, is "a wonderful guy." Max Specktor is also now branded a terrorist after his arrest earlier this month, along with seven others, on charges of planning to disrupt the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. He's been charged with conspiring to riot "in furtherance of terrorism" and could face up to...

"The one thing that I want to insist on is that, as I travel around the country, the American people are a decent people. Now they get confused sometimes. You know, they listen to the wrong talk radio shows or watch the wrong TV networks, um, but they’re, they’re basically decent, they’re basically sound." - Barack Obama, speaking at a Planned Parenthood rally

Barney Frank: Sarah Palin’s family life is fair game Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - Updated 5m ago WASHINGTON - Rep. Barney Frank is among the first Democrats to publicly say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s family background, including the pregnancy of her unwed teenage daughter, should be fair game for campaign discussion. Republicans have stressed Palin’s conservative family values in announcing her selection as John McCain’s running mate. Frank says the disclosure about her daughter undercuts conservative claims that liberalism harms family life. Frank said Palin’s family is "in great turmoil." Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said he considers family...

My husband FINALLY had a cartoon published! Conservative Punk Goes French! One of Conservative Punk's original cartoons was picked up by Currier International, a weekly magazine put out by Le Monde. It was featured in their Obama issue, as an accompaniment to an op-ed piece by Karl Rove. My husband, Craig Holloway along with Nick Rizzuto who is the producer of The Wilkow Majority which can be heard from 12-3pm EST Monday-Friday on Sirius Patriot 144, are the creators of GUTTER POLITIX.

Dan Rather’s $70 million lawsuit against CBS heated up in a Manhattan court on Wednesday as his lawyers sought to have several key documents in the case made public. Rather’s lead attorney Marty Gold asked Justice Ira Gammerman to release the documents, arguing that they would help refute CBS’s public characterization of Rather’s claims in the suit as a fantasy, the New York Observer reported. Gold said that Rather would like to give the public access to about 10 of the thousands of documents handed over by CBS. But Gammerman rebuffed the effort, saying he considered the request to release...

A police spokesman says Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker was found unconscious on a Las Vegas street after apparently being the victim of a robbery. Police spokesman Bill Cassell said in a statement that Walker was taken to a hospital with "significant injuries" after being found early Monday on a street off the Las Vegas Strip. Cassell said Walker was in fair condition at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. A Raiders spokesman said the team was "in the process of gathering information" and had no further comment. Walker, 29, played the past two seasons for Denver after four seasons...

“I am an Obama supporter. I am also pro-life. In fact, without my family’s involvement in the pro-life movement it would not exist as we know it. Evangelicals weren’t politicized until after my late father and evangelical leader Francis Schaeffer, Dr. Koop (Reagan’s soon-to-be Surgeon General) and I stirred them up over the issue of abortion in the mid-1970s. Our Whatever Happened to the Human Race? book, movie series and seminars brought the evangelicals into the pro-life movement. “In 2000, we elected a president who claimed he believed God created the earth and who, as president, put car manufacturers and...

CNN story. Apparently Obama sent a letter to his pastor but that has yet to be released.

I have come to the sad conclusion that President Bush is a Punk on the World stage. If ever a US President deserved that term, it is George W. Bush. In case you haven't been keeping up with current events, the leader of the free world made a special trip over to Saudi Arabia recently to ask them to increase oil production. They said no, Bush left with hat in hand. While some may see this as some sort of diplomatic effort to reduce the price at our pumps, I see it as surrender to the OPEC tyrants. This is...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bernie Ward, a prominent radio talk show host and reporter in the Bay Area for more than two decades, admitted today to distributing child pornography in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker was prepared to accept Ward's guilty plea at a hearing in San Francisco to one count of distributing child pornography, but agreed to hold off at the request of Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg. Had the guilty plea been officially submitted today, Ward could have been sent to prison immediately. Instead,...

Hi all, several years ago those of you who were around FR might remember a band of young rocker brothers who did a song "Hateful Lies" that skeweed Michael Moore. Well, the band is still around, and has just released a music video for its new song "Westboro", inspired by the lunacy of the WBC. We thought some of you might be interested, if so the video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD0oSIyBUBQ. If you like their music video, let them know please, they have a myspace at http://www.myspace.com/attilahuns. FYI, here are the lyrics: Westboro, words and music by Andrew O'Donnell...

- Gov. Spitzer said at a private fund-raiser that he wants a Democratic-controlled state Senate to legalize gay marriage - a highly divisive and controversial issue - as one of its first priorities in 2009, a witness to the remarks told The Post. Spitzer, a gay-marriage proponent, pledged to help Democrats next November win the three Senate seats they need to gain the majority. "One of the first things we're going to do when [Senate Minority Leader] Malcolm Smith is [majority] leader is gay marriage," the witness recounted Spitzer as telling some 60 people who paid up to $10,000 each...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Vice President Walter Mondale is endorsing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, the Clinton campaign announced Sunday. "America is ready for change, and Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to deliver it," Mondale said in a statement released by the campaign. "Hillary is uniquely qualified to rebuild America's standing in the world and lead this nation from her first day in the White House." Mondale, a former U.S. senator from Minnesota, was vice president from 1977 to 1981 under President Carter. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1984, but lost to Ronald Reagan...

Calling it silly yet serious, a judge sentenced a 35-year-old man to time served in jail and probation in a case that police say involved an assault with -- and over -- pickles. Bobby Lee Bolen, who lives in the southwestern Michigan community of Buchanan, was sentenced Monday to 54 days in jail with credit for 54 days served and one year of probation as well as restitution for third-offense home invasion. According to police reports, Bolen broke into Jody Lee's home in Buchanan Aug. 20, got into an argument and threw two large pickles at friends Lee and J.W....

While on the House floor, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), took the SCHIP debate to a new low. He said, “You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement.� So not only is Stark accusing President Bush of waging a war for "amusement," but he's accusing American troops of "blowing up innocent people." Pete Stark should apologize immediately to our troops, and President...

Reid Continues To Press For Limbaugh Apology WASHINGTON -- October 8, 2007: Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays last week declined to apologize for a September 26 on-air remark by Rush Limbaugh -- syndicated by CC-owned Premiere Radio networks -- so now the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has sent an e-mail, signed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to supporters asking them to contact Mays and demand that he make Limbaugh apologize. "It's one thing to call me 'Dingy Harry,' Reid wrote, "it's another to insult our men and women in uniform, calling those who oppose the war 'phony soldiers' as...

October 1, 2007 Reid Calls On Senators To Join In Condemning Limbaugh's Attack On Our Troops Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, urging Senators to sign a letter that calls on Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, to publicly repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s characterization of troops who speak out against the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.” Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery: “Freedom of speech is one of our country’s most cherished values. Nothing sets us further apart than the countries and regimes we oppose...

McGreevey tells wife: You'll get zilch from me BY ADAM NICHOLS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, September 15th 2007, 4:00 AM Jim McGreevey yesterday accused his soon-to-be-ex wife of "greedily" grabbing at the perks of being New Jersey's First Lady - and refusing to give them back. In legal papers packed with snide and catty comments, the openly gay McGreevey told estranged wife Dina Matos McGreevey she can expect to get nothing from him. Matos McGreevey had asked him to pony up $4,000 a month in alimony to help her live a lavish lifestyle like his. "Her jealousy and contempt...

NEW YORK -- Hilly Kristal, whose dank Bowery rock club CBGB served as the birthplace of the punk rock movement and a launching pad for bands like the Ramones, Blondie and the Talking Heads, has died after a battle with lung cancer, his son said Wednesday. He was 75. Kristal, who lost a bitter fight last year to stop the club's eviction from its New York home of 33 years, died Tuesday at Cabrini Hospital, said his son, Mark Dana Kristal. Last October, as the club headed toward its final show with Patti Smith, Kristal was using a cane to...

CINCINNATI, Aug. 24 A 10-year-old boy who said he hated snakes killed a 10-foot python at petting zoo by stomping on the reptile's head. Scott Braunstein, a reptile handler who brought the snake to the St. Bernadette Festival in Amelia, Ohio, last weekend, said he was shocked by the boy's violence, The Cincinnati Enquirer said Thursday. The snake, named Popcorn, was a non-poisonous albino Burmese python. Braunstein, who operates House of Reptiles in Dry Ridge, Ky., said the boy approached him and told him that he hated snakes. The child then raised his leg and stomped down on the snake's...

OAKS BLUFF, Mass. (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to her favorite family vacation spot Saturday to raise money for her presidential campaign at a celebrity-studded event where she took some pointed swipes at President Bush. Clinton—accompanied by her husband and their daughter Chelsea—smiled broadly and swayed to the music as singer Carly Simon and her two children, Ben and Sally Taylor, sang "Devoted to You" for a Martha's Vineyard crowd of more than 2,000. Simon, along with actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, showered the Clintons with praise and predicted the senator from New York will be elected...

Ex-soccer star Maradona tells Chavez he hates U.S. Sun Aug 19, 2007 4:21PM EDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona on Sunday said he hates the United States "with all my strength" during an appearance on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's weekly television show. The leftist soccer legend, like the fiercely anti-U.S. Chavez, is a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro. "I believe in Chavez, I am Chavista ... . Everything Fidel does, everything Chavez does for me is the best (that can be done)," Maradona said, sitting with Chavez on the set of the president's Sunday talk...

Glasgow Airport attack man dies A man injured in the Glasgow Airport attack on Saturday 30 June has died in hospital, police have confirmed. A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said that the man seriously injured during the incident died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Kafeel Ahmed, one of two men held at the airport after a Jeep struck the terminal, died on Thursday evening. The circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator fiscal.

Graham Statement on Immigration Reform Bill WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement on the Senate immigration bill.“Several months ago, I met with President Bush at the White House to discuss our out-of-control problems with illegal immigration.  He asked me if I would help him push immigration reform through Congress and I gave him my word I would.  I support President Bush and admire his leadership.  I will be forever grateful for his work to try and solve this difficult problem.“President Bush and I made it clear we would not compromise on our guiding principle...

There can't be that many female playwrights who are deaf, punk and Muslim, so Sabina England is something of a find. With a lurid Mohawk and leather jacket slathered with slogans, she looks every inch the rebel and has an attitude to match. Sabina, who says she lives in the "sh!tty midwest of the United States" or the "HELL-HOLE OF BOREDOM AND YUPPIES", is part of a subculture that, until a few years ago, existed only on paper. [snip] You're a playwright. What do you write about? "I write plays about f**ked up people in f**ked up situations, because we're...