Free Republic

There are no pictures for libs, so you'll have to listen. Before you go into Republican bashing mode, you might want to realize that the speaker in the video is a libertarian/conservative as I am who opposes the big government of the Bush administration just like most libertarian/conservatives. They abhor the kind of politics the Republicans resort to in the name of populism, like the housing bailouts. They also stand against socially conservative government, because it is just another form of socialism. However, the Left (progressives, liberal Dems, whatever you want to call yourselves), blind in its opposition to free...

"How do I love thee, Barack Obama?" his media maids and man-servants coo: "Let me count the ways." 1. In your toasted anti-Iraq speech of 2002, you proclaimed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction - but has any of us reminded you of that? 2. In declaring Saddam armed but not dangerous, have we asked you how that could be? 3. You preach that "Iran's President Ahmadinejad's regime is a threat to all of us" - but did we probe into how Ahmadinejad unarmed was a threat while Saddam armed was not? 4. When Bill Clinton stated that Saddam...

As Congress last week headed into the Memorial Day recess, the Senate held yet another hearing to “get to the bottom of high energy prices.” One after another, Judiciary Committee members grilled oil company executives “on their roles” in the rising cost of fuel for their constituents. The Institute for Energy Research (IER) submitted the following ten questions for Judiciary Committee members who participated in the hearing: 1. Do you understand the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand for commodities pricing in the oil market? 2. Oil is a global commodity, bought and sold on the world market. Given...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is hoping to raise $15 billion to jump-start a rainy day budget reserve by borrowing against future state lottery revenue, although administration officials bristle at the notion that the plan amounts to borrowing. "The governor's proposal is not to borrow from the lottery," Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear said Wednesday. "The proposal is to sell, outright, a portion of future lottery profits. This is a big difference." Schwarzenegger's lottery proposal is a key piece of his plan to erase California's $15.2 billion budget deficit and balance spending and revenue for the fiscal year that begins in July....

So far, because the mainstream media is smitten with him, Barack Obama has been able to get by running a campaign based on hope, change, unity, love, and rainbows made of cuddly kittens. However, before we get around to coronating Barack as our new President/Cult of Unity Leader, there are a few questions he should have to answer before America starts drinking his Kool-Aid. Granted, many members of our esteemed press seem to consider it crass to expect Obama to actually answer questions about unimportant things like his agenda, his character, and what he actually wants to do when he...

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court justices questioned Wednesday whether a state should be able to prohibit employers from using state money to influence employees' views on unions in their workplace. The Chamber of Commerce and the Bush administration argue that California is trying to silence employers from weighing in on union organization efforts. They say that position isn't permitted by federal labor law, which allows employers to be involved as long as they don't threaten reprisals. The outcome of the case could affect attempts by other states to restrict use of state money for unionization-related activities. California contends that its law...

TORONTO - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff said someone in Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign gave Canada back-channel assurances that her harsh words about the North American Free Trade Agreement were for political show, according to a report by the Canadian Press. The report comes just days after a Canadian government memo stated Barack Obama's senior economic adviser told Canadian officials that the Illinois senator's own comments about NAFTA were for "political positioning." The release of that memo helped Clinton defeat Obama decisively in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Ohio, where the trade treaty is unpopular. On Wednesday, the Canadian...

The Politico is asking why there isn’t more attention being paid to the Rezko trial: Four lonesome television cameramen lounged on folding chairs, read newspapers and idly chatted on cell phones in the sprawling marble lobby of the federal courthouse here, hoping to catch the players in the just-underway trial of former Barack Obama fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.The scene was quite a contrast from the circus atmosphere they recalled in the same lobby during the early stages of two other recent high-profile trials — those of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan and newspaper magnate Conrad Black. The main reason they...

WASHINGTON - Two years and 144 cases have passed since Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas last spoke up at oral arguments. It is a period of unbroken silence that contrasts with the rest of the court's unceasing inquiries. Hardly a case goes by, including two appeals that were argued Monday, without eight justices peppering lawyers with questions. Oral arguments offer justices the chance to resolve nagging doubts about a case, probe its weaknesses or make a point to their colleagues. Left, right and center, the justices ask and they ask and they ask. Sometimes they debate each other, leaving the...

What Would You Ask the GOP Presidential Candidates? Friday, January 04, 2008 E-Mail Print Respond Digg This! del.icio.us FOX News wants to know what you would ask the Republican presidential candidates when they debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Thursday, Jan 10. Please e-mail your question to debate@foxnews.com. Include your name, town, state and contact number for verification. Please keep your question sharp, brief and to the point. And let us know which candidate you'd like us to ask. Watch the debate live on FOX News Channel at 9 p.m. ET on Jan. 10 to see if your question was...

A friend of mine from the GOE did some research, and it appears that almost ALL the questioners at last nights debate were plants!!

DURHAM, N.C. - Here's one way to get a presidential candidate to change his mind: If you're a 5-year-old, shed a few tears. That's how Hadassah Jones, of Durham, got Barack Obama to answer questions Thursday after the campaign initially denied such requests from reporters. Crouching to the ground after a rally with 4,000 supporters, Obama briefly outlined for Hadassah his plan to provide health insurance for everyone and to improve schools. He also suggested to the first-grader that wealthier people should help those who are less fortunate. "We've got to make sure that people who have more money help...

DENVER, Oct. 24, 2007 – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen yesterday heard some hard truths when he asked hundreds of soldiers about their service. “All I want to do is start a family, buy a house and have some stability,” an Army captain ready to leave the service to better meet the needs of his family said in Fort Sill, Okla. “We need something better. That’s just not good enough,” another captain said of the 12-month home-station time between deployments. Still another young officer said he was planning to end his military service,...

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Democratic presidential hopefuls struggled Monday night to answer questions posed by young, Internet-savvy voters who challenged traditional political labels and the candidates' own place in a broken political system. "Wassup?" came the first question, from a voter named Zach, after another, named Chris, opened the CNN-YouTube debate with a challenge to the entire eight-candidate field: "Can you as politicians ... actually answer questions rather than beat around the bush?" The answer was a qualified yes. The candidates faced a slew of blunt questions and, in some cases, responded in kind. To Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois: Are...

Hillary’s hit man targets any news outlet daring to raise uncomfortable questionsBy Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy in Media Friday, May 25, 2007 Ben Smith of Politico.com reports that the first attack on a new book on Hillary Clinton came from Media Matters for America, “a Democratic-leaning group whose founders are close to the New York Democrat senator’s presidential campaign . . . ” Bingo. It looks like the media may finally be coming to grips with how the Clinton machine operates. The Media Matters attack on a reporter for daring to co-author a book that is somewhat critical of the New...

News reports say that Governor Romney, looking ahead to the possibility of presenting himself as a candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2008, has met privately with Christian leaders to allay their concerns about the fact that he is a Mormon. (See Boston Globe, Nov 2, 2006 at http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/02/romney_consults_evangelical_leaders ) These leaders apparently are concentrating on areas such as Romney's view of gay marriage, abortion, and whether Romney is really a Christian. Undoubtedly Romney's answers in those areas will satisfy most of these Christian leaders. However, not knowing much about Mormon doctrine and practices, many Christians are unaware of some...

How can we engage more people in the democratic process? I will be asking questions to help create dialogue around this and many other important topics so please add me to your Answers Network so that we can begin exchanging ideas and hopefully make changes that will benefit the future.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Wednesday he was not aware he had invested in two companies backed by some of his top donors and said he had done nothing to aid their business with the government. The Illinois senator faced questions about more than $50,000 in investments he made right after taking office in 2005 in two speculative companies, AVI Biopharma and Skyterra Communications. Obama said his broker bought the stocks as part of a quasi-blind trust in which he was not consulted when trades were made. "At no point did I know...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fielded questions Feb. 22 and 23 from active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops in Alaska at the Army’s Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, and at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. The troops asked Marine Gen. Peter Pace about equipment shortfalls in the Guard and Reserve, varying tour lengths among the services, whether there should be a joint force utility uniform for all the services and the possibility of a civilian service corps. Pace told the troops the budget includes about $21 billion for new equipment...

VANCOUVER, Wash., Feb. 22, 2007 – Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, faced some tough questions here yesterday – not from the press, but from a group of fifth-grade students at Marshall Elementary School. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, makes remarks and addresses questions with fifth-grade students at Marshall Elementary School in Vancouver, Wash., Feb. 21. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. What’s wrong with the world and how are you going to fix it? How do you protect the...

BERLIN, N.H. - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton faced tough questions Saturday from New Hampshire voters skeptical about her stand on the Iraq war, including one who demanded that she repudiate her 2002 Senate vote to send U.S. troops into battle. In her first presidential campaign visit to the early voting state, Clinton sought to focus on her plans to revive struggling small-town economies, universal health care and making college more affordable. But at a crowded town hall meeting of some 350 people, Clinton was peppered with questions about Iraq. Her toughest questioner was Roger Tilton, 46, a financial adviser from...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein questioned a top Homeland Security Department official Thursday on why his agency has reportedly resisted sharing information with state intelligence officers and even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's own homeland-security director. Feinstein asked Charlie Allen, the chief intelligence officer for the Homeland Security Department, about her staff's findings that the federal agency has denied state and local officials at a Sacramento intelligence-sharing facility to obtain top security clearances. Moreover, California Office of Homeland Security Director Matthew Bettenhausen is not receiving "intelligence he knows exists," Feinstein said. Bettenhausen answers to Schwarzenegger; he formerly worked for DHS in Washington. DHS, Feinstein...

By announcing her entrance into the 2008 race Saturday, Sen. Hillary Clinton chose a setting — a pre-recorded video on the Internet — where she could avoid answering any questions, Rush Limbaugh noted Monday during his syndicated radio program. Rush recalled a similar tactic employed by Clinton during her Senate campaign last year. Clinton embarked on a "listening tour” where she "went around New York and she listened to what the people of New York wanted to tell her,” Rush explained. The real purpose of the listening tour, according to Rush, was for Hillary to avoid tough questions. "It was...

The Baker/Hamilton Commission has a chance to dramatically reshape our thinking about American foreign policy, if only it will ask the right question. They should follow the guidance of one of the last century’s most brilliant thinkers, Ludwig Wittgenstein. In the Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein asks an apparently straightforward question: what do all games have in common? He ties himself in mental knots trying to get the answer, but nothing works. Finally he realizes that the question was posed wrongly. It should have been: Is there anything all games have in common? That’s the real question (and the real answer is...

If you're posting an article from a website that requires membership to view the rest of the article, please note that somehow -- whether in your comments or in the headline. Also, does anyone think it is a good idea to create a box you can check when posting the article, like the "This is an excerpt" box that will give that article some sort of lable indicating it is from a subscribers-only source? Let's be honest, it's pretty annoying to start reading an interesting article only to find out that you have to register to read the rest.

Question One has gained the lion’s share of attention when it comes to the ballot questions (however misleading some of that attention might have been). Understandable, since Questions Two and Three can’t exactly be boiled down to the “wine=good” vs. “wine=bad” talking points. Nevertheless voters will be asked to weigh in on all three initiatives on the statewide ballot tomorrow, and so we offer a recap of the Herald’s views: Question One would allow more grocery stores to sell wine, subject to approval of local licensing authorities. The dire warnings of opponents - including the powerful liquor lobby and the...

Musharraf faces new questions over Taliban · Pakistani president to meet British commander· Reports claim intelligence agency helps militants Declan Walsh in Islamabad Monday October 9, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Pakistan's role in the fight against the Taliban will come under renewed scrutiny today at a meeting in Islamabad between a top British commander and Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf. General David Richards, who commands 33,000 Nato troops in Afghanistan, says the meeting is routine. But it follows a string of accusations, some from within Nato, that Pakistan has failed to close down Taliban sanctuaries in the northern tribal belt, and...

There he was again Wednesday -- Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha complaining out loud about the U.S. military presence in Iraq, squealing about a civil war and about how the result of America's abandonment of Iraq could not possibly be any worse than the current situation. As usual, he was flanked by military veterans, who like Murtha intend to use their service time as a qualification for obtaining national political office. These days, when Murtha hops around the country trying to further demoralize America's servicemen and women fighting World War III, he takes along like-minded liberals to defend the integrity of...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2006 – A Marine corporal quizzed top leaders at a recent Pentagon employees’ question-and-answer session about what the department can do to counter the reporting of negative news from Iraq and Afghanistan. “Negativity in the press is absolutely detrimental to the morale of our forces and our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Cpl. John A. Stukins said to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Sept. 22 town hall meeting. “What are we doing to confront this problem and to better the morale of our...

BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - An American schoolteacher said he was with 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey when she died, but questions surfaced over his story a day after his arrest in Thailand. A Colorado prosecutor cautioned that more work remained in the case. John Mark Karr, 41, who was arrested in a dramatic breakthrough in the sensational 1996 murder, spoke to reporters on Thursday while being escorted by authorities in Bangkok. Asked if he was innocent, Karr shook his head and said, "No." JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26,...

OK, how come Liberals are against outsourcing yet for Illegal Immigration to take the jobs Americans won't do, yet are against ANWR even if the Unions want to drill there. How come Hollywood actors and actresses wear gowns that cost milliona and millions of dollars for one day, yet complain about Conservatives and charity? How come Liberals wear Che T-shirts, yet no Conservative wears an Augusto Pinochet T-shirt? How come Liberals even support somewhat a policy system that has led to the worst environmental, mass murder, dissent crushing and working records yet pledge to stand behind it? How come Liberals...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top campaign adviser is being paid to provide marketing strategy to AT&T at a time when the governor's office is involved in negotiations on legislation potentially worth billions of dollars to the telecommunications giant. Political consultant Matthew Dowd's involvement with the governor and AT&T at the same time presents, at minimum, the appearance of a conflict of interest, government watchdogs warned. Dowd and his consulting firm are currently assisting San Antonio-based AT&T with the rollout of its U-verse service in Texas. The product is designed to compete with cable TV by sending TV programming and a bundle...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger answered constituents questions that were sent in via computer Tuesday in his first-ever live online video question-and-answer session. The governor took nine questions on topics ranging from game wardens, to gay marriage, to illegal immigration, to his favorite color – which he revealed is red. “I like the color red because it is fire and I see myself as always being on fire and being charged up,” he said. The 20-minute Webcast, dubbed 'Ask Governor Schwarzenegger,” started at 10:38 a.m. and was moderated by political reporter Marcey Brightwell from Sacramento's KXTV News 10. Brightwell chose...

An idea struck me. Anybody want to join me? I think I'm going down to the office supply store and buy some printable stickers. On these I'm going to print: "Why do the democrats want us to lose in Iraq?" "Why do Democrats act like they want Bin Laden to win?" and things like that. And start sticking them wherever. We could start our own meme campaign!

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez appointed four people as alternates to the California Coastal Commission on Friday, a move the Sierra Club and at least one commissioner said he had no authority to do. The appointments came days before the coastal commission was scheduled to cast a final vote on a multimillion golf project in Pebble Beach, a high profile development backed by actor Clint Eastwood, former Major League Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and retired golfer Arnold Palmer. The Pebble Beach Co. - which hosts the annual fundraiser for the Democratic Party - is pushing a plan to build an 18-hole...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials have altered their account of the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, saying he was alive and partly conscious after bombs destroyed his hideout, and an Iraqi man raised fresh questions Saturday about the events surrounding the end of Iraq's most-wanted militant. The man, who lived near the scene of the bombing, claimed in an interview with AP Television News to have seen U.S. soldiers beating an injured man resembling al-Zarqawi until blood flowed from the man's nose. When asked about the man's allegations, military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said he would check. In Washington,...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says he still has many questions about President Bush's plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help the U.S. Border Patrol along the country's southern border. The head of the National Guard Bureau, the office that coordinates military planning between the Pentagon and state Guard units, indicated to a congressional committee on Wednesday that an initial deployment could begin as early as next week. "My concern is that I want the Border Patrol to be the primary law enforcement on the border and not the National Guard," Richardson said...

NEW YORK - It's been 30 years, but Dick Tucker has no trouble recalling the French signs posted inside city buses that crisscrossed Montreal: "In French, we say it this way. We don't say it that way." Language is the words to the lullabies we were sung as babies, the fabric of our conversation around the dinner table, the whisper of prayer, the lessons of school. It clearly evokes strong feelings, framing not just our speech, but our thoughts. As U.S. lawmakers renew the long-standing debate over whether to make English the nation's official language, those bus placards make clear...

Welcome to all Posters/Hosts/Hostesses! This is for the hosts present, past, future to share information & be the “nuts & bolts”, housekeeping, sharing of issues etc. for the thread. I am putting it in an obscure “chat” category so we can escape some exposure as this is NOT a GENERAL chat thread but rather one of limited interest. Rather than post all the information ON THIS THREAD, I have provided links. This way I can change the material in the document when needed as updates or modifications. We as hosts can give ideas, help each other & use this...

HOUSTON - Federal prosecutors sought Thursday to torpedo Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay's image as a company champion, trying to show he used the ailing energy giant to bail himself out of personal financial woes in 2001. Lay obtained more than $70 million in loans from Enron throughout 2001 and repaid most with company stock, even as he encouraged employees to buy more shares. Lay didn't disclose those stock sales publicly because regulations required that sales of shares back to a company be reported only in the year after they occur. Unlike his co-defendant in his fraud and conspiracy trial,...

In championing the so-called “Frontier Line,” a Western states electric power development and transmission project, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed a memorandum of understanding on it yesterday, is embracing the newest frontier of the old energy economy. The Frontier Line is about coal-fired electric power. That’s why the Frontier Line would originate in coal producing Wyoming and is embraced by the coal lobby of the Mountain West. They have the coal power, we have the electricity market in need. The out-of-state wind farms that are talked up by Schwarzenegger and his energy czar, Joe Desmond -- who will depart his...

Stations Of The CrossFast and Abstinence Pope Benedict XVI Lenten Message April Reflections     Click here for clickable March calendar

I think that this would push most of the antique media right over the edge (LOL), and would ensure that an occasional question of merit was actually put to the President's Press Secretary. Perhaps a Freeper with an inside WH connection could suggest this idea. We could do a daily thread of possible questions and a poll of freepers to determine the one or two top choices.

WASHINGTON - House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says President Bush should have used his extensive authority under the law to monitor suspected terrorists rather than approve the National Security Agency's disputed monitoring program. "I would not want any president — Democrat or Republican — to have the expanded power the administration is claiming in this case," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview with The Associated Press. Pelosi did not say the NSA's surveillance program was illegal. But she said the administration should follow the procedures in the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows government lawyers to ask a secretive...

Unfamiliar questions in the Arab air Nov 24th 2005 | CAIRO As al-Qaeda scores own-goals in its backyard, many Arabs, including some Iraqis, are beginning to rethink their position on violence in the name of resistance OF ALL the films to extol the fight for freedom from imperialism, one of the most cheering to Arab hearts is the rousing 1981 epic, “Lion of the Desert”. A richly bearded Anthony Quinn plays the role of Omar Mukhtar, the simple Koran teacher who became a guerrilla hero, and for 20 years, from 1911-31, harassed the Italian forces bent on subduing Libya. In...

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005 10:17 a.m. EST Questions Raised about Tim Russert's Story NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert told Leakgate probers that he had no idea Joe Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was a CIA employee before her name surfaced in Robert Novak's fateful July 14, 2003 column, and that he was stunned upon learning that Lewis "Scooter" Libby claimed he got that information from him. But an account by senior NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell raises questions about whether Mr. Russert may have known about Plame's employment well before the Novak column. On Oct. 3, 2003, Mitchell was a guest...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday took his special election campaign before a hand-picked Hispanic audience that was more interested in asking him about amnesty and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants than his "year of reform" ballot measures. Schwarzenegger's appearance in the capital studio of Spanish-language television network Univision was another step in his attempt to connect with voters two weeks before they decide his proposals to change state government. He answered questions during a voter forum Monday night in Walnut Creek and has additional forums scheduled in Fresno and Los Angeles. Critics immediately assailed the Univision session...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will face real questions from real voters tonight as he defends his special election efforts in a televised town hall meeting in Walnut Creek. State Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, and Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the California Nurses Association, will provide the opposition in the 90-minute event, which will be shown live on KTVU beginning at 6 p.m. --snip-- While Schwarzenegger has been stumping the state for his initiatives, most of his appearances have been limited to handpicked crowds of friendly supporters or calls to conservative radio talk show hosts. But in a state where Democrats...

The questions that won't go away for Condi Rice By Alec Russell in Birmingham, Alabama (Filed: 24/10/2005) Condoleezza Rice, the ultra-poised American secretary of state, has persistently said that she has no intention of running for the White House and that she expects people to believe her. All weekend, as she roamed her home state of Alabama with her guest Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, she fended off questions about her future. When a girl asked the question on a visit to her old school she looked weary before flashing her famous smile and saying: "I don't want to run...