Free Republic

One of the most striking aspects of our political discourse, particularly during election time, is how efficiently certain views that deviate from the elite consensus are banished from sight -- simply prohibited -- even when those views are held by the vast majority of citizens. The University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes -- the premiere organization for surveying international public opinion -- released a new survey a couple of weeks ago regarding public opinion on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including opinion among American citizens, and this is what it found: A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 18 countries finds that...

Doubts about Barack Obama's presidential credentials have crystallized during the past two weeks over his stewardship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on European Affairs, which has convened no policy hearings since he took over as its chairman last January. That startling fact, first uncovered by Steve Clemons, who blogs on the Washington Note, prompted acid comment in Europe about the Illinois senator's failure to visit the continent since assuming the committee post, and even speculation that he had never traveled there except for a short stopover in London. But why should those questions matter to Americans who consider...

The most interesting part of the controversy over Obama advisor Samantha Power's referring to Hillary Clinton as a "monster" -- one might say the only interesting part -- is that immediately after Power said it, she tried to proclaim that it was "off the record." Here was Power's exact quote: She is a monster, too –- that is off the record –- she is stooping to anything. But the reporter who was interviewing her, Britain's Gerri Peev of The Scotsman, printed the comment anyway -- as she should have, because Peev had never agreed that any parts of the interview...

We're proud to host Berkeley Breathed's "Opus" every week, but especially this week and next: At least 25 of the newspapers that normally print the comic strip, and probably more, have declined these two, at least partly out of fear that Lola Granola's latest spiritual journey -- dabbling in Islam and adopting its conservative dress code for women -- could be offensive to Muslims. Sadly, one of the papers that isn't printing the strip is the Washington Post, though the Post's syndication service, Washington Post Writers Group, distributes Opus. (The Washington Post actually ran the strip online, though it was...

Giuliani said he spent as much time at ground zero as many rescue workers. Where was he really? Much of the time, at baseball games. By Alex Koppelman Aug. 18, 2007 | On Friday, a New York Times story examined Rudy Giuliani's schedule in the months after 9/11 to verify his controversial claim that, like rescue workers, he'd spent long hours at ground zero, and so was "in that sense ... one of them." In fact, the Times found, he only spent 29 hours at the terror site between Sept. 17 and Dec. 16. What was he doing instead? Giuliani's...

A Republican victory in 2008 could sink America's reputation in the world even lower. Even if George W. Bush is the most awful American president in modern times, as many historians believe, and even though he has brought the United States into unprecedented disrepute around the world, as opinion polls indicate, the bombastic tone of the candidates seeking to succeed him from his own party raises a disturbing possibility. If the next president is a Republican, this truly bad situation could become still worse. Concerning the Iraq war, of course, there is no discernible difference between the current president and...

Afghanistan -- Just outside the main gate to Bagram airfield, a U.S. military installation in Afghanistan, sits a series of small makeshift shops known by locals as the Bagram Bazaar.

The president won't fire Alberto Gonzales. He needs him to protect White House secrets, including the scheming roles of Cheney and Rove.

The CNN/Youtube Democratic debate was horrible because a) almost all the videos submitted were incredibly weak, and b) CNN chose the weakest of the bunch. Rather than forcing those who want to be president of the U.S. to defend their policies, the candidates got off easy and were for the most part simply able to launch into their stump speeches. This problem will continue in one form or another as long as CNN or another biased group is the gatekeeper. The better way to choose the videos is to ask known quantities (such as bloggers and pundits who have reputations...

As Rudy Giuliani mulls participating in YouTube's presidential debate, video voters are uploading tough questions about his business dealings, his rocky personal life, abortion, gun control.......More than 150 Americans have created video clips......... Giuliani has rejected participating in the Sept 17 debate....co-sponsor CNN is trying to arrange another date for the event.

Every four years, journalists present themselves as objective questioners in presidential debates only to be roundly, and correctly, denounced by conservatives for being anything but. When, oh when, we ask, will America be able to enjoy a candidate forum free from liberal reporters inserting their slanted worldviews into the discussion? When, oh when, we ask ourselves, will they get out of the way? It looks like we should be very careful what we ask for. On Tuesday night, CNN did this -- or at least said it was doing this. The network teamed up with the video site YouTube to...

CNN hosted a YouTube debate last night where "ordinary people" could ask questions of the Democrat candidates via YouTube. Much has been made of this one with the "hillbillies" talking about Al Gore. One problem. These guys do sketch comedy and are affiliated with the liberal Salon.com. They are not "ordinary" voters. Heck, they don't even live in Tennessee anymore, but are based in L.A.CNN, you've been had.

Porn reduces the mind and flattens the soul. I don't like it. That's not hypocrisy talking; that's just experience. I sometimes think of myself, ironically, as a progressive: I started off as a liberal but I progressed to conservatism. Part of that transformation is due to my time in the industry. How does a conservative trace his roots to such distasteful beginnings? I didn't like porn's liberalism. In porn, everything taboo is trivialized and everything trivial is magnified. Being in the adult entertainment industry was sort of like being in a cult, and like all followers of a cult, I...

From: Joe Conason [mailto:joe@joeconason.com] Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 12:18 PM To: Andy Huddleston Subject: Re: Ms. Coulter On 6/19/06 11:53 AM, "Andy Huddleston" wrote: Joe—the widows endorsed Kerry and entered the political arena. That means the great unwashed outside of New York or Washington wants to know how they profit and why they would support a socialist regime. Until the last few decades our news and information was undoubtedly filtered by the likes of, I wonder; I know: *you* What a pathetic excuse for a vicious personal attack on these patriotic women and their families. The great unwashed everywhere...

...If only someone with Kennedy's stature would outline this need. If only. Whatever his aim, RFK Jr. does not appear intent on fixing the problem. He's more content to take us through a hit parade of the most popular, and the most dismissible, theories purporting to show that John Kerry won Ohio, theories that have been swirling about the blogosphere ever since the race was called. I scoured his Rolling Stone article for some novel story or statistic or theory that would prove, finally, that George W. Bush was not the true victor. But nothing here is new. If you've...

Background at Previous FR Post:Running Scared in Ohio (RINO DeWine Rips Rumsfeld) DeWine’s Attack of Rumsfeld was Wrong! Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) was wrong to lash out at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld over his management of the War on Terrorism in a Washington interview earlier this week. We must learn from the past and that includes learning from our past mistakes, but obviously Senator DeWine missed those history lessons from Vietnam. In his interview with Salon\'s Walter Shapiro, DeWine stated that “Rumsfeld has made some very serious mistakes….Very serious mistakes. I think history will judge him very harshly.” He...

My fellow Freepers: I need your help! As many of you already know, I ran for Congress in New York’s 12th CD in 2004. As part of the experience, I became one of the principal subjects of a documentary being filmed on the Republican National Convention being held in the city that year. As a result, I had a camera follow me around during my campaigning in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, to the convention at Madison Square Garden, to various meetings and events of our NY Young Republican Club, to my uncle’s house in Staten Island, and even to my...

Of all the dot-coms that saw their obituary written when the bubble burst, perhaps none had so many, written so gleefully, as Salon. "It felt like it was a gleeful death watch," said David Talbot, Salon's founder and chairman. "I understand why the media did that story. It was schadenfreude." And, he now concedes, it was true: Salon was at death's door, on many occasions. But with loyal backers, particularly banker Bill Hambrecht and Adobe founder John Warnock, Salon survived to mark an impressive milestone this week: Its 10th anniversary. That's not to say the company is a roaring success....

After Michelle Malkin's scoop on Al Franken's violent promotional video was picked up by a number of major websites, public focus turned to the latter's state of mind. Between the bizarre clip and jokes about executing Bush, Rove and Cheney, has Franken gone completely nuts? Or is it some kind of bizarre book selling strategy? In emails to the Radio Equalizer, readers thought that while it might help his Amazon sales ranking, these antics could hurt a potential 2008 Minnesota US Senate run. In the process of moving back to his home state, Franken has long been mentioned as a...

NBC's Brian Williams says the lasting legacy of Hurricane Katrina for journalists may be the end of an unusual four-year period of deference to people in power. There were so many angry, even incredulous, questions put to Bush administration officials about the response to Katrina that the Salon Web site compiled a "Reporters Gone Wild" video clip. Tim Russert, Anderson Cooper, Ted Koppel and Shepard Smith were among the stars. The mute button seemingly in place since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been turned off. "By dint of the fact that our country was hit we've offered a preponderance...

This time U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo got it right. Meet with representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations? Not on your life, replied truculent Tom. They're compromised, he maintained. Oh, how they're compromised. Advertisement To begin with, several officials or former officials of CAIR have faced criminal charges associating them with terrorism, and a founding board member of the Texas chapter was convicted on such charges just this year. Moreover, as Salon.com's Jake Tapper reminded Americans in an article shortly after 9/11, CAIR once deplored the prosecution of Sheik Omar Abdul-Rahman for his role in the 1993 bombing of the...

The Founder of Salon Is Passing the Mouse By DAVID CARR avid Talbot, a pioneer of online journalism who founded Salon magazine in 1995, will announce today that he is stepping down as the magazine's editor in chief, chief executive and relentless cheerleader. He will be replaced as editor, he said, by Joan Walsh, his longtime deputy. Salon will also announce its first profitable quarter in its history, Mr. Talbot added, a profit of $400,000 on revenues of $2.2 million. The company also said that Elizabeth Hambrecht, Salon's president, would become its chief executive. Salon has its headquarters in San...

Longtime Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal has left his post as Washington bureau chief for the online magazine Salon, a month after he suggested in print that President Bush wouldn't mind if Little Rock, Arkansas was vaporized in a nuclear attack. In a Wednesday interview with the New York Daily News, Salon.com honcho David Talbot declined to be specific about the reason for Blumenthal's departure. "We're still very fond of Sidney and very appreciative of his talents and deeply want him to continue to have a relationship with Salon," Talbot said. But he did note that "people at Salon" initiated the...

Before attending a rally to hear Vice-President Dick Cheney, citizens in New Mexico were required to sign a political loyalty oath endorsing the re-election of George W. Bush. Around the country, Bush is campaigning at events billed as "Ask President Bush." Only supporters are allowed entrance and talking points are distributed to questioners. In Traverse City, Mich., a 55-year-old social studies teacher who wore a small Kerry sticker on her blouse had her ticket torn up at the door. "How can anyone in the United States deny someone entry?" she asked. "Isn't this a democracy?" At every rally, Bush...

The strange case of Salon’s Thomas White scoop. On August 29, the struggling left-wing website Salon published a sensational story with the headline "Tom White played key role in covering up Enron losses." Writer Jason Leopold alleged that Army Secretary Thomas White, a former executive at Enron, had engaged in fraudulent practices to conceal mounting losses at the Enron Energy Services (EES) division. When White was told that EES was losing money at a rate of more than $3 million a month, Leopold reported, White responded with an e-mail that said, "Close a bigger deal to hide the loss." "White's...

June 21, 2004 | You probably imagine your congressman hard at work in the Capitol debating legislation, making laws -- you know, governing. But your newspaper probably didn't tell you that one night in March, members of Congress hosted a crowning ritual for an ex-convict and multibillionaire who dressed up in maroon robes and declared himself the Second Coming. On March 23, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation ceremony for Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown by Rep. Danny K....

ASHINGTON, June 14 - As Republicans try to cloak President Bush in the mantle of Ronald Reagan, their biggest obstacle may be Mr. Reagan's own family.Even before Mr. Reagan died, Nancy Reagan and her daughter, Patti Davis, made their opposition to Mr. Bush's policy on stem-cell research well known. But on Friday, at the culmination of an emotional week of mourning for the former president, his son Ron Reagan delivered a eulogy that castigated politicians who use religion "to gain political advantage," a comment that was being interpreted in Washington as a not-so-subtle slap at Mr. Bush.The remark has provoked...

LETTER TO THE ROLLING STONE (sung to the tune of On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone) Oh, we’ve heard phony rock singers. with an odor that lingers. …Don’t know anyone on the charts. We see through the sham; we know pop music’s a scam. CDs are 20 dollars a throw. We are under assault; hacks insisting it’s Bush’s fault, But the thrill you’ve never known is the thrill that’ll getcha When you cancel your subscription to the work of fiction Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone... Don’t wanna see Al Gore on’a cover. Stone... Don’t care that Madonna’s a mother. Stone......

In a breathless hatchet job, the left-wing Internet magazine Salon.com has joined a relentless campaign to vilify Iraqi Governing Council member Dr. Ahmed Chalabi, a favorite of neocons and many members of Congress. In an article released on May 4, Salon writer John Dizard alleges that Chalabi made false promises to his U.S. supporters, delivered fake intelligence, and more recently worked behind the back of U.S. intelligence in Iraq to allow agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran to organize Iraqi Shiites against the U.S. occupation. The allegations would be devastating if they were true. But a key source Dizard...

(Note to Admin Moderator: if trolls join this thread to disrupt it or cause problems for FR, please immediately remove stupid, foolish, numbskull, airheaded, threatening, nonsensical comments.) ===================================================== Apparently, I am in the middle of a controversy regarding the brutal murder of Nick Berg by the Islamofascist terrorist b*st*rds. I received the following FReepmail today from a salon.com reporter and spoke to him off the record. I will either call him back on the record or he can use my comments here on the record. Salon.com inquiry, your post on the "enemies list" From (redacted) | 05/12/2004 11:45:13 AM PDT...

Making women's issues go away A damning new report reveals that the Bush administration has quietly removed 25 reports from its Women's Bureau Web site, deleting or distorting crucial information on issues from pay equity to reproductive healthcare National Council for Research on Women (report March 2004) Missing: Information About Women's Lives http://www.ncrw.org/misinfo/report.pdf ____To get access to the Salon article you have to watch a short little ad for the ACLU featuring Martin Sheen. Strange new tactic.

Dr. Dittohead I thought my therapist was brilliant -- until I discovered her love for Rush Limbaugh. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Margot Mifflin April 8, 2004 I was sitting in therapy describing an in-law I like, and quickly heading for a "but." "He's a loving, caring, selfless man -- but his politics are all about hatred," I said. "He's not educated, and more significant, he's ignorant -- he actually listens to Rush Limbaugh." I waited for a "Whoo boy!" or a sympathetic smile, but my shrink just stared at me, expressionless....

Castellanos (inset) in front of screenshots of the Bush-Cheney '04 television ad "100 Days." Going negative He's the father of the modern attack ad, and he's behind the Bush campaign's new wave of anti-Kerry spots. Alex Castellanos is known as vicious, irresponsible -- and effective. - - - - - - -- - - - - By Eric Boehlert March 15, 2004 | The Bush campaign launched its first negative attack ad on television late last week, earlier than in any presidential race in history. For an incumbent president to abandon the elevated surroundings of his White House Rose Garden...

NEW YORK, March 9, 2004 -- Salon.com announced Tuesday night a series of ambitious election-year initiatives, including the opening of a new Washington D.C. news bureau as well as strategic partnerships with MoveOn.org, The Guardian of London and the new progressive radio network, Air America. The Website, which bills itself as "the largest independent news organization in the country" will also make the announcement via an email to MoveOn.org's 2-million plus members, MediaChannel has learned from a memo sent on Monday to Salon board members from company editor and founder David Talbot. "The Web has come of age this...

<p>Salon.com -- the online magazine that made a name for itself covering President Clinton's dalliances in the White House -- still owes the White House for travel expenses during that administration... as well as this one.</p> <p>But when the White House asked for its money again last week, Salon.com sent the administration a letter, saying -- "Salon has been incurring losses ... its accumulated deficit totals $86 million ... as of December 31st, 2003. ... [W]e cannot offer a full payment at this time, but would offer you the opportunity to settle all amounts owed by us."</p>

There he goes again!Matt Drudge and the GOP smear machine are back in the Democrats' pants. - - - - - - - - - - - -By Joe ConasonFeb. 13, 2004  |  Is American politics suddenly returning to the bad old days, when Washington journalism became frenzied with sheet sniffing and keyhole peeping? That seems to be the default program of the right-wing media machine whenever Republican poll numbers sink into the red zone. Late Thursday morning -- with George W. Bush's credibility damaged on several fronts as reporters demanded answers to questions about his National Guard service that...

Bad newsWhite House errand boy Robert Novak and credulous New York Times reporters were burned by their sources. Should they be forced to name them?- - - - - - - - - - - -By Eric BoehlertJan. 22, 2004  |  As U.S. courts take an increasingly skeptical look at the long-held belief among journalists that they enjoy a special privilege when it comes to protecting their sources, two high-profile legal skirmishes are addressing that very issue. Unfortunately for advocates of a free press, these battles don't involve stirring instances of media courage, but stories that exemplify what many...

January 15, 2004 Rolling Stone Editor and Adobe Executive Put $800,000 Into Salon Web SiteBy DAVID CARR ann Wenner, the founder and editor of Rolling Stone magazine and chairman of Wenner Media, said yesterday that he would invest $200,000 in the Salon Media Group, the financially struggling Internet media company, and join its board. Also yesterday, Salon announced that John E. Warnock, co-chairman of Adobe Systems and a longtime financial backer, would invest an additional $600,000 in the Web company.As part of the alliance with Mr. Wenner, Salon and Rolling Stone, each known for liberal political leanings, will collaborate on...

The media vs. Howard DeanDemocrats haven't voted yet, but reporters have got the story: The former Vermont governor is angry, gaffe-prone and unelectable. How do they know? Republicans, and anonymous Democrats, told them so. - - - - - - - - - - - -By Eric BoehlertJan. 13, 2004  |  When the Washington Post introduced readers to Howard Dean in a long Page 1 feature July 6, part of a series of "meet the Democrats" candidate profiles, the paper went for the jugular, literally, with a cartoonish, unflattering description to open the article: "Howard Dean was angry. Ropy...

Here is the link: The ReagansYou will need Adobe and a good connection but may be worth it. Report here any "gems" you find.

The Battalion - Opinion Issue: 11/05/03 Biased media coverage causes misconception of Iraq warBy Collins Ezeanyim Last spring, a Battalion columnist argued the then-nascent war in Iraq was theologically unsound. In the column, it was stated there was no reliable evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. The column resulted in e-mails from Aggies who disagreed with this fact, despite President George W. Bush telling reporters on Sept. 17, "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9-11," according to The Associated Press.Yet due to biased media coverage of the war, a frustrating number of Americans...

Biased media coverage causes misconception of Iraq war By Collins Ezeanyim Last spring, a Battalion columnist argued the then-nascent war in Iraq was theologically unsound. In the column, it was stated there was no reliable evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. The column resulted in e-mails from Aggies who disagreed with this fact, despite President George W. Bush telling reporters on Sept. 17, "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9-11," according to The Associated Press. Yet due to biased media coverage of the war, a frustrating number of Americans continue to believe Iraq...

Craven Broadcasting SystemTV big shots and politicians blast CBS for its cowardly decision to yank the Ronald Reagan miniseries. - - - - - - - - - - - -By Rebecca TraisterNov. 5, 2003  |  Anyone looking for signs of a return of 1980s-era culture wars probably couldn't dream up a better one. At the center of it -- again -- are the Reagans. Only this time, it's "The Reagans," a fictionalized biographical miniseries that was set to air on Nov. 16 and 18, but was dumped by CBS on Tuesday after heated political pressure from the right....

JON FRIEDMAN'S MEDIA WEBSalon seeks a clean financial slate Commentary: Witty Web site thrives on liberal politicsBy Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.comLast Update: 7:31 PM ET Oct. 30, 2003SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- If you do a computer search for news stories about Salon.com, the Internet's self-styled "smart tabloid," the headlines reek of gloom and doom."Salon chief calling it quits after 7 years," screamed the San Francisco Chronicle on Oct. 10. Last March, Canada's National Post lamented: "Salon, farewell? The plucky online magazine is facing a death knell -- again." On Feb. 24, the Los Angeles Times declared: "Salon.com's Struggle to Succeed Plays...

The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Struggling online magazine publisher Salon Media Group said its chief executive officer, Michael O'Donnell, is leaving the company after seven years. The San Francisco-based company, which has been battling to survive, gave no reason for O'Donnell's departure in an announcement Thursday. A call to O'Donnell for comment was not immediately returned. O'Donnell will be replaced as CEO by Salon founder David Talbot, who is the company's chairman and editor-in-chief. Elizabeth Hambrecht, Salon's chief financial officer, will inherit O'Donnell's title as president. A former software sales executive, O'Donnell joined Salon as president and publisher...

In March 2001 Premiere Magazine printed a now-notorious article that featured named and un-named sources detailing instances in which the actor groped women's breasts, humilitated assisitants on movie sets, bullied male crew members and cheated on Shriver.Years earlier Connely had revealed in a 1993 US Magazine article that several women who had worked for the famed Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss had auditioned for Schwartzenegger's unsucessful movie 'The Last Action Hero.' Other media outlets published similar stories and Columbia Pictures began investigating whether these women were hired as extras on the over budget movie.Around the same time, a French women's magazine...

Meet Joe Dirt Stuart K. Hayashi In 2001, comedian David Spade came out with a movie titled "The Adventures of Joe Dirt." It now appears that the film was about Joe Conason, the author of "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth" and an editorialist for the liberal-biased Salon.com. In the person of Brad Pitt, you've already Met Joe Black. Now Meet the Real Joe Dirt. His book purports to expose how right-wingers harness the corporate media to brainwash society. Instead of demonstrating such, however, Joe is too busy flinging his Dirt around. In two...

Media Life'sBest of the BestWhereupon we honor the publishers, editors, magazines and newspapers, producers, shows and web sites that we think have made a differenceBy Gene Ely        Media Life recently celebrated its fourth birthday, making us genuinely old folks on the internet, and as the anniversary approached, we had cause to ponder how much we have learned, and more important, by whom we have been most inspired.   Magazines, Media Life included, may pretend to follow their own star -- it would be heresy to admit otherwise -- but the truth is that each day we see things that...

July 4, 2003 | "Slander" is defined in Bouvier's Law Dictionary as "a false defamation (expressed in spoken words, signs, or gestures) which injures the character or reputation of the person defamed." The venerable American legal lexicon goes on to note that such defamatory words are sometimes "actionable in themselves, without proof of special damages," particularly when they impute "guilt of some offence for which the party, if guilty, might be indicted and punished by the criminal courts; as to call a person a 'traitor.'" So how appropriate it is that in the rapidly growing Ann Coulter bibliography, last year's...

The Republican fall guy in CaliforniaCalifornia Republicans should blame Bush, not Davis, for their state's economic woes. - - - - - - - - - - - -By Robert ScheerJuly 2, 2003  | The other day a woman asked me to sign a petition calling for the recall of California Gov. Gray Davis. Why, I asked. Because he bankrupted the state, she said. When I begged to differ that it was the Bush administration and its buddies at companies like Enron that had put the state into an economic tailspin, she said she was being paid according to the number...