Free Republic

It looks as if all the interest groups and nattering nabobs outside the White House have conspired to make placing his first U.S. Supreme Court nominee on the bench really easy for President Bush. The Left certainly has done its part. For five years, Senate Democrats on the far left have hurled invectives at hot-button conservatives -- especially female and minority judges. They've only got so much mud left -- and they can't afford to waste it. Nonetheless, they will hurl more at Bush nominee John G. Roberts Jr. and waste it. It's the only play they know. Moveon.org quickly...

Spun Silly By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 21, 2005; 8:39 AM Did the Bush team put out misinformation on that crazy Tuesday to steer reporters away from John Roberts? We can't answer the question definitively because the journalists involved have a Matt Cooper problem -- they promised their sources anonymity, regardless of motive. But I can tell you that some of them are ticked and feeling misled. It all could be very innocent -- the typical Beltway gossip game where reporters trade information with supposedly wired sources who don't really know but like to give the...

We have all heard that Alberto Gonzalez might be on Bush's short list of possible Supreme Court nominees. Conservatives don't trust him and expect him to be another O'Connor or worse, a David Souter. We are also aware that Rhenquist is expected to announce his retirement soon, too. And finally, Ginsburg is not in the best of health and Justice Stevens is 85 years old causing speculation that Bush could nominate FOUR Supreme Court nominees before his term ends. My thinking is this, Bush cuts a backroom deal with the 'Rats to allow his buddy Alberto Gonzalez into the Supreme...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - 0705iraq The reputed leader of al-Qaida in Iraq said the Iraqi army is as great an enemy as the Americans and announced the formation of a new terror command to fight Iraq's biggest Shiite militia, in an audiotape found Wednesday on the Internet. The comments, purportedly from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, appeared aimed at discouraging armed Iraqi groups from entering talks with the Iraqi government. The tape challenged critics who maintain that fighting U.S. troops is legitimate, but who oppose attacks on Iraqi forces. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other officials have said U.S. representatives have...

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Despite Democratic victories in the last four presidential contests and overwhelming Democratic majorities in the state's congressional delegation and Legislature, Republicans aren't giving up on California. In the color coded map of contemporary American politics, California looms as the largest and bluest state of all - frustrating Republicans as they seek to solidify their status as the national majority party. But Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman insists prospects are improving, thanks to demographic changes and the star power of the state's Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. "There's tremendous opportunity here because of the governor and his...

Tonight the compromise allowed three judges for an up and down and vote. These judges Prior, Owens, Rogers Brown were the most abused by the Democrats, the left wing liberals, and their media whores. These were the most extreme of the extraordinary circumstances of the all President Bush nominees and any future filibuster will be very difficult once these three judges are approved. Moreover, and most importantly, if when there is a vacancy in the US Supreme Court, President Bush can appoint any of these three judges to the SCOTUS and no one can filibuster them. It is over we...

"Fahrenheit 9/11," Moveon.org, Anonymous, Richard Clark and now the Newsweek story about alleged desecration of the Koran — all these sensations of the day have been used to proclaim the supposed sins of the American administration in the Middle East. Even when Americans consider that the president's foreign policy might just be working, he is still caricatured by critics and the media, here and abroad, as a clueless Inspector Clouseau who trips around and only stumbles into his good luck.How accurate is that cartoon?Just imagine if George Bush had predicted to us on the morning after September 11 what actually...

Bush: The strategist in the shadowsBy Robert A Juhl Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. Is US President George W Bush a dimwitted bumpkin who allowed a cabal to deceive him into undertaking a foolish war in Iraq? Or is he a competent strategist following a cynical plan that may bring about a settlement in the Middle East? To answer this question, let us begin by looking at fundamentals. Traditional US strategy in the Middle EastFor decades, US geopolitical strategy in...

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Reuters) - The Bush administration has adopted a new counterintelligence strategy that calls for pre-emptive action against foreign intelligence services viewed as threats to U.S. national security, officials said on Saturday. The first national U.S. counterintelligence strategy, which President Bush approved on March 1, aims to combat intelligence services from countries hungry for U.S. military and nuclear secrets, such as China and Iran, both at home and abroad, counterintelligence officials said. Officials at a counterintelligence conference at Texas A&M University described the strategy as an extension of the post-Sept. 11 foreign policy initiative known as the Bush...

Is US President George W Bush a dimwitted bumpkin who allowed a cabal to deceive him into undertaking a foolish war in Iraq? Or is he a competent strategist following a cynical plan that may bring about a settlement in the Middle East? To answer this question, let us begin by looking at fundamentals. Traditional US strategy in the Middle EastFor decades, US geopolitical strategy in the Middle East has relied on Israel being the dominant player. Israel's power to inflict huge losses on its enemies has kept the rest of the Middle East players dependent on outside powers and...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Norman in Detroit, you're next. Glad you waited. You're next on the EIB Network. Hi. CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush. RUSH: Thank you, sir. CALLER: I wondered if you had read about Bush's plans to raise the tax on Social Security. RUSH: I have read that plan, yes. I'm a little upset about it but I've got some more to say about it. What's your problem with it? CALLER: I'm concerned about this. It almost seems like a trend of a policy shift change after his inauguration. I mean first he's threatened his first veto to be to...

White House Lobbyists Estimate a Third of Opposition Will Provide Occasional SupportWASHINGTON -- From the tone in the capital lately, you might think President Bush couldn't expect support from any Democrat in Congress.In the past few days, the Democratic Party made Bush critic Howard Dean its chairman, and top House Democratic tax writer, Rep. Charles Rangel, pronounced the president's Social Security plan "dead." Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid recently upbraided the White House for personally attacking him through the Republican National Committee.But in fact there are some Democrats who may yet help Mr. Bush accomplish parts of his agenda. "We...

Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005 10:29 a.m. EST Saudi Arabia to Hold Historic Elections Less than two weeks after elections in Iraq confounded media predictions of failure and showed that Arabs would indeed grab their chance for freedom, Saudi Arabia is set to hold its own historic first round of democratic elections. The amazing development has gone virtually unreported in the American press, undoubtedly because it adds even further vindication to President Bush's decision to press the Iraqi liberation. Reporting out of its Riyadh bureau on Friday, however, the Associated Press detailed preparations for the watershed vote under the headline, "Election...

Washington, DC, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was not pursuing a policy of regime change in Iran. "The United States has been very clear, its officials have been very clear that we do not have a policy of regime change towards Iran," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. Fears the United States might try to topple the Iranian regime were stoked last month after New Yorker magazine said U.S. military personnel were operating inside Iran and gathering information about possible nuclear facilities and weapons sites. In his State of the Union address Wednesday, President Bush...

I'm tossing this out for discussion, because I really can't decide, and I wonder what you all think? Over a year ago, when the CPA, in conjunction with the Iraqis, laid out the timetable for the handover, and then the schedule for elections, even though this was all done way before our November election, no doubt more than a few folks in the WH realized that the State of the Union address would occur a few days after the Iraqi election? Was this deliberate?

Bush Says Social Security Shortchanges Blacks... Developing...

Astute political observers such as Bill Kristol have puzzled over President Bush giving top second term priority to Social Security reform. Unlike tax cuts or other possible priorities, the payoff for private Social Security accounts will come many years in the future, when currently young voters retire. Why spend so much political capital when there is no immediate gain? Just because it is the right thing to do? Unquestionably, the President believes in the wisdom of changing Social Security from an income transfer system to a capital accumulation/income generation system. But there is also a sophisticated and visionary political strategy...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush says he regrets sending the wrong impression of the United States by using phrases like "Bring 'em on" and "dead or alive" in his first term and has pledged to be more diplomatic. In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters to be broadcast on Friday, Bush said some of his past remarks were too blunt. "'Bring it on,' was a little blunt," the president said in a transcript of the interview released on Thursday. "I remember when I talked about Osama bin Laden, I said we're going to get him dead or alive....

Even as Tribune Media Services announced it had dropped columnist Armstrong Williams after he admitted receiving $241,000 from the Department of Education to promote 'No Child Left Behind', new allegations surfaced today that the Bush administration may have paid Michael Moore to oppose the president's reelection. Mr. Moore and the White House both deny the charges, but critics point to the "almost scary" relationship between Mr. Bush's electoral success and the vigorous efforts of the Oscar-winning filmmaker to tarnish the president's image. "The more he attacked Bush, the more Americans loved the president," said an unnamed spokesman for the American...

Is the White House doing the best job to bring the president's daring domestic agenda to fruition?MAYBE WE SHOULDN'T WORRY. President Bush is bravely pushing ahead to introduce personal investment accounts in Social Security and to save the system from insolvency. This is political turf where others, including President Reagan, have feared to tread. And Bush is poised to press later this year for an overhaul of the tax system, making it simpler and producing--we hope anyway--lower rates and a broader tax base. So he is living up to his reputation for dismissing lesser issues as "smallball" and saving his...