Free Republic

So, you hate "big oil" and the soaring gasoline prices they are forcing on you? You've bought into the Democrats and Republicrats rhetoric about greed and "unjustified" profits, and you can't wait for someone to be elected president and get even with those evil corporate robber barons that are profiting at your expense. Well before you get all excited about tearing down the energy industry, stop and think for a moment about what makes your comfortable life possible. Your heat and most of your electricity are provided through the burning of oil and natural gas. The thousands of plastic items...

Rather than just griping about things - why not do something? Let President Bush and Vice President Cheney know that you deeply appreciate their efforts to keep us safe and prosperous. comments@whitehouse.gov vice_president@whitehouse.gov While you're at it, send the troops some cheer with a donation to the USO or your favorite support organization: http://www.uso.org/

Iran, Iraq and other hot spots topped discussions between U.S. President George Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Thursday in Rome. "We did have a wideranging discussion," Bush said during a news conference. "I appreciate very much the fact that Italy is meeting international obligations." Bush noted that U.S. citizens probably didn't realize how many Italian troops were deployed around the world, including 8,700 troops in areas such as Kosovo and Chad. "We talked about Iraq, how Iraq is changing for the better, how people are beginning to realize the blessings of a free and peaceful society," Bush said,...

It's easy to understand how Minnesota National Guard soldiers deployed overseas would miss lots of things about home. Things like sitting down to a simple Sunday dinner with family. A number of years ago, that notion struck St. Paul City Councilman Pat Harris as he sipped a beverage at Mancini's Char House on West 7th, and he decided that an overseas dinner was do-able. Harris didn't have to go far for help. Mancini's, Cossetta, O'Garas, Skinners Pub, are among the familiar names on St. Paul's restaurant landscape that power and help fund an effort called 'Serving our Troops.' It's a...

.....Bush Made his speach standing before five of the six brigades of the 82nd Airborne during the Division's annual ceremony to review and inspect the soldiers.....

I just login in Free Republic once and posted some information about the earthquake in China. I have never thought I can get reply from American peoples. Although we are from different nations, and do not know each other,please let me say thanks to you. Now, all Chinese are do everthing we can do to help our sisters and brothers in the earthquake area. We will do a good job to save lives and rebulid our beautiful country.

Today is a huge day for me - 9 years CANCER FREE. On May 13, 1999 I was laying in a hospital bed recovering from cancer surgery to remove my right kidney, uretor and about 1/3 of my bladder. On that day I was given a new lease on life, and I cherish every single day the good lord gives me now. No matter what you have gone through, no matter how many family members may fight this horrible disease, nothing will ever prepare you for the moment your doctor looks across that desk and utters those three chilling words,...

Before Dick Cheney passes from this life to the next, he ought to receive another Presidential Medal of Freedom for boldly protecting this country while interminably catching holy hell for doing so. (He already got it once, for his exceptional service as Secretary of Defense.) But you know he won’t. It is a measure of Cheney’s selfless devotion to the United States that he obviously does not care. Headlines blared on Friday that Cheney made the call – in consultation with the highest-ranking White House staff, but excluding the president for what I guess were reasons of plausible deniability –...

Republican leader Mitch McConnell, over on his campaign site's blog, has drafted a thank you letter to David Petraeus, and has it set up so that you can add your name and brief comments that will be presented to the General.

As his mother talks, the little boy chews on her speech and wows the crowd with his bright eyes. He is 8 months old now. “This is a baby who would not be here if not for the Pregnancy Center,” says Chris Ward, a counselor. Indeed, his mother tells the audience of 300 at a banquet to celebrate the Parkland Pregnancy Resource Center that she had scheduled an abortion for the very day she went to the Farmington facility. “I was an alcoholic and taking drugs and I did not believe in abortion, but I did not know I had...

hey pookie, just heard daily toons was ending. many thanks man for a bunch of great reads

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – Vice President Richard B. Cheney thanked American servicemembers today for their service in Afghanistan, saying they are making history every day. Cheney spoke with troops at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, and then presented five awards – including a Silver Star – and re-enlisted six servicemembers of Combined Joint Task Force 82. Cheney said the troops are making Americans proud. “Almost every factor that makes a battlefield tough is found right here in Afghanistan – rugged terrain, lousy weather, great distances, and a nasty, brutal enemy,” the vice president said. “But our military record here,...

Dear Faithful Friends, Last night was a tough one for all of us. While Janet and I stood on the stage, we felt as if we were surrounded by a much larger family than our immediate family. We have been surrounded throughout the process by a large and growing family of faithful friends whose efforts in the campaign have humbled and amazed us day after day. I regularly wept or choked back tears just reading comments on the blog when I realized the sacrifices that so many have made for the campaign. We had held out hope that we would...

Dear Faithful Friends, Last night was a tough one for all of us. While Janet and I stood on the stage, we felt as if we were surrounded by a much larger family than our immediate family. We have been surrounded throughout the process by a large and growing family of faithful friends whose efforts in the campaign have humbled and amazed us day after day. I regularly wept or choked back tears just reading comments on the blog when I realized the sacrifices that so many have made for the campaign. We had held out hope that we would...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2008 – Late last month my wife, Deborah, and I christened a Navy destroyer in Pascagoula, Miss. As we watched the champagne bottle break across the bow of this sleek new warship, some 25 miles away in the Alabama town of Irvington, more than 100 well-wishers gathered for a christening of their own. They were breaking ground on a new house for former U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Greg Edwards and his family. Edwards, 25, lost both legs and shattered his left hand in an explosion while on patrol in Ramadi last October. Now, thanks to the Taunton,...

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Africans showered President Bush with praise yesterday for the billions of U.S. dollars spent to help fight disease and poverty, while administration officials threatened sanctions against Kenya if its president does not compromise in that nation's political crisis. Mr. Bush, who will send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to meet tomorrow with leaders in Kenya, said during his first stop, in the small West African nation of Benin, that the U.S. desires "that there be no violence, that there be a power-sharing agreement that will help [Kenya] resolve its difficulties." A Bush administration official...

Republican McCain Thanks Evangelicals for Support

No, seriously why won’t you listen to me? I’m not trying to change your mind. I’m just trying to understand where you’re coming from. Maybe I can get you to look at this from my point of view for once, minus all the hatred. Why won’t you listen to me? A bomb just exploded outside the gate and I can't sleep. I swear that’s true. I thought a mortar hit my room. (I found out later that it was a very large car bomb that killed four and wounded 40 Iraqi’s manning a local checkpoint – they are tired of...

Andy Olmsted by hilzoy Andrew Olmsted, who also posted here as G'Kar, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave me a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July. Andy was a wonderful person: decent, honorable, generous, principled, courageous, sweet, and very funny. The world has a horrible hole in it that nothing can fill. I'm glad Andy -- generous as always -- wrote something for me to publish now, since I have no words at all. Beyond: Andy, I will miss you. My thoughts are with his wife, his...

Fort Carson-based Army Major Andrew Olmsted who wrote a blog from the war for the Rocky Mountain News was killed Thursday in Iraq. He went there to teach members of the Iraqi Army how to defend their country and provide security for citizens. Major Olmsted was a veteran blogger and was determined to make a difference in Iraq. He began writing for RockyMountainNews.com on May 21. He left behind a final blog post on his website AndrewOlmsted.com. No details were available on how the Major Olmsted died.