Free Republic

New Hampshire Timing is everything. Leafing through our issue of two weeks ago, I feel it would be kindest to draw a veil over page 26 (‘Correlli Barnett says that the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq serve as object lessons in how not to conduct an anti-terrorist campaign’) but that guy buried away on page 38 seems shrewder than ever: ‘It’s been a good year. Twelve months ago, Saddam Hussein was sitting on his solid gold toilet. He’s now on the run, moving every few hours and unlikely ever again to feel even a standard black plastic seat against his...

If President Bush does not fall on his knees and thank Santa Claus for Christmas gifts of the most wonderful kind, then he deserves to be sent to bed with only dry bread for company. First the capture of Saddam Hussein led the news cycle nine days ago, then the capitulation of Moammar Gadhafi dominated the headlines last weekend. Both events were unquestionably triumphs for the president. As such they posed considerable difficulties of interpretation for Bush's rivals and critics such as the Democrats or the ''Europeans.'' It was just about possible for them to maintain through forced smiles and...

<p>Hopefully, Dr. Dean's political instincts are better than his memory. The good doctor may have forgotten that the United Nations was asked to participate in Iraq's liberation and rejected the idea some three times, even after 12 years of Iraqi intransigence. Second, this wanna-be leader of the free world may be unaware that only 49 free nations signed on as coalition partners. That, for the benefit of the mathematically impaired, is 48 nations more than "unilateral."</p>

What I want to know is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting the president's unilateral intervention in Iraq!" -- Presidential candidate Howard Dean, before the California Democratic Convention Hopefully, Dr. Dean's political instincts are better than his memory. The good doctor may have forgotten that the United Nations was asked to participate in Iraq's liberation and rejected the idea some three times, even after 12 years of Iraqi intransigence. Second, this wanna-be leader of the free world may be unaware that only 49 free nations signed on as coalition partners. That, for the benefit of the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - For American intelligence agencies, the capture of Saddam Hussein is a much needed vindication after many months of failures and frustrations, Bush administration officials and members of Congress said Sunday. The agencies' standing was brought to a low ebb by a long line of setbacks, including the failure to anticipate the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001; the unsuccessful search for unconventional weapons in Iraq; and the inability to find Mr. Hussein or Osama bin Laden. But that string has ended in the dirt hole where Mr. Hussein was finally found, not far from his birthplace. Although...

In peacemaking operations, you need to have adequate forces to do the job. But no matter how many troops you send, you can't win if you lose the intelligence war. Yesterday morning, the world awoke to hard evidence that we're winning on the silent front in Iraq. They saw a disheveled, captive Saddam undergoing a dental exam. It was an irrefutable image of success. But the revealing story is how we're succeeding. Back in April, as our troops stood in triumph amid the wreckage of Saddam's regime, our intelligence files on everything from mid-level Ba'athist officials to the condition of...

Matthew Drudge just played a clip from the Jay Leno show on the Rush show of Triumph the insult puppet dog talking about John Kerry. For John Kerry to take the stage after these comments had to sting. John F. Kerry Catskills king "Triumph the insult dog"

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Riding in on a borrowed Harley-Davidson, John Kerry appeared Tuesday on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" as rancor within his presidential campaign continued to boil. The Massachusetts senator, wearing a leather jacket, blue jeans and a denim shirt, rode the motorcycle onto the stage. The Democrat talked mostly politics during the interview with Leno, generating few laughs. He criticized George Bush's handling of the war in Iraq and told the president to "get off his high horse" and involve other countries in postwar efforts. Kerry also said the improving economy wouldn't be a major issue...

Okay, everyone...game will be underway 45 min. from now in New York City.For those still office -bound, we'll try to provide the action commentary and color!

From The Triumph UK site:The first ever production bike to break the 2-litres barrier, the Rocket III is the ultimate power cruiser. As alluded to by its name and alone among the cruiser fold the Rocket III is powered by a triple cylinder engine, an engine format that Triumph has very much made its own. Its fuel-injected, longitudinally-mounted, in-line three-cylinder engine has a cubic capacity of 2,294cc – 140 cubic inches – and uses the same size pistons as a ten-cylinder American muscle car. But the impressive numbers don’t end there as Rocket III makes more peak torque than two...

Missile triumph descends into chaos and blame By David Rennie and Sean O'Neill (Filed: 15/08/2003) Less than 48 hours after Americans boasted they had caught a Briton trying to sell missiles to terrorists, their "incredible triumph" descended into recriminations, including the claim that the BBC ruined a larger operation by breaking news of the arrest. The BBC, already regarded as anti-American by many US conservatives, was accused yesterday of wrecking the 18-month operation that ended up netting only Hemant Lakhani, a 68-year-old London businessman with no known terrorist links. Unnamed "top officials" from the US Justice Department told Newsweek magazine...

Tony Blair has declared Britain should be "proud" of its role in ousting Saddam Hussein from Iraq, as he continued to fight off questions over his decision to go to war. The Prime Minister vented his exasperation during a press conference alongside 13 other world leaders to mark the end of the Progressive Governance Summit in Surrey. "When we have over the past couple of days taken the first steps for Iraqi people actually to take control of their own lives and we have the United Nations talking about 300,000 people and mass graves, then I believe we should be...

<p>July 14, 2003 -- Is the world safer today than a year ago? Is America?</p> <p>Who can fairly deny it?</p> <p>Even the anti-war crowd can't gainsay the obvious: Operation Iraqi Freedom has made life vastly less dangerous for Iraqis. For Americans. And for the world.</p>

This has to be one of the funniest things I've ever come across. I'm not a big fan of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog -- he's crude -- but in this video he goes to last year's Star Wars II premiere and makes fun of all the attendees who take Star Wars just a bit too seriously. There is an offensive Catholic joke in the beginning, so if you don't want to hear it, please skip from the 20 sec mark to the 25 sec mark. I hope you have a good laugh! Click on the picture to view the...

The FRN "Freeps Ahoy" Cruise aboard the Carnival Cruise Triumph arrived back in Miami this morning. No SARS, No Norwalk, No Terrorism - just a hell of a lot of fun, food and sun! As the first cruiser back at his computer, I have the honor of starting this thread and posting the above pic, which was taken at the foot of the staircase descending into the "London Room", which was the dining room each evening for our Freeper Contingent. Front Row (left to right): Judy (Qwert's wife), Jean (friend of Bush_Democrat), Eileen (BobFromNJ's wife), MinuteGal, Bahbah, Hoosiermama Second...

In recent months we have been told repeatedly that the Israeli left has disappeared. In public opinion polls fewer than 20 percent of the Jewish public identifies itself as left-wing, 17 percent as center and more than 50 percent as moderate or extreme right. We are said to be witnessing a total conceptual collapse. A more thorough examination of the public's attitude shows that the opposite is the case: the way of the left has triumphed and the ideological right has lost its way. The heart of the new Israeli consensus beats in the left. If we define the political...