Free Republic

The Obama administration’s indictment of critic Dinesh D’Souza on campaign finance law violations is a reminder that it’s dangerous to be in the opposition when the president is a lawless strongman who knows the media will protect him no matter what. Democratic malefactors remained at large on Friday as D’Souza pleaded not guilty to charges that he directed two individuals to each make $10,000 donations to the campaign of Wendy Long, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, on the understanding he would reimburse them, which he did not long after.The court in New York reportedly imposed unusually tough...

"People around our country are hungry for action," White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday. "And what you'll hear from the president tonight is going to be all about action -- creating opportunity -- and it's going to be a very optimistic speech." Jarrett said the president, in his sixth State of the Union Address, will "set forth very specific, concrete proposals that he things will move our country forward -- create opportunity for hard-working Americans who want to succeed." ... Asked about a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll showing that Americans are losing confidence...

Michelle Obama's visit to Oprah's Hawaii compound has crippled the neighborhood around O's home ... and some neighbors are pissed. Some of the residents and business people around Oprah's palatial 12-bedroom Maui estate -- where Michelle recently retreated to spend the last few days of her 40s -- are all telling the same story ... Michelle's visit is making day-to-day life almost impossible.

First Lady Michelle Obama extended her own vacation, flying to the island of Maui, where she is spending time with family friend Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey’s magazine describes the home as a “perfect 21st-century farmhouse” in a “remote up-country region, where the houses that dot the moss-covered rock hillside face the ocean.” The president said he sent his wife to Maui as an early birthday present; she turns 50 Jan. 17. The Daily Caller reports Michelle Obama is also spending time with Gayle King of CBS News, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Sharon Malone, wife of Attorney General Eric...

Michelle Obama is spending her extended Hawaiian vacation at Oprah’s “exquisite” Maui getaway, The Daily Caller has learned. While White House pool reports indicate the first lady stayed behind this week in Hawaii to chill out with friends before her 50th birthday, there weren’t many specifics. But sources with direct knowledge tell TheDC that the first lady is relaxing in Maui at Oprah’s estate with CBS’ Gayle King, Valerie Jarrett and Sharon Malone, who is Attorney General Eric Holder’s wife. Sources say she’s there for a “girl’s getaway” before the big 5-0.

President Obama will sign up for Health Insurance on the Marketplace by the end of today according to Valerie Jarrett @vj44Just off phone w/Valerie Jarrett @vj44 POTUS will sign up for for Health Insurance on the Market place by the end of today 2 lead by exampleValerie Jarrett @vj44 says people should go in the ACA website early today to beat the rush to sing (sic) up for insurance to have it Jan. 1 2014Valerie Jarrett @vj44 says having health insurance is "peace of mind" for when the unexpected happens.

The Center for American Progress, the Sellers Dorsey Foundation, and the Federal Agencies Project announce the launch of Out2Enroll, a campaign to inform lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities about new coverage options available through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to encourage LGBT individuals to enroll in coverage. The Out2Enroll campaign kicks off on September 12 with a briefing at the White House that will feature remarks from Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and LGBT health and health reform experts from across the country. Out2Enroll will work at...

In a recent long-form article on the troubles that the banking and investment sectors have had with the destructive policies coming out of the White House, unnamed Democrats told Politico that Rahm Emanuel and, most especially, Valerie Jarrett were not only entirely unresponsive to their concerns, but they actually lacked any knowledge about the industries for which they were tasked with crafting policy--and earned no "respect" because of it. Things got so bad that representatives of the financial sectors just stopped having meetings with the White House because any such meetings were pointless. The December 11 article, "Lament of the...

Valerie Jarrett, Obama's Rasputin, unwittingly provided us an answer to the question of why the Obama Presidency is such a man-caused disaster. There are few people who are close to the notoriously insular Barack Obama (a former aide, Neera Tanden, said that "Obama doesn't call anyone, and he's not close to almost anyone. It's stunning that he's in politics, because he really doesn't like people") but Valerie Jarrett is among the select few. They have been friends for decades; she introduced Barack to Michelle; she is a constant presence in the White House, and highly unusual for a White House...

It is seemingly impossible to quantify the amount of treachery committed by Iranian born Valerie Jarrett to western civilization, try as one may. In tandem with her boss, Barack HUSSEIN Obama, they are the most DANGEROUS duo in the western world. That’s not an easy hurdle to pass. But if not for a highly trusted contact in mid 2012, at the inception of this site, the reportage on Val would have been minimal, if at all. A heads up from an “in the know” Washington, DC associate kept dropping hints….again and again. It is important to give credit where it...

Ed. note: This is cross-posted from The Huffington Post. See the original post here. Ensuring the full freedom of women as health care consumers to access essential preventative health services is a vital component of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And nowhere are health decisions more personal or essential to keep in their hands, than those regarding reproductive health. The ACA was designed to ensure that health care decisions are made between a woman and her doctor, and not by her boss, or Washington politicians.Today, there are people trying to take this right away from women, by letting private, for-profit...

The United States released $8 billion in frozen assets to Iran on Sunday in a move meant to ensure Tehran’s compliance with a nuclear pact signed over the weekend, according to top Iranian officials. Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht confirmed on Monday morning that the U.S. government had unfrozen $8 billion in assets that had been previously blocked by the Obama administration.

Normally, I don't traffic much in gossip, but the case of Valerie Jarrett is different. She may well be the most powerful woman in America, and almost certainly is the most powerful member of the Obama administration. The adjective "shadowy" definitely applies to this woman who enjoys her power through her relationship to the President, having never been confirmed by Senate hearings. Her title as "Senior Adviser" to the President barely scratches the surface of her real power. President Obama has time for his 150+ rounds of golf, his extensive television watching, and his expertise on March Madness bracketology because...

The Obama administration’s nuke deal with Iran got a big thumbs-down Sunday from top lawmakers in both parties. “I don’t think you make them bargain in good faith by going squishy,” fumed Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel, as he joined a bipartisan chorus blasting the agreement that will slightly ease economic sanctions against the rogue Islamic regime in exchange for a pause of its nuclear program. “It’s disappointing to me that Iran is still going to be allowed to enrich [uranium] while they’re talking. I would have thought that that should be a prerequisite to any kind of talks,” Engel, the...

Secretary of State John Kerry tried Sunday to rally support for a six-month deal to freeze Iran's nuclear program in the face of lukewarm reaction from congressional allies and hostility from critics. -snip- Lawmakers took to the airwaves Sunday morning to question whether the deal would work, with some suggesting that the Obama administration had made a strategic miscalculation. -snip- Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," expressed skepticism about the deal on "Fox News Sunday," saying "I think we all greet it with skepticism." He said that the arrangement suggested that Iranian...

Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, November 21, 2013, 2:55 PM An idiot surrounded by idiots. In The Price of Politics Bob Woodward writes about a CEO who says at the Obama White House “we talk to people we wouldn’t hire.” Andrew Stiles reported at National Review: Larry Summers, former head of the National Economic Council, thought having Jarrett represent the White House was a mistake. Business leaders “felt patronized and offended by Valerie,” Summers told Woodward, largely due to her tendency to insist that she spoke for the president, and an approach to problem-solving that involved little more than...

Last Sunday, Israel’s Channel 10 News reported that Valerie Jarrett, the Iranian born senior adviser to Mr. Obama, has been holding Secret Talks with Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, for about a year. The so-called P5+1 powers and Iranian negotiations in Geneva were nothing more than a “facade,” the actual terms of the deal having already been decided. (1)(2) Channel 10 News quoted an unnamed senior official who told the reporter that the real behind the scenes power in the White House, Valerie Jarrett, has been making secret deals with the Islamic Nation for a...

"..................Jarrett’s official job description is “somewhat vague,” Becker writes, noting that at least part of her role is to serve as “chief liaison to the business community, state and local governments, and the professional left,” but her influence is undeniable. She commands a staff of nearly three dozen and has a hand in decisions ranging from the invitation list to state dinners and what gifts to give foreign leaders, to who should be nominated to the Supreme Court, appointed to a vacant ambassadorship, or awarded the President Medal of Freedom. When Warren Buffett visits to the White House for lunch,...

First Couple makes a repeat visit to the nation's first certified organic restaurant... Washington, DC -- President Barack Obama spent 4-1/2 hours on Friday night celebrating close friend and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett's 57th birthday at Restaurant Nora, a hotspot for the power elite that is notable for being America's first certified organic eatery. (Above, with Jarrett in the Blue Room) First Lady Michelle Obama and an unidentified group of friends also attended the birthday bash for Jarrett, a member of the Obamas' inner circle from Chicago who turned 57 on Thursday. The intimate dinner was a respite from a...

The latest case of black-mob violence in Chicago is far from the worst. We’ll get to that one in a minute. But when a mob of black people rushed into three Chicago-area Sports Authority stores this week and rushed out dragging entire racks of winter clothing, the local CBS affiliate dubbed that “unbelievable.” CNN said the videos were “shocking.” Not really: “That crime was only unbelievable or shocking to the reporters who spend all their time ignoring and denying black mob violence,” said one Chicago cop, who would rather keep his job than be identified as a source of stories...