Free Republic

Listening closely to the politicians with the most clout in the debate over health care, it is startling to discover how little they actually seem to know about the subject. Ignorance rules, even among the bipartisan group of senators known as the "Gang of Six," who supposedly have immersed themselves in the details of this life-and-death issue for many months. If they understood even the most basic facts about how the United States and other advanced countries provide and finance medical care, they simply could not utter the stupid comments that regularly emanate from their lips. Can they really be...

Emotions ran high at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival over the showing of Rachel, a film that looks at the International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie and her death in Gaza in March 2003. The controversy had been brewing for some time, concerning both the showing of the film and the invitation to Rachel's mother, Cindy Corrie, to speak at the festival. In the wake of protests against the showing of the film last Saturday, Peter Stein, the festival's executive director, invited Dr. Mike Harris, one of the leaders of the local Stand With Us chapter, to speak in...

Six months ago, embarking on the vice presidency, Joe Biden listed among his top priorities "restoring" the office to its proper constitutional role in the wake of the eight-year tenure of predecessor Dick Cheney. It's early to attempt a reliable assessment of his achievement of that goal. But at the half-year mark, he has from all appearances made a good start, if only because nobody is suggesting, as often was the case with Mr. Cheney, that Mr. Biden is really running the country. Nor has there has been talk of the vice president stealthily at work from an "undisclosed location,"...

The senator said healthcare would be Obama's 'Waterloo' – if Obama lost, it would break him. Now, Obama is using the comment as an example of crass Beltway obstructionism. Washington - “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” When Jim DeMint uttered those words late last week, he did the president a favor. In one memorable line, the Republican senator from South Carolina turned the healthcare debate into a personal battle against President Obama. Suddenly, Mr. Obama has a foil. “The Party of No” – the Democrats’ name for Republicans...

Small ferry carrying medical supplies that set sail from Cyprus Monday with 21 peace activists, medical supplies intercepted off Strip's shore; passengers say army jammed boat's radio signals. At around noon Tuesday the Israeli Navy intercepted and took control of a boat that had set sail for the Gaza Strip with three tons of medical supplies, Palestinian sources said, adding that the Navy jammed the boat's radio signals. The IDF Spokesperson's Office confirmed the report. Israeli military sources said there was no violence after the small ferry, sailing from Cyprus with activists from the US-based Free Gaza Movement, was intercepted...

The Beltway antics that greeted the great Cheney-Obama torture debate were an unsettling return to the post-9/11 dynamic that landed America in Iraq. Once again Cheney and his cohort were using lies and fear to try to gain political advantage — this time to rewrite history and escape accountability for the failed Bush presidency rather than to drum up a new war. The harrowing truth remains unchanged from what it was before Cheney emerged from his bunker to set Washington atwitter. The Bush administration did not make us safer either before or after 9/11. Obama is not making us less...

Last week Prince Charles said that our current financial crisis was “nothing ” compared to the horrors of global warming. This week he says it is “depressing” that his ravings about climate change have not been heeded. Prince Charles is flying around South America in a private jet and giving speeches about being depressed about global warming. Yes he is. Really. This from Agence France-Presse: Prince Charles said he finds it "depressing" that his frequent warnings over climate change have not been heeded. The Prince of Wales added, though, that he was "delighted'' that it seemed people had begun to...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush said in the past he had videotaped himself practising the Arab insult to use against the president whose "icy smile" had filled him with uncontrollable rage. Muntazer al-Zaidi said on Thursday at the start of his trial in Baghdad on charges of assaulting a foreign leader that he took a recording of his shoe-throwing training two years ago and had hoped to accost Bush in Jordan but this did not take place.

Dennis Kucinich is currently on the floor of the House presenting his bill to impeach President George W. Bush. C-SPAN, 8:00 PM 9 Jun 2008.

American Al Qaeda Leader To Bush: 'We Will Be Waiting For You' Native Californian Al Qaeda Leader Makes Threats Against Bush Middle East Visit Adam Gadahn, as he appears in a new al Qaeda video. (ABC News) American Al Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn told his followers to welcome Bush "with bombs and traps" upon his upcoming visit to the Middle East this week. "The occupied territories are awaiting their first visit by the crusader Bush and the mujahideen are also waiting for him," said Gadahn, a California native and now an Al Qaeda spokesman. Gadahn is the star of the...

AP) A naked man driving along the Indiana Toll Road was arrested and charged because his lewd conduct distracted other motorists, police said. The 37-year-old Chicago man was traveling east to Ohio to visit his mother, police said. He was nude and had petroleum jelly on his hands when a state trooper pulled him over about 10 miles from the Ohio line Wednesday, police said. The man, who told police he was comfortable driving in the nude, was charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure, punishable by up to a year in jail. The trooper, Al Martinez, a four-year veteran of the...

The US government is on a “burning platform” of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned. David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”. These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt. Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to the national spotlight on Valentine's Day to tell U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he misses her verbal attacks. "It had been days since she had given me any attention. How are you, Condoleezza?" Chavez asked in a speech Wednesday to pensioners in the capital of Caracas. It was Chavez's first response to Rice's testimony last week to a U.S. congressional committee that the Venezuelan leader was "destroying his own country" economically and politically — an apparent reference to a centralization of power in Venezuela and moves to nationalize key...

WASHINGTON: Enough with The Joke, John Kerry says. The Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee said Wednesday night that it is time to move on from his botched attempt at humor before the Nov. 7 congressional elections. Kerry had said people might get "stuck in Iraq" if they do not study hard and do their homework. He said he was trying to poke fun at President George W. Bush, but Bush and others accused him of criticizing the troops. "This is getting silly," Kerry said on CNN's "Larry King Live." "The country needs to think about a policy that...

This year alone Mr. Clinton has raised $7.3 billion for his various social causes. Mrs. Clinton’s Senate re-election campaign has cashed in more than $49 million. Now, some of their friends say they are starting to feel “Clintoned out.” The New York Times spoke with one of their donors, who would not be named, who said he was bowing out of extravagant fundraising events hosted by the Clintons this weekend because he was “Clintoned out.” The source said their financial solicitations were ''absolutely endless.'' The Clintons show no signs of easing up... Although Bill’s birthday was August 19th, weekend events...

Was Sandoval County Sheriff John Paul Trujillo conducting surveillance in a drug operation or was he just caught with his pants down? Trujillo says he was at the New Mexico Park & Ride parking lot in Bernalillo about noon on Monday in response to a tip regarding illegal drug activity. And he contends an incident report by a Bernalillo police officer contains details that are "false allegations." Two Bernalillo police officers say they spotted Trujillo's vehicle parked in the lot with the engine running and a sun shade covering most of the windshield. Officer Mark Aragon said in his report...

WILLIAM Jefferson Blythe III was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Ark. After his mother remarried, he took the family surname, Clinton. Clinton was a good student. He enjoyed playing the saxophone and even considered a professional musical career. While in high school, a fortuitous meeting with President John Kennedy led him to choose a life of public service.

(WCCO) Minneapolis On March 30, Minnesota Timberwolves center Eddie Griffin was drunk and masturbating when he crashed his luxury SUV into a parked Suburban outside a store in Minneapolis, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the man whose Suburban was hit in the crash. The WCCO-TV I-TEAM obtained copies of 911 calls and store surveillance video of the incident, along with an accident report the police submitted to the state. Several of the 911 callers that night said Griffin was drunk. One witness said Griffin told him he was watching pornography in a DVD player mounted on the dashboard...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

Olivia's beau 'spotted alive in Mexico' OLIVIA Newton-John's missing boyfriend Patrick McDermott is believed to be alive and living in Mexico. A Daily Telegraph investigation in Mexico has found three separate witnesses who have seen McDermott on Mexico's remote Baja Peninsula as recently as 10 days ago. McDermott is now suspected of faking his death on a fishing trip last year to escape mounting debts and possible jail time over thousands of dollars in unpaid child support. The sightings come as a grand jury prepares to investigate the disappearance of McDermott, who was Newton-John's boyfriend for nine years. .... (more)

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

Kevin Costner has been revealed as the celebrity accused of performing a sex act while having a massage at a prestigious hotel in Scotland, after a tribunal ruled there was not a strong enough reason to keep his name suppressed. The Hollywood star was accused of taking off his towel during the massage at The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Fife, in October 2004, exposing himself and then performing a sex act. An earlier legal ruling had prevented his identity being revealed, but the tribunal chairman Nicol Hosie ruled that following widespread newspaper and magazine reports outside Britain, as...

(AgapePress) - Solomon intimately understood how powerful sexual temptation can be for a young man. It was with him in mind that he wrote the fifth chapter of Proverbs. "My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding .... For the lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech" (Proverbs 5:1-3).Those two sentences perfectly describe both the power of sexual temptation and its antidote. The wise king understood that, if a young man is to successfully withstand the charms of the temptress, he must be prepared ahead of time. Time...

Briton Thanks Soldiers Who Rescued HimBy THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 21 minutes ago Norman Kember the freed British Christian peace campaigner smiles as he reads a statement after arriving at London's Heathrow airport Saturday March 25, 2006. Kember on Saturday thanked the soldiers who rescued him from kidnappers in Iraq, in a statement made shortly after flying into London. (AP Photo/Luke MacGregor, Pool) LONDON - Freed British hostage Norman Kember returned home Saturday after four months in captivity in Iraq and thanked the soldiers who saved him and two other peace activists. Kember, 74, arrived on a...

Freed Kember thanks rescue troops Freed hostage Norman Kember has thanked the soldiers who rescued him from kidnappers in Iraq after being reunited with his wife Pat at Heathrow airport. But the peace campaigner - criticised earlier for apparently failing to thank the rescuers - restated his opposition to foreign troops in the country. He also said he needed to reflect on whether he was "foolhardy or rational" to have gone to Iraq last year. Mr Kember, 74, of Pinner, London, and two Canadians were held for 117 days. Tribute paid Reading from a hand-written statement, Mr Kember said he...

SAS soldier quits Army in disgust at 'illegal' American tactics in Iraq By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 12/03/2006) An SAS soldier has refused to fight in Iraq and has left the Army over the "illegal" tactics of United States troops and the policies of coalition forces. After three months in Baghdad, Ben Griffin told his commander that he was no longer prepared to fight alongside American forces. Ben Griffin told commanders that he thought the Iraq war was illegal He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" -...

A potential Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," an acclaimed solo show about an American demonstrator killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home, has been postponed because of concerns about the show's political content. The production, a hit at the Royal Court Theater in London last year, had been tentatively scheduled to start performances at the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village on March 22. But yesterday, James C. Nicola, the artistic director of the workshop, said he had decided to postpone the show after polling local...

In this war freedom should come first not after! In New Hampshire the Motto is Live free or Die! I don't need Bush spying on law abiding americans and taking our freedoms. Anyone who surrenders a square inch of freedom to the government in the name of saftey is a traitor and should be treated like one! Let the Bush Fashists all drop dead! Filthy Commys! LET FREEDOM RING!

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

Yaa, you repukes are not doing so well, huh? Imagine, you repukes control the presidency, both houses of Congress, and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Yet the Supreme Court thre out sodomy laws in all 50 states and recognized the right of government to seize land for any reason. And you couldn't pass your Social Security changes could you? Sorry, that was your last shot. Come November, we're going to start seeing more Democratic faces in the House. It's the end for you guys. You guys are celebrating when Bush's numbers go *up* to 45%. Then Faux...

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...

Why does anybody support George w Bush as President? He is clearly the worst President I have ever seen -- a complete disaster. And before you say anything, I have been a registered Republican for 25 years.

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

Just saw this on NewsMax's website. They've got some poll up about whether Bush's domestic spying was legal or not. Personally, if people in the US are talking to al Queda, then we SHOULD be monitoring their calls. It's about protecting America!

Lies of omission about 9/11 -- stoking fears of terrorism THEY WANT YOU TO BE AFRAID The following post was censored by freerepublic.com shortly after it was posted on their "public" forum on 9/11/04. That forum is designed to appear as though it is a community forum open to all, but this post only received three responses before it and its replies were deleted, and a repeat posting at 4 am PST on 9/20/04 didn't stay online for 5 minutes! Someone is apparently watching closely over the content of the freerepublic.com forums and censoring them 24/7 (though they might have...

Please, yes or no first and then comments.

<p>You people are jerks. Not likeable jerks either, but the kind folks would like to smack in the back of the head with a shovel. Think Judge Snells from Caddyshack or Neidermier from Animal House.</p> <p>I know this probably comes as a shock to you, but if you do some serious soul searching, you'll realize that I am right.</p>

Throughout my time here at CSU I have always been very passive in voicing my opinion about politics. Being a senior now, I feel that it is my duty to comment on the topic that has become very sensitive to the student body. A couple of events in the past few weeks have lit a fire under me, forcing me to break my silence. The first event occurred during a focus group I attended for a project in my marketing research class. One of the more conservative guests tried to comment that we are at war with Iraq because Iraq...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- More than half of North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq and his overall job performance. Nearly 53 percent of military members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush's handling of his job. And just more than 56 percent of that same group strongly disapproved or disapproved of how he has dealt with the Iraq war. Overall, 53 percent of those surveyed for the poll released Friday did not approve of Bush's job performance, while 57 percent did not approve of his...

<p>I think Cindy is a GREAT American. bush caused 9-11 just to take us into a war with IRAk!! bush lied!!!!!!! Cindy is right! We should pull out of Irak now!!!!!! The JIHAD IS winning! and American troops are a bunch of losers! Just like bush! and all his supportors!</p>

<p>The photo Cindy Sheehan did not want the world to see: President Bush plants a consoling kiss on the cheek of grieving antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan last year at Fort Lewis, Washington.</p> <p>Mrs. Sheehan is staging a protest vigil in Crawford, Texas demanding a second meeting with President Bush to demand an explanation for why her son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq a year ago April.</p>

AUGUST 3--Days before Private James Marshall Hendrix (Jimi to his friends) was officially drummed out of the military, Army brass delivered withering assessments of the 19-year-old soldier. Hendrix, Captain Gilbert Batchman reported, slept on the job, had little regard for regulations, and was once "apprehended masturbating" in the latrine. Sergeant Louis Hoekstra noted that Hendrix was a "habitual offender" when it came to missing midnight bed checks and that the Seattle teenager was unable to "carry on an intelligent conversation." Hoekstra added that Hendrix, who was once suspected of "taking dope," played a musical instrument while off-duty, "or so he...

LONDON (Reuters) - Western foreign policy has fuelled the Islamist radicalism behind the bomb attacks which killed more than 50 people in London, the capital's mayor Ken Livingstone said on Wednesday. Livingstone, who earned the nickname "Red Ken" for his left-wing views, won widespread praise for a defiant response which helped unite London after the bombings. But he has revived his reputation for courting controversy in recent days. Asked on Wednesday what he thought had motivated the four suspected suicide bombers, Livingstone cited Western policy in the Middle East and early American backing for Osama bin Laden. "A lot of...

To the happy few who may read this...I used to post here as Pat The Postman. Never insulted anyone. Just presented facts. Paid respect to everyone. Yesterday I participated in a highly interesting thread about the War On Iraq/Terrorism. Today I posted a link to an official report from the UK from the Chatham House, a deeply respected think tank, held in high esteem all over the world. And what happened? Well, all my posts were removed, and the thread about the Chatham House report was pulled within a minute. This is interesting. What's the matter? There is but one...

Is it true that if you say something negative about the Bush Administration on this website that you will get kicked off of it? Even if it is a legitimate posting? Is the Bush Administration beyond reproach by the moderator of this website? But don't let me know your opinion because you could get banned for it. The Heeb

This is not a vanity post, it is the plain truth. As 'flagthefly' I posted a link to a BBC article about an investigation by the most respected medical magazine in the world, which had some unpleasant things to say about the real number of dead in Iraq. My thread got pulled after 2 replies. This has changed my opinion on this site by 180 degrees for now. Why is it not possible to post a link to news about an independent scientific investigation? If this counts as 'freedom', then I'd like to be jailed forever, that would be a...