Free Republic

While campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul praised the Occupy Wall Street movement, comparing it to the Tea Party movement. "In many ways, I identify with both groups," Paul said. Both groups are fed up with problems in Washington and "the two-party-system," Paul said while speaking at an insurance company in Des Moines. Praising the left-wing Occupy Wall Street movement is an unusual move for a Republican presidential candidate, but Ron Paul is, of course, an unusual Republican presidential candidate. He jumped to first place in the Iowa caucus polls partly because of support from people...

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: 'Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense'

Via Mediaite, the same bit jumped out at me as jumped out at Ace:Borger: “These things are pretty incendiary.” Paul: “That’s because of people like you.”Really? Only liberal/media types should find the newsletters offensive? He can’t mean that because he keeps saying that he disavows the content. I think he means that the newsletters are water under bridge which everyone rightly should, and would, never mention again if not for the media repeatedly bringing them up. Which is interesting for a few reasons. One: Every other candidate’s dirty laundry has been aired and re-aired over the past few months and...

Socialist Alliance gay and lesbian rights spokesperson Rachel Evans spoke in Sydney on April 24 at a rally calling to free accused WikiLeaks’ source Private Bradley Manning from prison in the US, where he is being held in solitary confinement. The protest was part of an international day of protest for Manning, who faces a court martial and possible life in prison if convicted. Evans’ speech is below. * * * We are one of the many groups across 14 countries around the world taking action today because Bradley Manning is, once again, being subjected to a kangaroo court —...

The American soldier alleged to have leaked vast numbers of classified documents to Wikileaks was prone to tantrums and at one point struck a female superior, a court heard today. Captain Casey Fulton, an Army intelligence officer who worked in the same secure facility as 24-year-old Bradley Manning, described a violent outburst in May 2010 at their secure office or SCIF (Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility). Fulton said she ordered a derogatory report against Manning, who is charged with downloading hundreds of thousands of sensitive files from the military's classified network when he was a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq,...

Speaking at a campaign rally on October 28, Ron Paul offered another erratic speech on foreign policy and, disturbingly, referred to whistleblowers such as Wikileaks as “true patriots” and “political heroes.” In remarks against “government secrecy,” Paul suggested the following: What about giving immunity to the whistleblowers? They’re the ones who need immunity. We have a few brave souls, especially in the foreign policy area — it came up in Vietnam, it’s come up more recently, Wikileaks … technically yes, they’re breaking a rule, but what is the government doing? They’re breaking the law. If we have an American citizen...

This clip has been making the rounds last night and today, but it’s not new — it’s actually from a clip featured by Wikileaks, for obvious reasons, last January. Still, it’s not as if the parameters of the Bradley Manning case have changed significantly in the last eleven months, or at least not in any way that mitigates Manning’s alleged crimes. The enlisted soldier transmitted a vast trove of classified government communications, primarily diplomatic cables but also some internal military information, and sent it to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Jazz Shaw has a good update on the case...

As homosexual Army soldier Bradley Manning’s treason trial continues at Fort Meade, Maryland, the support he has received from Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has been curiously ignored by the major media, now touting Paul as someone who could win the January 3 Iowa Republican Caucuses. Paul has called Manning, a crossdresser with acknowledged mental problems, a “hero” and “patriot” for stealing government secrets and providing them to WikiLeaks.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is accused of providing an enormous stash of classified government documents to WikiLeaks for publication, deserves a Nobel Peace Prize more than President Barack Obama, according to former Texas Rep. Ron Paul. “While President Obama was starting and expanding unconstitutional wars overseas, Bradley Manning, whose actions have caused exactly zero deaths, was shining light on the truth behind these wars,” the former Republican presidential contender told U.S. News. “It’s clear which individual has done more to promote peace.” Manning was nominated for the award in 2011, 2012 and again earlier this year. Obama won the...

Well. So Ron Paul is picking up steam in Iowa. May even be a frontrunner. And here he is (beginning at 4:06 in the video) saying of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier who leaked thousands of pages of classified U.S. government documents to Wikileaks, that Manning is a "true patriot" and a "political hero." I kid you not. Here’s the link to the video. Wait 'til Newt, Mitt, Rick, Rick, Michele, and Jon hear about this.

Fox News is the latest news organization to pick up on the revelation, first reported by AIM, that Ron Paul had praised WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning as a hero and patriot. Directly referring to WikiLeaks and Army soldier Bradley Manning being held in detention, Paul said, “Should he be locked up in prison or should we see him as a political hero? Maybe he is a true patriot—who reveals what’s going on in government.” The comment drew strong applause from Paul supporters. Video of the event, officially posted by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty organization, also shows the Republican presidential...

Iowa caucus voters pay close attention. Do you really want to vote for a man who would join with the son of executed Communist spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to declare the traitorous Bradley Manning a “hero” a “patriot” and a “whistle blower?” Paul, who switched parties from Libertarian to Republican because he knows he could never get elected wearing his true colors, declared Army soldier Bradley Manning, the person who purposely gave WikiLeaks thousands of sensitive secret documents about how America conducts war operations, a hero and a patriot! Robert Meeropol whose parents were fried in Sing Sing’s electric...

[5:00] MyWikileaksNews

This clip has been making the rounds last night and today, but it’s not new — it’s actually from a clip featured by Wikileaks, for obvious reasons, last January. Still, it’s not as if the parameters of the Bradley Manning case have changed significantly in the last eleven months, or at least not in any way that mitigates Manning’s alleged crimes. The enlisted soldier transmitted a vast trove of classified government communications, primarily diplomatic cables but also some internal military information, and sent it to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Jazz Shaw has a good update on the case...

Bradley Manning gave all the sensitive intelligence he could to WikiLeaks, which of course outed it all, in stages. The last bit outing -- of the real names of our agents working in hostile countries, against their own governments or terrorist groups which have the favor of the government -- was supposedly an "accident," but that information was outed all the same. People have been killed, obviously. Because Bradley Manning was all butthurt or something. Bradley Manning is a narcissistic, sociopathic coward and traitor with the blood of murder on his delicate little hands. But that's not the Bradley Manning...

(photo with article) By recently admitting he was the source of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables and war logs regarding Afghanistan and Iraq, later published by WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning appears certain to be found guilty at a trial beginning Monday. But having denied the most serious charge of "aiding the enemy," chiefly al-Qaeda, the man accused of causing his country's worst ever security breach remains an enigma: a hero to his followers, an enemy of the state to others. The short, skinny, bespectacled US Army private has cut a confident figure in previous court appearances, exuding a quiet...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday, which voted overwhelmingly to arm elements of the Syrian opposition in a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). "This is an important moment," Paul said, addressing his Senate colleagues. "You will be funding, today, the allies of al Qaeda. It's an irony you cannot overcome." The legislation, which would authorize the shipment of arms and military training to rebels "that have gone through a thorough vetting process," passed in a bipartisan 15-3 vote. Paul offered an amendment that would strike the...

A hot microphone caught Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) coordinating which way members of the “Gang of Eight” who serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee would vote on immigration bill amendments, Breitbart News has learned. “Do our Republicans have a pass on this one if they want?” the microphone caught Schumer saying.

For those of us who have long wondered why the Justice Department never investigated Wall Street, the Associated Press subpoena scandal illustrates a key point: The Justice Department sets priorities based on what it hears from the White House. ---snip--- With President Obama's gratitude, Justice Department leaders will likely one day rejoin the prestigious white collar bar and make millions of dollars a year to defend the very bankers they were supposed to hold accountable

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Scott Brown joined John McCain in denouncing the congresswoman's Muslim witch hunt Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising star in the party and a potential vice-presidential pick for Mitt Romney, said this morning that he disagreed with Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann’s baseless call to investigate Muslim Brotherhood infiltration in the U.S. government. Appearing on NPR’s Diane Rehm show, Rubio was asked by a caller if he would join Republican Sen. John McCain’s strong condemnation of the anti-Muslim witch hunt on the Senate floor yesterday. While Rubio said he doesn’t personally know Huma Abedin, a...