Free Republic

Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently called the United States government’s coronavirus testing data “bogus” because of testing inequality and slow turnaround, with three to four days to get results. Earlier in the week, President Trump, during a news conference, came under fire from a reporter who claimed that South Korea had tested more people per capita than the U.S. The Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, who was present, defended the president, saying: “I just want to make it clear that South Korea’s testing was 11 per hundred thousand [residents], and we’re at 17 per hundred thousand.” This matches the latest statistics at Worldometers, which maintains...

Former President Barack Obama in Montreal this week warned the world against income inequality and the concentration of wealth, all while pulling down $7,700 per minute at his $400,000 speech. Obama’s first post-presidency address on Canadian soil was loaded with anti-Trump, anti-capitalism and anti-American rhetoric. Big surprise there. Obama said that the concentration of wealth fans fears that governments exist solely to benefit the powerful, NBC reported and noted that Obama is now “striving to be an international community organizer.” He said the U.S. and other nations showed there was a better way “in creating an international order that was...

SEOUL, South Korea — At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him “space.” The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room for remarks by the two leaders. The exchange: President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space. President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I...

ABC’s Jake Tapper has a stunning report out of Seoul, South Korea this morning. According to him, President Obama was caught on a hot mic telling Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev that if given “space,” he’ll have more flexibility “after my election.” Here’s how Tapper puts it: At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him “space.” The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters...

Obama tells Russia to give him time... 'I will transmit this information to Vladimir'...

Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express have roared right through the latest round of Republican Party primaries this week, rattling the party establishment and terrifying the Democrats. For those of you who are trained in the fastidious ways of the British ‘liberalism’ and are therefore shocked and can’t think why the American Right is gaining such strength, here’s the reason: Barack Obama. Americans are waking up to the fact that they have elected a man as president who is every inch an exotic creature. Which was rather fun at first. The problem is, America is discovering that Mr Obama...

President Barack Obama said Thursday that being American “is not a matter of blood or birth,” but said that “no matter how decent” the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are, they should be held accountable for breaking the law. Speaking at the American University School of International Service in Washington D.C., Obama expressed an understanding for why states would pass individual anti-illegal immigration laws, but said taking such action is “ill conceived.” The president said laws, such as the one signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in April, are “divisive,” put pressure on local law enforcement, burden state...

Seeking to inject urgency into the push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, President Obama on Thursday called on Republicans to join the effort, telling them he can't pass a bill without them.After pushing through an economic stimulus bill and health care with barely any Republican support in the first 16 months of his administration, the president said this issue is too dangerous to tackle — for Democrats and the GOP — without having both parties involved."I'm ready to move forward, the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward, and I believe the majority of Americans are...

On the hottest flash point in the debate, Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigrants, Mr. Obama said the rules are "unenforceable" for local police. But he didn't give any indication when the administration will file an expected lawsuit seeking to block the new law, which takes effect at the end of this month. ~ Advocates on both sides of the issue say they don't expect Congress to tackle the issue before the elections, both because of the already-crowded legislative schedule and because there is no clear consensus on how to proceed.

Forget about the mess in the Gulf. Forget about the plunging U.S. and world economies. The question on everyone’s mind is “Who are Obama’s picks for the World Cup?” Until now, the U.S. president has remained above the fray, preferring to let others handle the day to day controversies that inevitably creep into these divisive contests. But he cannot remain on the sidelines forever. That puts Mr. Obama in a potentially explosive situation. Will he support the U.S.A., the purported land of his birth, will he pay homage to the traditional European powers, or will he root for some underdog?...

Airbus called the unexpected vote of confidence the largest commercial aircraft order by dollar value ever. It came as EADS showed off the capabilities of its embattled A400M military transporter plane and as it faces a dispute with German military bosses over problems with two of its new helicopters. Emirates' EMIRA.UL order would be worth just over $11 billion at a list price of $346.5 million per plane, though airlines typically receive discounts for large orders. It brings the airline's total A380 order to 90 planes. Emirates Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum said he expected all 90...

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama told CNN's Larry King on Thursday that he is furious about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but his job is to fix things instead of just yelling at people. In a White House interview for the 25th anniversary of "Larry King Live" on CNN, Obama called the oil spill an unprecedented crisis for the country but added it could have been worse. Despite the challenges posed by the oil spill, global threats involving North Korea and Iran and political battles with Congress, Obama called being president "the best job on Earth."

Every analyst I know is baffled by the Obama administration. The Israeli government is baffled; the Arab governments of the Middle East are baffled; European foreign ministries are baffled; and the journalists and thinktankers and camp-followers are baffled. One hears different things from source one consults; the more authoritative the source, the more confusing the result. Many conjectures as to this state of affairs are possible. My best working hypothesis is that the administration is the simple reflection of the operating style of the president, whom I qualified as “the political equivalent of a sociopath” in a Feb. 26, 2008...

(by Chuck wolk)We have all read the reports about the Somali pirates taking merchant ships and oil tankers in the Gulf of Aden and now even Thai fishermen in the Indian Ocean to hold for ransom.  Well it would seem that such pirate activity is something that could only happen in lawless places like Somalia.  However, right here in America many citizens of this country are now under assault from pirates who are operating with virtual impunity as they steal cash and electronics from Americans just wanting to fish on Falcon Lake between the American and Mexican border.  All...

In a broad redefinition of U.S. strategic priorities, President Obama has said that the United States must revitalize its own economic, moral and innovative strength if it is to continue to lead the world. Just as it did following World War II, the United States today must also shape a new international order and system of global institutions that reflect a 21st century reality in which "America's greatness is not assured," Obama says in a 52-page "National Security Strategy" released Thursday morning. "As we fight the wars in front of us, we must see the horizon beyond them," he writes...

President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon joined hands Wednesday in blasting Arizona's controversial immigration law, with Obama calling the legislation a "misdirected effort" after Calderon slammed it as discriminatory. President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon joined hands Wednesday in blasting Arizona's controversial immigration law, with Obama calling the legislation a "misdirected effort" after Calderon slammed it as discriminatory. Obama, speaking next to Calderon during Wednesday's state visit, called the the tough immigration law a "misdirected expression of frustration over our broken immigration system." "We're examining any implications especially for civil rights because in the United States of America,...

In welcoming Mexico's President Calderone to the White House today, President Obama told him "we are defined not by our borders, but by our bonds." "Borders" would seem to be the wrong word to use with the President of Mexico, unless you are an "open border" person.

The President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, told Forbes that global governance is extremely necessary if we want to prevent another financial crisis. In his prepared printed and spoken remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations, Trichet emphasized that politicians, economists, and financiers must work across the Atlantic and collaborate on methods to create an international set of standards. It is his belief that through global governance, the resiliency of the global financial system can be assured, noting that ultimately it was governments’ use of taxpayer’s money, equivalent to around 25% of GDP on both sides of the...

President Obama used a naturalization ceremony in the Rose Garden to lash out at the Arizona Legislature for passing a bill requiring proof of legal status and empowering state and local police to stop people based on a suspicion of being illegal immigrants. Obama called for comprehensive immigration reform and said Washington's failure to act has bred a climate of fear and retribution in some border states. He singled out the Arizona bill - which would make it crime to be in the state without documentation - now before Republican Gov. Janice Brewer. The governor has until Saturday to decide...

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA : Dear President Obama, You are the 13th president under whom I have lived - - and, unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me, because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you..... You scare me, because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education, and your upscale lifestyle and housing, with no visible signs of support..... You scare me, because you did not spend the formative years of your youth growing up in America , and, culturally, you are not an American...........