Free Republic

WASHINGTON — President Obama is ending the first half of his term the same way he began it — with a storm of activity of impressive, even historic, dimensions. Year-end victories on taxes, economic stimulus and landmark cultural change are reshaping the image of a president who seemed isolated and out of touch only a month ago in the wake of an enormous midterm election defeat. Suddenly, he looks like a deal maker who can reach across party lines to get things done and, perhaps, make progress that Americans found lacking when they went to the polls in November. Obama...

O'Donnell Fires Back at Personal Attacks GOP Senate candidate responds to Democrats' smear campaign on Fox News. 7 minute interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

This last summer, it was widely (and embarassingly) reported that a shadowy internet group had formed with the intent to 'discuss' (read: orchestrate, collude, plan and slant) the news. This group of approximately 400 journalist from many different 'media' outlets had met regularly to decide on what -- and how -- the news would be presented. From WikiPedia: JournoList (sometimes referred to as the J-List)[1] was a private Google Groups forum for discussing politics and the news media with 400 journalists, academics and others, all with political views ranging from centrist to center-left to leftist. Ezra Klein, an American blogger...

The only way we even know the name of Valerie Plame (and fame seeking hubby Joe Wilson) is that that former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage leaked her name as a CIA officer to columnist Robert Novak. That is what set in motion the long drawn out Plamegate affair in which only Scooter Libby was convicted of something other than leaking her name. So you would figure that the supposedly biographical movie scheduled for a November USA release about Plame, Fair Game, would feature Armitage front and center as the principal villain. Right? Wrong. The fact is that "Fair...

Whats Up With ABC NEWS? The Civil War Over The Ground Zero Mosque Superceded any other media event,and yet last night on Nightline two of thier priority stories were dealing with the declining population of cheetah's and the quality of the shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico. What are they thinking over at ABC? {and yet FOX NEWS has been covering the mosque stories 24/7}

Interestingly, Politico is trying to rearrange this election's narrative from the real one of widespread voter dissatisfaction with the Democrat status quo to one of "offbeat GOP candidates" that will "hurt the GOP." Gee, why would that be, eh? As Democrats all across the land are either stepping aside so as not to face difficult reelection campaigns, or losing their incumbent seats to primary challenges, the latest polls show the GOP beating the heck out of Democrats on a generic ballot. Further, Republican voters are energized as never before and 57% of poll respondents even say that the Democrat's agenda...

POLITICO is seeking a reporter to join our White House team. Candidates should be able to handle a fast-moving, high-visibility reporting assignment covering the Obama administration and be capable of delivering breaking news, daily coverage and enterprise stories with speed, accuracy and precision. Qualifications: Experience in Washington journalism at the professional level preferred, with White House experience a plus; established ability to write clearly and accurately on deadline; proven ability to break news and handle a demanding reporting job. To apply: Please send a brief cover letter, résumé, four clips and contact information for three references to employment@politico.com, subject line:...

In the first voter referendum on ObamaCare, Missourians on Tuesday overwhelmingly (by 71 to 29 percent) backed Proposition C which called upon the state to enact a statute to “deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance,” an outcome the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described as “rebuking President Barack Obama's administration.” On Wednesday night, however, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts skipped the bad news for President Obama – yet all found time to celebrate his 49th birthday. (The Missouri repudiation of a central tenet of ObamaCare came a day after another setback...

Trevor Loudon Obama File #109 JournoList was an email group of up to 400 prominent U.S. journalists, academics and “new media” activists, who reportedly colluded in the run up to the 2008, to influence public opinion in favor of the Barack Obama and the Democrats and against their Republican opponents. Many “JournoListas” were involved with Marxist based based organizations such as Democratic Socialists of America, or the far left Institute for Policy Studies. Some, like Robert Kuttner of The American Prospect, had close ties to the Obama campaign and Administration. An overlapping group of “JournoListas” , at least eight strong...

It's no secret that POLITICO is a biased news organization. The online polictical blog is as progressive as they come. Very agenda driven. In our reporting we have already addressed the fact that Journolist members are solidly entrenched inside POLITICO's upper levels. Something Roger Simon, who calls the website home, tried to downplay. John Nolte over at Big Journalism isn't buying it, and has a simply marvelous retort: You say MSM, I say Politico. You say corrupt, I say Politico. Today, Politico’s Roger Simon was kind enough to almost scold JournoList for its lasting effect on his precious little profession...

Spencer Ackerman - Wired, FireDogLake, Washington Independent, Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect Thomas Adcock - New York Law Journal Ben Adler - Newsweek, POLITICO Mike Allen - POLITICO Eric Alterman - The Nation, Media Matters for America Marc Ambinder - The Atlantic Greg Anrig - The Century Foundation Ryan Avent - Economist Dean Baker - The American Prospect Nick Baumann - Mother Jones Josh Bearman - LA Weekly Steven Benen - The Carpetbagger Report Ari Berman - The Nation Jared Bernstein - Economic Policy Institute Michael Berube - Crooked Timer, Pennsylvania State University Brian Beutler - The Media...

From a remote location on an island off Alaska’s coast, former Governor Sarah Palin is blasting what she describes as the “sick puppies” in the media who immediately and ruthlessly attacked her when Sen. John McCain picked her as his running mate during the 2008 presidential campaign. In exclusive remarks to The Daily Caller, Palin described “hordes of Obama’s opposition researchers-slash ‘reporters’” descending upon Alaska in the days after she was picked by McCain. She said the media became a key reason she decided not to finish out her term as governor and faults, in part, the McCain campaign for...