Free Republic

  Put up or shut up By Tony SnowJan 5, 2006 Add "domestic spying" to the long list of botched attempts to unseat George W. Bush. The New York Times' would-be bombshell alleging Nixonian snoopery has detonated in its builders' faces. The story not only hasn't shaken Washington, it has restored the president's standing by reinforcing popular suspicions that he, unlike leading Democrats, takes seriously (a) terrorists' intentions and (b) the necessity of winning the war. The seriousness gap is important. While the president attempts to press the case for continued engagement, key Democrats respond with hollow grade-school cant. Not even...

Won't you please help end this FReepathon?!? Link to Thread 1

David Copperfield says he's found Fountain of Youth By Jane Sutton Tue Aug 15 The man who made the Statue of Liberty appear to vanish may soon claim to do the same for unsightly bags and wrinkles. Master illusionist David Copperfield says he has found the "Fountain of Youth" in the southern Bahamas, amid a cluster of four tiny islands he recently bought for $50 million (26.4 million pounds). One of his islands in the Exuma chain, Musha Cay, is a private resort that rents for up to $300,000 a week and the other islands serve as buffers to keep...

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Virginia, Oct. 21, 2005 - Brenda Harris Tustian, a strong supporter of the Corps and Marine affiliated-organizations, donated two framed limited-edition prints of her patriotic Santa Clause paintings to the Base commander Col. James Lowe Oct. 3 in the foyer of Lejuene Hall. The paintings were Tustian’s “God Bless America” Santa and “Let Freedom Ring” Santa. “’Let Freedom Ring’ is a beautiful painting that celebrates the spirit of America, our freedoms and the blessing of our great country,” said Mike Kindrick at the unveiling of the paintings. “’God Bless America’ inspires pride and honor in all...

Fans of the King from around the world are in Memphis, Tenn., honoring the 29th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Presley died of heart disease and prescription drug abuse at his Graceland mansion on Aug. 16th, 1977. The singer's fans traditionally file past his grave site at Graceland on the eve of the anniversary. A spokesman says as many as 10,000 fans could visit the mansion for this year's vigil. President Bush and his wife, who brought Elvis fan and Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi to Memphis in June for a tour of Graceland, sent their regards.

Rod Blagojevich (is) the former Illinois governor who tried to sell Obama's seat in congress. When Obama was asked by the press if he had ever met Governor Blagojevich, Obama replied, "I only saw Rod Blagojevich one time ... and that was in the stands and from a distance at a Chicago Bears Football Game."

After me, the deluge" (après moi, le déluge) -- popularly attributed to Louis XV Look for Chris Matthews to start calling her "Louie." The Hardball host was as roiled as Robespierre today at Hillary Clinton's threat to take the Dem party down in a convention credentials fight over the seating of the Florida and Michigan delegates. In the course of an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News yesterday, Clinton made clear her intention to take things to a floor fight if necessary, and went so far as to pre-emptively undermine Barack Obama's legitimacy as a candidate if he...

John Kerry's notorious "stuck in Iraq" statement, echoed by actor Matt Damon, suggesting that the United States military is a last resort for those without the education or finances to pursue other options, has been roundly refuted by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Bill Carr. Among other areas, Carr has responsibility for recruiting and retenton. Secretary Carr appeared on yesterday's edition of my "rightANGLE" TV show. In addition to commenting on a wide range of recruitment-related topics, Sec. Carr had this to say about the Kerry-Damon remarks: "Two-thirds of those entering the military are drawn from the top half, so...

Former Democratic Party chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. has taken over for the late Edward Kennedy in the Senate. Vice President Joe Biden swore in Kirk on Friday hours after a Massachusetts judge rejected a Republican request to delay it. The GOP had argued that Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick exceeded his constitutional authority by appointing Kirk before a traditional 90-day legislative waiting period had expired. State lawmakers passed a bill this week giving Patrick the power to choose an interim senator. Kirk gives Senate Democrats a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority with the health care fight at a critical point.

the list of all 690,114 trade-ins.

With the holidays fast approaching, is the "Singles Thread" coming back. It was a good thread with a lot of interesting people. What say we bring it back???

Rare Artwork by Mount Rushmore Creator For years, it sat as a paperweight in the home of Jeane Funkhouser. In fact, her daughter, Charlene Mitchell, remembers having to dust under it the entire time she was growing up. It turns out she was dusting under what may be worth millions of dollars. For several decades, the Victoria family has been in possession of an extremely rare Steuben Glass George Washington head created by artist Gutzon Borglum, the man behind the Mount Rushmore sculpture. Funkhouser, also an artist, was given the model as a gift from Borglum's son, Lincoln Borglum, in...

p>MICHELLE FASHION POLICE ALERT -- Issue 2

In the early days and weeks after September 11, 2001, a small cadre of men (and a few women) with vast amounts of intelligence experience reported to the Langley, Virginia headquarters of the CIA. These unsung heroes were then dispatched across the globe to run operations against the Al-Qaeda conspirators who leveled the World Trade Center and struck the nerve center of the US military. The FBI, a domestic law enforcement agency, did not have the ability or skills needed to track down and strike the attackers overseas. The Pentagon, with F22s, nuclear aircraft carriers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and battalions...

Via Red State, proof positive that there are some Obama lies so shameless that even the left won’t spin them for him. This is Naked Emperor News’s second video on The One’s oh-so-shady backroom deal with the pharmaceutical lobby; the first one was entitled “Obama’s Mother of All Political Lies,” a description I don’t agree with but which Air America apparently does. Watching this, it’s not just the dishonesty of his campaign promises that galls, it’s the sanctimony he displayed in misleading his cultists to believe things would be drastically different under Hopenchange. The pandering during the Billy Tauzin clip...

In violation of CIA regulations that bar contact with reporters without permission, Joseph Wilson's agency-employed wife Valerie Plame apparently accompanied him to a breakfast meeting with New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof in which they discussed the ambassador's controversial mission to Niger one month before Plame allegedly was "outed" by Robert Novak.In a WND column, investigative reporter Jack Cashill points to a "stunning admission" by Wilson in a January 2004 Vanity Fair magazine story that apparently has been overlooked.

Wednesday November 23, 2005--Forty-six percent (46%) of American adults approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. It is not clear whether or not the current uptick in the President's ratings is anything more than statistical noise.

When Democrats said we should pull out our troops from Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney and others were quick to label them defeatists. When the administration floated the idea this week of bringing home a third of the troops by election time next year, it was presented as good old patriotism. As the church lady on “Saturday Night Live” used to say “How convenient!” The striking change of tone is all about politics, and perhaps that’s how it should be in a democracy.[snip] Public support for the war has collapsed. The administration wants to avoid an embarrassing debate over who...

Over the course of the eight months of the D.C. Chapter's Friday night demonstrations in support of our troops recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, we've been fortunate to be able to able to speak with many soldiers and hear their thoughts about the war and those who protest against it. Recently, one soldier shared his stories with us of his experiences with those opposed to the war. To preserve his privacy from vindictive leftists, I'm leaving out details that might help them identify him. The soldier told us of returning to a stateside civilian airport last year in...

<p>WASHINGTON (Nov. 30) - Titled "The Sands Are Blowing Toward a Democratic Iraq," an article written this week for publication in the Iraqi press was scornful of outsiders' pessimism about the country's future.</p> <p>A vendor shows newspapers for sale at his stall in Baghdad. The Pentagon is paying millions to a public-relations firm for work that appears to violate fundamental principles of Western journalism.</p>