Free Republic

Two days before the Iowa caucuses — day 15 of his 17-day "hands down" bus tour — former senator Fred Thompson's campaign bus stood motionless in the snowy parking lot of a West Des Moines motel, across from a movie theater and a suburban strip mall. Thompson's campaign scheduled only one event for New Year's Day, a meet-and-greet at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown, about an hour outside Des Moines. Thompson, R-Tenn., shunned the bus, emblazoned with his picture, for the relative comfort of a black Chevrolet Suburban. (snip) Thompson has staked his campaign's prospects to Iowa. In seeking...

Following up on this post: "CNN International's CNN Today program, airing at midnight Eastern, led with the graphic 'Bush Resigns.' Of course, they meant 'Blair Resigns.' Freudian slip on the part of a network accused of anti-Americanism?" ...it did happen. Here's a screen grab from CNN International around midnight ET: This appeared on screen for 12 seconds. (Two seconds before, President Bush had appeared on screen, but the chyron accurately said "Pressure over Iraq.")

Not allowed to post articles from the El Paso Times... All I can do is give you the link.

George Allen and Jim Webb had another debate yesterday. Probably to the relief of many of you, I did not get to see it. But from the clip I did see, and the clip that everyone will see, Allen walked away from this fray the big winner. After running a sub-par campaign and his dreadful appearance on Sunday’s Meet the Press, Allen caught a huge break, a break that will likely turn the momentum of the race in his direction. One of the panelists, a woman named Peggy Fox, asked Allen, “It has been reported your grandfather Felix, whom you...

Matthews Has Cheney Heckler on Hardball08/25 06:54 PM - The Markup, Videos The heckler, in a scenario that no one could have foreseen, proceeded to heckle both Matthews and the other guest on the program: The heckler is Dr. Ben Marble, who famously approached Dick Cheney as he was speaking to a group of reporters in a Katrina-ravaged Mississippi neighborhood and told him to engage in an act of congress with himself. Tonight on Hardball, Marble interrupted host Chris Matthews and his other guest, Katrina survivor Rockey Vaccarella, several times. Most egregiously, he shouted down Vacarella, who recently met with President Bush, by interjecting, "You...

From the 6/9/06 transcript of Hardball ......MATTHEWS:  Do you find her (Coulter) physically attractive, Tucker?  CARLSON:  I‘m not going to answer that, because the answer, I don‘t want to hurt anybody‘s feelings.  That‘s not the point.  MATTHEWS:  Positively.COSBY:  Don‘t ask me that question.  MATTHEWS:  Mike, do you want to weigh in here as an older fellow.  Do you find her to be a physically attractive woman?  BARNICLE:  I‘m too old to be doing that.  I had enough fights in my life.  MATTHEWS:  OK, Rita, do you find her to be a physically attractive woman?COSBY:  I‘ll throw it back to you,...

The Public Editor BAD mistakes happen even at the best newspapers, and public editors should usually watch for patterns rather than single out a specific incident. But when a Times front-page article highlighting the sensitive detainee-abuse aspect of the Iraq war turned out to be fatally flawed, it seemed to me that a closer look at the journalistic practices involved was warranted. The March 11 article profiled a man who said he was the hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner famously photographed about two years ago, standing on a box with wires attached to his extended hands. The article included an interview...

    Secretive and SmugBy R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. Published 3/2/2006 12:07:52 AM WASHINGTON -- So we hear this week that President George W. Bush is taking delight in the spread of the "alternative press" (read conservatives on the Internet, in talk radio, in print, and at Fox) and the gentle detumesence of "mainstream media" (read liberal media, or more precisely Democratic media). Well, I join him in his satisfaction. I have spent much of my life with journalists, beginning in competitive swimming and moving on to politics and culture. Usually, even in covering sports, the journalists have been liberal Democrats....

12:27 P.M. EST MR. MCCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. Let me begin with one update on the schedule today. The President will today -- or today is submitting his 2006 Economic Report to the Congress. The Council of Economic Advisors will be hosting a press briefing here shortly, at 1:30 p.m. today. Our economy is strong and growing stronger. The U.S. right now is experiencing a very healthy job market, with nearly 4.8 million jobs created since the summer of 2003. And for 2006, the Council of Economic Advisors projects a steady growth rate, in the range of 3.4 percent, which...

Gregory in the Gaggle: "I'll Calm Down When I Feel Like Calming Down" Today in the gaggle, via the Chicago Tribune's D.C. blog: "There were no cameras rolling in the Monday morning 'gaggle' today, the morning after news belatedly broke about Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a hunting companion on Saturday. The broadcast sessions of press encounters with White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan are saved for formal afternoon briefings, with the morning gaggles serving as more informal warm-ups. And David Gregory, the chief White House correspondent for NBC News, was warmed up. Why was the White House relying...

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday he was blindsided by President Bush's announcement of new details on a purported 2002 hijacking plot aimed at a downtown skyscraper, and described communication with the White House as "nonexistent." "I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor told The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president _ but somebody." Bush has referred to the 2002 plot before but he publicly filled in the details Thursday. Bush said Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of...

A New York City teenager fell out the window of a moving bus while using the restroom Tuesday and landed on the New York State Thruway. State police said Jose Gonzales, 17, lost his balance when the chartered bus swerved to change lanes. It was unclear how fast the bus was going. Gonzales was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment. Police said he'll recover. Gonzales fell onto the shoulder of the thruway near Exit 23 southbound. He had been at the Capitol on Tuesday to lobby with a group on the issue of AIDS.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060107/GPG0101/601070464/1207/GPGnews

I had not picked up a copy of Rolling Stone magazine since its editor and publisher Jann Wenner decided to use Photoshop on Al Gore's cover shot in what was a kooky homo/hetero erotic ploy to swing the election to the newly digitally endowed Democrat. On Monday, a friend of mine threw the latest copy of the magazine down onto the table, which featured a cover bearing a noticeably agitated King Kong. "I wish they had stories about music in here," he said as he sighed with frustration. He told me I could have it. Slightly curious about Peter Jackson's...

... I first drew Bush as a monkey after his installation by the Supreme Court, exactly five years ago. It was by accident. I was trying to depict him as a spiritual heir to Ronald Reagan, another useless chump whose most celebrated movie hit was Bedtime For Bonzo in which he starred with a chimp. So Bush became a chimp before I ever realised how closely he resembles our hairy forebears. [...] Drawing him as a monkey, however, worked a treat. His four hands enabled him to get up to all sorts of interesting tricks, and also somehow fitted his...

"Teacher's plea deal for sex with boy rejected" http://www.cnn.com/

Abstinence should definitely be encouraged in the Wisconsin Legislature. All of us would be better off if state politicians abstained from passing laws about things they know nothing about. Republican legislators are about to pass a law requiring schools in the state to teach teenagers that sexual abstinence until marriage is the "preferred" behavior in Wisconsin. Legislators actually believe they have a right to declare certain sexual activities - or, in this case, no sexual activity - the official behavior of our state much the same way they designate various species of wildlife the official state bird or the official...

I mentioned an article that ran at The Tennessean about Barrett Rifles. I received a tip from Anthony Garcia in comments that the folks at Barrett were surprised by the piece because the reporter, Rose French, approached Barrett on the premise that she was interested in doing a business feature about the company. Anthony forwarded me an email from Barrett to the Associated Press that addresses this concern and some factual inaccuracies contained in the story. The Barrett folks were understandably surprised that the piece she actually ran was largely anti-50 caliber material from the Violence Policy Center. I sent...

CNN's Carol Lin and the French "African-Americans" The Paris riots have highlighted more than any other issue in recent years not only the bias, but the ignorance of the "old media." Internet readers have studied the situation in Europe for years. Numerous writers, from Mark Steyn to Ba'at Yeor to Debbie Schlussel, have long predicted the decline of Europe and the jihad that we have seen over the past few weeks. But the "old media" personalities still have no clue as to what is going on. And their reporting and commentary has taken on an almost comical quality as a...

It turns out that when suburban mothers buy American Girl dolls that look and dress exactly like their own little girls, they may unwittingly be purchasing tiny, lesbian partners for their children.... It turns out that when suburban mothers buy American Girl dolls that look and dress exactly like their own little girls, they may unwittingly be purchasing tiny, lesbian partners for their children. At least, that is the fear of the wacko, right-wing watchdogs who keep track of exotic threats to our children that most of us are too naive - or not nearly psychologically twisted enough - to...