Free Republic

The Islamic Republic looks more and more like a Marx Brothers creation. The leaders proclaim themselves invincible, but just offstage, we can hear the sounds of breaking crockery. For starters, the currency is crashing — Iran may well be the only country in the world in which the dollar is not only gaining strength but is the object of unbridled passion. In the past couple of days some money changers have refused to sell dollars because the market is just too volatile. As RFE/RL tells us: the rial declined 13 percent against the dollar last week as demand for the...

Thirty years after the end of the war between Iran and Iraq a fierce battle is being fought amongst statesmen, military commanders and scholars about the war. Three questions remain contested: Why did the war began in the first place? Why did the war continue after Iran's liberation of territories occupied by Iraq? And why did the war with Iraq end? -excerpt- Thanks to the Iraqi invasion of Iran, Grand Ayatollah Khomeini and the revolutionary regime managed to rally a fragmented nation around the revolutionary leadership. The revolutionary leadership also managed to keep the remains of the Imperial Army busy...

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has appointed six presidential advisers for foreign affairs. The half-dozen are former presidential envoys to the Middle East, Asia, and Afghanistan who were appointed by Ahmadinejad -- reportedly to some consternation -- only earlier this month. The change to their titles comes after protests by lawmakers and former diplomats and also criticism from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who had warned against parallel activities in foreign affairs and other areas. Ahmadinejad's deputy for political affairs, Mohammad Jafar Behdad, said the president followed the supreme leader's guidance and therefore the status of the special envoys was changed. So did...

During any rational discussion or debate on social or political issues, when the Left find themselves devoid of a rational reply they always have one tactic in their reprobate arsenal and game plan: Operation Slander. The secular, liberal Leftist ideology is based on a delusional reality, governed and dominated by an irrational, emotional instability which springs forth from a well of outright disdain for the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God. They are also dominated by their unbridled passions and carnal addictions (Rom. 1:18-32; 2 Tim. 3:1-7; Gal. 5:19-21). When confronted with reality and light, these MUST with all...

In today's Real Clear Politics polling average, Obama has hit an average 50% disapproval rate for the first time! The graph can be found at the link, but here are the raw numbers: Poll                                  Date         Sample        Approve        Disapprove       Spread RCP Average                7/13 - 8/3        --                 44.7                 50.0               -5.3 Gallup                            8/1 - 8/3      1547 A            44                   48                   -4 Rasmussen Reports        8/1 - 8/3      1500 LV         46                    53                   -7 USA Today/Gallup        7/27 - 8/1    1208 A            41                    53                  -12 FOX News                   7/27 - 7/28   900 RV           43                    50                   -7 Reuters/Ipsos                 7/22 - 7/25  1075 A            48                   48                   Tie CNN/Opinion Research 7/16 - 7/21  1018 A            47                    50                  ...

Some Iran merchants still strike at Tehran bazaar THE ASSOCIATED PRESS July 13, 2010 5:58 a.m. Be the first to comment  Text size           TEHRAN, Iran - Some merchants in the Iranian capital are still on strike, despite reports of a deal with the government over a tax dispute. Traders in the Tehran bazaar's main passageway on Tuesday joined carpet and textile sellers' sectors in the strike, shuttering their stores. It's unclear whether the merchants had agreed to the deal. The state IRNA news agency reported late on Monday that tax authorities and the merchants agreed on a tax bracket of...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Man, oh, man is there irony and hypocrisy all throughout the news today and the news over the weekend. Great to have you here. Rush Limbaugh at 800-282-2882. The e-mail address is ElRushbo@eibnet.com. You know, we gotta be fair here, folks. We have to give Obama his proper due. Barack Obama has proved the truth of what we were all told when we were growing up. Anybody can be president. If Obama can do it, anybody can do it. They told you that in grade school. "Little Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow...

Even before last year's post-election tumult, it was palpable to almost anyone who had spent serious time in Iran that revolutionary rot had set in long ago. While every country has its tales of corrupt clergymen, disillusioned government officials, drug-addicted youth, and rampant prostitution, in a theocracy that rules from a moral pedestal these stories have long served to highlight the government's hypocrisy and hollow legitimacy. Although Iran's amateur cell-phone journalists did a heroic job chronicling scenes of extraordinary courage and harrowing government brutality -- a record that is "more important than all of the history of our cinema," acclaimed...

Iran: A year later, Green wave rippling no more Arrests, torture, raids, summary trials and executions have crushed Iran’s protest movement, a cause without a real leader. An Ahmadinejad aide prepares to run in the next presidential elections. Saturday, June 12, 2010 By Asia News Tehran – The contrast could not be any greater. A year ago, millions of Iranians had taken to the streets across the country, putting their lives at risk, to protest against rigged elections won by outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Tomorrow, a year after what was the greatest challenge to Iran’s 30-year-old theocratic regime, no one...

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.): "We need to give the American people an alternative — who are we, what do we believe in, what are our principles, how will we apply them and what will we do if you elect us back, and how do you make sure we won't repeat the sins of fiscal profligacy that we made last time we were in the majority."

What could have made Iran's supreme leader so visibly angry? The extraordinary photo above -- posted to the website of Iran's hard-line Fars news agency but then quickly taken down -- shows supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at center with his hand raised, extremely angry after the conclusion of the June 4 ceremony commemorating the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During that event, hard-line supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began angrily shouting down Khomeini's grandson, Hassan -- who appears in a black turban at the top right corner of the picture -- as he delivered a speech...

"Seniors are being asked to provide their birthdates, Social Security numbers and citizen status to the Secret Service so background checks could be performed. Such a check is required for anyone who gets within an arm’s length of the president, students were told at their senior breakfast Friday. "Of the fact that the White House is requesting information on all the graduating seniors, K-Central Principal Von Washingon Jr. told the students, 'I’ll let you figure out what that means,' said senior Simon Boehme, who was at the breakfast." Look, in all fairness, it’s the Secret Service’s job to protect the...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Iranian regime is notorious for cracking down on dissent inside Iran. Now Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and the mullahs are targeting dissidents in other countries -- including those in the United States. And they are using an international organization to do it. Shahram Homayoun fled Iran for the United States 19 years ago. He was a marked man in his native country, because of his support for democracy and human rights. Now the regime has finally caught up with Homayoun: not in Tehran, but in Los Angeles. "They have managed to keep me here, and it seems...

Three months before the Times Square terror bombing by a Pakistani-American with ties to terrorists in Pakistan, the Obama administration knew the style of attack, the type of explosives to be used and when the attack would come, yet when the attack happened the administration played dumb with its initial reaction being to downplay the attack as an unsophisticated "one-off" that was a "potential" terror attack.On February 10, I wrote an article at FR based on Vice President Joe Biden's comments about coming terror attacks on the U.S. that were broadcast later that day on CNN's Larry King Live.King mentioned...

Five Hanged in Secret, Twenty Seven others Facing Hangman’s Noose (9 May 2010) The sudden execution of five Iranian political prisoners today appears to signal a government policy of relying on politically-motivated executions to strengthen its position vis-à-vis its opposition through terror and intimidation, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said. The Campaign condemned the execution of five political prisoners, including Farzad Kamangar, a 34-year-old teacher and social worker, who was charged with Moharebeh (taking up arms against God), convicted and sentenced to death in February 2008, after a seven-minute long trial in which “zero evidence” was presented....

(CNSNews.com) – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday that Americans are “tired” of motorized transportation and its attendant hassles, and instead are looking for other options such as bicycle lanes and walking paths, which the government will add to its infrastructure. “People are sick of being stuck in traffic, stuck in their automobiles, and we want to help communities and neighborhoods that want more walking paths or biking paths—more transit,” LaHood told CNSNews.com. President Obama’s top transportation official was following up on comments he had made on his official blog in March, when he announced a “sea change” in transportation....

The Obama administration said Tuesday it would provide more information to Congress about the Fort Hood shootings but continued to defy a subpoena request for witness statements and other documents. After days of negotiations, the Pentagon and Justice Department informed a Senate committee that they would not comply with congressional subpoenas to share investigative records from the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood, Tex., which killed 13 people.

Barack Obama (D) Top Contributors This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates. Because of contribution limits, organizations that bundle together many individual contributions are often among the top donors to presidential candidates. These contributions can come from the organization's members or employees (and their families). The organization may support one candidate, or hedge its bets by supporting multiple candidates. Groups...

A top Republican lawmaker is raising questions about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), implying political motives -- a charge that the SEC denies. Since the SEC sued Goldman for misrepresenting a debt product tied to subprime mortgages, some Democrats have said the case shows Congress should tighten financial oversight. Republicans have raised questions about the timing of the SEC case, filed on Friday just before the Senate was due to start formally debating a bill that would usher in new rules for Wall Street. "The timing of the SEC's filing of...

Loan Officer Snitches on RegimeApril 20, 2010 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Carol in Olympia, Washington. Welcome to the EIB Network. Nice to have you here. CALLER: Thanks, and mega dittos, Rush -- RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: -- from a truly reformed Democrat. I am an escrow officer, and I close purchases and mortgage loans, and the government is now telling us that the banks, the private sector banks are not allowed to do no-down-payment loans anymore, that a person has to come in with a certain amount because that's what the evil banks have been doing, but the government is doing...