Free Republic

In 2007, when Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein founded JournoList, an online gathering place for several hundred liberal journalists, academics and political activists, he imagined a discussion group that would connect young writers to top sources. But in the heat of a bitter presidential campaign in 2008, the list’s discussions veered into collusion and coordination at key political moments, documents revealed this week by The Daily Caller show. In a key episode, JournoList members openly plotted to bury attention on then-candidate Barack Obama’s controversial pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The Washington Independent’s Spencer Ackerman, for instance, suggested an effective tactic...

However tactfully you dress it up, the United States had it coming. —Mary Beard, about September 11 … the greatest source of terrorism on earth. —Harold Pinter, about the United States The real matter is the extinction of America, and God willing, it will fall to the ground. —Mullah Mohammed Omar, Taliban leader We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you. —Hussein Massawi, former Hezbollah leader The first thing to note about these statements by the classicist Mary Beard, the playwright Harold Pinter, and the Islamofascists Mohammed Omar and Hussein Massawi...

NBC canceled Matt Lauer's planned trip to Cuba for Friday's "Today" show and accused the Cuban government of failing to deliver a promised interview with Cuban President Fidel Castro - who decided to talk exclusively with ABC's' Barbara Walters. "We committed to doing the show down there a couple of weeks ago with the understanding we had an interview with Castro and when the Cuban government reneged on our agreement, we changed our plans and will cover the story from here," NBC spokeswoman Allison Gollust said. The U.S. television networks were interested in speaking with Castro for the upcoming 40th...

Havana, Cuba - Quite apart from any deals struck here, the landmark U.S.-Cuba trade show that ends Monday has been a public relations windfall for Fidel Castro, who has played the solicitous host with charm and mastery. The old man of history has left some of his American guests aglow. Others are shaking their heads at his pure political skill. At the fair's official dinner Saturday night, Castro delivered a 20-minute speech, thanking the Americans here for their "initiative and courage" and praising the "great values and human virtues we have always recognized in the American people." Given the Bush...

HAVANA (Reuters) - Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura arrived in communist-run Cuba on Wednesday with a group of top American food and agricultural executives, bringing California raisins and Perdue turkey pastrami to the largest U.S. Cuban trade show since the 1950s. More than 280 companies from 33 states hope to recover a lost market for U.S. food products as they push for further lifting of sanctions imposed on Cuba after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Cuban President Castro and Ventura, whose trip to Cuba met with Bush administration disapproval, will open the fair on Thursday, said a spokeswoman for show's main sponsor,...