Free Republic

PHOENIX - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is asking others to join her in sending President Obama a cake with a special message for his birthday on Wednesday . . .

Acting U.S. Solicitor General Represented Osama Bin Laden’s Driver; Denied That Battle Against Terrorism Is A War Tuesday, August 03, 2010 By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) – Neal Katyal, who became the acting U.S. solicitor general when Elena Kagan was nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, previously served as the legal counsel of record for the man who worked as Osama bin Laden’s driver from February 1996 through November 2001. Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who underwent training at an al Qaeda camp, was charged with transporting weapons to al Qaeda operatives. The Hamden case culminated in the 2006...

It's Not Race, It's LongevityPosted by Joe Klein Monday, August 2, 2010 at 9:46 am I have a certain weakness for Charlie Rangel. He's a stone, flat-out war hero--his service in frigid Korea, during a terrible moment in that war, in an Army that was just learning how to integrate (in other words, an institution that was still racist in many ways)--has always earned him some extra tolerance from me, even if his brand of politics was classic, troglyditic inner city cronyism. I've also loved his gravelly New York accent--he's family!--and his flash dress and his sly sense of humor...

The big spenders who shelled out $30,400 a head for dinner with President Obama at the Four Seasons restaurant and at Anna Wintour's house didn't actually break any bread with him. After starting Tuesday night at a dinner for 60 high-rolling Democratic supporters hosted by hedge-fund billionaire Marc Lasry, Obama headed to a private room at the Four Seasons to wolf down steak, potatoes and broccoli with two aides before heading to Wintour's Greenwich Village home. Obama also gave a brief speech, saying he's not worried about his low poll numbers and he plans to tour the nation to drive...

Julian Assange: Wikileaks founder fears he could be arrested Julian Assange, the Australian founder of Wikileaks, has said he has been warned by "inside sources in the White House" not to return to the US as he could be arrested. By Amy Willis Published: 6:30AM BST 28 Jul 2010 The 39 year-old told journalists at the Frontline Club last night that US government insiders had informed him about discussions to charge him as a co-conspirator to espionage. The discussions were later dropped. Mr Assange says despite this he still fears he is at risk of being forcefully detained by the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT Sarah Palin says that the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, has something that Obama lacks: cojones. You have to love this because she's one of the few Republicans in Washington that has cojones herself, and accusing the president of the United States of not having any. Here is the audio sound bite. It was on Fox News Sunday yesterday, Chris Wallace said, "A federal judge has now blocked the key provisions of the Arizona immigration law. What's your response?"

Small Business Optimism PLUNGES: Firms See Lower Spending And More Layoffs Ahead Joe Weisenthal Aug. 2, 2010, 5:28 PM Image: Gallup The latest Wells Fargo/Gallup small business survey is out and it's UGLY. In keeping with other indications that the state of small business is very bad, the survey indicates a level of pessimism about future results that's worse even that during the worst of the crisis. What's more, small firms seem lower spending, lower cash flows, and lower headcount in the future. As you click through the service, think of the contrast with the upbeat earnings and outlooks you've...

WASHINGTON -- A House investigative panel has charged California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters with violating ethics rules. Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, would face a trial in the fall unless she negotiates a settlement. If the case goes to trial, Democrats would have the political headache of two ethics trials - one for Waters and another for Rep. Charles Rangel of New York. ....

CHICAGO: US President Barack Obama will celebrate his 49th birthday in the company of his friends in Chicago and not with his wife and two daughters. The White House said that Obama will leave Washington for Chicago on Wednesday and will stay at his home in Kenwood for the night, Chicago Sun-Times reported. First lady Michelle Obama will not be with the president. She will leave next week for Spain, travelling with daughter Sasha, 9. Malia, 12, for an overnight camp. Obama, born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, was last in Chicago with his family over the Memorial Day...

Analysts suggest it was a perfect storm of demographic shifts, a scary criminal element, the recession and a new governor. Reporting from Phoenix — Arizona has made a name for itself as the state with the harshest policies against illegal immigration. But as few as six years ago, this border state was among the nation's most welcoming of illegal immigrants. Back then, its two Republican U.S. senators and one of its congressmen were among the strongest advocates of legalizing millions of illegal residents in the country. Mexico was the state's largest trading partner, and the governor boasted of her warm...

In 1789, in the [French National] Assembly, the increasingly alarmed partisans of the ancien régime sat on the right-hand side (Côté Droit) of the president, the revolutionaries on his left-hand side (Côté Gauche). This terminology was first made familiar to the English-speaking world by Thomas Carlyle, in Volume I of “The French Revolution”: “Rudiments of Methods disclose themselves; rudiments of Parties. There is a Right Side (Cote Droit), a Left Side (Cote Gauche); sitting on M. le President’s right hand, or on his left: the Cote Droit conservative; the Cote Gauche destructive.” That recognition of the character of so-called progressive...

The day after a House ethics panel admonished Rep. Charlie Rangel (D., N.Y.) for improperly accepting gifts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the senior Democrat from calls that he be stripped of his gavel as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi said Rangel “did not violate the rules of the House,” and that the ethics committee “did not take action against him” yet, ABC News’s Rick Klein reports. The ethics panel said it was uncertain whether Rangel himself knew the trips were improper, but found that members of Rangel’s staff did know, and that Rangel had a responsibility...

Congressman Peter Starks takes questions at a town hall meeting in Hayward CA... Pete Stark telling constituents how much power the Federal Government has over us. "The Federal Government can do most anything in this country" Link Youtube Video

Quick, name the most liberal state in the union. Odds are strong that most people would instantly name Caifornia, Massachusetts or New York as the answer. A new Rasmussen Reports survey of public opinion in New York finds a solid majority of respondents favor repeal of Obamacare, with 56 percent overall favoring and 41 percent saying they strongly favor repeal. Only 42 percent oppose repeal, with only 31 percent, or slightly less than one-third, strongly opposing repeal, according to Rasmussen. These figures place New York firmly in the national mainstream of opinion on the issue of repealing Obamacare:

Four years ago, Democrats swept to Congressional majorities on an anti-corruption platform and a ringing promise to “drain the swamp” of Washington politics. But as the midterm elections near, the promise looks increasingly hollow. Prominent cases of corruption in Democratic ranks reveal a party mired in the very ethical morass it once promised mop up. The most notorious example of Democratic corruption – and the most worrying for party heads and spin-meisters as the campaign season starts – is of course Rep. Charlie Rangel. The embattled Harlem congressman spent last Thursday negotiating 13 charges levied against him by a House...