Free Republic

I cannot recall anybody who ever categorized Hugh Downs as either an extremist or even a mild right-winger. And this is why this now-retired American broadcaster, renowned TV host-producer and author of an electrifying column headlined "Obama will lose" should have received – but did not – front-page and prime-time coverage all over the U.S. The following are highlights from a three and one-half page article: * "Barack Obama will be defeated. Seriously and convincingly defeated. Not due to racism, not due to the forces of reaction, not even due to Karl Rove sending out mind rays over the national...

WASILLA, Alaska -- Sarah Palin and John Bitney go way back. They were in the same junior-high band class. Mr. Bitney was a key aide in Gov. Palin's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. When she took office, she gave Mr. Bitney a job as her legislative director, and a few months later stood beside him at a news conference and praised his work. "Whatever you did, you did it right," she told Mr. Bitney and his team. Seven weeks later she fired Mr. Bitney for what her spokeswoman now describes as "poor job performance." What happened in between? According to Mr. Bitney,...

With 57 days left until Election Day, the campaigns of both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are sprinting through key battleground states this week, vying for women voters who widely supported Sen. Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries. Clinton -- who won 54 percent of women voters in the primaries -- campaigned for Obama today in Florida, a key battleground state. The Obama campaign plans to send Democratic women governors and senators, such as Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, to other battleground states.

As Dracula fears a cross, so a liberal media doyenne is terrified by Sarah PalinIt is, you know, rich. In the middle of the firestorm created by the liberal media over the nomination of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the first woman vice-presidential nominee in the Republican Party, a familiar voice is heard. Comes word in the last few days that Sally Quinn, doyenne of the Washington Post and the Georgetown social set as well as the wife of legendary former Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee, has taken out after Governor Palin. The moose-hunting, snowmobiling Palin is not a regular...

As Barack Obama and John McCain go barreling neck-and-neck into the homestretch, advisers for both men know one thing for certain: Nothing is. More so than any presidential race in recent history, this one may be determined by forces beyond the control of either candidate. How far will housing values fall? How far will oil prices rise? Will violence in Iraq erase the gains of the surge? Will Israel attack Iran? Will one of the Big Three automakers go bankrupt? Which neighbor will Russia attack next? Which bank will fail? Will terrorists strike the United States again? It’s impossible to...

(CNN) -- With Gov. Sarah Palin getting so much attention these days, Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, is being elbowed out of the vice presidential spotlight. The Alaska governor may be a newcomer to the national political stage, but Palin is drawing big crowds for her running mate, Sen. John McCain, and gracing magazine covers across the country. The sometimes tough-talking Biden has steered clear of a dogfight with a self-described pit bull in lipstick, instead tearing into both politicians on the Republican ticket. "I heard Sarah Palin and John McCain talk about change. Tell me one...

How could this iconic aviator plummet from the sky without a trace? How could one of the largest and most intensive searches in modern history fail to yield results? The answer, experts say, is that a plane wreck is one of the hardest needles to find in a rugged haystack -- especially the Sierra... Even experienced "wreckchasers" -- a growing group of hobbyists -- can be thwarted while hunting for an already documented site... The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Tyndall, Fla., has mapped nearly 180 crashes within the mountain range -- mainly so searchers can distinguish older wrecks...

Fannie, Freddie bailout triggers credit default swaps More than $1 trillion of derivative contracts will need to be settled By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch Last update: 1:30 p.m. EDT Sept. 8, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - The U.S. government's seizure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has triggered more than $1 trillion of credit default swaps tied to the mortgage giants. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said in a memo on Monday that 13 major credit default swap dealers unanimously agreed that a credit event had occurred.

WASHINGTON - President Bush will keep roughly the same number of U.S. forces in Iraq through the end of the year and pull about 8,000 troops home by February, a drawdown that's both slower and smaller than long anticipated.... ....The measured reductions in troops reflect the military's attempt to protect security gains in Iraq, while also freeing up some added forces in Afghanistan.

At least 14 people have been killed and 15 injured in a suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's border region, witnesses and officials say. Suspected aerial drones bombed a house and seminary linked to Taleban commander Jalaludin Haqqani. Villagers say unmanned US aircraft fired several missiles at a house and an Islamic seminary in the tribal area of North Waziristan. Haqqani and Sirajuddin were in Afghanistan at the time of the attack - they are alive Badruddin Haqqani Officials and witnesses say the complex was hit a number of times. "There were two drones and they fired three missiles," an...

Sen. John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are holding a campaign rally at Fairfax High School tomorrow morning in violation of a school system policy, prompting some teachers and community leaders to question district officials. According to the Fairfax County policy, which addresses how the community can use school facilities, "School buildings and grounds may not be used for campaign activities during school hours." Superintendent Jack D. Dale said he made an exception to the policy because he thought it would be a good learning experience for students. "We are not participating in a political rally,"...

Hockey moms are tough. They wake before dawn to haul children to 6 a.m. practices — on weekends. They travel for miles shuttling their little players to games — for seasons that run seven months long. They purchase thousands of dollars' worth of equipment and then help carry the oversized and sometimes smelly bags of sticks, pads, skates, socks and uniforms. So when Republican vice president pick Sarah Palin described hockey moms as pit bulls with lipstick on Wednesday night, some North Shore hockey moms could relate. Though not a lipstick wearer herself, Noreen Maher of Danvers appreciated Palin's remark....

More evidence the Sarah Palin effect continues to benefit her Republican presidential campaign with Sen. John McCain. The two of them split up in Kansas City for the day today, with Palin flying to Cincinnati for more study, and McCain moving on to Democrat Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago to raise some money in his opponent's political backyard. Our Swamp pal Rick Pearson reports that while McCain will blow through the Windy City only briefly this evening, it looks like it'll be well worth his while. Local organizers of McCain's fundraising event at the downtown Chicago Hilton say they expect...

The GOP Should Kiss Gay-Bashing Goodbye By JAMES KIRCHICK September 9, 2008 Political conventions are memorable not only for what the party grandees say, but for what they leave out. What was noticeably absent from last week's Republican gabfest? Gay-bashing. This is not an insignificant development for Republicans. In 2004, gays featured prominently at the Republicans' convention and in their rhetoric. In February of that year, President George W. Bush announced his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which would have written discrimination into our country's founding document by stipulating that marriage can only occur between a man and...

CHICAGO — Maybe you CAN blame being fat on your genes. But there's a way to overcome that family history — just get three to four hours of moderate activity a day. Sound pretty daunting? Not for the Amish of Lancaster County, Pa.

Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008 Name Office Party/State Total 1. Dodd, Christopher J S D-CT $133,900 2. Kerry, John S D-MA $111,000 3. Obama, Barack S D-IL $105,849 4. Clinton, Hillary S D-NY $75,550 5. Kanjorski, Paul E H D-PA $65,500

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC News is spending more time trying to assemble the logistics of its exclusive interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin than it did negotiating with the McCain campaign itself. The Alaska governor, a virtual unknown two weeks ago, has electrified the election campaign since Sen. John McCain stunned the political establishment by announcing her as his running mate on August 29. But the GOP campaign refused to make the relative newcomer available for interviews. Until Friday afternoon, when senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt offered an exclusive to ABC News. The network quickly locked...

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has hailed a "momentous" breakthrough after securing a pledge from Russia to withdraw its troops from undisputed Georgian territory within a month. President Nicolas Sarkozy in conversation with President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday Although the Kremlin has repeatedly appeared to flout the terms of an earlier ceasefire deal brokered by Mr Sarkozy, the French leader said he was hopeful that this time Russia would keep its word. France is taking a lead role in talks as it currently holds the presidency of the European Union. But even as Mr Sarkozy and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev,...

SNIP The events that briefly torpedoed the airline's stock started Saturday night. But Tribune Co. and Google disagree on the exact chain of events. Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker said sudden activity on the Sun-Sentinel Web site attracted the attention of a Google program to catalog information on the Web. However, Tribune Co. spokesman Gary Weitman, said a company investigation of activity on the Sun-Sentinel Web site found there was no activity on the story until approximately the same time the Google program, called a "bot," visited the Sun-Sentinel site around 10:30 p.m. Pacific time and found the story, which was...

We'll Protect Taxpayers From More Bailouts By JOHN MCCAIN and SARAH PALIN September 9, 2008 The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another outrageous, but sadly necessary, step for these two institutions. Given the long-term mismanagement and flawed structure of these two companies, this was the only short-term alternative for ensuring that hard-working Americans have access to affordable mortgages during this difficult economic period. We are strong advocates for the permanent reform of Fannie and Freddie. For years, Congress failed to act and it is deeply troubling that what we are now seeing is an exercise in crisis...

Please forgive my ignorance, but from whence comes "A moose once bit my sister"?

The annual fatalities, by any cause, of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2007: 1980 2,392 (Carter) 1981 2,380 (Reagan) 1984 1,999 (Reagan) 1988 1,819 (Reagan) 1989 1,636 (George H W) 1990 1,508 (George H W) 1991 1,787 (George H W) 1992 1,293 (George H W) 1993 1,213 (Clinton) 1994 1,075 (Clinton) 1995 2,465 (Clinton) 1996 2,318 (Clinton) 1997 817 (Clinton) 1998 2,252 (Clinton) 1999 1,984 (Clinton) 2000 1,983 (Clinton) 2001 890 (George W) 2002 1,007 (George W) 2003 1,410 (George W) 2004 1,887 (George W) 2005 919 (George W) 2006 920 (George W)...

John McCain announced that he was running for president to confront the "transcendent challenge" of the 21st century, "radical Islamic extremism," contrasting it with "stability, tolerance and democracy." But the values of his handpicked running mate, Sarah Palin, more resemble those of Muslim fundamentalists than they do those of the Founding Fathers. On censorship, the teaching of creationism in schools, reproductive rights, attributing government policy to God's will and climate change, Palin agrees with Hamas and Saudi Arabia rather than supporting tolerance and democratic precepts. What is the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick.

“Bush-McCain!” … the Democrat’s one consistent mantra, since John McCain became the Republican’s apparent nominee for the 2008 presidential race. Although McCain is obviously his own man and his presidency would be significantly different from that of President Bush, you can understand why they want McCain to be saddled with Bush’s unpopularity … currently ranging from 25% to 33%. Since, according to the National Journal, Barack Obama (D) has the Senate’s most liberal voting record and Joe Biden (D) has the Senate’s 3rd most liberal voting record, isn’t it more appropriate to link Obama/Biden with the current liberal (D) congressional...

Dahlia Lithwick offers McCain advice on how to deal with Obama in a debate: Your real problem is that Obama is not a serious candidate. I don't mean to suggest that he is not a serious person or even a seriously impressive first-term senator with real potential to shake up national politics. Nor do I want to imply for an instant that Obama is not a serious competitor. I just want to state here what you will be unable to say out loud at the debate: That by every obvious metric—experience, knowledge base, decades of public service, policy experience, understanding...

“I hope you guys are game,” he said, “because I haven’t been putting up with 19 months of airplanes and hotel food and missing my babies and my wife –- I didn’t put up for that stuff just to come in second. I don’t believe in coming in second. The American people can’t afford for us to come in second. We’ve got to win this thing and we’re going to win it with your help.”

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business. The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife. Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because...

Sarah Palin’s firm opposition to abortion and her status as a mother of five prompted a Vatican official to describe the Republican vice president nominee as a “dream candidate.” “I couldn't be more happy,” a U.S. church official at the Vatican told Newsmax on the condition of anonymity. “She is, in many ways, a dream candidate, at least among Americans here.” It is impossible to speak of a collective “Vatican view” about Palin, a member of the Assemblies of God, because not all Vatican officials have the same opinions or authority. And, although the Alaska governor’s pro-life position has earned...

  Has America created its own variety of communism with the U.S. Treasury Department’s bailout of two beleaguered government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE)? According to Rogers Holding CEO Jim Rogers, the answer is yes.       “America is more communist than China is right now,” Rogers told CNBC Europe’s “Squawk Box Europe” September 8. “You can at least have a free market in housing and a lot of other things in China. And you can see that this is welfare for the rich. This is socialism for the rich. It’s bailing out the financiers, the banks,...

Majority Democrats today predictably voted down Senate Republicans' state budget plan which relied on borrowing and deeper cuts in lieu of new taxes. With 27 votes needed for approval in the 40-member Senate, 13 Republicans supported the measure and 21 Democrats opposed it. Lawmakers now have defeated three plans put forward -- a version of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal, one by legislative Democrats and today's GOP plan. The state has gone 70 days into the fiscal year without an approved budget, blocking billions of dollars in state payments to community colleges, health and social service providers and vendors who do...

Not sure how to link to page ,but,a respected(by other DUmmies)poster has started a firestorm about "Big News" coming out about Mccain's past. She lives in Az. I guess. Anyone else see these threads? Any ideas if there could be a new story in the works?

“Judgment” has become the byword of the election. Barack Obama has always wanted the election to be about the importance of “good judgment,” not experience. While Obama claimed last week that he had more executive experience than Sarah Palin, he has generally stuck to this theme. During the primaries, Obama’s claim to “good judgment” largely focused on his early opposition to the Iraq war. But, with the exception of picking Joe Biden as his running mate, virtually all the discussion of Obama’s good judgment still rests on his opposition to the war. Obama still has some work to convince people...

NORTH COUNTY ---- Despite the acquittal of their squad leader in the killing of detainees in the Iraqi city of Fallujah four years ago, the Marine Corps has no plans to drop or amend murder charges against two co-defendants, a service spokesman said Monday. The spokesman, Lt. Col. David Griesmer, said nothing has changed in the wake of the Aug. 28 not guilty verdict in the manslaughter case against former Marine sergeant and squad leader Jose L. Nazario Jr. Facing upcoming trials at Camp Pendleton on charges of murder and dereliction of duty in the same incident are Sgts. Ryan...

A: Nine. One to screw in the light bulb and eight to organize the busloads of protestors to the nuclear plant that powers it.

FREE REPUBLICNASCAR THREAD Sylvania 300 The Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at (Click on the Pics, Graphics, & Links for related news & info.) Current Cup driver standings The field for the Chase is set. Here are the top 12 drivers: Track Schedule for the Sylvania 300 Sylvania 300 Entry List Qualifying: Friday 9/12/08 3:00 pm ~ ESPN2Race: Sunday 9/14/08 2:00 pm SPRINT Cup Race ~ ABC Speed's NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: 11:00 am/etABC's Countdown to Green Pre-Race Show: 1:00 pm/etScheduled Green Flag (approx): 2:17pm/et Jayski.com TV listings Track Details with Current & Historical Track info from:NASCAR.com, That's...

Where's the paper trail on this guy Obama's writing? I've published a dozen novels and half a dozen nonfiction books and edited newspapers and magazines (I'm not a real journalist, honest. I used to be that way, but I'm just a fella now). Done some ghosting and teaching of writing, too. Nobody, but nobody publishes a polished memoir, let alone two (and forget that it's by the age 47 at that), until there's been a few signs of brilliance earlier. Where's the early signs of writing genius? The college literary magazine? Freelance pieces? Poetry? Fiction? Works that didn't sell so...

FLINT, Mich. - Barack Obama broadly accused his Republican rivals of dishonesty Monday, citing former lobbyists working for John McCain, Sarah Palin's shifting stance on the "Bridge to Nowhere" and their promise to change Washington. With national polls finding the Democratic presidential nominee trailing or in a dead heat with McCain, Obama began the campaign's final eight-week push by criticizing McCain's popular running mate as much as the Arizona senator himself. He said Palin has an interesting biography — "Mother, governor, moose shooter. That's cool," he said — but the election should be about who can change people's lives for...

I just thought this tune is Sarah to a T.

As I just posted on my blog, http://mccainpalinvictory08.blogspot.com/ I will be attending a rally at Fairfax High School (VA), where McCain and Palin will be speaking on Wednesday morning, 9/10.

Conservatives, as well as liberals, would undoubtedly be happier living in the kind of world envisioned by the left. Very few people have either a vested interest or an ideological preference for a world in which there are many inequalities. Even fewer would prefer a world in which vast sums of money have to be devoted to military defense, when so much benefit could be produced if those resources were directed into medical research instead. It is hardly surprising that young people prefer the political left. The only reason for rejecting the left's vision is that the real world in...

Well, well, well ... The Wasilla, Alaska author of the viril email criticizing Sarah Palin is a long-time democrat who may be an Obama supporter who has twice contribted to his campaign for a total of $750 this year. Curiously, she contributed this year from an Ohio and an Oregon address. Hmm? Contributions to Political Committees KILKENNY, ANNE COLUMBUS, OH 43220 NOT EMPLOYED/HOMEMAKER OBAMA, BARACK VIA OBAMA FOR AMERICA 03/19/2008 250.00 28931273137 KILKENNY, ANNE SCAPPOOSE, OR 97056 NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED OBAMA, BARACK VIA OBAMA FOR AMERICA 06/17/2008 500.00 28991586187 Total Contributions: 750.00 Funny how none of the media accounts mention this...

So, it appears that “The One” is going begging to Don Clinton, hat in hand: The One strides in confidently and extends his hand to The Don. The Don looks up, contemplates the proffered hand, and watches The One’s smile fade as it is not shaken. The One retracts his hand, and tilts his head, comprehending, but not liking it. Still, he needs this meeting. Don Clinton nods slightly, and with a silky hand motions The One to take a seat. Don Clinton’s blue eyes are grave, but there is a noticeable twitching about his mouth, as though he is...

I did a search and didn't see where anyone had posted about Obama on O'Reilly tonight. Here is something Obama said that REALLY bothers me, in essence he said, "if you've got someone over here that's got money, and over here is a waitress making minimum wage, why not help her out, it's the neighborly thing to do." This was in response to Bill questioning about increasing taxes on the rich. It is not a function of government to redistribute income. If someone works hard to become successful, here comes Obama and he decides I can afford it, and wants...

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- At a town hall meeting at North Farmington High School outside Detroit this evening, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., offered a new schtick to his attacks on the Republican ticket. In a now-familiar riff on how the Republicans spent their convention talking about personalities and not about issues, Obama praised the biographies of both Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "You notice, at their convention, they spent a lot of time talking about John McCain’s biography, which is compelling," Obama said. "They talked about Sarah Palin’s biography, which is compelling." When...

"On the other hand, while the most recent round of polls may be overshooting the mark, I am also reminded of something called the Shy Tory Factor, a phenomenon observed in the early 1990s in British elections in which conservative voters (Tories) had tended to be underrepresented in pre-election polling, perhaps owing to response bias. It seems plausible to me that some segment of conservative Republican voters had effectively been in hiding from the pollsters, either embarrassed by the performance of George W. Bush (and therefore disengaged from politics), or embarrassed to disclose to pollsters that they support him. Suddenly,...

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has gotten a jolt of support right where he wanted it - from the independent voters whom he courted so aggressively at last week's convention - and now holds a healthy lead over his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, in the chase for that key constituency. A Gallup Poll to be released Tuesday shows that Mr. McCain's backing among independent voters jumped 12 percentage points in recent days, providing welcome news for a Republican candidate who has been torn between nurturing his maverick appeal to independents and trying to appease the party's conservative base......

...When I first came out in the 1980s, it was common for gay rights apologists to blame the promiscuity among gay men on "internalized homophobia." Gay men, like African Americans, internalized and acted out the lies about themselves learned from mainstream American culture. Furthermore, homosexuals were forced to look for love in dimly lit bars, bathhouses, and public parks for fear of harassment at the hands of a homophobic mainstream. The solution to this problem, we were told, was permitting homosexuals to come out into the open, without fear of retribution. A variant of this argument is still put forward...

OK, I'm a conservative who is very excited about Sarah Palin. But, I have noticed over the past couple of days that Gov. Palin keeps using the EXACT same lines and phrases on the campaign trail that she used so effectively in her convention speech last week. This is not good. It is making her seem like a one-trick pony and it WILL be noticed by all very soon if she doesn't change up her rhetoric or at least preface such convention quotes with something like "as I have stated before..."

I wonder if there is a group of homeless who would work for $3,000? Probably. Thus, if there was no mnimum wage, you wouldn't see goats working for what truly destitue people need, money...

Can anyone tell me how to get a McCain yard sign? I am drowning in Obama signs and would like to put a McCain sign in my yard.