Free Republic

The early days of the air war, Americans rejoiced at film footage of Patriot missiles knocking Iraqi Scud missiles out of the sky. Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney commented, "A decade of gloom-and-gloom reporting made a lot of people forget that we do, in fact, lead the world in advanced technology." The Patriots, made by Raytheon, hit 45 of the 47 Scuds launched by Iraq. It is a complex weapon utilizing sophisticated radar and electronics and requiring quick thinking by soldiers who operate it. While our media couldn't ignore the Patriot's success, the Gannett news service was one of the...

...A friend had a brief discussion with Biden during a book signing in the spring at Rehoboth, Delaware. Biden was autographing copies of Promises to Keep, which examines his life and Senate career, including the plagiarism incidents. This individual was greatly concerned about the role of George Soros in financing the drug legalization movement but knew that Biden had been generally supportive of the war on drugs. She asked for Biden’s help in exposing Soros’s influence in the political process. He replied, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Soros lately.” That ended the discussion. You don’t have to...

Covering a sensitive and explosive subject that has been off-limits for the major U.S. media, the London Daily Telegraph is now claiming that Communist Frank Marshall Davis was a strong influence over a young Barack Obama for nine years of his life, rather than just four, and was a sex pervert and pothead. The Telegraph article alleges that Davis was a bisexual engaged in “sordid” sexual activities and had repeated sexual encounters with a 13-year-old girl. ----SNIP---- Based on these sources, AIM had confirmed that Obama’s white grandfather, Stanley Dunham, picked Davis because Obama’s black father had abandoned the family...

Denunciations of U.S. ‘imperialism,” which were a regular staple of Soviet TV, are back on the Russian version. ...recent guests on Russia Today have included Alexander Cockburn, “an American political journalist,” and Justin Raimondo, said to be “a top U.S. author.” Cockburn denounced John McCain as a warmonger, while Raimondo warned the Russians to investigate what’s on those humanitarian flights to Georgia. “I would check that out, if I were you,” he was quoted by Russia Today as saying. The Russian channel declared, “‘Say No to War’ has been Justin Raimondo’s slogan for over a decade―from the U.S. intervention in...

  Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine who is under consideration as a possible running mate for Barack Obama gave the Senator credit for the Russian ceasefire in Georgia.From ABC News' Jake Tapper."The Senator's goal was to be tough and smart," Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, "and so when the action (in Georgia) happened on Thursday, he immediately called for a ceasefire, condemned the unwarranted use of force by Russia.  It was a bad crisis for the world.  It required tough words, but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in --...

The final vote was 80-16 with Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, both original sponsors of the bill, on the campaign trail and not available to cast a vote However, the $200 billion already spent by U.S. taxpayers on HIV/AIDS here and around the world has not resulted in any cures or a vaccine. On final passage, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted with Majority Leader Reid and the Democrats.In addition to spending $50 billion at a time of growing economic difficulties in the U.S., the bill lifts the ban on entry into the U.S. of AIDS-infected aliens,...

We do know that Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch is already on the Obama bandwagon, having declared the candidate a “rock star” and a winner with a good university record. Murdoch’s New York Post endorsed Obama in the Democratic primaries, after Murdoch, who had been supporting Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, figured she was a loser.

Throughout the Cold War, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists kept a Doomsday Clock, monitoring how close they thought the world was to catastrophic nuclear destruction, measured as ‘minutes from midnight.' This week Iran tested its first nuclear-capable, long-range missile and moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock a little closer to disaster.

Senator McCain’s communist connections consist of bombing the communists during the Vietnam War and then being shot down, badly injured, captured, and tortured by them. On the other hand, Senator Barack Obama was mentored by an identified Communist Party member in Hawaii who had functioned as a Stalinist agent. That was before Obama developed cordial relationships with communist terrorists who openly supported the communist regime that tortured McCain and killed 58,000 of our fellow Americans. Can we have some coverage of the contrast between the two candidates on Memorial Day? It’s not just a matter of McCain serving in the...

The Chicago Tribune, which once employed Barack Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod, is refusing to publish the truth about a Weather Underground terrorist bombing that killed a policeman. The paper apparently does not want to tarnish the image of Obama friends Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, who were allegedly part of or had direct knowledge of the bombing plot that also injured several other police officers. The Tribune considers Ayers an education expert and has published various articles by him. Please help Accuracy in Media expose the Tribune's cover-up. I sent a copy of the following email message to Tribune...

Violent chickens roost on candidates' shoulders: exploring the liberal/Marxist nexus Wes Vernon April 21, 2008 Last week's Clinton/Obama debate opened a new door on an old coalition: What is it about Marxists (violent or otherwise) that attracts liberals (well-meaning or otherwise) to their defense? What is their common goal (to the extent that they have one)? The counterculture sixties Here is the mantra of the Weather Underground, as enunciated by one of its leading disciples: "Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents. That's where it's really at." Who said...

If the media are on the lookout for gaffes by the presidential campaigns, they missed a big one on Wednesday, when Cindy McCain met with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in Kosovo’s capital Pristina, while her husband was giving a major foreign policy speech calling for “new foundations for a stable and enduring peace.” Kosovo’s declaration of independence, which McCain accepts and was implicitly recognized by Cindy McCain’s visit to Pristina, is a major threat to global peace and security. It could spark a U.S. war with Russia. We need to recall that the war against the former Yugoslavia was...

Campaign workers for Sen. Barack Obama are still under fire for displaying a flag featuring communist hero Che Guevara. But Obama has his own controversial connections. He is, in fact, an associate of a Chicago-based socialist group with ties to the Socialist International, access to millions of labor union dollsrs and connections to expert political consultants, including a convicted swindler. In 1996, he received the endorsement of the Chicago branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for an Illinois state senate seat. Later, the Chicago DSA newsletter reported that Obama as a state senator, showed up to eulogize Saul...

Our book, The Death of Talk Radio?, warned about the threat posed by liberals trying to pass into law the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Little did we know that its viability would be in jeopardy from conservatives upset over major figures in talk radio playing favorites in the Republican presidential race. The conservative talk-radio assault on John McCain and Mike Huckabee has backfired in a big way. Supporters of Huckabee are so angry that they have launched a "Send it Back" campaign, asking people who have copies of books by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity to send them back to their...

In the past several months, a new "crisis" has heated up the controversy over man-made global warming. A few major-media writers and TV personalities are actually reporting statements by credible scientists who are challenging the assumption that carbon dioxide is the primary force causing global warming. There's a real possibility that big-name journalists will break ranks and pursue their next Pulitzer Prize by exposing the lack of scientific consensus on CO2 as a planet-heating pollutant. That would create a crisis of confidence among the activists, researchers and global-governance apparatchiks who want a global carbon tax to build their political and...

In the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Wolf Blitzer of CNN made much of an e-mail, exclusively provided to him by a close associate of Bhutto and a Hillary Clinton supporter, casting blame on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for her murder. We can now understand why Musharraf’s November 3 state-of-emergency decree took foreign news outlets like CNN off the air. Musharraf, who is one of the main targets of the al-Qaeda international terrorist organization, recognizes that the so-called “CNN effect” in global affairs can destabilize foreign governments, including his own. It’s no wonder that he recently complained about being betrayed...

WASHINGTON — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States. "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said. A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the U.S., some of them more than 150 years old. The group...

WASHINGTON, December 13, 2007 -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its affiliated group, the "Hate Hurts America" campaign, are backing away from claims about some companies dropping their advertising from "The Savage Nation" radio show featuring Michael Savage. While CAIR may have been inflating its success, Accuracy in Media (AIM) editor Cliff Kincaid is warning the public not to think that CAIR is abandoning its campaign to muzzle its talk radio critics. In fact, Kincaid says, the campaign is expanding.

Why were liberal Democrats so determined to get Attorney General Michael Mukasey to declare waterboarding a form of torture before he was confirmed to his post? It was another case of what Hillary likes to call "gotcha" politics. In this case, however, Senate Democrats were trying to lay a legal trap for President Bush. It has now backfired on them and their allies in the media. The Democrats, Alan Dershowitz noted in a November 7 Wall Street Journal article, were running the risk of coming across as pacifists not committed to winning the war on terrorism. And in a major...

Former CBS News anchor and reporter Dan Rather sent shockwaves through CBS and the mainstream media with his dramatic lawsuit against his former employer. On CNN's Larry King Live last night, Rather seemed shaken and very emotional, fighting back tears on several occasions. His legal claims are even shakier. The suit involves how Rather was treated before, during and after the scandal that badly damaged the network back in 2004 and 2005 when it made explosive but false charges, based on phony documents, against President Bush just two months before the presidential election. The story backfired on the network, reconfirming...

President Bush’s commutation of Lewis Libby’s prison term was the right thing to do because it enables Libby to continue to fight in the courts for total exoneration. Libby was the victim of an over-zealous prosecutor and media and a jury which was prejudiced against him by pre-trial publicity. He deserves not only to be free from prison but to be declared an honest man and dedicated public servant who did his duty as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney’s motive, which is hardly surprising, was to set the record straight about the activities of former Ambassador...

A blogger called the 309-115 vote against federal funding of the Fairness Doctrine a "historic vote for freedom of speech." A columnist called it "A big victory for radio broadcast freedom." But it was nothing of the sort. Even if the amendment from Rep. Mike Pence were to pass the Senate, it would do absolutely nothing to stop a Democratic president and Congress from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. It was a political maneuver that has confused many people. The Pence amendment to the Financial Services Appropriations bill, as AIM points out in a new special report, accomplished nothing-except to allow...

.....the liberal argument will be: how can anyone object to protecting people from “hate speech?” The liberal success in the Imus case shows the potent political impact of such a charge. It guarantees that the liberal media will not rally to the defense of freedom of speech by conservative broadcasters. The reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine will likely follow the Congress passing¯and a Democratic president signing¯a bill outlawing “hate crimes.” Bush has promised a veto of a “hate crimes” bill if it passes the U.S. Senate (it has already passed the House). ...... USNewswire/ -- In a column and special...

June 26, 1975: A date not easily forgotten by FBI Agents. On that horrible day, Special Agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were gunned down in an open meadow on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Following the initial hail of fire from the assailants, three gunmen approached the injured Agents and finished them off at close range. Ron Williams and Jack Coler are known as Service Martyrs, a special designation reserved for Federal Agents who gave their lives while engaged in direct adversarial action. Their sacrifice is also remembered as the only two Agents in Bureau history to...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., June 22, 2007 — A good friend will share the good times with you, but a great friend will share your bad ones. Lance Cpl. Juan A. Valdez, a Boston native and mortarman with Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, had what may be the greatest friend of his life at his side during one of his greatest times of need. A Purple Heart Medal ceremony was held here June 8, 2007, to decorate Valdez for wounds he suffered during actions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While on a...

With his record of defending American borders and national sovereignty in ruins, President Bush has decided to conclude his second term in office by making common cause with those who think America's future lies in appeasing the "international community." He apparently wants his "legacy" to be that he cared for the rest of the world. Watch your wallets―and your freedom. The latest phase of this "legacy building" campaign began with a plea on Wednesday for more money to fight AIDS. This provided a photo opportunity for the President to pose with a black child. So far, about $200 billion has...

Governor Darrell Flyingman of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma put things in realistic perspective when he arose to speak. He talked about the thousands of acres of land either ceded or stolen by hook and crook from the people of his nation over the years (in Oklahoma). He said, "I consider this to be a site of a massacre (Washita battlefield, OH) and not a battlefield as it is named and I will do everything within my power to see that the site is renamed as the Washita Massacre rather than Battlefield. Gov. Flyingman said that he felt...

NEW YORK - AOL is offering users of its AIM instant messaging service new capabilities to see where people on their buddy lists are physically located. The first phase of this push is with an unusual software plug-in developed by Skyhook Wireless, whose backers include Intel Corp. Skyhook tracks locations by using the continuous wireless pulses emitted by all Wi-Fi transmitters and Wi-Fi-enabled computers, rather than more common satellite-based approach. The Skyhook plug-in, available as a free download, adds a new grouping to AIM's buddy list window called "Near Me." That group will feature the names of any buddies who...

In the race for Attorney General of California, Democrat Jerry Brown boasts so much more name recognition than Chuck Poochigian, his Republican opponent, that by most accounts the race is no contest. Before his side job as mayor of Oakland, Brown was California’s secretary of state and governor. He comes from the state's star political dynasty and is heavily favored on November 7. There is, in fact, only one obstacle in his way to becoming attorney general: a major lawsuit alleges Brown should not even be on the ballot. "Brown has a serious problem, he's not eligible," says Tom Del...

NEW YORK -- Instant-messaging conversations, though quick, are not always fleeting. Former Republican Rep. Mark Foley's salacious chats with teenage interns, know as pages, emerged along with e-mails last week as the congressman abruptly resigned. ABC News, which broke the story, has said former pages were the source of the revelations about instant messages from 2003. Most likely, the pages who corresponded with Foley either manually saved messages or used IM software with built-in logging capabilities, allowing time-stamped chat sessions to be kept indefinitely on one's computer. The programs vary in whether the features are initially on or off and...

Campers to protest Columbus Day parade AIM; others won't seek permits to pitch tents near Capitol By Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News October 3, 2006 The American Indian Movement and other activist groups plan to camp at Denver's Civic Center without permits this weekend to protest Saturday's Columbus Day parade. They say they don't need a permit from "an occupying power" to use their own land. State and Denver police said Monday they see things otherwise. If the protesters choose to occupy Veterans Park next to the Capitol as planned, State Patrol officers will remove them, said Department of Public...

Stories about the controversy over the Pope’s remarks on Islam have featured the views of Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, who has a regular show on the Al-Jazeera television network. Demanding a personal apology from the Pope, Qaradawi declared on Al-Jazeera that “Muslims have the right to be angry and hurt by these comments from the highest cleric in Christianity.” Yet, Qaradawi, a supporter of violent Jihad, is living proof of what the Pope was warning about. Tracy Wilkinson of the Los Angeles Times said that Qaradawi’s broadcasts on the Arabic TV network, which now wants to expand into the U.S. through...

While the Bush Administration can be criticized for ignoring warnings that an attack like 9/11 might occur, it is the Clinton Administration which can be accused of actually facilitating 9/11 by conducting a foreign policy that promoted the rise of radical Islam. The so-called 9/11 Truth Movement, which has been covered extensively by C-SPAN as well as Al-Jazeera, has confused many Americans and Muslims alike about the nature of the 9/11 attacks. This movement, which includes associates of Lyndon LaRouche, who openly supported Saddam Hussein before the first Gulf war, are telling us that the Bush Administration was really behind...

Time magazine's much-publicized July 17th cover story, "The End of Cowboy Diplomacy," has been viewed as a seminal media effort to capture the transformation of the Bush Administration from a trigger-happy approach in foreign policy to reliance on other nations and the U.N. But a careful analysis shows that Time exaggerated and distorted the facts in order to produce a story that would entice and mislead its readers. It would be foolish to insist that changes in the Bush foreign policy have not been made. Since Condoleezza Rice became Secretary of State, she has clearly been relying more on the...

The University of Arizona started class Monday amid questions nationwide about whether college professors are too Liberal. This year and again next year Arizona legislators say they'll try to tame what they see as left-leaning professors at state universities. Among the Conservatives' moves: Lawmakers tried, but failed, to pass a bill that would allow college students to refuse assignments they find sexually offensive. Republican representative Russell Pearce wants to introduce an "Academic Bill of Rights" next year aimed at keeping Liberal bias out of classrooms. A law passed last spring requires schools to display the U.S. flag and constitution in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2006 -- Two military relief agencies received a total of $30,000 here yesterday, the proceeds of a July clay shooting event in New York. John O'Connor (center), president of the Pawling Mountain Club, presents a check to Retired Sgt. Maj. Steve Broadway (left), of Army Emergency Relief. John Alexander, a representative of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, looks at the check he just received. O'Connor's club sponsored the Pawling Mountain Invitational sporting clay event, which raised about $30,000 in donations for the two organizations. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The...

Conservative state lawmakers are targeting what they see as left-leaning university professors, pushing a series of bills in recent and upcoming sessions designed to ensure that students are not unduly influenced by professors' beliefs. The push has raised concerns among the academic community about academic freedom, with many worried the push will put legislators and administrators in charge of the college classroom. Conservative lawmakers have floated or are planning a host of proposals that would restrict what students can be required ----

Soon the 109th Congress will come to an end after having compiled one of the worst records on judicial confirmations in modern political history -- a remarkable "accomplishment" given the fact that one party has held Congress and the White House for six years. Virtually everyone agrees: The president's judicial nominees are eminently qualified and the votes needed for confirmation are there. And yet, the Senate has refused to fulfill its constitutional obligations and has denied these nominees an up-or-down vote. Why? There is a lot of blame to go around with respect to the Senate's obstruction of President Bush's...

The real issue was why Joseph Wilson was the person to go to Niger to seek the answersRobert Novak's decision to speak publicly about his role in the CIA leak case reinforces our view that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald investigated the wrong people. Novak, who was doing his job and never violated any law against disclosing the secret identities of CIA agents, has said that he believes that CIA employee Valerie Plame's identity was disclosed by Aldrich Ames, the former CIA agent who was in the service of the Soviet Union, long before he wrote his column.The CIA, of course,...

Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is acclaimed for her detailed and investigative reporting on complex financial networks that support drug trafficking and terrorism. She was one of the first investigative journalists to draw attention to the controversial political and global activities of George Soros, the billionaire who took advantage of a loophole in U.S. campaign-finance law and spent $23 million last year to try to defeat President Bush for re-election. Ehrenfeld, the Director of the New York-based American Center for Democracy, has been a research scholar at the New York University School of Law, a visiting scholar at the Columbia University Institute...

Herbert London, president of the Hudson Institute, say the new "Superman Returns" movie is politically correct in that the man of steel has come back not to protect the American way of life but to save the world. Superman, London says in a Washington Examiner column, "has been converted into a transnationalist. I suspect that in a sequel, Superman will be employed by the United Nations." One might say, if that was the case, the world body might actually get something constructive done, rather than sexually abuse kids and spread AIDS through its "peacekeepers." London goes on to say, "Superman...

The PBS Frontline documentary, "The Dark Side," about the events leading up to the war in Iraq, was guilty of some of the same charges it leveled against Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. These officials were accused of manipulating information in order to get us involved in Iraq. But PBS itself manipulated information to make the administration look bad, even dishonest. The theme, which has been common in the media, is that the Bush administration was determined to go to war against Iraq almost from its first days in office. We've heard this from Richard Clarke,...

Arizona Senator John S. McCain, III is everywhere. He virtually lives at NBC. If not there how about CNN. And talk shows. And late night shows. Oh, how the media loves him. A maverick who came close in 2000, he is looking to make one more run at the Presidency. And at the same moment, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says he is thinking very seriously about running for President. Rudy, too, is loved by the media. How many times have you heard "America's Mayor" in introducing him. He is available to any network at the drop of a...

WASHINGTON, DC, MONDAY, JULY 3, 2006--The D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com and the online watchdog Accuracy in Media (www.AIM.org) held a press conference and demonstration Monday at the Washington, D.C., bureau of the New York Times to protest the newspaper's publishing of stories exposing national security intelligence programs. The two conservative groups called for the prosecution of New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Executive Editor Bill Keller and reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau for "giving aid and comfort to al-Qaida." The initial group of 14 FReepers, led by FreeRepublic's National Spokesman Kristinn Taylor, soon swelled to 29 protesters. They...

FreeRepublic.com has organized a demonstration outside the Washington DC office of the New York Times, today at 12 noon: Groups to Protest Treasonous Reporting. The D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com, an independent grassroots conservative organization, and Accuracy in Media (AIM) will hold a demonstration at noon, Monday, July 3, at the Washington, D.C., bureau of The New York Times, 1627 I St., NW, to call for the prosecution of New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Executive Editor Bill Keller and reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau for giving aid and comfort to al Qaeda by publishing stories exposing national security...

I attended the FR - AIM rally against the NYTimes today in Washington, DC. I posted my review and pictures on my blog. Check it out.

U.S. Army   Sgt. 1st Class Javier Molina Artillery Sergeant Takes Aim at Education By Staff Sgt. Nicholas Lutton 345th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, June 12, 2006 — On a day full of wind and dust here, education might be the furthest thing from most soldiers’ minds. However, for Sgt. 1st Class Javier A. Molina, a Salerno Education Center teacher, it is at the forefront of most of his work today. “The soldiers are very excited about classes being held on the gun-line, “ said Molina, gunnery sergeant for 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery...

Big business ain’t what it used to be, if it ever was. “The achievement of the Clinton and the DLC generation was, in fact, to think about first principles, to think about the relationships between state and civil society, to think about the ability of the market to achieve traditional, liberal ends,” The New Republic’s Peter Beinert said at Harvard last year. And they are succeeding. “Success in the business sector today requires engagement with governments, academic institutions, and others,” Edward E. Potter, an executive with Coca-Cola wrote in a letter to the Chronicle of Higher Education. “This engagement provides...

In a bizarre college commencement speech on May 21, New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. urged protection for his reporters and photographers "in war-torn Iraq" so they can bring back stories about a "misbegotten war" and help undermine the Bush Administration's foreign policy. Strangely, he quoted Winston Churchill as saying, "never give in," but Sulzberger urged the U.S. to raise the white flag in Iraq and suggested that George Bush be kicked out of office in the same way Richard Nixon was forced to resign. Sulzberger, who also serves as chairman of the Times company, defended the paper's disclosure...

President Bush on Sunday hailed the formation of a unity government in Iraq, making the announcement in person so that at least some of the media covering the White House would be forced to pay attention to it. This is good news, of course, and there is much more good news out of Iraq. But there's no counting out the terrorists, who can always depend on the media to make them seem more formidable than they actually are. In this battle, one thing is clear: America must be able to neutralize the pernicious influence of Al-Jazeera, the Arabic TV channel...