Free Republic

Have you noticed when reading your local papers, that every article that is national news comes through the Associated Press? That means that whoever controls the Associated Press newsroom controls what the whole nation sees. This is power like the Soviet PRAVDA and TASS had. No wonder so many people don't know what is going on. I have been looking in my local newspaper for stories about the reasons behind the banking crisis which was due to the absurd subprime mortgages. I haven't seen anything explaining how the subprime mortages caused this problem. It has been several months since the...

It didn't take long for Barack Obama — for all his youth and inexperience — to get acclimated to his new role as the calming leader of a country in crisis. "I feel surprisingly comfortable in the job," the nation's 44th president said a mere two weeks after taking the helm. "The challenges are big," a sober Obama added, underscoring the foreign and domestic problems he inherited Jan. 20. "But one thing I'm absolutely convinced about is you want to be president when you've got big problems. If things are going too smoothly, then this is just another nice home...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Millions of people jobless. Billions of dollars in bailouts. Trillions of dollars in U.S. debt. And yet, for the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is on the right track. In a sign that Barack Obama has inspired hopes for a brighter future in the first 100 days of his presidency, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that 48 percent of Americans believe the United States is headed in the right direction — compared with 44 percent who disagree. The "right direction" number is up 8 points since February and a remarkable 31...

For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future. Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. It shows most Americans consider their new president to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington. Nobody knows how long...

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - President Barack Obama promised Monday to work with other nations "to halt the rise of piracy," while Somali pirates vowed revenge for the deaths of three colleagues shot by snipers during the daring high-seas rescue of an American sea captain. The pirates' threat raised fears for the safety of some 230 foreign sailors still held hostage in more than a dozen ships anchored off lawless Somalia.

Taking aim at the way news is spread across the Internet, The Associated Press said on Monday that Web sites that used the work of news organizations must obtain permission and share revenue with them, and that it would take legal action against those that did not. A.P. executives said they were concerned about a variety of news forums around the Web, including major search engines like Google and Yahoo and aggregators like the Drudge Report that link to news articles, smaller sites that sometimes reproduce articles whole, and companies that sell packaged news feeds. They said they did not...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tens of thousands of Americans, from teenagers to baby boomers, soon will get a fresh chance to lend a helping hand in a time of need after Congress voted Tuesday to expand ways for people to serve the country and each other. The House voted 275-149 for a $5.7 billion bill that takes ambitious steps on public service, including tripling the number of positions in the Clinton-era AmeriCorps program, its largest expansion since the agency's creation in 1993, and establishing a fund to help nonprofit organizations recruit and manage more volunteers. Congress was sending the bill to...

Back on January 29, we discussed [1] the daily strategy phone call engineered by Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for friendly TV commentators and "reporters." Politico reported that Emanuel has a daily phone conference call with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, and CNN's James Carville and Paul Begala. With Rush Limbaugh's raucous CPAC address, as he termed it his "first address to the nation," we can see at least one example of what is likely an attack strategy resulting from the Emanuel phone session with a rush to bash Rush the day after the appearance. [Image credit: politico.com] As soon as...

Over the past few months,  we’ve seen a seemingly endless parade of bailouts from Washington — for banks, for automobiles, and just about everything else.    Today,  Congress may be voting on yet another bailout — this time for liberal media.   This afternoon, the Senate is expected to take up a proposal by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois which would clear the way for restoration of  measures designed to chill speech considered too conservative.” The Durbin measure is being offered as a substitute to a contrary measure by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina which would bar the FCC from re-imposing...

A couple of years ago, when speaking to a local group, I mentioned that The Chronicle was losing money. A couple in the back of the room rudely applauded. How thrilled those two must have felt when - if - they learned of Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega's announcement Tuesday that the Hearst Corp. will implement "significant" workforce cuts. If the cuts don't pay off, then the Hearst Corp. will "offer the newspaper for sale or close it altogether." Bloggers and e-mailers are crowing. If The Chronicle is shuttered, they'll be dancing a jig. Many conservatives feel a warm glow at...

With support of the stimulus bill waning even further (Half of America things it will worsen the situation), I was surprised to see CNN's headline story today in the money section defending this package. The title: Out of work? Stimulus bill will help A few lines are mentioned regarding the intended job creation, but no explanation or details. Instead the article breaks down several key points of the bill and how it will help those that are unemployed. I was expecting to see a list of potential jobs or industries, but instead we are greeted with the following.

Get ready for the geek-in-chief. President-elect Barack Obama used to collect comic books, can't part with his BlackBerry, and once flashed Leonard "Mr. Spock" Nimoy the Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" sign. That and other evidence has convinced some of Obama's nerdier fans that he'll be the first American president to show distinct signs of geekiness. And that's got them as excited as a Tribble around a Klingon. Obama is good at "repressing his inner geek, but you can tell it's there," especially when he goes into nuanced explanations of technical_matters, said Benjamin Nugent, author of the book "American Nerd:...

Congratulations on an extraordinary history making election! We can think back with pride to decades of hard work toward our strategic goal of a big enough, broad enough and united enough labor and all-people’s movement that could overcome the ultra-right blockage to all progress. That all people’s movement has come to life, it is dynamic and it has the potential to keep growing. The election of Barack Obama and a strengthened Congress creates new conditions in our country. There is now the possibility to shift gears and move forward. This new day requires us to further develop our tactics in...

Democrats have had success running against what they called a GOP 'culture of corruption.' Now the party hopes the political fallout from the Blagojevich case and others will be limited. By Janet Hook December 10, 2008 Reporting from Washington -- The arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich on Tuesday marked the latest in a series of scandals involving Democratic politicians -- an ironic turn for a party that won control of Congress in 2006 in part by saying it would end a "culture of corruption" under Republican leadership. Democrats also highlighted Republican ethical problems in the successful bid to...

[In 2004 and 2005,] Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash…. Sources said the government had him wear a hidden wire to record conversations with a Chicago alderman–but that he did not record Blagojevich or Obama.” RezkoTrialWatch: FBI mole "logged frequent visits to Rezko" by Obama (renamed) February 10, 2008 In an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, FBI “mole” John Thomas, “who’s expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political...

CBS Radio: They make no mention Blagojevich's party, but refer to Larry Craig as a Republican I was listening to KNX 1070 News Radio (CBS News Affiliate) just minutes ago. Their top two stories were (1) Blagojevich's arrest and (2) Larry Craig's conviction upheld. For the first story, absolutely no mention of Blagojevich's party was made.... For the second story, Larry Craig was referred to as the "Idaho Republican"..

It was supposed to be a joke. As an endless parade of corporate beggars marches to Washington in search of handouts for their beleaguered industries, some of us in the news business snarked that journalists would be next in line. I launched a Newspaper Bailout Countdown Clock on my blog after The New York Times Company's bonds plunged into junk territory in October. A few weeks later, columnist Jon Fine published a tongue-in-cheek memo in BusinessWeek outlining a federal newspaper rescue proposal. The jibes were meant to be facetious critiques of for-profit enterprises demanding massive taxpayer expenditures under the guise...

On the night before Thanksgiving, just an hour after Rosie O'Donnell had publicly belly-flopped with a horrible attempt at an old-time variety show on NBC, Barbara Walters made a fool of herself interviewing Barack and Michelle Obama. The toughest questions dealt with whether there was enough "change" in his cabinet picks, and whether he was "waffling" on tax hikes for the rich -- questions his (and ABC's) liberal base would enjoy. Let's go back eight years. On the Friday before the Inauguration, Walters interviewed then-President-elect George Bush and his wife Laura. But it was only one part of a routine...

If you read the NY Times this weekend, you would have read that the Mubai terrorist attacks were the fault of Muslim Extremists and the Hindus. In this disgusting Op-Ed they tried to give an even handed explanation of the horrid events last week. They refused to acknowledge that the Muslim murderers were targeting Jews and Westerners. Hell, the refused to acknowledge that they were terrorists, they were militants. But its not just the NY Times, their lead was followed by most of the Mainstream Media. ENOUGH ALREADY !! THEY WEREN'T MILITANTS THEY WERE TERRORISTS....LIKE MOST OF THE ISLAMIC TERRORIST...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush expressed remorse that the global financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts and said he'll back more government intervention if needed to ease the recession. "I'm sorry it's happening, of course," Bush said in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's "World News," which was airing Monday. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."...