Free Republic

Former Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson knows who he’ll be supporting in the 2024 presidential election. “I became an active Trump supporter when they raided Mar-A-Lago last summer,” Carlson said on an episode of Roseanne Barr’s podcast this week. “That can’t stand. And I agree with Trump on a lot, but even if I disagreed with Trump on a lot, I’d still be a Trump supporter because you cannot allow that.” Carlson was pulled off the air by Fox earlier this year, shortly after the company agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems hundreds of millions of dollars to settle claims...

In the wake of two shooting massacres, with China threatening the world economy and Iran threatening nuclear war, are the offenderati really losing their minds over a photograph of schoolboys fooling around with a cardboard cutout? Seems so, because the cardboard cutout depicts Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and she never passes up the chance to play the victim. These are harmless kids engaged in harmless skylarking. So harmless, they even tagged AOC in their initial posts. But they underestimated AOC’s mirthless self-importance and the punitive nature of her followers.

Democrats are cheering a new poll which shows that likely 2018 voters shift 33 points away from incumbent GOP legislators once they are given negative information about House Speaker Paul Ryan’s healthcare bill. “Voters [in GOP districts] move from approving of their congressperson by 12 points(46% approve, 34% disapprove) to disapproving by 21 points (35% approve,56% disapprove) — a net shift of 33 percentage points,” says Priorities USA, which commissioned the poll of 1,001 likely voters into the popularity of Ryancare, or the American Health Care Act. The Ryancare bill is intended to supplant Obamacare’s takeover of the nation’s healthcare...

Amateur analysis of US backing of The Islamic StateThere is certainly some truth on this.

Binney was an architect of the NSA’s surveillance program. He became a famed whistleblower when he resigned on October 31, 2001, after spending more than 30 years with the agency. He referenced testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2011 by then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller in which Meuller spoke of the FBI’s ability to access various secretive databases “to track down known and suspected terrorists.” “Now what he (Mueller) is talking about is going into the NSA database, which is shown of course in the (Edward) Snowden material released, which shows a direct access into the NSA database...

WASHINGTON – More than 600 rabbis displayed their support for US President Barack Obama's reelection bid on Tuesday, joining a campaign initiative called Rabbis for Obama. Obama for America announced Tuesday that Rabbis for Obama is designed to “engage and mobilize grassroots supporters.” The rabbis represent themselves and not individual synagogues or organizations, according to the news release. The names of all the rabbis can be found on the website barackobama.com/rabbis. Most of the rabbis are Reform or Conservative, although a handful are Orthodox.

Actress and model Cindy Crawford was among the many celebrities who backed Barack Obama for president in 2008, contributing to his campaign as well as sporting a pro-Obama T-shirt. But times have changed. On Monday, Mitt Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom tweeted: “Cindy Crawford appears in a demonstration video at Romney call day to show people how to use ComMitt fundraising software.”

The White House’s charm offensive toward Israel’s supporters continued this week with a nice dividend for the Jewish state: financial backing for the country’s “Iron Dome” anti-missile system designed to protect Israeli towns against Palestinian rocket attacks. Haaretz reported yesterday that the Pentagon informed Israel’s Defense Ministry that the president had approved the transfer of $205 million for the purchase of 10 Iron Dome batteries that could help shield southern Israelis towns such as Sderot that have been battered in the past by Katyushas and Qassam missiles from Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Boycott List Shows Companies Backing Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Planned Parenthood watchdog has released an updated list of the corporations and companies that provide direct funding for the abortion business. Life Decisions International identifies corporations that are boycott targets due to their support for the biggest abortion company in the world. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5618.html

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2007 – Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff fully support Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ proposal for reducing troops in Iraq to pre-surge levels by mid-July, Petraeus told Congress today. The recommendation, which President Bush must approve for it to be put into effect, would reduce the U.S. force in Iraq from 20 to 15 combat brigade teams next summer. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, told the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees today that coalition and Iraqi forces have made significant security progress...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli warplanes intensified airstrikes and launched a new commando raid in south Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 23 people in one of the heaviest tolls in days. Lebanon's prime minister won strong support from Arab states to plead his case at the United Nations for a full Israeli withdrawal. President Bush said he anticipates that Hezbollah and Israel won't agree with all aspects of a Mideast cease-fire resolution but said "we all recognize that the violence must stop." Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora choked back tears as he told a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers...

WASHINGTON Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, wants California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's support for legislation that would allow states to approve oil and gas drilling off their coasts something now blocked by federal bans. Pombo released a letter to Schwarzenegger on Tuesday asking him to back a bill that would replace existing federal moratoria on offshore drilling with a federal ban states could opt out of. The House Resources Committee, which Pombo chairs, is scheduled to vote on the legislation Wednesday. Pombo promotes the idea as a way to let states like California that oppose offshore drilling control their own coasts, while...

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leaving open the possibility of backing Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein for re-election, despite an impassioned appeal from her GOP rival, former state Sen. Dick Mountjoy. Schwarzenegger surprised his Republican backers shortly after the primary when he said he would have no problem endorsing a Democrat for office this year. "If I like someone, absolutely,'' he said at a June 8 campaign stop in Antioch. While the governor didn't name any names, Steve Schmidt, his campaign manager, wasn't quite so circumspect. "Like most Californians, (Schwarzenegger) thinks Dianne Feinstein is a great senator,'' Schmidt said. While Schwarzenegger...

As several hundred immigrants rallied on the west steps of the Capitol, the Assembly on Monday voted for a resolution calling on President Bush and Congress to reject extreme immigration laws. The party-line vote was symbolic, but the debate showcased the ideological emotions that have divided lawmakers in California and Washington, D.C. On one side, Democrats led by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles said Congress should give an estimated 12 million immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally a path to citizenship. But Republicans insisted that immigrants who have crossed the border illegally should not be rewarded for...

Sunni Arabs gain American backing in negotiations to form a new government.BAGHDAD – One month after Iraq's Dec. 15 election, a shift is afoot that will probably weaken Shiite political clout as the country's factions enter serious negotiations to form a new government. Increasingly, the US is throwing its weight in Iraq behind Sunni Arabs, about 20 percent of the country, to ensure they are part of a new coalition government. Analysts say the US is convinced reconciliation with Sunni Arabs will help stop the insurgency. There is also an American unease with the growing influence of Iran on Iraq's...

Rice to claim Euro backing for CIA prisons By Alec Russell in Washington and Kate Connolly in Berlin (Filed: 05/12/2005) Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, will vigorously defend America's fight against terrorism when she arrives in Europe today amid uproar over reports of terrorist suspects being held in secret CIA prisons. In the most heated transatlantic row in a year, European politicians and the media have expressed outrage over claims that the suspects are in custody in so-called "black sites" in eastern Europe. Condoleezza Rice faces a difficult public relations exercise Revelations that the CIA has used European...

Bolton loses British backing for UN tactics By Philip Sherwell in Washington (Filed: 27/11/2005) Britain has angered John Bolton, America's combative ambassador to the United Nations, by breaking ranks with him over the need for reform. The rare public disagreement between the two close allies comes as the showdown over reforms at the UN's New York headquarters becomes increasingly acrimonious. John Bolton: Angered Britain has rebuffed a Bolton move to join him in refusing to pass the organisation's 2006 budget until member states approve wide-ranging management reforms. To the irritation of Mr Bolton, many developing nations are bitterly opposed to...

The reviews of the film The Interpreter have been extremely positive. "Two thumbs up," say Ebert & Roeper. Larry King calls it "spellbinding." Rolling Stone calls it "smart." We agree with that last characterization. As we noted in a column, the film is political propaganda designed to boost the image of the United Nations and make the U.S. look bad for opposing the International Criminal Court. It is one of the smartest pieces of political propaganda to come out of Hollywood. Meryl Gordon's article about U.N. boss Kofi Annan, in the May 2 edition of New York magazine, notes that...

House conservatives harden backing for Social Security plan By Stephen Dinan THE WASHINGTON TIMES BALTIMORE — House conservatives said yesterday they will fight for a Social Security plan that goes into effect immediately and includes larger private accounts than the president is calling for, and they will not accept an overall increase in Social Security entitlement spending. "Conservatives want to see personal retirement accounts that have immediate relevance to younger Americans, that they can see the value, and that will require that they be big and that they be implemented in the final bill without delay," said Rep. Mike Pence,...

SACRAMENTO -- Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denies it but some lawmakers and analysts said Wednesday it's payback time for the Democratic Bay Area that snubbed him in the recall election -- and critics say his moves are also further pitting the north state against the south. At the 11th-hour of the legislative session, Schwarzenegger has suddenly set the stage for $4 or $5 bridge tolls by leaving the region to work out cost overruns on Bay Bridge work and is working to clear the way for a controversial Indian mega-casino that would make the East Bay the urban gambling capital...