Free Republic

By the end of the summer, President Barack Obama will make what some activists and legal experts say could be the "boldest move" of his presidency as he prepares to move without Congress on immigration reform. The coming executive actions to change immigration policy could become the defining moment in a second term marred by congressional gridlock. Amid fierce debate over the crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border they also could set up a potential political firestorm just weeks before the crucial midterm elections. Perhaps most importantly, Obama's coming executive actions could also test the limits of presidential power. "Depending on...

Folks.  Ross Perot was lambasted for using the term.  Now the president uses it as often as the “you can keep…” and “period” verbiage.  As always and forevermore, it is not what is said, but who says it. Folks.  As if those who went through enhanced interrogations were snatched from a Norman Rockwell scene and placed on a waterboard.  Hardly.  The president, and the attorney general, still seem bent on proving that the Bush administration engaged in “torture.”  We seem to forget the moment in history in which the procedures in question were conducted.  Did Obama and Holder see the...

In the middle of a tough press conference covering a wide range of difficult topics — the situation in Ukraine, the Israeli-Hamas conflict, the CIA’s admission that it had spied on the Senate, ISIS, Ebola, etc. — Barack Obama lost his legendary cool and asked the White House pool why they weren’t grilling him about the recent news about the rebounding economy, which he began the presser with. “I think it’s useful for me to end by just reminding folks that in my first term, if I had a press conference like this, typically, everybody would want to ask about...

The House of Representatives voted Friday evening to pass a bill that blocks President Barack Obama from continuing or expanding executive amnesty via the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or programs like it. The bill passed 216 to 192, with 11 Republicans voting against it and 4 Democrats voting for it.

WASHINGTON -- It did not take all that long, when you think about it, for America's Nobel Prize-winning statesman to bring the world to a boil. Perhaps our Nobel Prize-wining president was only a community organizer all along. He has brought the world to a boil not by his use of force but by his inattentiveness. He has been playing golf or lecturing the world from a higher plain. He has been picking fights with the Republicans or devising new ways to thwart the Constitution. He has not reacted to provocations around the world that threaten peace and our allies....

Conservative talk radio host Mark Levin’s legal foundation is asking a federal judge to sanction the Environmental Protection Agency for destroying public records. The Landmark Legal Foundation asked federal District Judge Royce Lamberth to sanction the EPA for the destruction of emails and text messages concerning the delay of large new environmental regulations until after the 2012 election.

On Wednesday's edition of "The Five," co-host Bob Beckel remarked on Snoop Dogg's revelation that he as smoked marijuana in the White House, by admitting to the same thing. “I can’t criticize this guy (Snoop) because I’ve done dope in the White House myself,” Beckel said. Co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle let out an exasperated, “Oh, God.” “Are you breaking news?” asked their colleague Eric Bolling. “I did, yeah,” Beckel said. (vid at link)

Yesterday the Messiah Most Miserable issued a dictatorial fiat executive order stating that no federal contractor can "discriminate" in its personnel practices based on employees' gender identity and/or sexual orientation.  Churches and related organizations are NOT exempted.  The USCCB pitched a fit.  My question is, "would this order of Obama's had been a blip on their radar screens if they had been exempted?"  Given prior behaviors, I must opine that had Obama exempted churches, they wouldn't have given a rat's rump regarding the matter. But since the USCCB and so many of the dioceses are officially on the federal...

Partisan gridlock blocking President Obama’s nominees for prestigious ambassadorships has created vacancies in a slew of top diplomatic posts at a time of growing international instability. It has also prevented Democrats from rewarding some of their biggest donors and bundlers in the midst of an intense campaign year, when they are eager to raise more money than Republicans. Ambassadorial nominees used to sail through the Senate. But as Obama has tapped an increasing number of them with strong political ties to the Democratic Party, the confirmation process has been bogged down, leaving gaps in important posts around the world. Secretary...

JULY 19, 2014 An Obama-Caused Border Disaster Make no mistake, the president has instigated the present influx of illegal aliens. By Andrew C. McCarthy It is a grave error to view the swarming of illegal aliens across our southern border as anything other than a challenge to our sovereignty — a challenge abetted, rather than repulsed, by a president who vows to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” The challenge brings into sharp relief a question I’ve repeatedly pressed (see, e.g., here, here, here, and here): If the states cannot or will not defend themselves, are they still, in...

The summer of 2014 will go down in history as the season when America fell apart. Let’s take a tour of the disasters. Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted candidate Barack Obama for his so-called Victory Column speech. Now, Germans suddenly sound as if they are near-enemies of the U.S. Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly was furious that her cell phone was tapped by American intelligence agents. She just kicked the top CIA official out of Germany, further enraged that the U.S. had recruited at least one German official to provide intelligence on the German government. Polls show that Germans find Vladimir...

Christians in Mosul have been offered three choices by ISIS: 1. Convert to Islam. 2. Pay the ‘jizya’ tax that renders them dhimmis – i.e., second-class citizens granted limited protection if they hand over half an ounce of pure gold. 3. Death by the sword. They had until noon today to make up their minds. Bit of a no-brainer, really. Mosul’s Christians – Catholics and Orthodox who until this month had celebrated Mass in the city every Sunday for 1,600 years – are fleeing for safety. Perhaps, by the time you read this, Barack Obama – a weekly worshipper at...

The only barrier standing in the way of another shameful broken treaty with our Native Americans is the U.S. Congress. The federal government is planning to take the South Unit of Badlands National Park and turn it over to the Department of the Interior, to have it administered by the National Park Service. The NPS was in the news last year when they barricaded our national monuments and prevented elderly WWII veterans from seeing their memorial during the sequester. The NPS put up barriers along scenic look-outs so drivers couldnÂ’t see Mt. Rushmore, and closed park entrances across the country....

Paul Craig Roberts: The entire U.S. gold hoard is now goneFormer U.S. Treasury official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts told King World News the entire United States gold hoard, including gold supposedly held at the Fed for other countries, is now gone. This is very bad news for Germany and other countries which have trusted the Fed to safely store their gold. Excerpts from the interview: Eric King: Dr. Roberts, I know you’ve seen the report on Bloomberg about Germany supposedly being happy with storing their gold at the New York Fed. It seemed to be a propaganda piece. What was...

'This is what we call A-W-O-L': John McCain blasts Obama for going to fundraiser rather than showing leadership over MH17 tragedy GOP Senator said only places in the world that are more tranquil because of Obama are those that have fundraisers Came after President was criticised for giving just 40-seconds of 16-minute transportation speech to the crash By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS and DAVID MARTOSKO 18 July 2014 U.S. Senator John McCain has blasted President Barack Obama for going 'A-W-O-L' and utterly failing to show leadership in the wake of the attack on Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in which 298 were killed...

On Saturday, President Obama interrupted his busy schedule of playing pool, drinking beer and jumping lines at BBQ joints to play golf an exclusive private country club in Maryland with ESPN host Michael Wilbon. Not like he has anything else to do, right? There’s nothing unusual about the president hitting the golf course – he’s done it at least a record-setting 177 times over his term. But it’s who he is playing golf with that’s interesting. As IJReview’s current Editor-at-Large Larry O’Connor reported for Breitbart in November 2013, Wilbon made the eyebrow-raising comment: “People can be upset with me if...

Obama Skips Border Chaos, Will Fundraise in Austin with Director of Pro-Illegal Immigration Film President Barack Obama is refusing to visit the turbulent U.S.-Mexican border, where a flood of illegal immigrants continues to overwhelm the region. Instead, Obama will visit the home of Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez this week as part of a trio of Texas fundraisers. The Austin visit features tickets ranging in price from $5,000 to $32,400. The July 9 fundraiser also will feature actors Rosario Dawson, Danny Trejo and Jessica Alba. Both Trejo and Alba star in Rodriguez's ultra-violent Machete franchise. The first film in the series...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Obama fraudulently declares meadow jumping mouse “endangered” in order to hurt ranchers On May 24, 2014, Wikipedia’s article on the meadow jumping mouse stated:The meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius) is the most widely distributed mouse in the subfamily Zapodinae. It may be found from the Atlantic coast, to the Great Plains, as far north as the arctic tree lines in Canada and Alaska, and as far south as Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, and New Mexico.The meadow jumping mouse is currently not in any kind of danger. According to the IUCN Red list, it is widely spread, common,...

Celebrating the ethnic diversity of America, President Barack Obama said more than two dozen foreign-born service members who became U.S. citizens at a White House ceremony on the Fourth of July are vivid reminders that the country is, and always has been, a nation of immigrants. He said the vast range of backgrounds and experiences that made America a melting pot for more than 200 years also makes it stronger, but that the immigration system has to be retooled for the U.S. to keep its place as the greatest nation on earth. "If we want to keep attracting the best...

President Obama is embracing Republican criticism of his aggressive use of executive actions as he shifts his focus to the midterm elections. The president is openly daring the GOP to challenge him, hoping he can parlay their complaints into ammunition for congressional Democrats who argue Republicans should be blamed for Washington’s dysfunction. ADVERTISEMENT Democratic aides and strategists say the White House sees Speaker John Boehner’s promised lawsuit against his executive actions as a political gift because it dovetails with their preferred narrative, that the president has been acting where Congress has not.  “So sue me,” Obama said Tuesday of the lawsuit threat.While...