Free Republic

Contrary to some reports, the Republican sweep of Tuesday's governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia is not a direct rebuke of President Obama, according to Leo Hindery, managing partner of InterMedia Partners. Indeed, a Democrat won New York's 23rd Congresional District for the first time since 1872. (Yes, 1872.) But even Hindery, a former advisor to President Obama and John Edwards' senior economic policy advisor, can't deny the Democrats have stumbled. "The lesson is simple: It's the economy, stupid," Hindery says. "Healthcare reform is an important issue...but the priority was misguided. I'm a strong advocate of universal healthcare but...

White House officials tell ABC News that President Obama will visit with wounded soldiers tomorrow at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The trip was scheduled before the incident today at Fort Hood, officials said. President Obama visited wounded troops at Walter Reed as president-elect in January and has visited wounded troops at Bethesda Naval Hospital as senator. Last week the president made a secret late-night journey to Dover Air Force Base to participate in the dignified transfer of troops and DEA agents killed in Afghanistan. He is in the midst of making up his mind about a new strategy in...

Hillary Clinton's retreat from the previous US demand for a settlement freeze leaves the administration's strategy for Israeli-Palestinian peace in limbo. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped from the frying pan into the fire this weekend, when she sparked a controversy regarding U.S. policy toward Israeli settlements right after some tough days of public and private diplomacy in Pakistan. But was the controversy as serious as it seemed? And what does it means for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts? Here, a fact check on some settlement myths and misconceptions. 1. What is the significance of Clinton's linguistic acrobatics? Standing next...

Barack Obama has stepped into the row about the future of Vauxhall and Opel as anger about General Motors’ decision to keep its European operations threatens to harm transatlantic relationships. President Obama is believed to have secured an agreement with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, that she would “co-ordinate” with the US leader on the future of GM Europe during a phone call. The American government is the majority shareholder in GM but a spokesman for Ms Merkel said President Obama told Ms Merkel he had not been involved in the car maker’s decision to scrap the sale of Vauxhall...

Obama change means destruction of the spiritual foundation of the USA. Obama, born and raised to despise traditional values that sustains our nation is dismantling this country The protection we had since 911 is fading fast. Soldiers are slain by a hateful Islamic terrorist, but will the media ignore the core of this cancer? It is the Obama idea that the USA is wrong, economicaly, environmentaly. medicaly, polticaly, militarily and in all other ways. Obama will not even visit Germany to commemorate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. Is Obama a Marxist? Obama is the radical fox...

Disgusting example of why Obama will go down in history as the worst Commander in Chief in our countries history. For him to get up and talk for almost two minutes about native american rights and give 'shout outs' to people attending is appalling. The point of his appearance there was changed the instant he found out that men and women at Ft Hood were killed by a crazed gunman. His FIRST duty was to the men and women in uniform, and the fact he seemed so casual and unaffected by the tradgedy was very revealing. The man has no...

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush. With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday's Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America's first black president. He instead traveled to Wisconsin to appear before a friendly audience in a school gymnasium and promote education as...

Reuters President Obama's idea of waging "aggressive personal diplomacy"? Attacking President Bush for blustering belligerence: But he asserted that Iran’s support for militant groups in Iraq reflected its anxiety over the Bush administration’s policies in the region, including talk of a possible American military strike on Iranian nuclear installations. Yup. That explains Iranian aggression for the last 30 years against the United States. Meanwhile, Israel seizes 500 tons of Iranian weapons on Wednesday: Israel displayed on Wednesday the contents of the ship it seized off Cyprus - crates filled with rockets, missiles, mortars, anti-tank weapons and munitions - the...

Barack Obama held out hope of overcoming partisan divides, lowering the temperature and bringing Americans together. How's that working out? Not well, it appears. One year after he was elected, Americans look more polarized than ever. In a special House election in upstate New York, a Conservative Party candidate, backed by Sarah Palin, took on a moderate Republican whom his supporters called a "radical leftist," forced her to withdraw and then lost to the Democrat. It's entirely possible that in the Senate, not a single Republican will vote for an administration-supported health insurance overhaul. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., laments that...

Sure, Election Day 2009 will scare moderate Democrats and make passage of ObamaCare more difficult. Sure, it makes it easier for resurgent Republicans to raise money and recruit candidates for 2010. But the most important effect of Tuesday's elections is historical. It demolishes the great realignment myth of 2008. In the aftermath of last year's Obama sweep, we heard endlessly about its fundamental, revolutionary, transformational nature. How it was ushering in an FDR-like realignment for the 21st century in which new demographics — most prominently, rising minorities and the young — would bury the GOP far into the future. One...

TEL AVIV – President Obama, who has refused to release his college transcripts, yesterday divulged his daughter Malia scored a 73 on a sixth-grade science test. Obama went into unusual detail about Malia's 73, telling a Wisconsin school audience his 11-year-old daughter recently "became depressed," explaining that in the Obama household "our goal is 90 percent and up" on school tests. Obama said Malia complained her test differed from the class science study guide but that after changing her habits, she scored a 95 on the next science test. He quoted Malia saying, "I like having knowledge." "In our household...

Keeping you updated. As mass pro-Democracy protests swept Iran today the protesters chanted "Obama, Obama you are either with the Iranian government or with us". Videos here

Obama: “wants to move beyond this past, and seeks a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran” Obama Administration on Anniversary of Embassy and Hostage Seizure in Iran: We're trying to be Friends! By Barry Rubin thelastcrusade.com Will Rogers, the great American comedian of the 1920s and 1930s, famously said, “I never met a man I didn’t like.” The problem with the Obama Administration, at least so far, is that it has never met an enemy that it could identify as such.Of course, the story isn’t over yet. Indeed, one does see signs of change. But we are still...

WATCH OBAMA ON YOUTUBE AND HIS SICKENING PERFORMANCE The very first thing he should have done is asked the audience to join him in a moment of silence for the Ft. Hood victims. He went through 2:24 of crap before getting to the most important part.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is calling a mass shooting at a Texas Army base a "horrific outburst of violence."He says he doesn't yet know all the details but promised the government would get "answers to every single question."The commander in chief says it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.Obama also said his thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and families of the fallen.The U.S. Army says 12 people have been killed and 31 wounded in a shooting rampage on the Fort...

What else needs to be said. This man is disgusting! Pure evil.

WASHINGTON -- The Palestinians had hoped they would see a new day coming after the Bush administration’s eight-year capitulation to all that Israel wanted. But they were wrong. The Obama administration is moving down the same Bush road -- perhaps a little slower -- but nonetheless still enabling the Israelis to continue to violate international law and the U.N. Charter by annexing occupied Arab land. First, the new administration made it clear that U.S. policy opposed new Jewish settlements on the West Bank. This declaration was met with a thumping rejection from the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Then,...

Speaker Pelosi’s Government-Run Health Plan Will Require a Monthly Abortion Premium Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life - not end it. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one...

Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is proposing the requirement to draw attention to the plan's alleged flaws. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson proposed an amendment Wednesday that would force all members of Congress to receive health insurance coverage through the government-run plan proposed in the House's reform bill. Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," the South Carolina gadfly -- who gained notoriety for shouting "you lie" at President Obama during his address to Congress two months ago -- is proposing the requirement to draw attention to what he sees as the plan's flaws. "They...

War On Terror: Sen. John Kerry, who was so wrong about Iraq, now says our commander in Afghanistan is "reaching too far, too fast" and that a "good enough" policy should suffice. It won't. Offering his advice on how to micromanage the war against the Taliban, Kerry said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Obama's hand-picked general to fight what he called a "war of necessity," is wrong in saying he needs 40,000 more troops to fight and win it. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Kerry advocated a "good enough" policy designed not to achieve victory in al-Qaida's...

Four Reasons Hyperinflation Hasn’t Hit The US... Yet Keith Fitz-Gerald Nov 04, 2009 11:30 am This uncertain limbo isn't good now, or ever. Everything we know about classic economic theory suggests the US economy should be experiencing Zimbabwe-like hyperinflation right now, thanks to the nearly $2.2 trillion the US Federal Reserve has pumped into the system. But we’re not... yet. Classic economic theory says that money supply can be used to stimulate the economy and our central bankers seem to agree. That’s why they’ve pumped more than $1 trillion dollars into the economy, engineered countless bailout bonanzas for zombie institutions,...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-iran Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 03, 2009 Statement by President Barack Obama on Iran Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was seized. The 444 days that began on November 4, 1979 deeply affected the lives of courageous Americans who were unjustly held hostage, and we owe these Americans and their families our gratitude for their extraordinary service and sacrifice. This event helped set the United States and Iran on a path of sustained suspicion,...

Today, national Democrats are trying their best to dismiss missing limbs as flesh wounds. It is their job. But they are in deep trouble if they believe their own spin. Compared to 12 months ago, 24 percent more Virginians voted Republican at the top of the ticket. Independents broke decisively against Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey. If this is not a backlash against Democrats, then who, exactly, was being lashed? These losses, for the most part, don’t seem to be a personal repudiation of the president. But they highlight a political fact -- the political fact of the last...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Gov. Charlie Crist is saying he did not endorse the $787 billion federal stimulus bill, a statement that might confuse some voters. Crist appeared with President Barak Obama in February to support the bill, asked Florida members of Congress to vote for it and previously told The Associated Press that he would have voted for it if he had been in the Senate. But when the Republican governor talked about the bill Wednesday on CNN, he said he didn't endorse it. Crist told CNN he understood that the bill was going to pass and wanted to...

Even as a Senate global-warming bill remained in limbo with Democrats refusing to delay a committee vote until an economic analysis was completed, hopes rose for a potential bipartisan compromise. The Senate, meanwhile, appears to be moving away from the bill, authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., which would require a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and would have the government sell the right to emit carbon dioxide. Even as Boxer conducted an unusual one-sided hearing on her bill in the Environment and Public Works Committee, Kerry, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and...

Republicans still believe the President is visiting Wisconsin for one reason only. Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Reince Preibus says both President Barack Obama and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle realize how important it is to help convince the undecided Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to jump into the state gubernatorial race. “In my view this is nothing more than an attempt to get Mayor Barrett into this governor’s race while the Democrats in Wisconsin are sucking for air. They’ve just got beat out east, they don’t have a governor candidate in the state of Wisconsin, they don’t have many legislative candidates...

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush. With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday's Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America's first black president.

LINKNot too hard to figure out, folks!

Cold War: The White House has announced our absence at ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Meanwhile, Russia has been practicing a nuclear invasion of an abandoned Poland. The Berlin Wall has been a famous backdrop for American presidents sounding the battle cry of liberty in the struggle against tyranny. It was there that John F. Kennedy expressed our solidarity with the encircled residents of that outpost of freedom with his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner." And it was there that Ronald Reagan, with a defiant "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," voiced our...

"We'll always have Paris. We didn't have, we'd lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night." So famously said Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman in the marvelous conclusion of one of the greatest films of all time, "Casablanca." On Wednesday, MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell shamelessly used a version of this line on White House advisor David Axelrod. During her interview about yesterday's election results, including Bill Owens' victory in New York's 23rd Congressional district, Mitchell asked Axelrod about the Obama campaign documentary aired on HBO Tuesday. ...more (w/video)...

Behind Global Warming Alarms Allie Winegar Duzett, November 4, 2009 As the danger of global warming fades, the influence of those who would use it to expand government regulation grows. Neil Maghami of the Capital Research Center investigates those behind today’s climate of environmental alarmism in his October 2009 article, “The Triumph of Environmental Alarmism: Science ‘Czar’ John Holdren and the Woods Hole Research Center.” In the article, Maghami describes who John Holdren is and why he is significant. Holdren is today President Obama’s science “czar,” and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The OSTP...

In White House Vs. Fox News War Of Words, Who Gets Your It seems like time for a survey: I'm supporting: The White House on this one; Fox News isn't "fair and balanced." Fox News on this one; it asks questions others don't and the White House should be able to handle them. Neither side. They're both trying to play this "feud" to their advantage. Vote? Go to the link provided. Vote your choice and let NPR know your pick.

NBC's "The Biggest Loser" is at the White House tonight. This is not a joke.

Signs of Republican revival in Tuesday’s election will leave some conservatives cheering, and others sneering; cynics insist that it doesn’t matter which half of the two-party power structure controls the levers of power. Continues...================================================================ Obama linked to Democrats' electile dysfunction problem -- study Oh, sure, after a delicious night like this, I suppose I could write yet another rambling, lame-o 'not going to gloat' piece, all the while gloating away by talking about Bob McDonnell's devastating defeat of Democrat Creigh Deeds (Governor's race) and Bill Bolling's walloping of Democrat Jody Wagner (Lieutenant Governor's race) and Ken Cuccinelli's trouncing of Democrat...

It's Barack Obama's First Anniversary - But There's Precious Little To Celebrate The US President's performance has dismayed even his biggest admirers, writes Simon Heffer in New York Simon Heffer 03 Nov 2009 A year ago, almost to the minute, I was here in New York, watching television reports of the aftermath of the election of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States of America. I recall the sight of a lachrymose woman from the Midwest, standing outside her run-down house as the sun rose, giving thanks for her deliverance: not from George W Bush, but from the...

My fellow Americans, if you believe in the Constitution, individual liberty, freedom, ownership of firearms, and personal property, along with being able to eat what you want, live how you want, smoke if you desire and make the kind of choices that a free people make, then you will put aside party differences, and stop the health care bill. Aside from bankrupting America and forcing our country to become beholden to the IMF and the United Nations, in order to avoid the kind of social decay that occurs in third world countries, YOU will lose everything, including your right to...

Up shot of article (my snap translation):--Obama in a painful situation, because just one year ago, he took these states. Now, tonight, they fell to the Republicans.--It seems that with the election of the 2 Republicans and defeat of Obama, his prized "Health Care" program is in jeopardy.--The results show the sentiment of the American People in those states toward Obama and is a reflection of what might be expected a year from now in the 2010 midterm elections.--Obama had quite a year in Virginia (in 2008), which did not go for a Democrat for President in 44 years, and...

Senior Congressional Democrats say reform before end of year is highly unlikely. Senior Congressional Democrats told ABC News today it is highly unlikely that a health care reform bill will be completed this year, just a week after President Barack Obama declared he was "absolutely confident" he'll be able to sign one by then. "Getting this done by the by the end of the year is a no-go," a senior Democratic leadership aide told ABC News. Two other key Congressional Democrats also told ABC News the same thing. This may come as an unwelcome surprise for the White House, where...

had a four-hour dinner once with Rush Limbaugh at the “21” Club in Manhattan, back in the days when I was still writing profiles as a “reporterette,” to use a Limbaugh coinage. He was charming, in a shy, awkward, lonely-guy way. Not a man of the people. He arrived in a chauffeured town car and ordered $70-an-ounce Beluga, Porterhouse and 1990 Corton-Charlemagne. But he was not a Neanderthal, though he did have a cold and blew his nose in his napkin. He talked about Chopin’s Polonaise No. 6, C.S. Lewis and how much he loved the end of the movie...

The Obama freight train that has been steamrolling American politics ever since his election one year ago ran squarely into a political brick wall Tuesday night, as Democrats suffered stunning setbacks in Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. The big surprise: New Jersey, a blue state where Obama invested significant political capital by pulling out all the stops to try to put incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine over the top. The president personally campaigned for Corzine three times, taped "robocalls," and sent his vice-president to make two more appearances. Yet despite the president and vice president repeatedly putting their personal...

"You can submit one response. This page will update with the most popular choices from NYTimes.com readers." Submit your response at this link:http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/03/us/politics/20091103-anniversary-wordtrain.html?hp

In a year of job losses, foreclosures and bag lunches, Americans have spent record-breaking amounts of money on guns and ammunition. The most obvious sign of their demand: empty ammunition shelves. At points during the past year, bullets have been selling faster than factories could make them. Gun owners have bought about 12 billion rounds of ammunition in the past year, industry officials estimate. That's up from 7 billion to 10 billion in a normal year.

Property Values Set to Fall 43% From Current Depressed Levels Michael David White November 02, 2009 Price Trends / WAR OF THE WORLDS: If you use a 20-year time horizon, and assume prices will return to the trend line, then our residential property bubble will bottom after values fall over 40% from current levels (see above (c) aka “(y) - (z)” aka “Loss Today to Bottom”). I make no predictions. I do watch numbers. The chart shows a catastrophe of falling real estate values loaded up on top of our current catastrophe in real estate values. No one would question...

Democrats said that the outing of a CIA agent, personnel, whatever, was bad, and said that someone's head in the Bush Administration had to roll. Democrats wanted Cheney, but didn't get him. When the New York Times outs Karzai's brother as supposedly being paid by the CIA to do who knows what, Democrats act as if it is no big deal. What gives?

Opaque Obama Sarah Carlsruh, November 3, 2009 In a Memorandum to the heads of his executive departments and agencies, President Barack Obama said that his “Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government” and will “work together to ensure the public trust.” But at an October 26th Judicial Watch education panel, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), argued that the Obama Administration’s decided failure to be open with the American people has caused them to begin to lose the public trust. Congressman Issa, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, presented his views on...

3 Points in 3 Months: VA Gov Contest Polling Ends Just About Where It Began, With GOP Sweep Of VA Races: Today it's McDonnell 58% Deeds 40%... In the race for Lieutenant Governor Bill Boiling today defeats Democrat Jody Wagner 57% to 41%... Republican candidate for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli...today wins 59% to 39%. ...

The Government Will Default On Its Debts Economics / Great Depression II Nov 02, 2009 - 08:01 AM By: Gary_North The governments of every major nation are going to default on their debts. There are two relevant questions: (1) How? (2) When?Establishments around the world all deny this. They have gained power and wealth by means of the expansion of government. They have justified their success by insisting that the government-business alliance is the only way to establish economic growth and economic security for the masses. This claim rests on a more fundamental claim, namely, that an unhampered free market...

Undermine our allies. Embolden our enemies. Diminish our country. If anyone doubted those nine words summed up the Obama Doctrine, look at what the president's team perpetrated last week in Honduras. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon and Dan Restrepo, the National Security Council's senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, visited the Honduran capital in Tegucigalpa on Wednesday to compel the country's recalcitrant democrats to make a deal with the man the latter had lawfully removed from the presidency on June 28. It remains to be seen whether, pursuant to this deal, former President Manuel Zelaya will be restored to...

Press release from Judicial Watch: “(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it obtained more documents from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to the NEA’s controversial August 10 conference call encouraging artists to create work that promotes the Obama agenda. The documents consist of internal NEA emails indicating the idea for the NEA propaganda effort grew out the Obama campaign while also providing new details regarding White House involvement. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which...

Eyebrows raised over the weekend as President Obama walked out of the gym at Fort McNair -- appearing thin as a rail! Rigorous workouts and high-stress basketball games are said to be behind the dramatic weight loss. "No, he's not chain smoking," claims an insider. "He's working non-stop for the country... yes, he does occasionally skip meals." The president explained in Miami last week: "Just because I'm skinny doesn't mean I'm not tough."