Free Republic

KABUL – President Hamid Karzai's challenger withdrew Sunday from next weekend's runoff election, effectively handing the incumbent a victory but raising doubts about the government's credibility at a time when the U.S. is seeking an effective partner in the war against the Taliban.

Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch brought up a claim he said "some people" have made, that President Barack Obama is waiting until after this year's gubernatorial election in New Jersey and Virginia before making a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan. “Some people have even been, I think, hyper-critical in suggesting that he’s waiting until after the election because they have some tough governorships up for election” Hatch said In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union with John King, “I hope that’s not the case.” Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said he knows Hatch didn’t say he...

The Talk Shows Sunday, November 1st, 2009 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio talk show host.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner; David Plouffe, former Obama presidential campaign manager; author Jon Krakauer.FACE THE NATION (CBS): White House senior adviser David Axelrod; Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.THIS WEEK (ABC): White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio; Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Two men sought by the FBI and linked to a Detroit Muslim leader killed by U.S. authorities were arrested in Windsor, Ontario on Saturday, Canadian police said. Mohammad Al-Sahli, 33, and Yassir Ali Kahn, 30, both from the Windsor, Ontario area, were apprehended without incident on Saturday morning and will appear before an Ontario Superior Court judge on Monday to face extradition to the United States, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The statement said the two Ontario men were wanted by the FBI for conspiracy to commit federal crimes. An RCMP spokesman...

A few good FReepers wanted Free Republic is currently delivering over 1.2 million pageviews to over 230,000 visitors per day. That's 40 million pageviews to 7 million visitors per month or 120 million pageviews per quarter, 480 million pageviews per year. We currently have over 330,000 registered screen names on FR. Out of these millions of visits, hundreds of millions of pageviews, hundreds of thousands of registered FReepers and hundreds of thousands of regular lurkers only a relatively FEW actually donate the funds to keep FR alive. Now I'm not complaining, because we've always managed to meet our fundraising goals...

Our lawmakers have a trick for you this Halloween. Starting Sunday 10% more will be withheld from paychecks to cover the states $1.7 billion shortfall in the budget. They say it isn't a tax increase, it's just an interest free loan that we will recover in April when we file our taxes. Gee thanks guys, we all feel much better now. "California to withhold a bigger chunk of paychecks," by Shane Goldmacher and W.J. Hennigan - Los Angeles Times The provision is one of numerous maneuvers state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved in the summer to paper over the...

Friend -- Remember all those socialist-hollering, Glenn Beck-worshiping, tea party wing nuts from this summer's town hall meetings? If Sarah Palin gets her way, one of them could soon be a member of Congress. Next week marks one year since President Obama was elected. The amount of money we have in the bank will be used as an instant referendum on his first year. With Sarah Palin out there raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to stack Congress with those tea party lunatics, the media is watching to see how Grassroots Democrats respond. Help us raise $500,000 in response to...

In 568 words, what's wrong with 1,990 pages By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent 10/31/09 10:44 AM EDT House Republican Leader John Boehner gave the Republican radio address today, and in 568 words made a simple and compelling case for what is wrong with the Democrats' 1,990-page health care proposal -- and for what should be done instead. "This 1,990 pages of bureaucracy will centralize health care decision making in Washington, DC," Boehner said. "It’ll require thousands of new federal employees. It’ll put unelected boards, bureaus, and commissions in charge of who gets access to what drug and what potentially...

Gingrich endorses Hoffman Posted: October 31st, 2009 01:04 PM ET From CNN Political Editor Mark Preston WASHINGTON (CNN)– Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who came under fire from some conservatives for endorsing Dede Scozzafava in next week's special Congressional election in New York, is now backing Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. Gingrich made the announcement via Twitter shortly after the Republican Party nominee Scozzafava announced she was releasing supporters from their commitment to back her. "Scozzafava dropping out leaves hoffman as only anti-tax anti-pelosi vote in ny 23 Every voter opposed to tax increases support doug hoffman," Gingrich wrote on...

"Today, I again seek to act for the good of our community," "It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my party will emerge stronger and our district and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for...

Breaking DeDe has dropped out of the race here in the NY-23. A source colse to the Hoffman campaign confirms that DeDe Scozzafava has bowed out of the race. Stay tunes to 73wire for more details and audio of Dede addressing supporters.

Washington – The campaign for the 23rd Congressional District seat has turned into a two-person race that is too close to call only days before the election, according to an independent poll released today. Democrat Bill Owens (36 percent) and Conservative Doug Hoffman (35 percent) have emerged as the frontrunners, the Siena College poll of likely voters found. At the same time, Republican Dede Scozzafava – the early frontrunner – has seen her support sink to 20 percent of likely voters, the Siena Research Institute poll found. Scozzafava, a state Assemblywoman and the only candidate in the race with political...

An official with New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign was arrested last night after cops found found ecstasy tablets wrapped and ready to be sold in his car, police said. Jason Shih, 25, was pulled over by East Rutherford cops at about 11:30 p.m. last night because he was talking on his cell phone on Route 17, said Lt. Chris Conforti of the East Rutherford police. Officers wound up finding 19 "blue star" ecstasy tablets in Shih’s car, each wrapped in its own little plastic bag.

WABC TV in New York carried a story about one of Jon Corzine's close aides ( I missed the name) being arrested. He was stopped for talking on cell phone and the police found 15 viles of drugs. Anyone know anything more. Of course this is being smothered. This is not even on WABC TV's web site hmmmmmmmmmm

Obama Requests More Options for Troop Levels The Washington post reported two officials as saying late Friday Obama asked the Pentagon's top generals to provide him with more options for troop levels in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama grappled Friday with the costs and consequences of a long-term commitment to Afghanistan, but reached no decisions about troop levels, a top aide said, as military advisers briefed the president on an armed services already taxed by challenges around the globe. The president reviewed his options with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and made clear he wants at least one more meeting with...

Afghan presidential challenger Abdullah Abdullah plans to boycott next week's runoff against incumbent Hamid Karzai following a breakdown in talks on how to fix the country's electoral crisis, two people familiar with the discussions said. A boycott would severely undermine a vote intended to affirm the Afghan government's credibility. However, an Abdullah spokesman said no final decision had been made on the candidate's pullout. It was possible that word of the boycott was a negotiating tactic by the Abdullah camp. The political stalemate in Kabul comes as President Barack Obama has been meeting with his advisers to try to determine...

At today's White House briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Barack Obama has spent "close to 20 direct hours" in meetings on Afghanistan since Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for tens of thousands of reinforcements was submitted over two months ago with a warning the war would be lost in twelve months without more troops.Gibbs says Obama also spends "quite a bit of time" thinking about the war in Afghanistan.Gibbs was asked about a statement by the mother of one of the fallen soldiers, Sgt. Dale Griffin, killed in Afghanistan this week whom Obama met with at Dover early Thursday morning....

Mark my words - tomorrow is the game changer! Tune in to hear common sense solutions that bury the false accusations that conscientious members of Congress have no solutions to meet America's health care challenges. If you're like me, shaking your head wondering why all the miscommunication between Washington and the American people who have been saying, "Please hear what we're saying about our desire for health care reform," then tomorrow will be a refreshing time of clarity for all. All Americans, and especially colleagues of House Republican Leader John Boehner: please listen to tomorrow's weekly GOP national address. Rep....

Consumer spending tumbles while incomes stagnate, reinforce concerns about economic recovery WASHINGTON (AP) -- Flat incomes suggest more weakness ahead in consumer spending, reinforcing concerns about a ho-hum holiday shopping season and a sluggish economic recovery. "This recovery is going to be very weak. Consumers are in no position or mood to spend. Their wages are down and they can't get credit," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University's Smith School of Business. Concerns about the economy sparked by disappointing government data on spending and incomes sent stocks down Friday, erasing the previous day's big gains....

The events of the last 24 hours have pretty much clinched it: NY-23 is now officially a two-man race between the Democratic nominee Bill Owens and the Conservative Party upstart Doug Hoffman. From NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions to former Gov. George Pataki to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (through his operative, Jake Menges), Republicans are quickly abandoning their nominee, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, and backing Hoffman in a last-ditch effort to keep former Rep. John McHugh's seat in GOP hands and, perhaps more importantly, deny the Obama administration a much-needed political victory. "I think it’s now to a point where we’ve got...

 TEA PARTY EXPRESS II ROLLS INTO WASHINGTON STATE! RALLIES TO BE HELD IN PUYALLUP ON FRIDAY,KENNEWICK & SPOKANE ON SATURDAY. (FROM THE ROAD IN CENTRAL OREGON) - The national, cross-country tour titled, Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day (www.TeaPartyExpress.org)  is rolling into Washington State to host Tea Parties in Puyallup (Friday 6:00 PM), Kennewick (Saturday 9:00 AM), and Spokane (Saturday 2:00 PM). The Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day will hold rallies that seek to educate, entertain, and encourage patriotic Americans who are concerned about the quasi-socialistic policies being pushed by the Obama/Pelosi/Reid administration. Momentum has grown for the tour, as word of...

KNOXVILLE - A Knox County jury this afternoon sentenced convicted torture-slaying ringleader Lemaricus Davidson to death by lethal injection for the January 2007 murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. The jury of five women and seven men deliberated about four hours before returning its decision to a packed courtroom. “The punishment is death,” the jury foreman said. The victims' families gasped at the verdict, but Davidson showed no reaction. Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner admonished those in the courtroom to control any outburst. “The murder was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel,” the foreman said, reading from the verdict form....

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Deposed President Manuel Zelaya and his opponents have agreed to a U.S.-brokered deal that he said will return him to power four months after a coup shook faith in Latin America's young democracies. The power-sharing agreement reached late Thursday calls for Congress to decide whether to reinstate the leftist Zelaya. While the legislature backed his June 28 ouster, congressional leaders have since said they won't stand in the way of an agreement that ends Honduras' diplomatic isolation and legitimizes presidential elections planned for Nov. 29. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said Friday that the two...

The US is to end its 22-year ban on people with HIV entering the country, President Barack Obama has confirmed. Mr Obama made the announcement as he extended funding for an act that provides HIV/Aids related health care. "If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/Aids, we need to act like it," Mr Obama said. The US is one of only about a dozen countries barring entry on HIV status. The ban is expected to be lifted at the beginning of 2010. 'End the stigma' Mr Obama confirmed the move as he signed the Ryan White HIV/Aids...

Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee will boycott the markup of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill if Chairwoman Barbara Boxer tries to take it up next week. The seven Republican members on the committee met on the Senate floor last night and unanimously agreed to a boycott, according to Republican aides. Boxer told POLITICO on Thursday that she plans to mark up the bill on Tuesday, scheduling that requires noticing the hearing on Friday. As of noon, no notice had been issued. Democrats have a 12-7 majority on the committee, so Boxer doesn’t need any Republican votes to...

From the FBI press release on last night’s Dearborn, MI raid-turned-shootout that left radical Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, aka Christopher Thomas dead: Abdullah was the leader of part of a group that calls themselves Ummah (“the brotherhood”), a group of mostly African-American converts to Islam, which seeks to establish a separate Sharia-law governed state within the United States. The Ummah is ruled by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown, who is serving a state sentence in USP Florence, CO, ADMAX, for the murder of two police officers in Georgia.Interesting to note the active tense used in the...

CFA Executive Director: "While I admire Newt's intelligence and respect him as a fellow Catholic, his crass, political calculation in endorsing such a pro-abortion candidate sends an unfortunate signal that party loyalty is more important than morality. Newt needs to examine his conscience for so publicly flouting the Church's doctrine on abortion and gay marriage."

WASHINGTON -- Internal investigations into the conduct of several House members have been exposed in an extraordinary, Internet-era breach of security involving the secretive process by which Congress polices lawmaker ethics. Revelations of the mostly preliminary inquiries by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- also known as the Ethics committee -- shook the chamber as lawmakers were immersed in a series of scheduled votes Thursday. The panel announced that it was probing two California Democrats -- Reps. Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson -- even as its embarrassed leaders took pains to explain that several other lawmakers also...

Concludes political crisis in Honduras The signing was delayed for several hours after the delegation of the deposed Manuel Zelaya gave its approval long - Updated: 30.10.09 12:50 am - Writing: Current Rating: 4 votes: 3 3 Comments Print Send Tegucigalpa, Honduras . Representatives of the government of deposed Roberto Micheletti Manuel Zelaya signed late Thursday in this capital an agreement to end the political crisis that took to Honduras in the air for 124 days. The agreement was signed under heavy pressure from the U.S. government decided to send his top heavy artillery led by the undersecretary of state...

BreakingNews San Diego media: 9 missing after collision of Coast Guard C-130 and Marine Cobra helicopter off the SD coast. BNO News working to confirm.

Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile) Thursday, October 29th at 8:53PM EDT I am told reliably, but have not yet confirmed, that Governor George Pataki endorsed Doug Hoffman tonight at a Conservative Party event. As Matt Drudge would say: Developing . . . If this is so, this is huge. Pataki routinely won NY-23 by huge margins. He remains quite popular up there. UPDATE: IT IS CONFIRMED. Gov. George Pataki has endorsed Doug Hoffman for the United States Congress. Pataki’s statement: Statement from Governor George E. Pataki As someone personally engaged in the way of life in the Adirondacks and Northern...

Excerpts from a TPXII mail message: We just completed our rally in Redding, CA and it was fantastic. We're posting a report on it at our blog: http://teapartyexpressblog.blogspot.com/ Tonight Fox News Channel will be doing a segment on the progress of our tour. Watch Great Van Susteren's show "On The Record" at 10PM Eastern // 7 PM Pacific. News coverage of the Tea Party Express II has been growing and growing. We're going to try to keep you up-to-date on all the reports. Here's one for you to watch now - it's a segment on Anderson Cooper's Show (with John...

CNN's on-air meteorologist reporting a tornado on the ground in Shreveport, Louisiana- local fire department calling it in.

Sherwangei, Pakistan (CNN) -- A passport bearing the name of Said Bahaji, a suspect linked to the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, has been found in a town captured by the Pakistani military. The passport was found in South Waziristan, where the Pakistani military has been battling to wrest territory from the Taliban in Pakistan. It contained a Pakistani visa issued in August 2001 showing that the bearer entered Pakistan on September 4, 2001, and appeared unusually new for a document eight years old. CNN has not independently confirmed its authenticity. The photo in the passport resembles...

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for making Free Republic the number one conservative site on the Internet!! There is no doubt that FReepers have made a difference in American politics. As an example, we FReepers worked closely with Bob Barr and helped him impeach President Clinton. That one's in the history books. The Clintons and the Democrats will never live it down. It might even have been a factor in thwarting Hillary's run for the presidency, though we're now stuck with someone just as bad. And that's only because we couldn't get a conservative on...

CNN and talk radio host Lou Dobbs, a strong proponent of U.S. border enforcement, told his radio audience a gunshot was fired into his home after a series of threatening phone calls . "Three weeks ago this morning a shot was fired into my house, my wife was standing there," he said on his nationally syndicated radio show Monday. "This follows weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls." "This shot was fired with my wife not 15 feet away." ........

<p>Two people were shot at a synagogue parking lot in North Hollywood today, police said. A man is reported in custody.</p> <p>The shooting at the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Temple was reported about 6:20 a.m., said Los Angeles police Officer Cleon Joseph of media relations. A member of the synagogue tells KNX 1070 the shooting happened in the parking lot just as people were gathering at the temple for morning services.</p>

Very Tight in NY-23 A forthcoming DailyKos/Research 2000 poll will confirm that Dede Scozzafava (R) has lost ground in New York's 23rd congressional district and that Bill Owens (D) and Doug Hoffman (C) are now running "neck and neck." Owens leads Hoffman by just one point, 33% to 32%, followed by Scozzafava at 21%.

This is the official pdf from the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled by Nancy Pelosi today. It is 1,990 pages.

The leader of a Detroit mosque was killed Wednesday in a shootout with the FBI, which had charged him and 11 of his followers with arms violations and conspiracy to commit federal crimes. The shootout followed a raid by the FBI on a Dearborn warehouse in which the imam refused to surrender and opened fire on agents.

Iran wanted shipments of low-enriched uranium (LEU) -- for conversion abroad into fuel for a Tehran research reactor -- to take place in stages, not as one block. It also wanted simultaneous imports of higher-enriched fuel from other countries for the same plant. The conditions were likely non-starters for Western powers, which suspect the Islamic Republic covertly seeks nuclear arms capability.

USPS spokesperson Joanne Vito told the Examiner.com that 39 CFR 232.1(l) “applies to anyone coming into a Post Office or a Postal facility. The regulation prohibiting the possession of firearms or other weapons applies to all real property under the charge and control of the Postal Service. . . . Both open and concealed possession are prohibited, so storage of a weapon on a car parked in a lot that is under the charge and control of the Postal Service would be prohibited.” . . . Philip Van Cleave, President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League . . . said...

Presser scheduled for 10:30 Eastern. All the gory details will be unveiled.

The U.S. Economy grew at a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter, ending a string of declines over four quarters that resulted in the most severe slide since the Great Depression.

DOVER, DEL. -- Earlier this year President Obama lifted the 18-year ban on media coverage of the return of fallen soldiers to Dover, a ban critics said hid the costs of war from the American people. Thursday morning President Obama -- who is weighing new strategy in Afghanistan -- saw those costs up close.

President Barack Obama made a surprise trip to Dover Air Force Base late Wednesday night as the bodies of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan arrived. The president, who is still undecided on a strategy for the way forward in the region, left the White House by Marine One near midnight to meet the 18 bodies of soldiers and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents killed Monday.

The alleged head of a militant Islamic group was killed in a shootout with FBI agents in Detroit Wednesday, the FBI announced. Luqman Ameen Abdullah and 10 other men were to be arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit a series of federal crimes. From the FBI release: "During the arrests today, the suspects were ordered to surrender. At one location, four suspects surrendered and were arrested without incident. Luqman Ameen Abdullah did not surrender and fired his weapon. An exchange of gun fire followed and Abdullah was killed. An FBI canine was also killed during the exchange. "Abdullah was...

The unannounced trip began around midnight and was expected to have the president back at the White House before dawn on Thursday. ...The White House kept Obama's plans off his schedule, informing a small group of traveling reporters in advance on condition of secrecy. Obama was expected to observe a somber ceremony on the tarmac of the base without public comment.

The Washington Post reports tonight that Barack Obama and top administration officials have concluded the Taliban cannot be beaten and that they are looking for ways to cede parts of Afghanistan to the Taliban without those regions becoming safe havens for al Qaeda.The article also reports that Obama may wait until after he returns from a 10 day visit to Asia that begins November 11 to decide his policy for Afghanistan.The Post article is largely about Obama's request made this week, two months after he received Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for tens of thousands more troops to fulfill Obama's counter-insuregency...