Free Republic

Dear MoveOn member, Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people. Huh? Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background: She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign...

A spectre is haunting the liberal elites of New York and Washington--the spectre of a young, attractive, unapologetic conservatism, rising out of the American countryside, free of the taint (fair or unfair) of the Bush administration and the recent Republican Congress, able to invigorate a McCain administration and to govern beyond it. That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer...

Could McCain’s VP Pick De-Fang Biden?by Judson Berger Saturday, August 30, 2008 John McCain’s game-changing selection of a first-term female governor from Alaska as his running mate poses a challenge for Barack Obama’s own selection for vice president. The presence of Gov. Sarah Palin, 44, on the campaign trail could serve to de-fang Joe Biden — the longtime Delaware senator who over the past week swiftly assumed the Democratic ticket’s role of attack-dog-in-chief. “The Obama campaign is going to have to really sort of police Joe Biden’s speech in order to prevent him from saying something that could be read...

1. Steps on the story of Obama's speech (and convention), and possibly the bounce coming from them, and wipes them off the news cycle. The Sunday news shows will be all-Palin, all of the time. 2. Sends Republicans into their convention on a huge head of steam. 3. Wipes out the image of McCain as the crotchety elder and brings back that of the fly-boy and gambler, which is much more appealing, and the genuine person. 4. Revs up the base AND excites independents, which no one else in the party, or perhaps in the world, could have accomplished. 5....

Optimistic developments touted after Olmert-Abbas meeting prove to hold little water as gaps between Israel, PA only seem to widen as negotiations go deeper. Behind closed doors, Israeli and Palestinian officials have confirmed to Ynet, PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia is demanding an army be built for future Palestinian nation Roni Sofer and Ali Waked Published: 05.19.08, 01:14 / Israel News Despite previous understandings that a future Palestinian state would be demilitarized, Ynet has learned that in talks held behind closed doors, the top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, Ahmed Qureia, is demanding the establishment of a regular army. High-level Israeli...

Iran's demographic catastrophe in the making, I have long argued, impels Tehran to stake its claim for regional empire quickly, while it still has the manpower to do so. ------- Population decline eventually leads to stability, but not necessarily by a direct path. Some years ago a Danish politician proposed to replace the Defense Ministry with a telephone answering machine with the message: "We surrender."

<p>The rapid escalation of the U.S. anti-immigration hysteria fueled by ratings-hungry cable-television hotheads and leading Republican presidential hopefuls is a dangerous trend: It may lead to a Hispanic intifada that may rock this nation in the not-so-distant future.</p>

It would appear that the left's confidence in a Democratic election victory is slipping and they plan to respond as totalitarians always do when their pretense of mass support is punctured: Crank up the conspiracy theories and take to the Streets. As Lyn Davis Lear (a lefty elitist if there ever was one) says: "Here are some questions: Are these guys simply narcissistic idiots Rove-ing around in some never-never land bubble or do they know something we don’t? Have they planned a grab bag nose punch of an October/November surprise? Or have Diebold, ES&S, and local state secretaries assured them...

Gazan Muslims Form Group to Attack Christian Targets 23:03 Sep 19, '06 / 26 Elul 5766 by Ezra HaLevi Muslims in Hamas-controlled Gaza have formed an ad hoc terrorist group promising to attack Christian targets to avenge the Pope’s choice of a quotation insinuating that Islam is prone to violence. The group, which calls itself the “Army of guidance,” sent an announcement to news agencies based in Gaza saying that “every place relevant to Christians will be a target until the cursed infidel – the Vatican – apologizes to Muslims.” Hardline Islamic groups were offended by the Pope’s citing of...

ISRAEL'S rep for toughness in tatters. Hezbollah trium phant. Iran cockier than ever. Syria untouched. Lebanon's government crippled. An orgy of anti-Semitism in the global media. Anti-Americanism exploding among Iraqi Shi'as inspired by Hezbollah. Thanks, Prime Minister Olmert. Great job, guy. The debacle in Lebanon wasn't even a war. It was only round one of a war. And Israel's back in its corner, dazed and punch-drunk. Israel got in a gut jab, but Hezbollah landed three ferocious haymakers: * Despite the physical damage the Israeli Defense Forces inflicted, Hezbollah's terror-troops were still standing (and firing rockets) when the bell rang.

THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA CALLS ON ALL TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH HONEST, CONSCIOUS AND INTERNATIONAL MORAL AND HUMANITARIAN LAWS. IT ALSO WARNS ALL THAT IF THE PEACE OPTION IS REJECTED DUE TO THE ISRAELI ARROGANCE THEN ONLY THE WAR OPTION REMAINS AND NO ONE KNOWS THE REPERCUSSIONS BEFALLING THE REGION, INCLUDING WARS AND CONFLICT THAT WILL SPARE NO ONE INCLUDING THOSE WHOSE MILITARY POWER IS NOW TEMPTING THEM TO PLAY WITH FIRE.

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call in a new videotape released Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq." In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command to Osama bin Laden, said that al-Qaida now views "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us." The Egyptian-born physician said that the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and Palestinian militants would not be ended with "cease-fires or agreements." "It is a...

Valerie Plame Wilson, Ambassador Joseph Wilson and Their Counsel to Hold News Conference Announcing Lawsuit against I. Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby, Vice-President Cheney and Karl Rove Thursday July 13, 2:22 pm ET WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2006--Valerie Plame Wilson, Ambassador Joseph Wilson and their counsel, Christopher Wolf of Proskauer Rose LLP, will hold a news conference at 10 AM EDT on Friday, July 14 at 10:00 AM at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045, to announce the filing of a civil lawsuit against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice-President Richard Cheney and Karl Rove. WHO: Valerie...

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea will respond to a pre-emptive U.S. military attack with an "annihilating strike and a nuclear war," the state-run media said Monday, heightening its antagonistic rhetoric. The Korean Central News Agency, citing an unidentified Rodong Sinmun newspaper "analyst," accused the United States of increasing military pressure on the isolated communist state. The North Korean threat of retaliation, which is often voiced by its state-controlled media, comes amid U.S. official reports that Pyongyang has shown signs of preparing for a test of a long-range missile. "The army and people of the DPRK are now in full...

Southern CA at risk for massive quake KPBS San Diego KPBS SAN DIEGO (2006-06-21) A new study by Scripps Institution of Oceanography indicates a considerable amount of strain is building on the southern end of the San Andreas fault, and could result in a significant earthquake at any moment. The study, led by Scripps' geologist Yuri Fialko, is comprised of more than 20 years' worth of detailed data, and suggests the two plates on either side of the southern San Andreas fault are slipping past each other at 25 millimetres per year. Without a recent quake to alleviate that pressure,...

That does it. I'm moving to Mexico. See, at the moment, I'm in a hotel room outside of Salt Lake City, and since about 7:30 this morning, the hotel maid has been banging on my door every 15 minutes to ask when I might be departing. Her thick Spanish accent and unfamiliarity with English has made it very difficult for me to explain that I will be leaving when I damn well please. Too bad I don't remember much from my high-school Spanish classes. (Unfortunately, her name is not Isabel and she has no idea how to find the biblioteca.)...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pro-immigration activists say a national boycott and marches planned for May 1 will flood U.S. streets with millions of Latinos to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and shake the ground under Congress as it debates reform. Such a massive turnout could make for the largest protests since the civil rights era of the 1960s, though not all Latinos -- nor their leaders -- were comfortable with such militancy, fearing a backlash in Middle America. "There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We're going to close down Los Angeles,...

While no official lawsuit has been filed, Ted has stopped his pledge drive to raise money for this libel/slander suit against Ann Coulter saying that he now has enough. The proposed libel/slander suit is the result of comments she made that Ted had entered the Iranian Holocaust Cartoon contest - a claim he denies. He’s now meeting with lawyers on the details of such a suit. "Thanks to hundreds of generous pledgers we now have enough money committed to launching a slander and libel suit against Coulter for her remarks falsely claiming that I had entered Iran’s Holocaust cartoon contest."

Danish Muslim leaders warned on Saturday, February 4, of grave consequences if copies of the Noble Qur’an were burnt in a rally planned by Danish extremists to protest Muslim anger over cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). "All hell will break loose, if those extremists burn the Qur’an," Raed Halil, the head of the European Committee for Defending Prophet Muhammad, told IslamOnline.net over the phone from the Danish capital Copenhagen.

(CNSNews.com) - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has threatened to run for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-Calif.) seat unless Feinstein filibusters Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Clinton: Democrats May Filibuster To Block Alito Friday, January 27, 2006 07:21 AM - WBEN Newsroom Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton says being in the minority in Washington, Democrats have few options when they disagree with an issue or an appointment forwarded by republiacns, and that is the case with the nomination of Samuel Alito the U.S. Supreme Corut. Hearings contiue to day for Alito, and a vote is likely next Tuesday, but Clinton tells WBEN's Barbara Burns her party is considering a filibuster to try to block the expected Alito confirmation. Clinton says she is opposed...

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said Republicans had created "one of the most closed, corrupt congresses in history" and urged the House ethics committee to investigate GOP lawmakers linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. "It's hard for the American people to understand how corrupt it is here," the California Democrat said at a news conference. In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Pelosi said Democrats expect the ethics committee to look into the "alleged violations of criminal laws and the rules of the House" by former Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Texas, and three other Republicans with ties...

Mexican legislators are calling on their Latin American counterparts to join them in opposing a proposed barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border. Heliodoro Diaz, who presides over Mexico's House of Representatives, has sent a written request to several regional legislatures as well as to parliaments in Spain and Portugal. Mr. Diaz says opposing the wall would be "an act of unity among Ibero-American legislatures." The U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure earlier this month to construct security fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border in an effort to curb illegal border crossing. The measure would also reclassify illegal entry into the United...

To the surprise of perhaps no one, Senators Arlen Specter and John McCain have jumped on this morning's reports of NSA spying within the United States as another opportunity to grab the limelight.Report of NSA Spying Prompts Call for Probe (AP) Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter put the Bush administration on notice Friday that his panel would hold hearings into a report that the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States. "There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Specter, R-Pa., calling hearings early next year "a very, very high priority." He wasn't...

Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia said Monday he doesn't expect Democrats to filibuster the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, but he still chastised Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for threatening to stop any such effort through a drastic parliamentary effort that has been dubbed the "nuclear option." "If he ever tries to exercise that, he's going to see a real filibuster if I'm living and able to stand on my feet or sit in my seat," Byrd said in a Senate debate with Frist, R-Tenn. "If the senator wants a fight, let him try it," said Byrd,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chance of a filibuster to halt the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito rose on news he once opposed 1960s Supreme Court rulings on reapportionment based on the principle of equal voting rights, a top Democrat on the Senate judiciary panel said on Sunday. Sen. Joseph Biden, a Democrat from Delaware, told Fox News Sunday that a decision by Democrats to filibuster would depend largely on Alito's answers during judiciary committee questioning scheduled for January. Prior to the Warren court's decisions, some state legislators were elected on a geographical basis, giving thinly populated rural areas...

"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect the right of abortion," Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. said in a 1985 application for a job with the Department of Justice. The right wing demanded a swing-for-the-fences conservative nominee to the Supreme Court, and now it may have one. The confirmation of Alito could mean that the court would have at least three extreme-conservative justices (the other two are Clarence Thomas...

Bush Brings It On With Choice of Alito When President Bush said a month ago that Harriet Miers was the most qualified person to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, nobody believed him. Had Bush said the same thing about Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., whom he named to replace Miers when she withdrew her nomination, few could have disputed him-not even Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.). Now Bush has Kennedy and other Senate liberals cornered. The only way they can fight Alito's confirmation is by going after his judicial philosophy-which is exactly the battle Bush should want and the...

BUSH PUTS DEMANDS OF FAR-RIGHT ABOVE INTERESTS OF AMERICANS WITH HIGH COURT NOMINATION OF RIGHT-WING ACTIVIST ALITO PFAW will wage massive national effort to defeat nominee who would dramatically shift balance of Court President Bush put the demands of his far-right political base above Americans’ constitutional rights and legal protections by nominating federal appeals court Judge Samuel Alito to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, said People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas. “Right-wing leaders vetoed Miers because she failed their ideological litmus test. With Judge Alito, President Bush has obediently picked a nominee who passes...

John Edwards came downstairs and found 5-year-old son Jack on the floor, arranging toy trucks in a column. "What are you doing?" the former North Carolina senator asked. "Making a motorcade," came the exuberant reply. A year after Democrats John Kerry and Edwards lost the White House election, young Jack still may think about the heady days of last fall. His father, however, has moved on — without a Secret Service escort. _He is traveling the country, trying to rally college students to the cause of fighting poverty in the U.S. _He is presiding over a new poverty center at...

I hear that John Kerry loyalists are kicking themselves for cooperating last year with filmmaker Steve Rosenbaum on "Inside the Bubble," a potentially devastating behind-the-scenes look at the Massachusetts senator's failed presidential campaign. I'm also told that Hillary Clinton partisans are licking their chops to see the film, which "could end up being the silver bullet that kills Kerry's presidential chances for 2008," says a Lowdown spy. Kerry spinmeister David Wade - one of the senior staffers who allowed Rosenbaum to film his private moments - tried to dismiss Rosenbaum's effort as "a childish home movie destined to be forgotten."...

WICHITA, Kan. - One person required stitches and a mother and son were arrested after two drill teams began brawling during an impromptu "dance off," Wichita police said. "This is a whole new arena" of crime, said Wichita police Lt. Jeff Easter. The Dynamic Steppers, a Wichita drill team, were practicing routines Saturday night when members of another drill team, the White Tigers, showed up and challenged the others to a "dance-off," police said. When the challengers appeared to be losing, a woman struck a 17-year-old Dynamic Steppers drummer in the face with a drumstick, Easter said. The teen, who...

n ongoing border dispute between Canada and Denmark is heating up again following Defence Minister Bill Graham's secret visit to a frozen Arctic island north of Greenland. Last week, Graham set foot on tiny Hans Island, claimed by both Canada and Denmark. Graham said Canada had always regarded the 1.3-square-kilometre island as part of Canadian territory. His comments have caused a stir in Copenhagen and now Denmark says it will send a protest letter to Canada over the incident. Officials at the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen declined to comment. Earlier this month, Canadian military personnel landed on the island, leaving...

KUWAIT CITY - Muslims from Indonesia to the Middle East on Wednesday labeled as aggressive and irresponsible a U.S. congressman's suggestion that the United States could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim attackers targeted America in a nuclear strike. Some demanded an apology. Many said the comments fuel Islamic extremism and leave Muslims feeling Americans equate terrorists with all of Islam. "American mentality imagines that a religion is attacking another religion, and here lies the danger," said Syrian political analyst Ahmed al-Haj Ali. He called it "frightening" to "retaliate against the birthplace of Islam for individual criminal acts or...

"We are going to war over Supreme Court." If Chuch said this he has revealed just who he is, a liar and an obstructionist. I'll never forget that he, on film, said of the impeachment hearing that he would vote against it without even hearing the evidence. He is a pre-disposed-dyed-in-the-woll-democrat with nothing on his mind but the hatered of this president, the arrogance of his station and basks in the glow of his power as a senator all the while thwarting the will of the people in the duly elected President and his right to appoint a Justice. We...

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee members crystalized the debate over Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement on Sunday, making clear that a hard-line conservative would trigger a furious battle on Capitol Hill that could touch off a Democratic filibuster. The division emerged amid a conservative lobbying campaign against one possible pick, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a longtime Texas friend of President Bush who is considered too moderate by right-wing Republicans. "I don't think the social conservatives ought to prejudge Attorney General Gonzales. Attorney General Gonzales may not even be in the picture," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said on...

WASHINGTON -- Democratic senators said Sunday a filibuster is one of the weapons in their arsenal when the time comes to vote on a nominee to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The comments came amid a lobbying campaign by conservative groups opposed to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as a potential successor to the influential O'Connor, a key swing vote in many 5-4 rulings. O'Connor, a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said Friday, July 1, 2005, she is retiring.

WASHINGTON, July 1 - Senators from both parties heaped praise on retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor today, and Democrats warned President Bush not to try to replace her with someone whose views they consider extreme. Republicans, meanwhile, signaled that they were girding for a fight. "Justice O'Connor has been a voice of reason and moderation on the court," said Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, the minority leader. "It is vital that she be replaced by someone like her, someone who embodies the fundamental American values of freedom, equality and fairness." Mr. Reid said the president should respect the Senate's...

Iran's president-elect has proclaimed an Islamic revolution of global proportionos. Mahmood Ahmadinejad said his election coincided with what he termed a new Islamic revolution. "The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world," Ahmadinejad said. "In one night, the martyrs strode down a path of 100 years." Ahmadinejad, who did not elaborate, was speaking to the families of those killed in a 1981 attack at the headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party, Middle East Newsline reported. The Teheran mayor has served as a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, responsible for the nation's missile and...

Democrats are demanding that White House adviser Karl Rove immediately retract and apologize for comments that liberals responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes by wanting to ``prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.'' ``The one thing New York has had since Sept. 11 is unity,'' said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. ``To inject politics into this and to defame a large number of people'' is outrageous, he said. ``It's not what New York and America is all about.'' Rove, Bush's chief political adviser, said in a speech Wednesday that ``liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks...

Last night, Minutemen supporters gathered privately at the Women's Civic Club of Garden Grove (in O.C.) to hear a discussion lead by James Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen Project. About 300 protestors, charging that the Minutemen are a racist group, gathered outside to protest the meeting. When the Minutemen supporters tried to leave the event, at least two of their cars were attacked by dozens of protestors. The protestors hit the vehicles with placards and other objects until one of the drivers gunned his car to get away from the crowd. He was arrested, though I'm not sure what...

Syria launched a military build up on its Iraq border after the American Army began a wide-ranging military operation in a region in Iraq near the Syrian border. Eyewitnesses in this area reported that they heard canon, warplane and bombing sounds coming from Al Kaim Township and its surroundings. Local inhabitants reported that Syrian armored vehicles went to the border region with soldiers in them. Eyewitnesses noted that the tension in the region is quite high, and they added that they are anxious due to heavy American bombardment in the Ak Kaim region and Husayba Town.

Boycott planned to protest proposed state immigration laws PHOENIX -- Organizers of an economic boycott are urging Hispanics to stay home from work and not spend money on Tuesday as a way to protest laws aimed at making life in Arizona more difficult for illegal immigrants. The boycott is the latest in a string of grass-roots protests since November's passage of Proposition 200, a ballot measure intended to ensure illegal migrants don't vote or receive certain public benefits. "We're trying to prove we are a vital part of the community, that our workers and our consumers deserve to be treated...

"We live in an extreme world," explains Blair Lazar, a hot sauce creator. "And I make extreme foods.' In his hands is the hottest spice in the world, an ultra-refined version of chilli powder so fiery that customers must sign a waiver absolving him of any liability if they are foolish enough to try it. Locked in a crystal flask sealed with wax and a tiny skull, Mr Lazar's mouth-blistering concoction is pure capsaicin - the chemical that lends habanero and jalapeno peppers their thermo nuclear heat. Blair Lazar: to taste his sauce is to experience ‘pure heat’ His "16...

In their frenzied attempts to preserve government by judges, liberals are resorting to a familiar tactic -- accusing conservatives of inciting violence. It’s a ploy worthy of the hysterics and intellectual frauds who populate the American Left. When they can’t win a debate (can they ever?), leftists deploy what the late novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand called "the argument from intimidation." Instead of trying to refute the other side, they label their opponents' position evil, attribute sinister motives to its adherents, and charge that its proponents are encouraging violence. Thus, the Left stridently maintains that proponents of immigration reform are inciting violence...

Many argue that communism will never be possible because of "human nature". The essence of this false argument is the belief that a communist society would consist of an all-powerful central government that would tell everybody what to do--and would therefore undermine the creative initiative of individuals and the search for happiness. • This argument is based on two false assumptions: (1) It assumes that a communist society will look like the former Soviet Union, or the current China, North Korea, etc (ie: corrupt police states with a feudal-style ruling class) (2) It assumes that people will only work in...

Gas costs so much. I cant afford it. Why want Bush do something? Don't say he can't. His daddy or his handlers could be on the phone in 2 minutes with the Rothchilds and by 1 week, oil prices would be under $20 and gas would be 1 dollar a gallon. You know it and I know it. Why want he? Do you know? Is there sombody we can call? Plaese advice.

The Media CIA CONTROLED MEDIDA AND/OR MEDIA MANIPULATION IS A VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO A FREE PRESS CONCERNING ALL 50 STATES AND EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN PLEASE REVIEW: http://government.rantnetwork.com/usgovcoverups (read website on "operation mockingbird") Journalism is a perfect cover for CIA agents. People talk freely to journalists, and few think suspiciously of a journalist aggressively searching for information. Journalists also have power, influence and clout. Not surprisingly, the CIA began a mission in the late 1940s to recruit American journalists on a wide scale, a mission it dubbed Operation MOCKINGBIRD. The agency wanted these journalists not only to...

IF YOU DELETE MY SCREEN NAME THE WAR WILL BEGIN I AM THE AMBASSADOR...We will plague your message boards My Fellow Soldiers will strike back