Free Republic

Today’s quiz: What do Vladimir Putin’s aggression and ObamaCare’s troubles have in common? OK, that was too easy.

It’s not that I have anything against Mexico; love the country; love the people. It’s just that I would like to edge the state of Texas over the border and out of America. My issues with the Lone Star State, aside from the fact that it nurtured and launched the career of George Bush, is that the Texas school board has staged an intellectual coup d’état, voting in changes to the school curricula based on political and religious bias rather than educational criteria. In this case, the board is pushing an ultra-conservative, Christian agenda. But no religious or political agenda...

HYANNIS — Twenty-seven years ago, Peter Herbert of East Falmouth was a master sergeant in the 26th National Guard unit in Framingham when a young soldier with a commanding voice was introduced as the unit's new leader. Tall and confident, the new commander immediately captured the unit's attention and its respect, Herbert said. Yesterday, that same man captured national attention as he was elected the new junior U.S. senator from Massachusetts. "You could tell even back then that (Scott Brown) was going to be a little bit different than the rest of us," Herbert said last night, sitting calmly in...

Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the nation's third-largest radio broadcasting company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday in an effort to restructure its hefty debt load as it continues to face declining advertising revenue. Citadel owns and operates 224 radio stations, including KABC-AM in Los Angeles, WLS-AM in Chicago, WABC-AM and WPLJ-FM in New York and KGO-AM in San Francisco. Citadel's WABC is home to several syndicated hosts, including Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Joe Scarborough and Mark Levin.

Attorney General Eric Holder faced tough questions during a Senate hearing yesterday, but the toughest of all came after the lawmakers filed out of the room. Alice Hoagland, whose son, Mark Bingham, was killed in the 9/11 hijacking of Flight 93, politely laid out her own concerns with the plan to put accused terrorists on trial in Manhattan. "I can't help thinking that it does make New York City a more dangerous place and a target and it will give these ugly people . . . every elegant access to all of the media sources in the United States. We...

N.J. politicians, rabbis arrested in federal money laundering sweep.

For months, Republicans and Hillary Clinton tried desperately to link Barack Obama to the "Chicago way" of corruption. The GOP tried again Tuesday after feds busted Illinois' governor on charges of trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. The only problem with making it stick is that Obama's advisers blew off Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attempts to get favors in return for giving the President-elect a say on his successor, the federal complaint says. Obama distanced himself further Tuesday. "I had no contact with the governor or his office," he said. "I was not aware of what was happening." His statement seemed...

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On the surface, at least, Barack Obama's single most impressive accomplishment has been his 1990 election to the presidency of the Harvard Law Review. This position also provided Obama his only real executive experience as he supervised the law review's staff of 80 editors. One has to wonder, then, why neither he nor wife Michelle emphasized this singular honor during the up-by-the-bootstraps biographical sections of their respective speeches in Denver. In fact, neither of them so much as mentioned Obama's time at Harvard, this despite his vulnerability on the executive experience charge. Their silence likely derives from one verifiable fact:...

People talk more trash about Hillary Clinton than any other living American. So much so, it just might get her elected president. By Katha Pollitt Ice queen. Hag. Witch. Bitch. Dumb bitch. Feminazi. Slut. Slut? Type just about any misogynist insult into Google with “Hillary Clinton” and up come hundreds of thousands of links. Promiscuity might not be the first sin that pops to mind when you think of her, but last time I checked, “Hillary Clinton” plus “slut” brought up 208,000 results. True, a lot of these are aimed at her husband or his various women friends, but prim...

New Yorkers going Christmas shopping online at Amazon.com will find an 8.375% surprise at the virtual cash register, courtesy of Governor Spitzer, who is moving aggressively to collect Internet sales taxes that have gone widely unenforced. Under a new policy, major electronic retailers...

We've caught Hillary Clinton in another lie, this time involving the Imus firestorm. Several days after the controversy broke out, Clinton decided it was safe for her to weigh in on the I-man's comments. Clinton was quoted in the New York Daily News and on her website as saying, "I've never wanted to go on his show and I certainly don't ever intend to go on his show, and I felt that way before his latest outrageous, hateful, hurtful comments." But hold on. She never wanted to go on Imus? After all, her hubby Bill has Imus to thank for...

Nassau County Tax Assessor Harvey Levinson is taking a political gamble by questioning a property tax exemption for clergy that they say strips local schools of millions in revenue. Clergy living in private Nassau homes are given major breaks on their property taxes. Levinson says there are hundreds of clergy members paying no school taxes because of the large exemptions. He says these people live in very expensive homes and even quotes one clergy member's house at being worth $2.2 million. That cleric received more than $10,000 in tax savings. Some residents believe it is a political risk to go...

The NY Times points cranks, radicals, al-Qaeda operatives and would be assassins to the summer homes of Cheney and Rumsfeld - Friday, June 30, 2006 12:36 PM In an apparent retaliation for criticism of its disclosure of classified intelligence to America's enemies, the New York Times June 30th edition has printed huge color photos of the vacation residences of Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, identifying the small Maryland town where they live, showing the front driveway and in Rumsfeld's case actually pointing out the hidden security camera in case any hostile intruders should get careless: http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/06/30/travel/escapes/30michaels.html Make no...

Noam Chomsky: Failed States: The Abuse Of Power and the Assault on Democracy 11:00PM CSPAN2 60mins. In an appearance at West Point, MIT professor Noam Chomsky ("Failed States") talks with cadets about war theory and the invasion of Iraq.

What is your view on the Senate proposals regarding the English language? I support the statement that English is the 'national language' of the U.S. I support the statement that English is the 'common and unifying language' Either; they both make an important point Neither; they are unnecessary and possibly racist

WASHINGTON -- A group of 24 conservative organizations have announced the formation of the Internet Freedom Coalition (IFC, www.internetfreedomcoalition.org) to oppose "net neutrality" regulations, which the groups say mark the first major attempt by Washington to regulate the Internet. "We're proud to join with other leading free market and faith-based organizations to ensure that the Internet remains driven by the free market, not by Washington bureaucrats and politicians," said Jason Wright, president of the Institute for Liberty and IFC co-director. At issue is a brewing battle that pits cable and telephone companies that provide Internet service – including AT&T and...

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Dear , Tomorrow, in honor of International Women’s Day, The White House Project would like to celebrate all the women around the world who have made strides by breaking barriers and standing up for equality. We’ll be celebrating through the end of the week at the inauguration of Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s first woman president, who is an amazing example of women’s leadership at work. Chile Inaugurates First Female President-March 11th The White House Project has formed a 30-person delegation of U.S. political leaders, Latin America scholars, corporate executives, and philanthropists to travel to Santiago, Chile for the inauguration this Saturday....

The current batch of Oscar nominations underscores the notion that now more than ever Hollywood is out of touch with America. The simple fact that twice as many people have seen the documentary "March of the Penguins" than have seen any of the five nominations for Best Picture ("Brokeback Mountain," "Crash," "Capote," "Munich" and "Good Night, and Good Luck") drives the point home. The combined audience total for all of the Best Picture nominations is less than the number of moviegoers who flocked to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Another indication of the...