Free Republic

In an interview on ABC's "This Week," President-elect Obama is warning that his campaign promises will take longer than he expected to carry out, and that Americans will face more of a burden than many have realized.

Under pressure from African-Americans in the House, Democratic leaders appear to be backing down from their vow to bar Roland Burris from the Senate under any circumstance. When scandal-tarred Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich named Burris to Barack Obama’s Senate seat last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement in which he said that Burris “will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.” But as Burris made his way from Chicago to Washington on Monday, Reid took a softer line. “Of course, Roland Burris has not been certified by the state of Illinois,” he said. “When that takes...

Vice President-elect Joe Biden is worried about the “exceedingly high expectations” the world community has for Barack Obama’s presidency.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today's announcement that former Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack, has been selected as the new Secretary of Agriculture sent a chill through the sustainable food and farming community who have been lobbying for a champion in the new administration. "Vilsack's nomination sends the message that dangerous, untested, unlabeled genetically engineered crops will be the norm in the Obama Administration," said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of Organic Consumers Association. "Our nation's future depends on crafting a forward-thinking strategy to promote organic and sustainable food and farming, and address the related crises of climate change, diminishing energy supplies, deteriorating public...

Dialing back his predecessor’s expansive view of the office, Vice President-elect Joe Biden plans on “restoring the Office of the Vice President to its historical role” as adviser to the president and tie-breaker in the Senate, an aide to Biden said Saturday. The declaration results from an attention-getting article coming from the Las Vegas Sun, which is reporting Sunday in a story by Washington Bureau reporter Lisa Mascaro that the new Congress “will reassert its constitutional independence from the White House by barring the vice president from joining in internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in an...

The Palin/turkey incident immediately reminded me of the Obama/chicken incident in Dreams From My Father: --------------------------------------------------- “Don’t you think he’s a little young?” Lolo shrugged and looked down at me. “The boy should know where his dinner is coming from. What do you think, Barry?” I looked at my mother, then turned back to face the man holding the chicken. Lolo nodded again, and I watched the man set the bird down, pinning it gently under one knee and pulling its neck out across a narrow gutter. For a moment the bird struggled, beating its wings hard against the ground,...

So who is the new Newt? Who helps the Republicans take back congress in 2010 like they did in 94? Where's the next Contract With America? Newt had been setting 1994 up for years, who has been doing that legwork now? Who can we help? Who do we get behind? We need to start now, today.

Disgraced CEO Richard Fuld, who oversaw the demise of venerable Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc that helped tip the credit crunch into a full-blown crisis, will testify at a congressional hearing next week. Rep. Henry Waxman, the Democratic chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has called Fuld and former chief executives of insurer American International Group Inc to appear at hearings into the financial excesses that led to the collapse of the companies. "Lax oversight and reckless investments on Wall Street are causing massive disruption throughout our economy," Waxman said in a statement on...

NPR has learned that the raid by helicopter-borne U.S. Special Operations forces in Pakistan last week was not an isolated incident but part of a three-phase plan, approved by President Bush, to strike at Osama bin Laden and top al-Qaida leadership. The plan calls for a much more aggressive military campaign, said one source, familiar with the presidential order, which gives the green light for the military to take part in the operations. The plan represents an 11th-hour effort to hammer al-Qaida until the Bush administration leaves office, two government officials told NPR. "Definitely, the gloves have come off," said...

... I heard from Watts in early August, after I wrote that the average daily temperature in Santa Ana had increased by about 7.5 degrees in less than a century. Scientists attributed most of the rise to urbanization. But a JPL climatologist also said 40 percent of the increase of the change was due to climate change — a figure he reduced to 25 percent when readers questioned his methodology. That set off some testy commentary by readers of this blog. Watts was more circumspect; he simply asked whether the government’s weather station at the Santa Ana Fire Station was...

... Prominent Clinton backer Lynn Forester told The Times of London quote, "He has provided her with a pittance compared to what the Clintons have given Obama. Her debt could have been cleared within 10 days. It's ungracious." ...

In a report released Tuesday, the New York-based Guttmacher Institute ranked all 50 states in their efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy and found a diverse collection of states at the top. California ranked first and New York ranked fifth, a result that may seem predictable, given both states' liberal orientations toward social issues. But between them in the highest rankings sit three conservative states - Alaska, South Carolina, and Alabama.

The head of Georgia's national security council said Wednesday Russia has sent 50 tanks into the central Georgian city of Gori, despite an agreed-upon ceasefire calling on both sides to retreat to positions they held before fighting began six days ago. Security council head Alexander Lomaia said that the tanks entered Gori about 9:45 a.m. local time, but there was no independent confirmation of his claim.

Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier during a firefight in 2002, is seen both sobbing and angry in the seven and a half hours of poor quality video issued by his lawyers. Khadr, 21, describes mistreatment at the hands of American guards. But his main complaint, of damaged eyesight, dates from the shoot out with a US patrol in Afghanistan. In one segment he repeatedly cries: "Help me." Khadr, who played in Osama bin Laden's private compounds as a child, was 15 when he was arrested and 16 when the Canadian agents were granted access...

BEND, Ore. -- It was a sunny, 70-degree day here in Awbrey Butte, an exclusive neighborhood of big, modern houses surrounded by native pines. To Susan Taylor, it was a perfect time to hang her laundry out to dry. The 55-year-old mother and part-time nurse strung a clothesline to a tree in her backyard, pinned up some freshly washed flannel sheets -- and, with that, became a renegade. ... "This bombards the senses," interior designer Joan Grundeman says of her neighbor's clothesline.

"Crash" duo Bobby Moresco and Mark R. Harris are joining forces to give the saga of Whitewater figure Susan McDougal the feature treatment. McDougal spent 21 months in prison on civil contempt of court charges for refusing to implicate President Bill Clinton in the real estate scandal. Moresco will write the script and direct. Harris and Moresco, who produced "Crash," will produce the McDougal film together.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday the United States wants to finish its mission in Iraq and "return with honor," despite the war's growing unpopularity at home and doubts among U.S. allies. Cheney's visit to Tokyo comes just weeks after Japan's defense minister said starting the Iraq war was a mistake and its foreign minister called the U.S. occupation strategy "immature." The remarks forced Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom Cheney meets later in Wednesday, to scurry to reassure Washington that Tokyo's backing for U.S. policy in Iraq was unchanged.

... I do not speak for all the US military -- I can tell you that it is MNF-I policy that we will consider bloggers who request an embed with our forces. I don't see much difference between mainstream media reporters and bloggers, from my perspective as the CPIC director. From my perspective, their requests are the same and the process to get them embedded is the same. MNF-I works with US Central Command and the Department of Defense on which reporters and which bloggers we should specifically reach out to, but in reality, we will consider requests from any...

Slogger is getting reports that the new round of RFP's for major security and training contracts in Iraq have a new wrinkle: Complete handover to Iraqis at end of contract.

verybody in the United States could switch from cars to bicycles. The Chinese could close all their factories. Europe could give up electricity and return to the age of the lantern. But all those steps together would not come close to stopping global warming.