Free Republic

There were many horrendous moments for the American hostages held by Iranians for 444 days at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. One of the worst occurred when Iranian captors showed a hostage a photo of the school bus that took his son to and from school. If the hostage didn’t cooperate, his son’s fingers would be chopped off and sent, one a day, to his wife. On January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan became president and Jimmy Carter departed, the crisis lifted and 52 Americans came home. And a few other good things happened. U.S. banks with investments in...

In 1979, the year before Republicans nominated Ronald Reagan as their presidential candidate, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and conservative activist Paul Weyrich founded the Moral Majority. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., founded by Falwell. Although Cruz made no reference to the Moral Majority in his remarks, his thinking is clearly in line with that of Falwell and Weyrich — that getting the largely politically inactive evangelical Christians politically engaged could change America. Cruz’s detractors call him “extreme,” but he may not be so close to the...

What a week! Suicidal airplanes, exploding buildings, our Mideast policy revealed to be as venal and addled as we feared. We have not seen such a synthesis of incompetence and malfeasance since…well, ever. Even Jimmy Carter looks competent and wise by comparison. At least back then it was still clear which end zone we were trying to protect.Now that the Arab Spring is nothing more than a vague dream fragment the Middle East appears on the brink of implosion. The thin memory of that verdant vernal equinox is about to be eclipsed by nuclear winter. And haven’t we all had...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter has met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muqrin during a visit to the kingdom. The official Saudi Press Agency says the two met in a palace in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday. The report says they discussed a number of topics but gave no details.

Gerardo Hernandez, a spy for Communist Cuba and the man responsible for the murder of four humanitarian workers (three of whom were American citizens) over international waters, was freed from prison last year by the Obama administration, due in part to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). This was revealed at a February 6, 2015, celebration of Hernandez’s release, along with two of his fellow Cuban agents (collectively known as the “Cuban 5.. At the beginning of the event, an IPS official thanked all who who took part in the 17-year campaign and singled out a number of organizations that...

The White House on Monday backed Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's remark that transgender people should not be precluded from military service because of their sexual identity. “The president agrees with the sentiment that all Americans who are qualified to serve, should be able to serve,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a press briefing. “For that reason, we here at the White House welcome the comments from the Secretary of Defense,” he added. On Sunday, Carter said he was “very open minded” about the idea of transgender people serving in the military. “I don't think anything but their...

The new secretary of defense, Ashton Carter, said Saturday the U.S. may slow down the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Carter made the announcement during his first trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary. On the flight there, Carter also discussed an impending battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, in Iraq - the battle for Mosul. A senior Obama administration official told CBS News that neither Carter nor the White House knew about that briefing, where a military official also said the assault would include between 20,000 and 25,000 Iraqi troops backed by U.S. air...

Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby, the press secretary of the Pentagon and they guy you always see explaining American military action on television, announced his sudden resignation today, one day after the new Secretary of Defense was sworn into office.

Full Senate confirmation vote to come as early as tomorrow.

DETROIT, Mich. (INTELLIHUB.COM) — The former 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, appeared at a recent annual conference held by the Islamic Society of North America recently as thousands of onlookers listened to what he had to say. While Carter, an authority figure, spoke on a number if issues, he maintained that the key to securing peace in the mid-East stems from the “principles of Allah”, as reported by others. Onlookers were amazed by Carter’s “insight” when he requested for Muslim leaders at the convention to sign a “Declaration for Peaceful Communities” to end “suffering”. Video Source: WXYZ-TV...

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) criticized President Obama for swapping three Cuban spies for imprisoned American Alan Gross on Wednesday's "America's Newsroom" on the Fox News Channel, calling President Obama the "worst negotiator" since Jimmy Carter.

Former President Jimmy Carter responded Friday to being referred to as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., quipping that it’s a “compliment” to be considered a terrible president by a “warmonger” like McCain. [SNIP] “I was lucky enough to go through my four years, we never shot a bullet or dropped a bomb or fired a missile,” Carter said.

American journalist and freelance photographer James Foley campaigned for Barack Obama. But when he was captured and held by ISIS, Obama was not there for him. The Sunday Times reported in August that President Obama delayed a rescue mission for James Foley and the other prisoners for 30 days. Obama spent that time “fretting over his image”, playing golf and worrying his administration would be “Carterized” if the mission failed. James Foley campaigned for the wrong candidate. The New York Times reported: As the number of people in the 20-square-meter cell in Raqqa grew smaller, it was hard to stay...

The guy wearing the red bandanna didn’t mess around. Measuring, cutting and hammering away, he made sure the siding was just right for the new house in Oak Cliff. Nothing like having a seasoned leader on the job. Former President Jimmy Carter didn’t let a little heat and his age (90) get in the way Wednesday morning at the house on Exeter Avenue.

Former President Jimmy Carter said President Barack Obama "waited too long" to go after ISIS and criticized what he described as the president's changing foreign policy. "First of all, we waited too long. We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria," Carter told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an interview published Tuesday. The 39th president was in Texas working on a Habitat for Humanity project. "Then when [ISIS] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn't object to their being there and about a third of the territory in...

“[W]e waited too long. We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” he said, using an alternate name for the terrorist group. “Then when [ISIL] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.”

Yet another special day Obama injects himself into

Obama Tweets Photo of Himself with Jimmy Carter for Carter's Birthday @WhiteHouse Happy 90th Birthday, President Carter! Michelle and I send our best wishes to you and Rosalynn. -bo

Former President Jimmy Carter had some interesting things to say about his 1980 defeat to Ronald Reagan; he could have won if he was more ‘manly,’ or something. Carter admitted that the Iranian hostage crisis, which lasted 444 days, heavily contributed to his defeat. But added that if he had gone to war with Iran, he would have been re-elected (via Washington Examiner): Former President Jimmy Carter claimed Wednesday that he would have been re-elected and beaten Ronald Reagan in 1980 if had been more “manly” in his dealings with Iran.Interviewed by the show “CNBC Meets,” Carter repeated his...

Former President Jimmy Carter marked his 90th birthday Wednesday with a lengthy interview on CNBC Meets where he discussed his one term in office and the one thing he would have handled differently — the Iran Hostage Crisis. Carter suggested Operation Eagle Claw, a failed 1980 attempt to rescue the hostages taken by Iranian revolutionaries at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, could have been successful if he committed one more helicopter to the mission. "I think I would have been re-elected easily if I had been able to rescue our hostages from the Iranians," said Carter. "And everybody asks me...