Free Republic

Four days after slamming the doors of the White House closed, Barack "It's-not-my-fault" Obama says he's going to ask the Secret Service if to reconsider. Contradicting previous statements, Obama told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News this morning that neither he nor his staff had anything to do with closing the public out of the White House. This time, he threw the Secret Service under the bus. “I have to say this was not a decision that went up to the White House,” Obama said in the interview with Stephanopoulos. “But what the Secret Service explained to us was that they’re...

Drone Wars: A government memo concludes the U.S. can order the killing of American citizens believed to be tied to al-Qaida, with the White House acting as judge, jury and executioner. Gee, what about due process? Those of us who remember the condemnation and scorn heaped on President George W. Bush by liberals and civil libertarians for his post-9/11 security measures are bemused by the Obama administration's official declaration of the right to kill Americans abroad through the use of drone strikes. And it's based on the idea that a single White House official can decide whether the individual in...

The White House has released a picture purporting to show President Obama "skeet shooting" at Camp David. An activity he claims he does "all the time." The White House also warns all you mischievous internet types to not mess around with the picture: "This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement...

Even as President Obama travels to Las Vegas Tuesday to call for legalizing illegal immigrants, the latest numbers from the U.S. Border Patrol suggest that the flow across the nation’s southwest border jumped by 9 percent up last year. The Border Patrol made 356,873 arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2012, up from 327,577 in 2011, according to figures obtained by the Associated Press and confirmed by The Washington Times. Border Patrol officials estimate that apprehensions are a good proxy for illegal crossings, so when the numbers go up, it means that the flow of illegal immigrants is...

America's downfall doesn't begin with the "low-information voter." It starts with the no-knowledge student. For decades, collectivist agitators in our schools have chipped away at academic excellence in the name of fairness, diversity and social justice. "Progressive" reformers denounced Western civilization requirements, the Founding Fathers and the Great Books as racist. They attacked traditional grammar classes as irrelevant in modern life. They deemed ability grouping of students (tracking) bad for self-esteem. They replaced time-tested rote techniques and standard algorithms with fuzzy math, inventive spelling and multicultural claptrap. Under President Obama, these top-down mal-formers -- empowered by Washington education bureaucrats...

Street vendors and souvenir stores across Washington, D.C. are selling posters depicting President Obama as Jesus Christ — and one national news publication called him the “Second Coming.” The poster, which does not have the official endorsement of the White House, features an image of the president in prayer with the headline, “Prophecy Fulfilled.” “Barak is of Hebrew origin and its meaning is ‘flash of lightning,” the poster notes, referencing a passage in in the Old Testament book of Judges. Hussein, they allege, is a Biblical word meaning “good and handsome.” “So you see, Barak was destined to be a...

A male juvenile is in custody this morning following a shooting in the South Valley that left five people dead. In an email from Bernalillo County officials, a shooting took place on Long Lane SW Saturday evening. Deputies were dispatched and found an adult male, an adult female and three children dead. All victims appeared to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Multiple weapons appeared to have been used including an assault-type rifle

President Barack Obama offered on Saturday to provide any assistance the Algerian government needs after a deadly hostage siege at a desert gas plant and said the United States was seeking a "fuller understanding" from Algerian authorities of what took place there. "The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of all those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Algeria," Obama said in his first comments on the hostage crisis. Obama's written statement was issued by the White House after the Algerian army carried out a dramatic final assault to end a...

In remarks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai at the White House this afternoon, President Barack Obama said the U.S. has fallen "short of the ideal" in Afghanistan:

Another weapon from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency's controversial Operation Fast and Furious was recently recovered at a Mexican crime scene, CBS News has learned. Congressional investigators say the crime scene was likely where a recent shootout took place between reported Sinaloa drug cartel members and the Mexican military, in which Sinaloa beauty queen Maria Susana Flores Gamez and four others were killed. According to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Justice Department did not notify Congress of the Fast and Furious firearm recovery in November, even though Grassley has requested an accounting of weapons that...

On Saturday, a rich 25-year-old man, Jovan Belcher, murdered his 22-year-old girlfriend, the mother of his child. First, columnist Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports suggested that this “25-year-old kid” wasn’t responsible for his actions – it was the “gun culture” that was to blame. Then, Bob Costas of NBC repeats this idiotic notion, even though the 6’2”, 228 lb. linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs could easily have murdered his girlfriend with a knife. Now CNN is getting in on the act. Leading their website this afternoon is an op-ed from Kevin Powell, former Democratic Congressional candidate in New York,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — For nearly six years, a senior Secret Service agent kept his extramarital affair with a Mexican woman a secret from the agency responsible for protecting the president. But in the wake of an embarrassing prostitution scandal involving 13 agents and officers, Rafael Prieto’s secret was revealed by a fellow employee amid concerns the Secret Service wasn’t enforcing its rules consistently. With an internal investigation ongoing, Prieto apparently committed suicide last week, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Prieto, a married father assigned to the security detail for President Barack Obama, admitted the years-long relationship...

...if your friends are cokeheads, cool means being a cokehead. If your friends are leftist radicals, cool means being a leftist radical. Obama is nothing if not cool.

Is Race Behind Teen Mob Attacks? Fox 29 is taking a look at a very touchy and controversial issue: race and the recent teen mob attacks in Philadelphia. It's being talked about because of incidents the video shown only on fox 29, of a group of kids that attacked a man walking in Philadelphia’s old city neighborhood just blocks from the liberty bell. It's one of several attacks in Philadelphia in recent weeks. Three teenagers one in this video -- who we are not identifying -- turned themselves into police. Cops say they were walking home from Mastery Charter School...

Ever want to reach through your TV screen and grab somebody and scream at him? When Michele Bachmann admitted that the document George Stephanopoulos was showing her was the President’s birth certificate, and then said that the President should just release it, I wanted to throttle George. The proper response was “He did, three years ago.” Donald Trump’s grandstanding about the birther issue has forced mainstream Republicans to face the conspiracy theory or be branded idiots like Trump. With two-thirds of their base believing that the President was not born in Hawaii, and even fewer understanding that it really doesn’t...

WASHINGTON – The historic $38 billion in budget cuts resulting from at-times hostile bargaining between Congress and the Obama White House were accomplished in large part by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway. Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for poor college students, health research and "Race to the Top" aid for public schools, among others — from Republican knives, according to new details of the legislation released Tuesday morning. And big holes in foreign aid and Environmental Protection...

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is asking for a federal investigation into the surprise discovery of 14,000 votes in Waukesha County for the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. The Wisconsin Democrat sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Friday night asking him to assign the Justice Department Public Integrity Section. It oversees the federal prosecution of election crimes.

When Donald Trump began testing the presidential waters in late February, it was easy to discard his efforts as nothing more than a public relations ploy. It seemed “The Don” was just looking for one more way to get the Trump name up in lights. Thus, like so many others, I was not impressed. Yet since that time, Trump has carved out a niche for himself politically and has not only proven his sincerity in considering a presidential run, but has also risen to the point of being the 2nd most popular candidate among possible GOP primary contestants. He has...

The latest Pew Research Center national poll released today underscores how slender a beachhead President Obama has established among whites more than two years into his presidency. In his 2008 election, Obama ran well only among two groups of whites -- young people and white women with at least a four year college education, two groups that are generally receptive to government activism. In the 2010 GOP landslide, those groups stuck with Democrats relatively more loyally than the rest of the white electorate, but the party's support tumbled even among them. Figures provided to National Journal by Pew from the...

According to Politico, the White House is already plotting out their re-election campaign in 2012. Every good campaign starts with an effective and descriptive slogan, so here are a few early suggestions for Obama — feel free to add your own: –”It’s the stupid, economy!” –”On your Marx, get set, go!” –”Is government better off than you were four years ago?” –”If they could see us Mao!” –”Making Jimmy Carter look good since 2009″ –”Ramen noodles in every pot and a czar in every garage” –”I’m not drunk, just Democrat — Obama ‘12″ –”It’s not socialism; It’s the free market...

For those who don’t have FOX, or who missed the interview, here’s Bill O’Reilly, another Obama mainstream protector, talking with Donald Trump about the Obama birth certificate on the O’Reilly Factor today. Note O'Reilly's condescending arrogance and laughter directed at Trump. What an ignorant oaf.Link

As reported here and here, attorney Orly Taitz filed a Freedom of Information violation suit regarding Obama's questionable social security number reserved for Connecticut applicants and the continued stonewalling by the Social Security Administration on numerous FOIA requests. Attorney Taitz just filed her First Amended Complaint in the case. Attorney Taitz reports that she has obtained new documents that prove Obama lied about his days at Columbia University. Fullcomplaint with exhibits embedded below... Via Attorney Taitz: First Amended Complaint submitted today in DC. Newly uncovered documents show that Obama was defrauding the nation re his Columbia university records, he was...

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) vowed to have Congress investigate the Obama Administration for sending illegal guns to Mexico! This historic announcement was made during an evening March 16 interview on The Roger Hedgecock Show, wherein Issa credited Hedgecock as being the impetus for his decision to investigate Eric Holder and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) for their scandalous and deadly Operation Gun Walker sting-gone-South. During Hedgecock’s interview, Darrell Issa said the House Oversight Committee has dispatched four investigators to look into Operation Gun Walker at the BATFE. The announcement comes at 1:35 into the following video:...

The current inflation scenario is reminiscent of the 1970s and the transition of economic dominance from the United States to China is already well under way, Harvard Professor Niall Ferguson told CNBC Monday. Geopolitical events all add up "to a pretty bearish scenario because of all the inflation implications we're seeing right now," Ferguson said. "You already had massive deficits and money printing in the developed world," he said. "On top of that you had enormous demand-side pressure from China relative to commodities." "Now you've got the prospect of massive geopolitical disturbance in the great oil-producing centers of the world,"...

The weight of the world may be on his shoulders but there's not much around President Barack Obama's middle. The U.S. president has invoked the concern in America after walking out of a gym looking skinnier than ever. Clutching an energy drink, Mr Obama is pictured looking cheerful as he left the gym at Fort McNair in Washington

"Andy Dick's Stocking Stuffer Music & Comedy Show," Friday, Jack's Patio Bar, 3030 Thousand Oaks; doors at 7 p.m. $24-$30 at frontgatetickets.comYes, outrageous comedy provocateur Andy Dick is sharing the stage this weekend with One-Eyed Doll and Dick Wiggler. No, they are not one and the same person.“Andy Dick's Stocking Stuffer Music & Comedy Show” featuring Andy Dick and the Bitches of the Century hits Jack's Patio Bar on Friday. The lineup includes Dick's son, stand-up comedian Lucas Dick.Dick, 44, describes his long-running rock act (with guitarist Tim Walsh) as a fun, if more vulgar, vision of Laurie Anderson...

More than two-thirds of New York City's public school students will begin getting more nutritious free or low-cost school lunches under First Lady Michelle Obama's pet project to get kids to eat well and exercise. President Obama signed into law Sunday the $4.5 billion Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which expands the free lunch program and requires that schools provide more nutritious lunches. "We've seen the connection between what kids eat and how well they perform in school," he said. Some 680,000 out of 1.1 million New York children participate in the school lunch program - a big chunk of the...

According to Bob Woodward, Barack Obama got "pissed" with the US military for demanding more troops. The startling disclosure that is not presidential at all comes as part of author Bob Woodward’s first interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer as he begins to hawk his new book, "Obama’s Wars." In one of the meetings Obama attended to review Afghanistan policy, he simply blurted out, "I’m pissed!" because he was getting frustrated with the insistence of US military leaders demanding more troops so they could win in Afghanistan. Just imagine, US military leaders actually had the unmitigated gall to dare ask their...

The Talk Shows Sunday, September 26th, 2010 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; John Boehner, R-Ohio; and Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Michelle Rhee, schools chancellor for the District of Columbia; Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers; Robert Bobb, emergency financial manager, Detroit public schools.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Marco Rubio, Republican nominee for Senate in Florida; Ken Buck, Republican nominee for Senate in Colorado; Sal Russo, chief strategist, Tea Party Express.THIS WEEK (ABC): Presidential adviser David Axelrod; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.;...

A senior administration official who read the book says "the President comes across in the review and throughout the decision-making process as a Commander in Chief who is analytical, strategic, and decisive, with a broad view of history, national security, and his role." The official says of the descriptions of the infighting in the book that "the debates in the book are well known because the policy review process was covered so exhaustively." White House officials are still matching New York Times excerpts with anecdotes in the book but one says not all the quoting is fair, especially Vice President...

Earlier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the National Restaurant Association with stern advice about the fare they should serve up -- less butter and cream, fewer fries. “I’m not asking any of you to make drastic changes to every single one of your recipes or to totally change the way you do business,” she said. “But what I am asking is that you consider reformulating your menu in pragmatic and incremental ways to create healthier versions of the foods that we all love." She also gave them advice on advertising. “It’s not enough just to limit ads for...

PHOENIX - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is asking others to join her in sending President Obama a cake with a special message for his birthday on Wednesday . . .

How can a former constitutional law professor, an attorney general and an iconic organization get it so wrong on civil rights? When you look at it, it is hard to tell if the White House, the Department of Justice and the NAACP are merely a collective sign of the times or the reasons why the times are sadly changing. Over the course of the past week, all three iconic institutions have corrupted the legacy of civil rights activism in America, using their efforts to support legal initiatives that pervert the legacy of black civil rights leaders with self-serving and misguided...

Diego Maradona is set to quit as coach of Argentina, according to reports. Maradona and his squad arrived home on Sunday following their World Cup exit at the hands of Germany. Argentina had been considered one of the favourites for the finals, but they came up short as they were hammered 4-0 by Germany.

Holed up with seven other global leaders in the woods of Muskoka, Canada, President Barack Obama gave the White House press corps the slip last night. The president is attending the G-8 and G-20 summits with his global counterparts this weekend. The G-8 began yesterday in Muskoka in Huntsville, Ont., and ends today. The G-20 is in Toronto, about 150 miles away, and starts this afternoon.

Carrie Fisher knows that when she dies a photo of Princess Leia will pop up during the Academy Awards tribute reel -- and she's accepted it. The born-famous actress (dad Eddie Fisher left mom Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor) has a permanent place in pop culture history thanks to 'Star Wars,' but her personal life has made its share of news. She's currently enjoying massive success with her book and one-woman show, 'Wishful Drinking.' PopEater got a few minutes with the acerbic actress-writer, and she talks candidly about her famous name, the ups and downs of being bipolar, the benefits...

Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary, is resigning her position just a few months after she was roundly criticized for a security lapse that led to uninvited guests crashing the president's first state dinner. "It's been a tremendous experience and honor to serve this president and first lady in what is really a historic presidency for all Americans but particularly for African-Americans," she said in a brief telephone interview. "That is part of the reason I came out to do the job." Ms. Rogers was a newcomer to politics as well as to Washington, and in her first year...

"But what the Democrats never understand is that Americans don't really care what position you take, just stick with one. Just be strong. They're not bright enough to really understand the issues. But like an animal, they can sort of sense strength or weakness. They can smell it on you."

WASHINGTON--The McCain campaign unleashed a furious attack on the New York Times for digging into the background of Cindy McCain--as her attorney asserted the paper is not looking deeply at Barack and Michelle Obama. Her attorney wrote a stinging letter to the managing editor of the New York Times about how the piece was prepared--claiming a reporter contacted a teen on her Face Book page to get some leads. In the letter released by the McCain campaign, attorney John Dowd notes that Cindy McCain's battles with drugs and the management of her charitable life have been long reported and then...

In advance of this Tuesday's Potomac Primary in VA, MD and DC, the crew at Virginia Virtucon have put together a new video to remind people about Barack Obama's admitted cocaine usage. Click here to view it.

CHARLESTON, S.C. A woman who was the December 2006 Playboy Playmate of the Month and a personal trainer have been charged with trafficking cocaine after police say maids discovered a kilo of the drug in their hotel room. Arrest warrants say that 24-year-old Kia Terrell Drayton and 33-year-old Otis Leon Story, both of Atlanta, were arrested as they left their room at the Residence Inn near North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday morning. Both also are charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. Their bail was set at 2-point-2 (M) million...

Tucker just read a news flash, announcing that they will no longer simulcast Imus at all, anymore.

This could be a first. A leading MSM member uses the airwaves to upbraid [fellow?] Democrats for being insufficiently loyal to a leading party light. Former Bush Chief of Staff Andy Card was Matt Lauer's guest on this morning's 'Today.' Matt was intent on wangling from Card an admission that the Kerry comments were a mistake:"He made a joke and he said he blew the joke and it sounded as though he questioned the intelligence of U.S. Troops in Iraq. Look me in the eye and tell me with even a fraction of your heart you think John Kerry meant...

Nothing follows.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton campaigns for Congressional candidates in Chicago October 23, 2006. REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES)

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

NEW YORK: Supermodel Kate Moss is offending Muslims in New York but she doesn't even know about it. According to pagesix.com, a huge poster for a Calvin Klein ad shows a topless Moss in different poses, one in which she is holding onto a shirtless man, is popped up right across Madina Masjid Mosqueon on East 11th Street. It is offending devout Muslims who go there five times a day for prayer. The site animalnewyork.com says: “It is only a matter of time before some action is taken, and we are dying to see what a hastily spray-painted burqa looks...

John Fabrizi thinks he deserves a big pat on the back for having belatedly confessed that he's been a substance abuser......Fabrizi confessed to having used cocaine and abused alcohol since taking office April 2003..... he insists, his substance-abuse problem "never, ever affected my job performance." Of course, Fabrizi isn't exactly the best judge of how true that last statement really is. Fabrizi's decision to come clean wasn't prompted by any remorse or pangs of conscience: He had little choice but to admit the truth after a prosecutor inadvertently released the transcript of a wiretap in which an alleged cocaine dealer...

Talk about feeling like a dope. When ex-con Miguel Flores mailed his pay stub to the Nassau Probation Department this week as required, he accidentally stuck something extra in the envelope -- a bag of cocaine, probation officials said. Flores, 36, of Westbury, had been on probation for criminal drug possession for about three years, said Kevin Lowry, criminal justice coordinator for the Probation Department.