Free Republic

Perhaps it's that great minds think alike, or, perhaps, it's just coincidence. I have started a couple of drafts of a piece on President Trump's foreign policy gains, only to find that a few others have done the same--and probably better. I have vowed not to read anymore of them until I write my own little piece. You can find the competition in National Review, Powerline, and elsewhere. We have heard a great deal from the media and the bureaucracy about the "hollowing out of the State Department." To get an idea of what I think of that, I direct...

Folks, I am doing the final editing on an original video called, "Mahogany Row" -- the 7th floor of Hillary Clinton's Department of State". I plan to donate it to the Trump Campaign --- well before the next debate -- and I need you, my FReeper colleagues to . Please share with me your contacts within the Trump Campaign, so that I can donate it in a way it will get to Donald Trump! The goal is to supply Trump with critical info that will enable him to "stop beating the dead horse" of HRC's e-mails -- and clue him...

When her husband was not released as promised, Weinstein turned to Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, but said they did nothing to help.

The First Law of Holes, a proverb generally attributed to the British Labour Party’s Denis Healy, states, “If you are in one, stop digging.” Marie Harf is in the process of discovering the cost of ignoring that rare bit of wisdom from a committed leftist. Yesterday, appearing with Wolf Blitzer, she compounded her gaffe of Monday, suggesting that jobs programs would be the solution to the threat posed by ISIS. Mediaite chronicles the further excavation:

The State Department on Thursday condemned the stoning of death of a Pakistani woman and other violence against women “in the name of tradition and honor,” but made no reference to religion as a factor. […] “Tragically, this was at least the third reported so-called honor killing in Pakistan this week,” said department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, reacting to the killing of a pregnant 25-year-old, stoned to death outside a Lahore courthouse by members of her own family for marrying against their wishes. “We remain very concerned about violence against women and girls that takes place around the world, including in...

The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the U.S. State Department for expressing concern over legal action taken against an Egyptian satirist accused of insulting Islam and President Mohamed Morsi, stating that denigration of the Muslim religion is a “serious breach of law.” “The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has strongly criticized remarks made by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on legal complaints accusing Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef of contempt of religions,” said the Muslim Brotherhood in a statement on its official English website “Ikhwan Web.” … Known as Egypt’s Jon Stewart, Bassem Youssef was accused of insulting Islam and Morsi on...

Note: The following text is a quote: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr.,...

LAWRENCE B. WILKERSON served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell from 2002 to 2005. IN PRESIDENT BUSH'S first term, some of the most important decisions about U.S. national security — including vital decisions about postwar Iraq — were made by a secretive, little-known cabal. It was made up of a very small group of people led by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. When I first discussed this group in a speech last week at the New American Foundation in Washington, my comments caused a significant stir because I had been chief...

September 25, 2002 Is Congress authorizing funds for the U.S. Department of State or the U.N. Department of Global Governance? The House will vote this afternoon (ET) on whether or not to spend $8.6 billion for the operations of the U.S. Department of State and related agencies in fiscal year 2003. We urge a "NO" vote. Here’s where your money will be going: 1. $244 million to the United Nations for so-called “back dues” to the U.N.plus $78 million in U.S. “dues” that have accumulated since last year. (The $244 million is the third installment of the three-year, $926 million...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration's response to a terror attack in Israel that killed five Americans is focused on diplomacy, with no indication there will be U.S. military retaliation. "We are responding by working with our Arab friends, and Israel of course, to track these people down," President Bush said Thursday. The United States already is at war with terrorists, Bush said. "This bombing in Israel showed how tough it's going to be," he replied when asked if the Americans' deaths took the U.S. fight to a new level. The president did not raise the option of military action...

ATF Launches Probe of UN Machinegunsby Dave WorkmanSenior EditorDid the United Nations illegally import German-made Heckler & Koch MP5 submachineguns and issue them to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan’s security detail, even after being denied permission to do so by the US Department of State? That is the question that federal investigators are exploring, and there is no small irony involved in the investigation. Last year, the UN hosted a global summit on the proliferation of small arms that was loudly protested by American gunowners, and more diplomatically rebuffed by the Bush Administration. During a special meeting...