Free Republic

Need a good reason (another one, I mean) not to vote for Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? How about to save Tina Fey 's life? "If she wins, I’m done," Fey tells TV Guide. "I can’t do that for four years. And by ‘I’m done,’ I mean I’m leaving Earth." But that will not keep her from continuing to spoof the former beauty queen right up to election day. And with good reason. The New York Post notes that political impersonations can actually do in a politician. "Presidential impersonators do influence elections, and in this one, Tina...

Jesse Jackson and Ashley Judd: John McCain Feared Debate Friday, September 26, 2008 By Nicholas Ballasy (CNSNews.com) - In an interview with CNSNews.com, the Rev. Jesse Jackson suggested that Sen. John McCain stalled on following through with tonight’s presidential debate out of fear of facing Sen. Barack Obama. Hollywood actress Ashley Judd expressed a similar view. “I think that’s fear,” Jackson said Thursday evening when asked why McCain had raised the possibility of postponing the debate. “McCain is behind and he’s trying to call timeout to get his second wind.” “The debate should go on because we know what has...

Channel surfing and saw Brad Garett(Every Loves Raymond) was being interviewed before the emmy's and said he met his date at a "Sarah Palin vibrator party".

Let's fill some trucks with books, drive them downtown and burn them in front of the Chicago Public Library. Let's drive other trucks to the regional libraries and burn them, too . . . I mean the books, not the libraries, though libraries are the source of the problem. If it weren't for the libraries, it would be hard for innocent young people to be corrupted by the filth pouring out of the country's printers. Instead of burning books or libraries, perhaps we ought to start smashing printing presses. They have served as tools of sin and the devil since...

Considering that the largest audience in six years had tuned in to watch "Saturday Night Live," many of them curious to see what kind of treatment that Sarah Palin would get on the show, and considering that Tina Fey is not exactly known for her characters (unless you count Liz Lemon, her "30 Rock" character, who may just be Fey channeling her single-gal years), it's pretty impressive that Fey was able to meet or exceed expectations with her dead-on (if Upper Midwest-sounding) impression of Sarah Palin on "SNL" last weekend. Jay Leno, on the other hand, is a classic equal-opportunity-offender...

Via Exurban League, grade-school insults from a guy known to have a weakness for them. Tocqueville by way of Greasy Joe: Scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a question of IQ. Don’t miss Ed’s post from earlier today about Genius’s reliance on a Teleprompter to remind him to say “Yes, we can.� Click the image to watch, and stay tuned for the tribute to the governor of Alaska as a “bucket of fluff.

John McCain has taken plenty of heat for not being sure how many houses he owns. Now liberal activists are going to target one of those homes _ his Crystal City, Va. luxury condo _ with a protest tomorrow in which they plan to build a "tent city" outside the condo building. The protest is being organized by "Change to Win," a coalition of some of the nation's largest unions, and the plan is for laid off workers to build a faux tent city outside of McCain's condo building to protest his opposition to more generious housing relief laws. From...

September 15, 2008 Categories: Housing crisis Protesters to build "tent city" outside McCain condo John McCain has taken plenty of heat for not being sure how many houses he owns. Now, liberal activists are going to target one of those homes – his Crystal City, Va., luxury condo – with a protest Tuesday in which they plan to build a "tent city" outside the condo building. The protest is being organized by "Change to Win," a coalition of some of the nation's largest unions, and the plan is for laid off workers to build a faux tent city outside of...

Sen. Barack Obama was likened to Jesus Christ on the floor of the U.S. House today, while Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was compared to the Roman governor responsible for ordering Jesus' crucifixion. Both comparisons came from Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., a supporter of Obama for president. "If you want change, you want the Democratic Party," Cohen said during his one-minute speech. "Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our minister prayed about. Pontius Pilate was a governor." Cohen was referring to comments Palin aimed at Obama during her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota last...

Schwarzenegger's term ends in 2010 and he can not run again. The 30,000-plus-member union has long been at odds with Schwarzenegger, but his order in July to cut the pay of prison guards to the minimum wage sparked their latest confrontation. Schwarzenegger also ordered job cuts for an estimated 22,000 temporary state employees and sharply reduced wages for 200,000 other workers after California began its fiscal year on July 1 without a budget. Corcoran said prison guards should be exempt from the pay cuts in light of their public safety role. They manage the largest state prison network in the...

Four years and eleven months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was swept into office in a dramatic recall, the powerful and well-heeled correctional officers' union today will target Schwarzenegger for a recall. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association will begin the process to recall the Republican governor, a spokesman said today, calling the 2003 recall "a mistake." "In the history of bad governors, this is the worst governor we've ever had," said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the union. The union is collecting the 65 necessary valid signatures to serve Schwarzenegger a notice-of-intent-to-recall. "This is a man who is a poser....

Susan Sarandon has threatened that she will consider moving to Italy if John McCain is elected U.S. president. She told the UK Telegraph earlier that she is worried about the presidential election and called John McCain "dangerous." She added that she might consider moving to Canada as well if Barack Obama does not win in November. When asked if Barack Obama could actually win the election, she responded, "Why wouldn't he be able to win?" She might not be so sure now as all of the polls show Barack Obama trailing John McCain after the Republican Convention and the announcement...

Of course Sarah Palin is much cuter than Dick Cheney. As the must-have Republican political button from St. Paul put it: "Hottest VP from Coldest State." And it sounds like she's better with a gun than the vice president, who accidentally shot a friend while on a hunting trip in South Texas. But lots of folks are beginning to draw a parallel between Cheney, with his secret meetings on energy policy, and Palin, the pistol-packing soccer Mom who took on -- and beat -- the political establishment in Alaska. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in an interview today with ABC's...

This is appalling... NBC Comment Line: 212-664-4444 Email Contact: http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/

By Michelle Malkin  •  July 30, 2008 11:07 AM How afraid is the Democrat leadership of truly maverick conservative GOP Sen. Tom Coburn, who is waging war with Hapless Harry Reid over binge spending and secrecy? They’re so afraid of his effectiveness that they are trying to kneecap him with bogus Ethics Committee complaints about his practice of not charging for delivering babies at the Muskogee Regional Medical Center. Coburn continues to serve as an OB/GYN in Oklahoma.Jill Stanek read my mind: If Sen. Coburn were aborting babies for free instead of delivering them, he’d be getting awards instead of ethics...

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Four peace activists were arrested on Friday as they attempted to make a "citizens arrest" of Karl Rove, who was one of President George W. Bush's top aides before leaving the administration last year. "It should be Karl Rove in that van. War Criminal!"

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dennis Kucinich's quest to impeach President Bush will get an official airing in the House Judiciary Committee on Friday. The fact that the hearing is taking place was almost as improbable as its intended outcome — the ouster of the president. Under the Constitution, impeachment powers lie in the House. But despite deep divisions between the House Democratic Caucus and White House on a broad swath of issues — the Iraq war, the economy, energy, climate change, to name a few — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pointedly said impeachment is off the table. The hearing Friday,...

On the Senate floor today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed the issue of judicial nominees doesn’t matter to Americans. “I’m telling you, Madam President, I can't ever remember going home and somebody saying, ‘Could you guys (confirm) some more judges? We need to take care of this judges problem.’ ” Reid said. “Frankly, judge(s) is not a big issue (compared) to all of the other problems we're facing in America.”

Dukakis calls for end to Electoral College Dave Wedge By Dave Wedge Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Calling it “critically important” to eliminate the Electoral College system, former Bay State Gov. Michael Dukakis called on lawmakers to join a growing number of states supporting a switch to a national popular vote to elect the president. “I think it is high time we got rid of the Electoral College and elected our presidents the way we elect every other elected official in the country - by a vote of the people,” Dukakis wrote in a letter e-mailed to state lawmakers yesterday. “The...

In a move backers are calling a “pilot test,” the Democratic Party convention in Denver this August has banned fried foods from the premises. “Republicans are telling the American people that our comprehensive healthcare plan is infeasible, that it will ‘break the bank,’” Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman, asserted. “That just shows the myopia of the right wing when it comes to caring for the health of the American people.” “A lot of our nation’s health problems start with a poor diet,” Dean contended. “Fried foods are among the worst things people can eat. If we can put a...

Protestors rallied Downtown yesterday to as part of the United Nations' International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The organization Pittsburgh Against Torture held a silent procession through Downtown to raise awareness of the on-going incarceration and torture of prisoners.

Five years to the day that President Bush appointed him press secretary, Scott McClellan testified at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee to tell what he knew about the Bush administration's efforts to go to war in Iraq and about the leaking of the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to the news media - all of which he revealed in his recently published book. However, what this hearing actually revealed were two things unintended by the committee's chairman, John Conyers (D-Mich.). First, it revealed more about what Mr. McClellan does not know than what he does know. Mr....

On September 13-14, 2008, Lawrence Velvel, the dean of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, plans to convene a 'convention' at the school's facilities; the attendees of which will plan strategies to prosecute members of the Bush administration for war crimes. "This is not intended to be a mere discussion of violations of law that have occurred," stated Velvel in a press release. "It is, rather, intended to be a planning conference at which plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends...

When the Republicans choose their candidate on September 4th, there is a very real chance that they could throw the election into an unexpected chaos as they pull a genuine September Surprise. I think there is every reason to believe John McCain won't be the nominee. Ok, let me say that again. McCain will not be the Republican candidate in November. Here's how it could happen: At some point in mid August, John McCain will announce that he has decided that he can not accept his party's nomination for president. The reason will be health-related, and that may turn out...

CNN's Lou Dobbs is known for his fiery protectionist rants, but now he's calling for an extreme response in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration's inability to prevent a salmonella outbreak.

CNN’s Lou Dobbs has been on a tear about the recent tainted-tomato salmonella outbreak, but this time he’s taken it a step further and is calling for the ultimate political punishment. The “Lou Dobbs Tonight” host placed the blame for the recent salmonella outbreak squarely on President George W. Bush, calling for his impeachment on the June 19 broadcast. Contaminated tomatoes from an unknown source or sources have sickened 383 people since April, according to the Associated Press. “You know, I have heard a lot of reasons over the years as to why George W. Bush should be impeached,” Dobbs...

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Anyway, thank you Roger, thank you. What a night! I'm getting giggles! It's so exciting here -- Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell -- because there's news in the air.

Thirty-one-year-old Jin Chon is obsessed with televisiontalk shows. He starts each weekday morning with Barbara and the gang on "The View" and rarely misses his daily dose of Ellen and Tyra. Other favorites: "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood," where he luxuriates in the latest gossip. For Chon, there are few things more rewarding than flipping on one of his must-see shows and finding they've booked his favorite celebrity guest: Hillary Clinton. That happens a lot. In the past year, she has been a repeat guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," swooned over "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick (McDreamy) Dempsey on "ET"...

There is only a little over a half a year left in Bush's presidency yet that hasn't kept Congressman Robert Wexler from continuing to screech for his impeachment. This time Wexler thinks he has found the key for the impeachment. It comes in the form of Scott McClellan's book, "What Happened?" which is short on actual facts but does include a passage where Scotty spotted Karl Rove and Scooter Libby walk into a private room together. CHIMPEACHMENT NOW!!! Of course, if McClellan eventually does testify before congress there will be nothing solid to be found which is why Rush...

British Journalist to Try to Make Citizen's Arrest of John Bolton During U.K. Trip Wednesday, May 28, 2008 John Bolton may need some additional protection at his speech Wednesday evening in Wales, United Kingdom, as a journalist from the Guardian newspaper plans on making a citizen's arrest of the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton is appearing at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales to promote his new book, "Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations." The Telegraph newspaper reports that George Monbiot wants to arrest Bolton for war crimes as the ambassador prepares...

Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., says Scott McClellan's book is full of "shocking revelations," and the former Bush press secretary should testify to the House Judiciary Committee about the administration's "deliberate efforts to mislead the American people into the Iraq War." Wexler has pushed for the impeachment of Vice President Cheney. "Scott McClellan must now appear before the House Judiciary Committee under oath to tell Congress and the American people how President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and White House officials deliberately orchestrated a massive propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq to the American people.......

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama owns a piece of T.J. Wells’ heart. And of his leg. You may have heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but your political convictions on your calf? That’s what Wells, a culinary arts student-to-be at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, has been doing since May 12, after the Illinois senator made a lasting impression on him during a May 4 speech at Headwaters Park. On May 12, Wells went out and got a full-color portrait of Obama tattooed on the back of his right leg – a place that was chosen, he...

The May 29 edition of Rolling Stone looks ahead to the summer concert season, and the rock-music mag is praising the Dave Matthews Band for their use of biodiesel for buses and "biodegradable goods for catering." But this exchange was interesting, about Al Gore's "Live Earth" concerts. ROLLING STONE: Some people argue that the live experience is sort of inherently "un-green."DAVE MATTHEWS: ThereÂ’s no doubt that it is. The whole joke of Live Earth was how wasteful it was. But the idea that touring will end is sad. IÂ’d like to think that the traveling minstrel is not a thing...

Biden: 20 percent of GOP ‘probably ready to go to war on any circumstance’ By Klaus Marre Posted: 05/23/08 11:55 AM [ET] Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said Friday that “20 percent of the Republican Party is probably ready to go to war on any circumstance.” Biden, the outspoken chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the remark in the context of refuting charges that Democrats are weak on national security issues. “I’m sick and tired of Republicans characterizing Democrats, generally, as well as [Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.)], as being weak on national security,” Biden...

Can a presidential candidate justify a long and friendly relationship with someone who, back in the 1970s, extolled violence and committed crimes in the name of a radical ideology -- and who has never shown remorse or admitted error? When the candidate in question is Barack Obama, John McCain says no. But when the candidate in question is John McCain, he's not so sure. Obama has been justly criticized for his ties to former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, who in 1995 hosted a campaign event for Obama and in 2001 gave him a $200 contribution. The two have also...

Man says Clinton supporters less educated TRIBUNE REVIEW By Salena Zito Nearly 800 students and supporters of Hillary Clinton packed the Hopewell Area High School auditorium yesterday to hear the former first lady's proposals to strengthen the U.S. military. With the exception of one man, all seemed to be enthusiastic supporters. Chuck Grawley, 51, an instructor at two local colleges, held his 8-month-old daughter Emily while waiting for the event to begin. Grawley was not there to see Clinton. He was there to see the crowd. "Statistically and empirically, the people in this room are less educated and less informed...

...The latest revelations on the torture front show - the memo from John Yoo - as well as revelations from Phillippe Sands' book - means that Donald Rumsfeld, David Addington, John Yoo should not leave the United States any time soon. They will be at some point indicted for war crimes. They deserve to be...

Credit the public with sense. Earth Hour, hysterically promoted by The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the ABC, SBS, Sky News and the federal and state governments, resulted in no significant fall in power usage. Check the graphs from our National Electricity Market Management Company, tracking power use between 8pm and 9pm (a period in which demand always plummets):

LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Sydney Opera House to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge went dark as people switched off lights in their homes and skylines dimmed around the world on Saturday to show concern with global warming. Up to 30 million people were expected to have turned off their lights for 60 minutes by the time "Earth Hour" -- which started in Suva in Fiji and Christchurch in New Zealand -- completed its cycle westward. More than 380 towns and cities and 3,500 businesses in 35 countries signed up for the campaign that is in its second year after...

All day today Google has been pushing an Earth Hour agenda:On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.Given our company's commitment to environmental awareness and energy efficiency, we strongly support the Earth Hour campaign, and have darkened our homepage today to help spread awareness of what we hope will be a highly successful...

Today, Google has decided to celebrate "Earth Hour" in this way on their main page: Here is some text to explain their actions: Google users in the United States will notice today that we "turned the lights out" on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don't do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked for a grand jury investigation into whether White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former counsel Harriet Miers should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. Pelosi is demanding that misdemeanor charges be pursued against Miers for refusing to testify to Congress about the 2006 firings of federal prosecutors, and against Bolten for failing to turn over White House documents related to the purge.

Rosie O'Donnell Blames Bush for Staph Infection Photo of Ken Shepherd. By Ken Shepherd | February 5, 2008 - 13:54 ET Greg Pollowitz of NRO's Media Blog already beat me to the punch, but it bears repeating on NewsBusters. The only fresh angle I can bring to this is that, to my recollection, this is the first time Rosie O'Donnell has attempted an original blog post in prose. For the occasion she blamed President Bush for a nasty staph infection back in 2000. I'm sure given enough time and inspiration from Joni Mitchell's greatest hits she can re-work her post...

Rocky Anderson, it turns out, is not stepping aside quietly. Joining a list of liberal luminaries, including Noam Chomsky and George McGovern, Salt Lake City's outgoing mayor submitted a letter Friday that calls on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the Bush administration for abuses of power. The letter, signed by 18 political and cultural figures, asks House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., to hold hearings on alleged violations of the law under President Bush that include kidnapping and torture, warrantless wiretapping, a war of aggression against Iraq and disseminating false propaganda to deceive the American people. It came...

<p>In one of the shortest session in its history, the Senate's final session of the year lasted a total of 12 seconds Monday.</p> <p>Only one senator, Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island, was in the chamber to gavel open the Senate and adjourn it until January 3.</p>

Pat Buchanan was very moved. Chris Matthews "heard greatness this morning." Joe Scarborough said Romney "hit it out the park." But with his speech on faith this morning, Mitt clearly didn't make a believer out of Sally Quinn, doyenne of the DC establishment and wife of former WaPo editor Ben Bradlee. SALLY QUINN: I have to say that I'm really stunned because I think it was an obliteration of the idea of the separation of church and state. He eliminated anybody who was a doubter, an atheist, an agnostic, a seeker. It's like, if you believe in God or Christ,...

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has scheduled a committee vote Thursday on contempt resolutions against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential political guru Karl Rove for failing to respond to subpoenas. Under Judiciary Committee rules, the vote could be postponed for a week, but Leahy said he intends to move the criminal contempt resolutions as soon as possible. Last week, he rejected the White House's executive privilege claim in preventing Rove and Bolten from appearing before his panel, calling it "overbroad, unsubstantiated, and not legally valid," setting the stage for Thursday's showdown. Rove and Bolten...

Hippies are just born problem-solvers, aren't they? /s

Activists Strip Before Peres Speech (IsraelNN.com) A group of Greenpeace activists stripped off their clothes Thursday afternoon at Tel Aviv University shortly before President Shimon Peres began a speech at a conference on nuclear arms. The activists had painted radiation symbols on their stomachs and called on those present to “strip the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction.” Activists said they were protesting because no speakers at the conference doubted Israel’s need for nuclear weapons. Peres joked about the strippers, saying “I think we should turn down the air conditioning in here, I was concerned for their health.” On...

Heather Mills Launches Pro-Vegan Campaign With Racy Ads Monday , November 19, 2007 Substitute rat's milk for cow's milk and you will help save the world. At least, that’s what Heather Mills believes. The 39-year-old former model turned activist turned estranged wife of Paul McCartney launched a pro-vegan campaign Monday in Hyde Park, in England. Animal charity Viva! features Mills on two huge traffic-stopping billboards and a series of ads that advocate the reduced consumption of dairy and livestock. "The startling truth is that animals farmed for meat and dairy are now one of the greatest threats to the planet,”...