Free Republic

A California stay-at-home mom was devastated to learn that a succulent she has taken care of for two years is made out of plastic. Caelie Wilkes said in a Facebook post that she received the plant as a gift and worked hard to nurture and protect it, making sure it received enough water and plenty sunshine. She even washed the spongy leaves.

Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat challenging GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in the midterm elections, is being slammed by Republicans for saying there is “nothing more American” than kneeling during the national anthem. “Comments like his are a slap in the face to every man and woman who has ever served our nation and put their lives on the line to defend American values,” Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey said Thursday. O’Rourke, a Democratic congressman, was asked at a recent campaign event about NFL players who kneel during the anthem. O’Rourke replied, “I can think of nothing more American than...

Sen. Rubio asks FBI director and others about the path that China is taking to become the world's dominant super power including using our own academic superiority to educate their future scientists, but the stupid democrat that followed him only wanted to know what our intel people knew about the Rob Porter situation...what a bumbling old fool who shouldn't even be a crossing guard, much less a Senator.

A Houston judge faces possible discipline for violating judicial ethics by reducing the bail of a recently arrested sheriff's deputy without notifying prosecutors, legal experts said. State District Judge Kevin Fine maintained that he acted within his authority when he reduced the deputy's bail by 90 percent, from $200,000 to $20,000, without notifying prosecutors. He took the action after the defendant's attorney approached him Thursday, Fine said. "I can lower the bond without any party present, sua sponte, on my own, I have that authority," Fine said. He said a $200,000 bail was essentially no bail. But legal experts said...

"It looks like in an act that defies common sense, a bill has been introduced in the South Carolina State Senate that seeks to outlaw the use of profanity. According to the bill it would become a felony (punishable by a fine up to $5000 or up to 5 years in prison) to "publish orally or in writing, exhibit, or otherwise make available material containing words, language, or actions of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious, or indecent nature". I'm not sure if "in writing" could be applied to the internet, but in any event this is scary stuff."

I'm voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would, and I know that they will take care of me if I ever lack for anything. I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is good as long as nobody is offended by it. I’m voting Democrat because freedom of religion is good as long as God the Father or His Son Jesus is never ever mentioned or prayed to in our schools, colleges, and public offices, however, Muslim footwashing stations in our airports and special prayer rooms in...

SNIP....Hillary Rodham Clinton attended services Sunday at a black church in Harlem........Rev. Calvin Butts, a Clinton supporter, introduced her.........she recounted how she had gone with her church youth group to hear King speak........"It was a transforming experience for me," ......has been criticized .......After the service (political rally), Butts officially endorsed Clinton...........It was a lively scene, as Obama supporters showed up and houted, "Harlem for Obama."

As the congressional session lurches toward a close, Democrats are confronting some demoralizing arithmetic on Iraq. The numbers tell a story of political and substantive paralysis more starkly than most members are willing to acknowledge publicly, or perhaps even to themselves. Since taking the majority, they have forced 40 votes on bills limiting President Bush’s war policy. Only one of those has passed both chambers, even though both are run by Democrats. That one was vetoed by Bush.

Party Of Retreat: The Senate's top Democrat has announced to terrorists a U.S. surrender in Iraq. Considering our new strategy's documented successes, Harry Reid's determination to lose is practically treasonous. In a week that saw the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, and a Senate committee subject the attorney general to a modern-day Salem witch trial, the Senate majority leader managed to say something that made headlines: "This war is lost," the Nevada Democrat told reporters Thursday, "and this surge is not accomplishing anything." That's odd. According to the Pentagon, the influx of tens of thousands of troops, accompanied by...

Senate candidate admits he has much to learn between now and the next election, and isn’t shying away from the challenge. MORTON — He is best known for sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” and best-selling humor books that poke fun at figures like Rush Limbaugh. But 15 minutes before he was scheduled to appear at a ballroom at Jackpot Junction on Saturday night, Al Franken was huddled with a group of ag producers talking about something other than fame or entertainment. Alfalfa. “I just had a meeting about all the background of alfalfa,” Franken said as he stood outside the...

Freshman Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) has ignited a controversy after agreeing to be the keynote speaker at an April 7 banquet and fundraiser hosted by the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR is the largest Muslim civil rights group in the country, with 30 chapters nationwide. Jewish organizations and conservative groups have criticized CAIR for not labeling Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations and for not specifically denouncing suicide bombings against Israelis. Sestak's acceptance of the invitation has particularly enraged members of the Philadelphia Jewish community, who bombarded him with critical questions at a two-hour forum last...

March 6, 2007 Kerry Statement on Libby Guilty Verdict WASHINGTON DC – Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) today offered the following statement on the CIA Leak case, which reached a verdict in Washington today. “This verdict brings accountability at last for official deception and the politics of smear and fear,” Kerry said. “This trial revealed a no-holds barred White House attack machine aimed at anyone who stood in the way of their march to war with Iraq. It is time for President Bush to live up to his own promises and hold accountable anyone else who participated in this smear. It...

John Kerry Slams His Own Country At Davos Jan 27 2007 7:52PM http://sayanythingblog.com/index.php Here’s John Kerry speaking while sitting just a few feet away from Mohammad Khatami, the former President of the Iranian terror state. Kerry was asked about whether the U.S. government had failed to adequately engage Iran’s government before the election of hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. Kerry said the Bush administration has failed in addressing a number of foreign policy issues. “When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up...

Democratic strategist James Carville says his party should dump Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic Party because of incompetence. Carville, during coffee and rolls with political reporters today, said Democrats could have picked up as many as 50 House seats, instead of the nearly 30 they have so far. The reason they didn’t, he said, is the Democratic National Committee did not spend some $6 million it could have put into so-called “third tier” House races against vulnerable Republicans. Carville said the other Democratic campaign committees had borrowed to the hilt. He said he tried to meet with Dean...

When the family of Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich gathered in Pittsburgh for the fallen Marine's funeral, they expected a large crowd – after all, they've lived in the area for generations and Joseph had been a police officer before becoming a leatherneck – but they didn't expect to see Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor show up, hand out her business card and tell them "our government" opposes the war...

Everybody leaves the world's most exclusive club sometime, and last night the tribute at the National Building Museum was for a man who had left it most reluctantly -- Democrat Tom Daschle, tossed out of the Senate in November by the good people of South Dakota after an expensive and contentious race. "Tom wasn't wild about this, to tell you the truth," said his wife, Linda Daschle, an airline industry lobbyist, as she surveyed the room of about 400 guests, including nearly all 44 Democratic senators. "He wasn't about looking back. But so many of his Senate family wanted to...

Golan Cipel was only a plaything. It was developer Charles Kushner who speeded his passage through the swamps of New Jersey patronage politics—till Kushner was brought down in his own spectacular sex scandal. Less than 24 hours after New Jersey developer Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to retaliating against a federal witness and filing both false tax returns and false campaign-finance reports, the would-be political kingmaker was in his office on Columbia Turnpike in Florham Park. Shamed, humiliated, and facing at least a year and a half in jail, he was discussing his predicament with defense attorney Ben Brafman, marveling at...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is taxing its Reserve soldiers "nearly to the breaking point" with repeated and extended deployments in its two ongoing wars, the ranking Democrat on the House military panel said Wednesday. And the committee's Republican chairman said recent moves to find more combat soldiers for Iraq -- including the use of troops who normally train others -- could "mortgage the future" of the nation's military.

Garrison Keillor doesn't beat about the Bush when he explains why he wrote "Homegrown Democrat.'' "I want to strengthen and encourage my fellow Democrats because I think they have been so extensively beaten up on, especially on radio, with Rush Limbaugh and 10,000 imitators,'' Keillor said in an interview before he left town for season-ending performances of his "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show. "There are people in this country who cannot comprehend why anyone would vote for a candidate other than George W. Bush. My book is addressed to that. This is an intuitive book, not a closely reasoned...