Free Republic

Anyone who considers Marco Rubio suitable for the presidency should read this piece by Rich Lowry. We would expect a president to be able, at a minimum, to hold his own in negotiations with the smartest people in the opposition party. As Lowry shows, Rubio has failed that test: ... Schumer managed to hold Rubio and win his grudging respect, while selling him a lopsided deal. Rubio traded amnesty — although he refuses to call it that — for an enforcement plan on paper and a commission to be named later. ... Schumer’s genius is to have placated Rubio not...

AFP - Iran's foreign ministry strongly condemned the twin bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon that killed at least three people, the country's state television reported on Tuesday. "Iran strongly condemns the killing of American citizens in Boston," said ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, calling the bombings a "source of sorrow". "No one should under any circumstances support terrorism and extremism, whether it be in the Middle East or the United States," he said. Two bomb blasts struck one of America's top sporting events Monday, killing at least three and wounding more than 100 as the Boston Marathon descended into chaos....

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopts a resolution which stipulates that the U.S. will assist Israel in an attack against Iran. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopted on Tuesday a resolution which stipulates that the U.S. will assist Israel if it is forced to take action against Iran. The resolution, Senate Resolution 65, was introduced last month by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and was co-sponsored by 15 Senators, including Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York)...

Last Thursday, President Obama signed a memorandum pledging “up to $10 Million in Commodities and Services from any Agency of the United States Government to the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) and the Syrian Opposition’s Supreme Military Council (SMC).” That money is in addition to the “3,000 tons of weapons…” the Obama Administration was reported, by the UK Telegraph, to have given the Free Syrian Army last year – a group that has outwardly praised Al-Qaeda and is openly allied with Al-Qaeda affiliate organizations in the region – even fighting alongside them in many battles. However, those things may pale in...

Sen. Marco Rubio’s approval rating is six points lower with Hispanics than George W. Bush’s, so the Republican Party thinks it is a great idea to put him on all 5 Sunday shows. The Republican “rebrand” strategy is centered around making Sen. Marco Rubio the face of immigration reform. The problem is that Hispanics aren’t flocking to the Florida Republican. A new poll from NBC News/WSJ/Telemundo found that despite months of efforts to elevate Rubio, the senator’s approval rating with Hispanics is 23%. Twenty five percent of those polled were neutral, 12% had a negative opinion, and 40% didn’t know...

With passage of the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Act, Congress authorizes President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). --snip-- Most prominent in counties where the races were relatively balanced, the KKK engaged in terrorist raids against African-Americans and white Republicans at night, employing intimidation, destruction of property, assault, and murder to achieve its aims and influence upcoming elections. In a few Southern states, Republicans organized militia units to break up the Klan.

Sen. Rand Paul, the tea party favorite and possible 2016 presidential candidate, is raising money for a conservative gun rights group that’s targeting fellow Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. And when one congressman complained, the message from Paul’s camp was: too bad. The Kentucky Republican has lent his name to fundraising pitches for the National Association for Gun Rights, a group that says the National Rifle Association is too willing to compromise on gun rights. The group has blitzed the districts of Virginia Republicans Cantor and Rep. Scott Rigell with $50,000 worth of TV and radio ads accusing...

As the capital of the Confederate States of America, Richmond, Va. could hardly be described as a supporter of Abraham Lincoln; its grand Monument Avenue is chock-full of oversized statues of heroes of the Confederacy, including Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Jeb Stuart. But now, nearly 150 years after the Civil War ended, Lincoln – or at least the movie version of him – is Richmond’s new hero...To coincide with the movie’s recent release on DVD, Virginia Tourism Corporation has created several self-guided tours that follow Lincoln around the state...

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the Tea Party favorite and emerging 2016 GOP presidential star, on Wednesday showed he is looking to broaden his and the Republican Party's base far beyond white males to include African-American youths. In a speech to Howard University Wednesday morning, Paul reached out to blacks, arguing that the Democrats and President Obama has failed African Americans, but admitting that the GOP has a long way to go before blacks see Republicans as their guide to success. "Some have said that I'm either brave or crazy to be here today. I've never been one to watch the...

Syrian President Bashar Assad warned in comments broadcast Friday that the fall of his regime or the breakup of his nation will cause a “domino effect” that will fuel Middle East instability for years, in his sharpest warning yet about the potential fallout of his country’s civil war on neighboring states.

Speaker John Boehner told fellow House Republicans in an Easter week memo that his decision to allow the sequestration cuts to take effect has forced President Barack Obama and the Democrats to confront economic issues they have long been avoiding. “We forged a new tactical plan that focused on using our limited leverage to maximum effect in support of the reforms needed to support economic growth and job creation for all Americans,” Boehner wrote in the memo distributed to House Republicans on Thursday. … The memo noted that GOP efforts had forced Senate Democrats to produce their own budget plan...

The CIA is notorious for its disastrous, damaging failures. In the 1950s, the CIA’s meddling in Iran politics led to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, creating a nation that is our implacable enemy. In the 1960s, the CIA carried out the embarrassing Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba. In the 1980s, the CIA it was responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal that nearly wrecked Reagan’s presidency. In the 1980s, the CIA entirely missed the fact that the Soviet Union was collapsing. And in 2001 it was as surprised as anyone by the 9/11 attack. One would think that, with this track...

Sen. Rand Paul said Sunday that President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush could have "conceivably been put in jail” for their drug use, ruining their lives and impacting their getting elected to office. "Look, the last two presidents could have conceivably been put in jail for their drug use and I really think - look what would've happened, it would've ruined their lives. They got lucky. But a lot of poor kids, particularly in the inner city, don't get lucky and they don't have good attorneys and they go to jail for some of these things and...

I don't use the word "defense" much when talking about the federal budget because it always prejudices the conversation. U.S. military spending isn't always defensive; it often is appropriately offensive and changing the name in 1949 from the Department of War to the Department of Defense should go down as one of the top 10 greatest public relations achievements of all time. So why did I violate my own rule and use the word "defense" in the headline to this post? To make a point: In spite of all the spin and all the warm feelings Americans supposedly have about...

Innocent children, poor and minorities have been the worst hit. WARNING: attempted satire.On Wednesday, President Obama dined with a dozen congressional Republicans at an unpretentious little restaurant in a Washington, D.C. ghetto. His purpose was to show them how badly the poor, minorities -- and particularly little children -- have already been scarred, perhaps for life, by the Ravenous Bugblatter Austerity Beast of Traal. Even the dreams of little children that they might visit Barack's Barracks the White House this Spring have been dashed, viciously. Showing the determined leadership and frugality all have learned to expect from him, President Obama...

President Barack Obama used Washington’s grandest stage—the State of the Union speech—to announce negotiations with Europe aimed at creating the world’s largest free trade agreement. Just weeks later, there are signs that old agriculture disputes could be deal-killers. European Union leaders don’t want the negotiations to include discussions on their restrictions on genetically modified crops and other regulations that keep U.S. farm products out of Europe. But Obama says it’s hard to imagine an agreement that doesn’t address those issues. Powerful U.S. agricultural lobbies will do their best to make sure Congress rejects any pact that fails to address the...

There are those who support – whether enthusiastically or reluctantly so – immigration reform on compassionate grounds or out of a desire to fix our broken system (border control; greater enforcement; changing our evaluation methods for who gets in and who doesn’t, etc.). Fair enough. But let’s be blunt: political gain is the driving factor. It’s no surprise that the three Republicans most publicly discussing the issue are all 2016 contenders: Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Jeb Bush. We conservatives are told – by GOP strategists and consultants – that immigration reform is the key to winning the Latino vote....

Alcohol occupies a peculiar position in the culture of the United States. Like so much else besides, it is subject to the ongoing brawl between puritanism and libertarianism, two philosophies that have long jockeyed for dominance here. Americans have made many contributions to the bar — including the perfection and popularization of the cocktail. But puritanism has survived, enjoying a rich history of its own. Benjamin Rush’s inquiries into alcoholism spawned a variety of anti-alcohol movements at the outset of the new republic; in the 1850s, “temperance” overlapped uncomfortably with the Know Nothing movement’s distaste for secular principles; and...

Secret papers show extent of senior royals' veto over bills Court order reveals how approval of Queen and Prince Charles is sought on range of billsRobert Booth The Guardian, Monday 14 January 2013 The Queen was asked for consent on a range of bills, including those affecting her estates. There is growing concern in parliament at a lack of transparency over the royals’ role in lawmaking. Photograph: Sergeant Dan Harmer [...] The internal Whitehall pamphlet [...] shows ministers and civil servants are obliged to consult the Queen and Prince Charles in greater detail and over more areas of legislation than...

Except in a few neoconservative hideouts, the Iraq war is generally regarded as a mistake. The war has cost over $800 billion so far, with more than 4,400 U.S. soldiers killed and around 32,000 wounded. Hard to argue that the United States has acquired security gains commensurate with that sacrifice. So, why was the Iraq war a mistake and what lessons should be learned from it? The 10th anniversary of the initial invasion has occasioned considerable discussion of those questions. But most of the discussion is wide of the most important lesson to be learned. --snip-- George W. Bush told...