Free Republic

Joe Biden was backtracking big-time over suggestions that Obama-Biden might bring criminal charges against Pres Bush. "I don't know where that report is coming from," said the Delaware senator. Why, from Joe Biden is where. Speaking in Deerfield Beach, Fla, this week, Biden was asked whether "you are going to pursue violations that have been made against our Constitution by the present administration." Biden's reply: "Yes. We will not be 'estopped' from pursuing any criminal offenses that occurred" during the Bush years. What about Obama? Last April he said he would "have my justice Department and my AG immediately review...

The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever interview on FOX News. As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S. troops has benefited the Iraqi people. “I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.” Speaking on...

Did the campaign suddenly regret failing to take note of Palin's unique place in American history as the first woman tabbed by the Republican Party as a vice presidential nominee? Did it regret missing an opportunity to tell women (especially Hillary Clinton loyalists) across the country that Palin deserved at least a cursory compliment before being subjected to the natural rough-and-tumble or presidential politics? Did it regret a swift descent into the negative, back-and-forth politics that Obama has so earnestly railed against? It would appear so.

PITTSBURGH, PA -- Obama reacted to his rival's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and walked back a statement put out by his campaign that called the governor inexperienced. "I haven't met her before. She seems like a compelling person, obviously a terrific story, personal story. And you know, I'm sure that she will help make the case for the Republicans," "I congratulate her and look forward to a vigorous debate," he said. Obama and Biden released a joint written statement earlier congratulating Palin, saying she was "an admirable person and will add a compelling new...

Warren had asked Obama to provide an example of where he had gone against party loyalty and his own best interest. Obama cited a speech he had given as a state senator from a liberal district in Chicago. At the time, he had no responsibility to cast a vote that would affect the outcome, nor (as he indicated later to Russert) sufficient information to do so. His "Meet the Press" interview shows that, in the midst of his run for the Senate in 2004, as he prepared to take the national stage, Obama put party loyalty (and his own best...

He formally signs off on one of the key milestones of the current Vision for Space Exploration: “He endorses the goal of sending human missions to the Moon by 2020, as a precursor in an orderly progression to missions to more distant destinations, including Mars.” Obama says he will “expedite the development of the Shuttle’s successor systems” for carrying people into space (although does not mention Orion and Ares by name). The policy adds: “This will be difficult; underfunding by the Bush administration has left NASA with limited flexibility to accelerate the development of the new systems.” As previous stated,...

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has decried the practice and vowed to reform convention funding, but the Denver Host Committee was facing a budget shortfall. "Facing a large deficit in the Democratic National Convention budget, officials from Barack Obama’s campaign have begun personally soliciting labor unions and others for contributions of up to $1 million. In exchange, donors could get stadium skyboxes for Obama’s acceptance speech and other perks. Obama has regularly criticized politicians seeking large donations outside the framework of campaign finance regulations — so-called soft money — while touting the virtues of relying on small donations. But campaign...

If we have learned anything about Barack Obama thus far, we have learned he absolutely refuses to tell us who he is except to say he’s a “progressive” kind of guy. The problem, of course, with this lack of courage and honesty is that when a candidate aspires to the presidency, the American people want to know exactly who the person is. In fact, the public so much wants to know the answer to the question Obama refuses to answer that millions have stepped up to do the job for him, among them the National Review’s Jonah Goldberg, who revealed...

From Berlin to Bejing, Barry is the man. His performance has broken all records. Shawn Johnson and Michael Phelps have been upstaged as Barack Obama wins Gold in every gymnastics event.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday night dropped her staunch opposition to a vote on offshore oil drilling in the House. Republicans, reacting to high gas prices, have demanded a vote on additional oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf, where drilling is currently blocked by a moratorium. Until now, Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted the idea as a “hoax.” But in an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live, she indicated that she was open to a vote. “They have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas,” Pelosi said. “We can do that. We can have a vote...

By Michelle Malkin  •  August 12, 2008 09:46 AM Maybe Do-Nothing Nancy should enter the Olympic diving competition. She gets a 10 for her flip-flop-flop yesterday on drilling. It is now no longer the “hoax” she knew. What a hoot. Did she think she could sell 2 more books trying to pander and straddle like this? Nan, you’re slaying us. My sides hurt.From CNN’s Larry King show: PELOSI: I would not. It depends how the drilling is put forth. But I don’t — that is not excluded, let me say it that way. It depends how that is proposed, if the...

YOUTUBE -- A nice compilation of the flip flops (i.e. political pandering and lies) of Barack Obama, the messiah.

WACO, Texas – About this time eight years ago, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore warned that dipping into the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a way to lower gasoline and heating oil prices would be foolhardy. With only weeks to go before the election, Gore did an about-face and called for a raid on the nation's crude oil reserves established as a backup for national emergencies. In another instance, Gore called for higher taxes on gasoline as a way to make alternative energy sources more economically competitive. As the election neared, Gore flip-flopped. In both instances, Gore was right the...

LANSING, Mich. — Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology. In a speech here and in a new advertisement, Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also sought to portray his Republican rival, Mr. McCain, as “in the pocket” of oil giants that are profiting from gasoline priced at more than $4 a gallon. And in his speech, Mr. Obama called for a windfall...

It is Obama's campaign that presents their candidate as an ever-changing work-in-progress. It is his own campaign that occludes our ability to know this man, depicting him as authentic as a pair of designer jeans.

WASHINGTON — Amid record gas prices and mounting criticism from the McCain campaign, Senator Obama is shifting his stance on key energy issues. His campaign insists the moves demonstrate his pragmatism, but Republicans say the Illinois senator is merely following the polls. Mr. Obama yesterday called for releasing 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, less than one month after he voiced opposition to tapping the emergency stockpile. The presumptive Democratic nominee also said he is open to a Senate compromise that includes new offshore drilling, though he has spent weeks criticizing Republican drilling proposals. Mr. Obama's...

One more week, one more Barack Obama reversal on a key issue. Actually, make that two reversals. The Democratic presidential hopeful says he's now open to easing the offshore-drilling ban, and he wants to tap the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. What a difference a few polls make, no? Until recently, Obama was adamantly against offshore drilling and tapping the SPR. Why the shift? Because voters are longing for relief from $4 gas and he thinks his new views will win them over. So much for principles. To be fair, John McCain has also shifted his views to support offshore drilling....

LANSING, Mich. | Sen. Barack Obama put his effort to pursue energy voters into overdrive on Monday, flipping positions to call for releasing oil from the government's strategic reserve just days after he said he was open to expanded offshore drilling. Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat, said he reversed his positions because consumers are suffering. The campaign of his Republican presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said the change was all about politics after polls showed Mr. Obama losing ground. The McCain campaign said gas prices are 23 cents lower now than at their peak a month ago, when Mr....

Sen. Barack Obama's energy policy is offering more flip flops than a Lake Tahoe souvenir stand. First the presumptive Democratic nominee opposes offshore oil drilling, but, wait, now he doesn't. Second, he never suggested dipping into national petroleum reserves, and now he wants to open the spigot. And remember how he hooted at suspending federal gas taxes as a primary-season stunt? Now, he wants $1,000 rebate checks mailed out to families, paid by a windfall profits tax on the oil industry that was tried and dumped in the 1980s. The crushing power of $4-a-gallon gas lies behind these changes along...

Barack Obama proposed tapping the strategic oil reserve on Monday to help lower gas prices, reversing an earlier stance, and called rival John McCain a tool of big oil companies as rising energy costs took center stage in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Via Jim Geraghty, who caught this even while on vacation. In August 2005, Obama agreed with George Bush’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to buffer the economy from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, Obama warned that such actions should only take place in times of real emergency ... Today, we discovered what Barack Obama considers a genuine emergency — a drop in the polls:

Barack Obama on 7/7/08 (much more recent than the 2005 comments): "I do not believe that we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point. I have said and, in fact, supported a congressional resolution that said that we should suspend putting more oil into the strategic oil reserve, but the strategic oil reserve, I think, has to be reserved for a genuine emergency. You have a situation, let's say, where there was a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia that was destroyed as a consequence of terrorist acts, and you suddenly had huge amounts of oil taken out...

Once again Senator Obama has proven that he is a candidate who will do anything and say anything to gain political power. Today, Senator Obama repeated the calls of failed congressional leaders Pelosi and Reid by calling upon the President to open our Strategic Oil Reserves. The proposal by Obama would open up 10% of the nations oil reserve in order to provide short term price relief that would last through the November Election. Yet, in 2005, Barack Obama while speaking in both Godfrey, Illinois and at the State Fair in Illinois...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511 Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506 Date: August 31, 2005 Obama Statement on the President's Decision to Release Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement about President Bush's decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: "I agree with the President's decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help replenish supply shortages resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Nearly all oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut down, and...

YouTube clip of Obama back on July 7th, 2008 saying that oil should not be released from the Strategic Oil Reserve. Now he wants oil released.

In yet another move away from the kind of campaign his supporters would have expected of him not so many months ago, Barack Obama has effectively rejected John McCain's invitation to do multiple town hall type debates across the country in the period leading up to the conventions. He is agreeing only to the standard three debates after the conventions, in a variety of arranged formats. Though not unexpected at this point, his decision is a complete turnaround from the candidate he portrayed himself as barely three months ago. As even the AP writer notes: In May, when a McCain...

CNN) -- Barack Obama's campaign released a television ad Monday that calls for a windfall profits tax and accuses John McCain of being in the pocket of big oil.

Obama opposes offshore drilling on Wednesday, supports it Friday, The Times conveys title to the drilling issue to Obama on Saturday, and at no time does Obama acknowledge he changed his position at all.

Recent reports that Barack Obama is, in fact, a politician, and therefore fully capable of calculation, compromise and confessional performance art, neither alarmed nor crept up on me; throughout the primary season, every time I heard someone moan that that poor pie-in-the-sky Obambi was just too darn naïve to run with the big dogs, the extra set of eyeballs I keep on the inside of my head would twirl around in their sockets and I'd think, People, the man is from Chicago! Who is it again who's being naïve? Sorry, but to best Hillary Clinton while (mostly) making it look...

So just how upset is the leftwing blogosphere over Barack Obama's switch on his "rock solid" opposition to offshore oil drilling? Try over 4700 angry post (as of this writing) at the HUffington POst THREAD, "Obama Shifts, Says He May Back Offshore Drilling," announcing this latest 180 by the Obamassiah. Perhaps the left was reconciled that the switch on FISA by Obama would be his last major switch but this change on position on offshore oil drilling is just too much for them. Likewise the DUmmies and KOmmies are beyond upset with Obama on this switch as well as...

Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall. In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, "I think that's a great idea." In summer stumping on the campaign trail, McCain has often noted that Obama had not followed through and joined him in any events. Obama's reversal on town hall debates is part of a play-it-safe strategy he's adopted since claiming the nomination and grabbing a lead in national...

You'd think a guy who has demonstrated such flexibility on everything from campaign finance to NAFTA to the Second Amendment to the surge could find a way to wangle some townhall meetings with John McCain into his schedule. But gosh darn it, that would just be too tough for Barack Obama, explains George Stephanopoulos. The "This Week" host made his excuses for the Dem candidate on today's Good Morning America. BILL WEIR: The Obama campaign just agreed to three debates after the McCain campaign called for ten or so townhall meetings. Given his oratory skills, why won't Obama answer that...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama responded Saturday to criticism that he has changed his position on opposing offshore oil drilling. Obama said Friday that he would be willing to compromise on his position against offshore oil drilling if it were part of a more overarching strategy to lower energy costs. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama told The Palm Beach Post early into a two-day swing through Florida. But on Saturday morning, Obama said this "wasn't really a new position." "I made...

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 2 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today, in Florida, Barack Obama once again demonstrated that his words really don't matter. When discussing NASA programs, Barack Obama said that "it's still being reported" that he would delay the NASA Constellation Program to pay for his early education program. Unfortunately for Barack Obama, that is what he proposed and has been saying for months: BARACK OBAMA: "It's Still Being Reported"...

TITUSVILLE, Fla - Standing with Florida Senator and former astronaut Bill Nelson 20 minutes north of the spiritual home of America’s space program in Cape Canaveral, Barack Obama committed to keeping NASA exploring the outer reaches of the cosmos for years to come - reversing a pledge to cut funding for new space flights. Obama recalled watching American astronauts emerge from the Pacific ocean after space flights as a boy in his Native Hawaii. “When I was growing up, NASA inspired the world with achievements we’re still proud of,” he said. “Today, we have an administration that sets ambitious goals...

WASHINGTON - Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed further away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of Lincoln-Douglas debates, agreeing only to the standard three face-offs in the fall proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

This came from an AP article in the Corvallis, Oregon Gazette-Times, so I can't post it, but it just shouts out again the typical liberal bias in the MSM. The title reads like Obama is ALREADY president, and goes on to explain that he didn't flip-flop on this issue, but "shifted" his position on off-shore drilling. I hope I can continue to stomach this cr@p til November and thank you again Jim Robinson for banning all AP articles!

ST. PETERSBURG — U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said today he would be willing to open Florida's coast for more oil drilling if it meant winning approval for broad energy changes. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post. "If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don't want to be so rigid that we can't...

It's almost certainly too late, after his coronation tour of the Middle East and Europe, to amend the story and to show precisely how and why the conventional wisdom about Barack Obama and the surge is wrong, but just out of curmudgeonly pedantry, let me attempt the task. On Feb. 21, Sens. Obama and Hillary Clinton had one of their "debates" in Austin, Texas. The question of the surge—just then beginning to show serious and lasting results—came up. Sen. Clinton, of course, having apparently been decisively out-lefted by Obama at the beginning of the campaign, felt compelled to put the...

You're welcome to believe otherwise, but I don't think the press has gone in the tank for Barack Obama. As long ago as March, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz demolished charges that the press was soft on Obama by cataloging the tough pieces published by reporters exhuming the candidate's past: his financial relationship with friend and fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who is now a convicted felon; his friendship with former Weather Undergrounder William Ayers; his casting of 130 "present" votes as an Illinois legislator; his nuclear energy compromise in the U.S. Senate, said to benefit a contributor; incendiary comments made...

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, Randy Scheunemann, McCain 2008 senior foreign policy adviser, issued the following statement welcoming Barack Obama's latest shift to an "entirely conditions-based" withdrawal from Iraq: "Today Barack Obama finally abandoned his dangerous insistence on an unconditional withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by making clear that for the foreseeable future, troop levels in Iraq will be 'entirely conditions based.' We welcome this latest shift in Senator Obama's position, but it is obvious that it was only a lack of experience and judgment that kept him from arriving at this position sooner. "John McCain has always held...

Barack Obama has earned his place in history as the first postmodern candidate for president. He belongs to the deconstructionist school; his "texts" have no fixed meaning. He is able to take varying positions and claim consistency. Senator Obama gave a lengthy interview earlier this week to ABC News in which he expounded on his ever-evolving position on the troop surge in Iraq. Before discussing, a little context is in order. Here's a rundown of previous statements on the topic: January 10, 2007, on MSNBC: "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the...

John McCain is the candidate who actually had experience as a wartime flyer, but Barack Obama is the one who has most successfully adapted a favorite tactic of those intrepid aviators. When the pilots were over a target heavily defended by anti-aircraft guns, they would release a cloud of fine metal scraps, hoping to confuse the aim of the shells or missiles being fired in their direction. In the weeks since he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, the Illinois senator has done a similar trick, throwing out verbal hints of altered positions on any number of issues. This is creating...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in an interview published on Saturday the size of a residual U.S. force left in Iraq after the withdrawal of combat troops would be "entirely conditions-based."

Here's the good part: In Iraq, it’s not new that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has wanted to take control of his own country. But there’s always been this gap between his assessment of his abilities and American commanders’ saying he’s not up to it. As president, faced with that difference between what he says he can do and what the commanders say he can do, how would you choose between them? Iraq is a sovereign country. Not just according to me, but according to George Bush and John McCain. So ultimately our presence there is at their invitation, and their...

I so, so wanted to believe it. Really I did. He is so handsome, so fresh and, well, truth be told, I want everybody to know that I embrace diversity. I’m hip, if you can dig it. I’m not afraid of change. That is, as long as by “change” Barack Obama and his followers are referring to a change in vision, a change in paradigm and perhaps a change of tone in Washington. Politics can be so grubby and nasty. Everybody wants to see the Jimmy Stewart, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” movie come true. Unfortunately, what I think Obama...

After meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, came before the microphones... SNIP But the Pentagon said that wasn't true, that Obama was more than welcome to come, it was just that he couldn't bring the media or campaign staff. So here's what Obama said about it all: "The staff was working this so I don’t know each and every detail but here is what I understand happened," Obama said. "We had scheduled to go, we had no problem at all in leaving, we always leave press and staff off -- that is why we...

Sen. Barack Obama claims there has been only a "shift in emphasis," not "wild shifts," in his political positions. Many already know the list: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, NAFTA, public financing of campaigns, abortion, gay marriage, Social Security taxes, the death penalty and negotiating with rogue nations.Possibly one of the more remarkable changes has been his position on guns. But despite Obama's recent concession on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" that there has been a "shift in emphasis" on various issues, on guns he held firm: "You mentioned the gun position. I've been talking about the Second Amendment being an...

Advertising Age reports that “Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage” and “has taken a $5 million package of Olympics spots that includes network TV as well as cable ads.” The Associated Press notes that ‘[s]uch an extensive purchase of ad time would give Obama wide exposure before the Democratic National Convention, to be held the last week in August” and that “the expenditure is as significant for its reach as for the bold statement it makes.”This would be the same Barack Obama who lectured President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies....

For those of you who don't keep up with the conservative blogosphere, one of the memes they've been trying to push for the past couple of weeks is this: Barack Obama may give a good prepared speech, but his dirty little secret is that he's actually an empty suit who's totally at sea without a teleprompter. Today, for example, Andy McCarthy, offers up this snippet from an Obama press conference in Jerusalem: Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which is my committee, a bill to call for divestment from Iran, as a way...