Free Republic

“Traitors.” That’s a strong term, obviously. It should never be used lightly. Yet there it was, flying around like confetti in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. And why? Because 47 GOP senators who are understandably concerned about the prospects of a nuclear-armed Iran sent a letter to that country’s leaders about the deal now being struck with the United States and other countries. Their message: The next U.S. president can overturn “with the stroke of a pen” any deal Congress doesn’t approve. “Judas got thirty pieces of silver. What did you get?” one New Jersey resident tweeted. Others, sparked...

Mounting chaos in the region puts the administration on the defensive. Barack Obama faces a slew of Middle East crises that some call the worst in a generation, as new chaos from Yemen to Iraq — along with deteriorating U.S.-Israeli relations — is confounding the president’s efforts to stabilize the region and strike a nuclear deal with Iran. The meltdown has Obama officials defending their management of a region that some call impossible to control, even as critics say U.S. policies there are partly to blame for the spreading anarchy. “If there’s one lesson this administration has learned, from President...

President Obama said at a White House press conferenceTuesday that his decision to reevaluate United States policy towards Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election is not personal, it's strictly business. "One last point about this because I've heard a lot of the commentary," Obama said in response to a question about whether there was anything Netanyahu could do to stop Obama from changing his administration's policy on Israel. "There is a tendency I think in the reporting here to frame this somehow as a personal issue between myself and Prime Minister Netanyahu." "I have a very businesslike relationship...

Where are the wise diplomats? Day upon day, the Secretary of State, President and those who stand in firm opposition to current US diplomacy with Iran, make their pleas to the public. The gist of the pleas by the Secretary and sitting President boil down to: “We can get a deal,” although “gaps remain.” The rejoinder is: “A bad deal is worse than no deal.” Within this frame, the arguments go back and forth. Missing is wisdom, hard-headed, history-anchored, sage and solemn wisdom. In essence, one side thinks any deal that retards or slows the break-neck pace of Iran’s ambition...

It sounds like a replay of Eastern Europe in the 1940s, complete with the Red Army sweeping aside old borders in the wake of the Second World War and establishing Russian supremacy over one captive nation after another from the Baltics down to the Balkans, while a stunned West mainly watched in dismay. These days the old borders that a revived Russian empire has violated extend from Crimea in the south, now part of that empire again, all along the eastern Ukraine to what used to be Russia's border but is being expanded again and again. A new reign...

Jeb adviser James Baker to keynote J Street conference Leading talk show host and best-selling author Mark Levin assailed Jeb Bush last night over the revelation that one of his top foreign policy advisers, James Baker, will keynote an anti-Israel conference this weekend. The annual conference of the activist group J Street features an array of anti-Israel speakers, including proponents of the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divest (BDS) movement, which seeks Israel’s destruction, and advocates for the terrorist group Hamas. Jeb Bush’s selection of Baker as a foreign policy adviser has sparked concern among conservatives and in the Jewish and pro-Israel...

There’s more than a passing similarity between Obama’s race baiting and his Netanyahu baiting: lies, agitprop, media complicity, shady financing, and prejudice -- in one case against whites, in the other against Jews. Jack Cashill, who often graces these pages, explains this week how the president has been ginning up racial animosity with the help of his friends and funders, describing techniques which I see Obama also using against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel. Begin with some big lies and a media willing to “dismiss as racist anyone who challenged anything about Obama.” The war against the tea party was...

Politicians should stop referring to the President of the United States as "the Commander-in-Chief," as he is often referred to. Most recently, Hillary Clinton, whom I admire, said the following about Republican senators who wrote an open letter to Iran: "Either these senators were trying to be helpful to the Iranians or harmful to the Commander-in-Chief in the midst of high-stakes international diplomacy." But the president is not the Commander-in-Chief for purposes of diplomatic negotiations. This characterization mistakenly implies that President Obama — or any president — is our Commander, and that his decisions should receive special deference. This is...

What has gone wrong with the U.S. government in the past month? Just about everything, from the fundamental to the ridiculous. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United States to warn Congress about the dangers of a nuclear Iran. He spoke without the invitation of an irritated President Obama, who claimed that he did not even watch the address on television. Obama declined to even meet with the Israeli prime minister, announcing that it would have been improper for him to have such a meeting so close to Netanyahu's re-election bid. But if Obama was so concerned about not...

Full title: we petition the obama administration to: Award medals to the 47 courageous Senators who wrote a letter to the Iranian government against Obama's wishes. As one of three co-equal branches of our government, and with power to approve of or reject any treaty with foreign governments, the 47 Senators were perfectly justified in writing a letter informing the Islamic Republic, a sponsor of world-wide terrorism, that any agreement signed by this administration is subject to approval by our Senate. The courage shown by these 47 Senators deserves a medal for their opposition to the proposed agreement, which will...

Many of you probably saw the network news reports about the United Airlines flight yesterday that returned to Dulles International airport when a crazed passenger yelling something about Jihad was restrained by other passengers. What you might have seen only on local but not on national broadcasts was a crazed Pennsylvania State University professor who began ranting loony left slogans on a flight from Nicaragua to Miami last weekend.  The Washington Post published a story about professor Karen Halnon whose rantings sounded too embarrassingly close to an MSNBC host for NBC Nightly News or the other national broadcasts to cover. Even the...

Joe Scarborough introduces Cruz and makes note of recent stories of little girl, Julia, in New Hampshire about the world being on fire. (clip) Cruz speaks about how he spoke to the mother of Julia yesterday. Discussion about New Hampshire press and national press .The local press was not focused on the “world on fire”. Asked by Joe, and Cruz answered: The tough question is: How can we trust you? Joe brings up other issues such as crony capitalism. Do you talk about these things? Cruz responds that working men and women are hurting and the way to resolve it...

Why do our “best and brightest” fail when faced with a man like Putin? Or with charismatic fanatics? Or Iranian negotiators? Why do they misread our enemies so consistently, from Hitler and Stalin to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliph?

Everyone says President Obama is a feckless commander, weak in statecraft, especially compared to the great leaders of the Western world, such as Reagan and Churchill. I believe this does Obama a great injustice. It's so easy to react the way a great leader would. Sure, Obama could have left a small contingent of American troops in Iraq, preserved America's victory, and prevented the entire region from collapsing into chaos and terror. He could have refrained from issuing empty "red line" threats to Syria. He could call ISIS "Islamic." But anybody could do that -- even ISIS calls itself "Islamic."...

While American leadership on the Islamic State terrorist group has been marked by reluctance and lethargy, the response of its Australian ally has been strikingly different.The anodyne words of the Obama Administration in describing the terror threat have been conspicuously absent in the highest levels of the Australian government. The latter has demonstrated repeated willingness to identify the enemy, with repeated references to “Islamist” and “the Muslim community”, and is yet to use the term “violent extremism”. This comes amid reports that Prime Minister Tony Abbott canvassed unilateral action against ISIS in Iraq with 3500 ground troops, with Australia’s leading...

On Monday, 47 United States Senators sent an open letter to the Iranian regime warning that any deal cut by President Obama could be revoked by Congress. “The next president,” the letter stated, “could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen, and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.” This sent the Obama administration and its media allies into a tizzy of rage. After all, it is one thing for the president of the United States to send secret love letters to the ayatollahs; it is quite another for GOP members...

The old time Kremlinolgists often parsed the detailed biographies of key personnel, especially those newly appointed, to gauge the direction in which policy was moving. For the real news was often not in the banner headlines but in the footnotes. Now those same skills can come in handy in Washington. Today the White House announced the appointment of Robert Malley to replace Phil Gordon as .”Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Region. Today, National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice announced that Philip Gordon, Special Assistant to the President...

In this episode, Uncommon Knowledge is honored to have retired four-star General James Mattis. General Mattis retired from the Marine Corps as a full general in 2013, where he served as the eleventh commander of the United States Central Command. He also served as the commander for NATO supreme allied transformation, and as commander of the United States Joint Forces Command. Mattis is now an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress this week. We should listen closely as he raises legitimate concerns about Iran — giving him and his country the respect worthy of a close ally. Instead, President Obama and some Democrats have chosen to use this visit as a political football. This is exactly what Americans dislike about Washington. Lost amidst the petty squabbling in our nation’s capital over protocol is the simple fact that the U.S.–Israel relationship is in crisis, perhaps the most serious crisis in our history. While implementing policy that rewards Israel’s enemies, the...

The European Union’s executive has unveiled a vast plan to boost coordination between the EU’s 28 national energy markets to wean Europe off unstable Russian gas supplies and provide cheaper energy for consumers. European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič on Wednesday called it “undoubtedly the most ambitious energy project” since the inception of the EU over half a century ago. He believes that improving links across borders in Europe’s energy grid could save businesses and consumers up to €40 billion ($45.4 billion) a year. A more energy-independent Europe will also increase the EU’s political options in eastern Europe. […] “Our...