Free Republic

Chertoff, Gonzales, Abrams Have Baggage President George W. Bush has appointed three more officials with unsavory baggage from previous government roles. Let's hope they have learned something from their past misdeeds. One of the nominees -- Michael Chertoff -- is expected to be confirmed shortly as secretary of the Homeland Security Department, replacing Tom Ridge. Chertoff headed the Justice Department's criminal division in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. White House legal counsel Alberto R. Gonzales -- the replacement for John Ashcroft as attorney general -- did not get the usual pass accorded Cabinet appointees. The Senate vote on his...

It will be interesting to see if The New York Times runs negative stories on Obama's inauguration. They slammed President Bush in an Op-ed piece on the cost of his inauguration and then had the audacity to state that the Iraq war should have been cause for restraint in spending for the inauguration. The New York Times on the Bush inauguration. At the rate President Bush's supporters are giving money, his second inauguration threatens to stand out in the history books like the common folks' muddy boot prints on the White House furniture at Andrew Jackson's gala. The $40 million...

Issued Concealed Carry Permit EVENT Name Occupation Birth Death Known for

NEW YORK - Just in time for Valentine's Day, The New York Times today delivered a remarkable front-page bouquet to Robert Rubin, in the form of an unusually generous assessment of the former Treasury secretary's attempted string-pulling on Enron's behalf.

Saudi Arabia: Asian immigrant forced to clean mosques for 'skipping prayers' Riyadh, 18 Nov. (AKI) - A Saudi civil court has ordered an Asian immigrant to clean mosques next month during this year's Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca after religious police caught him skipping Friday prayers several times, Saudi daily al-Watan reports. The man will have to clean five mosques along the highway into Mecca twice daily for eleven days, the court ruled... Earlier this month, a judge ordered a young man to memorise part of the Koran and 40 sayings of the Prophet Mohammed as a...

The most essential ingredient of a Democrat is hypocrisy. And not just a pinch of hypocrisy; they dump it into the mixture of their mixed-up psyches by the cup-full. Case in point - the following story: Democrats say McCain can help mediate standoffsBy BETH FOUHY, Associated Press PHOENIX – Before resting from the grueling presidential race, John McCain began discussing with senior aides what role he will play in the Senate now that he has promised to work with the man who defeated him for president. Democrats, who padded their majorities in the House and Senate, have a suggestion: McCain...

Is the U.S. graduated income tax — a tax that ties both the amount of taxes paid and the rate of taxation to wealth — "socialistic," as certain politicians have been arguing lately? It's hardly likely, since the U.S. graduated income tax in its present form has been around since 1916. The Sixteenth Amendment authorizing a federal income tax had been ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1913. It has been vetted by economists great and small, and endorsed by none others than Teddy Roosevelt, Adam Smith and, yes, Karl Marx. Maybe the problem is the term "progressive," which...

BookTV/C-Span2 HEADSUP!!! Tune in at 11:15 PM EASTERN or set your TIVO/DVD Recorder. FR's own "LS" and his latest work-product (book) will be the topic of a segment on BookTV (45 min. in duration). IF you miss this first broadcast, please go to the BookTV/C-Span2 page linked for future date/time of rebroadcasts.

I’ve been listening to his economic speech in Independence, Missouri. He has basically echoed Nancy Pelosi’s line that opposing the bailout is unpatriotic. Here’s what he said: We are square in the greatest financial crisis of our lifetimes. And I am pleased to report that today, I will be returning to the floor of the Senate to vote on a bill that marks a decisive step in the right direction. The original proposal was flawed. I urged additions of taxpayer protections, stronger oversight, limitations on executive compensation and more protections for people’s bank accounts. I am pleased that these are...

The private lives of the presidential candidates are off limits. Writing about people who do not hold elected office constitutes shameful scandal mongering. The families of the candidates should not be exploited for publicity. I know all of this to be true because Barack Obama said it. And so did John McCain. And so did some liberal bloggers, who didn't like the National Enquirer's revelations about John Edwards's infidelity -- and proclaimed, in far-left argot, that what a candidate does behind closed doors should stay behind closed doors, and not be used to judge fitness for office. [Everything About Politicians...

You MUST see this video. It is hilarious. The people in it are actually serious. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ed0_1220618296

Oped For The Political Season [#6 in a series] What a spectacle! The obscenity of media whoring for the DNC/Obama campaign is astonishing to behold. Never in my 63 years have I seen anything to match it! The vast majority of media in America are engaged in rape of a conservative, accomplished, talented, beautiful, athletic, motherly, sincere W O M A N Â… because she is not from the left; she is not Hillary Rodham Clinton or Geraldine Ferraro. Before we go any further, letÂ’s see what is at the heart of this assault on Sarah Palin and her family...

Suddenly, the liberal establishment is earnestly interested in traditional family life, and there is a good -- if cynical -- reason for this. When Michelle Obama, a Harvard Law grad, appeared at the Democratic convention last week, she did not come a la Hillary Clinton, who bragged when her husband first ran for president that if you elected him you would also get her -- "a two-for-one, blue plate special." Mrs. Obama did not pitch a co-presidency, but the image of a traditional family. In her carefully crafted text, she said "Iraq" twice, "health care" four times and "family" or...

BANGOR, Maine — The Maine Humanities Council will present a two-part series, “Fear, Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law” this fall at the Bangor Public Library.

Russian investigators have launched a criminal case on charges of genocide in connection with the events in South Ossetia. Russia’s Interfax news agency reports that the Russian General Prosecutor's Office has said Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may also be put on trial. Igor Komissarov, deputy chairman of the Prosecutor’s Investigation Committee, said it had "initiated a genocide probe based on reports of actions committed by Georgian troops aimed at murdering Russian citizens, ethnic Ossetians, living in South Ossetia." According to the latest figures, about 1,600 residents and 74 Russian peacekeepers have been killed as a result of Georgia’s attack on...

According to an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Random House has reneged on an agreement to publish a novel about Aisha, Muhammad’s young wife. The Jewel of Medina, written by Sherry Jones, allegedly has some racy material, enough to provoke one of the writers who vetted the book, Denise Spellberg, to warn the publisher that it could inspire violence. Random House decided not to publish the book for “fear of a possible terrorist threat from extremist Muslims” and concern for “the safety and security of the Random House building and employees.” Addressing this today is Catholic League president Bill...

NYT REJECTS MCCAIN'S EDITORIAL; SHOULD 'MIRROR' OBAMA Mon Jul 21 2008 12:00:25 ET An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles. 'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday...

Our reporting partners at the Detroit News are reporting that the FBI has electronic surveillance that links Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers to the Synagro scandal. The evidence reportedly proves that Conyers received either a payment or payments in connection with the city-approved sludge contract.

"Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Robert Byrd., D-W.Va., talks with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 30, 2008, following Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's address to a joint meeting of Congress.""House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., hands Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Robert Byrd., D-W.Va., a gavel on Capitol Hill in Washington.""Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Robert Byrd., D-W.Va., talks with Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington."

Friday's 20/20 aired a piece on liberal columnist Arianna Huffington in which ABC host John Stossel got to challenge Huffington's views on issues like welfare, OSHA regulations, and the "lunatic fringe" of the Republican party. When Stossel took her to task for living in a $7 million home that is "burning more carbon than 100 people in the Third World" even while she is part of the "war on global warming," Huffington responded: "There is no question that the fact that I'm living in a big house, I occasionally travel on private planes, all those things are a contradiction. I'm...

A judge on Thursday dropped nearly half the charges against "private eye to the stars" Anthony Pellicano and a co-defendant at the request of prosecutors, who were preparing to rest their case in the wiretapping and bribery trial. The 28 counts against Pellicano and ex-Los Angeles police sergeant Mark Arneson were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer after federal prosecutors said that witnesses required to prove them could not be brought to court. Both men still face 35 counts in the case, which centers on accusations that Pellicano wiretapped telephones and bribed police and telephone company officials to run...

The whole world now knows that for nearly 20 years, Sen. Barack Obama has attended Chicago's Trinity United Church and that his pastor is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In his speech on race on March 18, Obama criticized some of Wright's statements but also essentially excused and rationalized the pastor's sermons. He summarized the reality for many African-Americans growing up in past decades – inferior, segregated schools; discrimination; lack of economic opportunity; inability to provide for one's family – before stating, "This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up." Half right. African-Americans...

<p>Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been linked to a prostitution ring, the New York Times is reporting on its Web site. He not expected to continue his term, multiple sources in the state Legislature tell CBS 2, setting off one of the largest scandals in modern New York state political history.</p>

How do you get 6,000 college students whipped up into a lather? Here's one way: Secretly install low-flow, eco-shower heads in their dorms over winter break. The slow drip has triggered a deluge of complaints in bathrooms all over Stanford University. But a compromise may be ending the water wars. Officials now promise to retrofit hundreds of showers with politically incorrect, higher-pressure nozzles. With a fury normally reserved for the University of California-Berkeley, students complained in an e-mail petition, a letter-writing campaign, a newspaper editorial and meetings with Stanford officials. "It is like showering under a sink faucet," said Christian...

>While more lawmakers are going hybrid-green, the Capitol's most powerful Democrat was rolling candy-apple red in a $38,600 Dodge Charger with 22-inch rims, yo. Turns out Perata, D-Oakland, was far from alone among state lawmakers -- and not even in the top 10 -- in his taste for gas-slurping automotive luxury at mostly taxpayer expense. More than half the senators who use state-leased cars opt for traditional gas vehicles that get 20 combined city/highway miles or less per gallon... The Assembly, which offers a lease break for members who choose hybrids, fares greener. Nearly two-thirds of the 72 members with...

A survey of travel habits has revealed that the most environmentally conscious people are also the biggest polluters. "Green" consumers have some of the biggest carbon footprints because they are still hooked on flying abroad or driving their cars while their adherence to the green cause is mostly limited to small gestures. Identified as "eco-adopters", they are most likely to be members of an environmental organisation, buy green products such as detergents, recycle and have a keen interest in green issues.

Claim: E-mail compares Bush's eco-friendly ranch with Al Gore's energy-expending mansion.Status: True.HOUSE # 1: A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home....

After one year of Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, public approval ratings for Congress have sunk below their level when Republicans were in control. A Post poll this month put the approval score at 32 percent, the disapproval at 60. In the last such survey during Republican control, congressional approval was 36 percent. So what are the Democrats to make of that? They could be using this interregnum before the start of their second year to evaluate their strategy and improve their standing. But if Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House and leader of their new majority,...

Global warming has led to a new travel boom as holidaymakers embrace what tour operators are calling doomsday tourism - the urge to see some of the world's most endangered sites before they disappear for ever. Newly awakened to the perils facing the planet, American tourists are leading the charge to the melting glaciers of Alaska, Patagonia, the Arctic and Antarctic, the sinking islands of the Pacific and the fading glories of the Great Barrier Reef - and their British counterparts are not far behind. A polar bear is seen on the Monaco Glacier, Spitsbergen, No Ken Shapiro, the editor...

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Mike Huckabee stood by comments he made yesterday that despite his criticism of the Bush Administration’s manner of conducting foreign policy, he had respect for President Bush and Condoleezza Rice. He added today the president should be commended for the progress that’s been made since Defense Secretary Robert Gates took over at the Pentagon. On his criticism of the Bush Administration’s actions, Huckabee said, “It goes back to the heart of the Rumsfeld doctrine of simply ignoring what his best military advice was telling him – that we needed up to 400,000 troops on the ground...

CARACAS (Reuters) - A video of a Gucci- and Louis Vuitton-clad politician attacking capitalism then struggling to explain how his luxurious clothes square with his socialist beliefs has become an instant YouTube hit in Venezuela. Venezuelan Interior Minister Pedro Carreno was momentarily at a loss for words when a journalist interrupted his speech and asked if it was not contradictory to criticize capitalism while wearing Gucci shoes and a tie made by Parisian luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton. "I don't, uh ... I ... of course," stammered Carreno on Tuesday before regaining his composure. "It's not contradictory because I would...

Last week Congressional Democrats formally renounced their ballyhooed budget pledge to offset any new tax cuts with other tax increases or spending cuts. We're delighted to see this false promise go, but there's a larger lesson in this failure for the tax and spending battles of 2008.

ST. LOUIS — Supporters say it's a political statement, maybe even art. The city says it's too big, a nuisance that needs to be removed. Either way, a two-story mural decrying eminent domain is testing the boundaries of the First Amendment, sparking a federal lawsuit that challenges the city's intricate zoning code. At issue is a tricky constitutional dilemma — fighting clutter versus protecting free speech — that experts say could force St. Louis to rewrite its laws regarding outdoor signs. "They are really going to have to go to work redrafting this ordinance," said David Hudson, a scholar at...

...There has been appropriate international outrage over the treatment of Gibbons, from virtually everyone except American “feminists.” Multiple Muslim groups in the U.K. have condemned the sentence. Even the popular little boy in Mrs. Gibbons’ class who suggested the name for the bear came to her defense, explaining that he named the bear after himself.

A cold, abrupt end to a honeymoon By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer Encinitas couple that fled Witch Creek fire returns home after cruise ship sinks off Antarctica ENCINITAS -- Three times since marrying June 11 in a beachside ceremony at La Jolla Cove, Trevor Takayama and Torrey Trust have dodged disaster. In August, the Encinitas couple fled an approaching hurricane while camping in a Costa Rican rain forest, on a summerlong honeymoon tour of Central and South America. In October, the Witch Creek fire forced the newlyweds to evacuate the hilltop three-bedroom home she grew up in, near Manchester...

As climate alarmists from all over the world head to Bali to talk about the sacrifices regular folks have to make to save the planet from global warming, it seems certain media will ignore all the private jets clogging the tiny airport. As if it’s not enough that the United Nations Climate Change Conference is being held at what NewsBusters reported as "a truly beautiful tropical island paradise," the management of the nearby airport has issued a warning to attendees that they are going to have to park their private jets somewhere else. I kid you not. As reported by...

Most Arabic Yahoo groups are about sex Posted By Esra'a (Bahrain) On November 9, 2007 I’m not sure how reliable this is, so I looked a bit further. About a year go, it appears that Cairo was the [2] Sabbah provides a few graphs detailing who’s searching for sex on the internet. Here is who searched for sex by region: Arabic is the 2nd most common language that is used to search for [3] “sexy.” As you can see in that same graph, Iran is at 3 and Egypt is at 4, listed under regions where search on “sexy” was...

The recent case of a Mexican rapist-murderer on death row in Texas illustrates the problem. His name is Jose Medellin. He was convicted and sentenced to death after he confessed in 1993 to the savage rape and murder of two teenage girls in Houston. At this late date, his legal representation again resorts to the courts claiming that under the Vienna Convention aliens accused of crimes in a foreign country are required to request the assistance of consular officials. Medellin never requested such assistance until after all of his appeals were denied. Incredibly, the Bush administration knuckled under to the...

Big Paychecks for U2 Millionaires Oct. 26, 2007 The Associated Press U2 Ltd., the Irish band's music publishing company, raked in $30 million-plus last year — and $25.8 million of it went to five unidentified "employees," according to documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press. Those "employees" are suspected to be the band members and their longtime manager, Paul McGuinness. But U2's public relations firms in Dublin and London refused to confirm that. While Bono has won accolades worldwide for raising awareness of Third World poverty, he has been criticized for moving U2's corporate offices out of Ireland to avoid...

Michelle Dallacroce was hopping mad when she received a letter from Mothers Against Drunk Driving demanding she change the name of her organization, Mothers Against Illegal Aliens. "I couldn't believe it," Mrs. Dallacroce said. "I don't know who would be confused by this. We don't even have the same acronym." Mrs. Dallacroce, president of the Phoenix-based advocacy group, received a certified letter Oct. 10 stating that MADD owns the rights to the name "Mothers Against" and giving her 10 days to stop using it. "While we do not oppose the name of your organization as a whole, we cannot permit...

In a strange irony, it has come to be the case that only Democrats now speak up for giving a role to faith in governance. Stranger still, they get away with it — which prompts the question: Why? In the accepted vocabulary of liberalism, the word “theocracy” functions as a synonym for “Silence them!” The word possesses awesome power to intimidate Republicans. Yes, occasionally you might hear a conservative timidly voice the opinion that, as was clearly recognized in the America that existed from the founding till less than half a century ago, religion is a source of inspiration for...

One of the Hard Left's most prominent subversive groups is the target of a corruption investigation by the Pennsylvania State Attorney General. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a whistleblower alleged the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), commonly referred to as the Quakers, diverted funds bequethed to it for medical scholarships to other activities, most likely pro-illegal alien assistance and war resistance. The AFSC is at the center of the Hard Left's network of groups many consider anti-American, including United for Peace and Justice and MoveOn.org. Over the years, the Quakers have been the darling of the Hollywood Left and intellectual...

Edwards Slams Top Clinton Strategist's Ties to BlackwaterEdwards Assails Clinton as 'Corporate Democrat' By JAKE TAPPER Oct. 5, 2007 In a scathing attack, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards went after front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Friday, calling her a "corporate Democrat," comparing top Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn to former Bush aide Karl Rove and assailing Penn's ties to Blackwater USA, the embattled private firm of military contractors accused by the Iraqi government of firing upon and killing 11 unarmed Iraqi civilians last month. "Bush has been a perfect example of cronyism because Blackwater has given hundreds of thousands of...

Human Rights: Anyone remember all the abuse the U.S. took over Iraq? In international arenas, we were vilified for using force to oust a brutal tyrant. Guess what: The choice in Burma is now either that or hypocrisy. The savagery in Burma now embodies every political nightmare in the recent annals of civilization. Like the French Reign of Terror, the Burmese junta is sending out tumbrel trucks to round up any democracy marcher it can identify from news photographs. As in Argentina's Dirty War, thousands of innocents are disappearing. From what little is known, Buddhist monks have been marched to...

Hundreds of families living in housing subsidized by Fairfax County taxpayers exceed income caps designed to ensure that only the neediest receive assistance, a review of county records shows. In the most extreme cases, Fairfax is underwriting rents for families making well into six figures: One household getting help makes more than $216,000 a year; another, $184,000. Dozens of others -- making $60,000, $70,000, $90,000 -- exceed eligibility caps. And they do so with the tacit approval of county housing administrators, who do little to encourage occupants to move on when their fortunes improve.

Oh Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, who's the most revisionist of us all? Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) provides the classic example of chutzpah, like when the child who murders his parents pleads for mercy in court because he is an orphan! In this case, the crime is the complete ruination of the food supply with the replacement of healthy traditional saturated fats with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and the victim is the unsuspecting public, suffering from ever-increasing rates of cancer, heart disease, infertility, impotence, asthma, allergies, learning disabilities, bone problems, digestive disorders, diabetes and obesity. On...

BY DAVE MARCUS As he put up a house in Sag Harbor, builder Paul Fried came up with a green idea. He decided to install a pair of four-foot-tall wind turbines to help power lights, computers and other appliances. The turbines would not only save energy but could also increase the value of the house, which Fried hopes to sell for $2.2 million. Several neighbors didn't like the idea. They said the turbines would be unsightly and noisy. Now, as he finishes the house, Fried finds himself in a battle with residents and village officials. The neighbors see the Finnish...

MEXICO CITY: The closure of an American-run railroad in Mexico stranded thousands of U.S.-bound Central American migrants near the Guatemala border and many of them were deported Wednesday by immigration authorities. Some camped along rail lines waiting for trains that will never come. Others tried to walk hundreds of kilometers (miles) to the next working rail line and some turned themselves in to Mexican authorities. The government sent hundreds of federal police and soldiers Tuesday to clear out the migrants, who for decades have hopped freight cars on the Chiapas-Mayab railway. The company has run freight trains on two sets...

Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow Published: Sept 2, 2007 at 10:16 AM WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat. Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared. Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Stewart said she heard about the private meeting...

Viacom's copyright battle with YouTube took an interesting turn this week, as the company has found itself in the embarrassing position of having highlighted the possibly that it committed a little "for-profit" copyright infringement of its own (some would call it "piracy"). Viacom effectively pointed the finger at itself when the company tried to get a Web Junk 2.0 clip removed from YouTube, only to end up exposing the fact that Viacom's VH1 unit had not obtained permission to use the source video that is featured in the clip. Dizzy yet? Let's backtrack for a second. North Carolina political candidate...