Free Republic

Freedom: Egypt's revolution has rattled dictators everywhere. Some are responding by moving toward reform, others by cracking down. Yes, there's a difference between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Judging by the chain reaction of responses from as far away as Belarus, Venezuela and Thailand, it's as if an invisible activating agent detectable only by dictators sounded an alarm. Seems no one wants to be "the next Egypt." But they haven't all acted alike, which calls to mind the distinction made by former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick in a 1978 essay titled "Dictatorship and Double Standards." In the context of the Cold...

Wednesday, Feb. 2, President Barack Obama delivered an ultimatum to Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and the army and security chiefs: Mubarak must be removed in the coming hours or else US aid to Egypt will be cut off, debkafile's Washington sources exclusively report. Pressure on the Egyptian armed forces to oust the president forthwith was further applied by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who called Vice President Omar Suleiman, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates who called Egyptian defense minister Mohamed Tantawi, and US armed forces chief Adm. Mike Mullen in a telephone call to the Egyptian chief of staff...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says the passion and dignity demonstrated by the people of Egypt has been an inspiration. He says young protesters will reach their destiny. In brief remarks at the White House Tuesday evening, the president said, "We hear your voices."

Obama administration officials say they are not taking sides between President Hosni Mubarak, America’s key ally in the Arab world, and the street protesters who purportedly represent a path to democracy in authoritarian Egypt. These officials might even believe what they’re saying. But the very assertion of “not taking sides” is itself a tilt away from the all-out support traditionally given by Washington to this Egyptian strongman in recent decades. The administration’s move is a slide toward the unknown. Senior officials have no idea of exactly who these street protesters are, whether the protesters are simply a mob force incapable...

"At the memorial service for the victims of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, President Obama said that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time after his (Wednesday) visit. It was the first time she had opened her eyes since the shooting that wounded her Saturday outside a Tucson grocery store. "We all started crying," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said in a phone interview from Air Force One later Wednesday night. "Other than the birth of my children, it was the most incredible moment I have ever had." Also in the room were Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand...

EXCERPTS "At the start of 2011, we’re still just emerging from a once-in-a-lifetime recession that’s taken a terrible toll on millions of families," Obama said. "We all have friends and neighbors trying to get their lives back on track." (snip) "In a few days, a new Congress will form, with one house controlled by Democrats, and one house controlled by Republicans – who now have a shared responsibility to move this country forward," Obama said. "And here’s what I want you to know: I’m willing to work with anyone of either party who’s got a good idea and the commitment...

Robert Ford to become first US ambassador to Damascus since 2005; opponents say move rewards Syrian regime for bad behavior. Talkbacks (30) WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama has bypassed the US Senate and directly appointed four new ambassadors, including Robert Ford, who will become the first US envoy to Syria since 2005. Specific senators had blocked or refused to consider the confirmations of the nominees for various reasons, including questions about their qualifications. But in the most high-profile case, that of the new envoy to Syria, a number of senators objected because they believed sending an ambassador to the...

Barack Obama lets his faith show By: Carol E. Lee December 28, 2010 04:28 AM EST HONOLULU — President Obama’s trip to church Sunday followed a steady rebirth over the past three months in public expressions of his Christianity. Obama has publicly mentioned his “Christian faith” more times in the past three months than he has over the past year. He has more frequently cited passages of the Bible, including repeated references to the spirit of Genesis 4:9 — “I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper” — which was a mainstay of Obama’s 2010 campaign stump speech....

Our school children are facing Muslim indoctrination with “The 99″ project which is set to air in January with a 13 episode series on the Discovery Channel for Kids. President Obama praised this media event for capturing young imaginations by “teaching tolerance for Islam” at his recent Washington, D.C. Presidential Summit speech. This new series is using animated adventure heroes to depict the 99 attributes of Allah in what the London Times is saying “the show’s mission is to instill old fashioned Islamic values” into our Christian children. Kathy Bright of the Bright Media network has developed (2) The Shield...

Today the FCC voted to regulate the internet, but that’s only part of the story. Behind the scenes, President Obama has been working with the international community, not Congress, to institute government control of the internet. Under the banner of cyber security, Melissa Hathaway, Obama’s former White House official, urged that the power of three regulatory agencies (SEC, FCC and FTC) be harnessed to bring about a “comprehensive solution set.” The plan to take control of the internet was devised through the Atlantic Council’s Program on International Security. That’s right… the Obama administration has been working closely with other countries...

(CNN) - President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Friday on a surprise visit.

"I don't think about Sarah Palin," President Barack Obama tells Barbara Walters in a White House interview. Obama said he is concentrating on being "the best possible president" rather than the 2012 election, ABC News said in a preview of the conversation. "Obviously Sarah Palin has a strong base of support in the Republican Party, and I respect those skills," he said. "But I spend most of my time right now on how I can be the best possible president. And my attitude has always been from the day I started this job that if I do a good job...

In an interview this morning on Glenn Beck’s radio show, Bobby Jindal said that at a meeting with the President during the gulf oil spill, that he and the President of Plaquemines Parish were told specifically by Obama not to go on TV and criticize him. Jindal says that it was clear Obama was frustrated with the level of criticism he was getting and goes on to accuse Obama of caring more about perception and politics than actually cutting through the red tape and getting things done. Video is HERE

When asked today if she will insist that Muslim women wearing hijabs must go through full body pat downs before boarding planes, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano did not say yes or no, but told CNSNews.com there will be “adjustments” and “more to come” on the issue. “On the pat downs, CAIR [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] has recommended that Muslim women wearing hijabs refuse to go through the full body pat downs before boarding planes,” CNSNews.com asked Napolitano at a Monday press conference. “Will you insist that they do go through full body pat downs before boarding planes?” “Look,...

Thirty-one-year-old John Tyner, a 31-year-old recently unleashed the “Don’t tase me, Bro” moment of airport security. While about to receive a genital check from TSA security, Tyner agreed to a search of non-intimate areas but said, “If you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested.” However, Muslim women will not have to face such worries. CNSNews.com has reported that Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — which is frequently tied to domestic terror plots — has been guaranteed that TSA officials will only pat down Muslim women in the head and neck area. CAIR said Muslims who object to full-body...

(Reuters) - If President Barack Obama is not yet convinced that his international star power has faded, his next round of transatlantic summitry should clear up any lingering doubts. Coming off a marathon Asia trip where Obama often found himself rebuffed by fellow world leaders, he will head to Europe this week where the agenda will be clouded by a growing divide over economic strategy and a sense of neglect among traditional U.S. allies.His challenge is to reassure European partners that, despite political weakness at home and embarrassing setbacks abroad, he remains committed to better cooperation on issues ranging from...

U.S. trial unlikely for 9/11 suspect Mohammed: report Sat Nov 13, 2:21 am ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks probably will remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing Obama administration officials. The administration has concluded that it cannot put Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on trial in federal court in New York City because of opposition from members of Congress and local officials, the Post said. There is also little support within the administration for a military prosecution at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo...

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday much more needs to be done to repair frayed U.S. relations with the Muslim world in an acknowledgement of the difficulties in eradicating "years of mistrust." In a speech culminating a nostalgic visit to Indonesia, where Obama spent four years as a young boy, Obama spoke fondly of his formative years in the world's most populous Muslim country.

PARIS — The United States used to call wayward members of NATO back to the reservation with a whistle or a shout. It decided what was deviation from doctrine, and that decision was pretty much law. When the Obama administration stamped its foot this time, no one snapped to attention. Rather, Germany and France, meeting with Russia in Deauville, northern France, last week, signaled that they planned to make such three-cornered get-togethers on international foreign policy and security matters routine, and even extend them to inviting other “partners” — pointing, according to diplomats from two countries, to Turkey becoming a...

South Korean media reported Sunday that Seoul and Washington have called off plans to hold a major joint naval exercise in the Yellow Sea this month. Yonhap news agency quoted government sources as saying the exercise involving a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been postponed to avoid tensions on the Korean peninsula during the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul. There was no official confirmation of the reports. The Chinese government has fiercely opposed the deployment of the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington in the regional waters.