Free Republic

In his post-suspension debut on Tuesday night, Keith Olbermann invited liberal filmmaker Michael Moore on his program. Moore was his normal annoyed self. But what really annoyed him Tuesday? NBC’s coverage of George W. Bush’s new book: that coverage was not balanced enough, he said. As a remedy, he offered to give NBC exclusive rights to his September 11 documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11“ to ”run on NBC as balance to all this publicity”: Video at link.

Twenty-four years in the military doesn't count as public service, at least according to Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran. In a video that's gone viral online, Moran is heard telling a Democratic gathering earlier this month that his opponent, Republican Patrick Murray, is just another unqualified GOP candidate. "What [Republicans] do is find candidates, usually stealth candidates, that haven't been in office, haven't served or performed in any kind of public service," Moran said. "My opponent is typical, frankly." The trouble is, Murray is a retired Army colonel with 24 years of service--including combat in Iraq. The idea that such...

Ed Gillespie tells National Review Online that President Obama’s demonization of political operatives reeks of desperation. “Can you imagine former president Bush talking about Bob Shrum?” he laughs. “It is just remarkable that he is so willing to diminish the office. It’s starting to look like the Oval Office is swallowing him up.” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, singled out Gillespie, the longtime Republican strategist and former counselor to Pres. George W. Bush, by name on Wednesday. At an afternoon press briefing, Gibbs cited Gillespie, along with fellow former Bush adviser Karl Rove, as a Republican leader involved...

By Mike Gangloff ROANOKE A man who falsely claimed a chestful of military medals was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and was ordered to repay $11,098 in veterans benefits he shouldn't have received. Thomas Barnhart, 59, had 21 years of legitimate Navy and Coast Guard service, including offshore duty in Vietnam. But starting in 1979, he began inflating his experience in claims for promotions and benefits, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Jacobsen told U.S. District Judge James Turk today in Roanoke. Among Barnhart's lies, according to the prosecutor: he was a Navy SEAL, he received elite low-altitude...

NASHUA – Health care reform and government spending were on the minds of those who turned out for a town hall meeting with Sen. John McCain, who was visiting New Hampshire to support U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte. Ayotte, a Republican and Nashua native, is seeking the seat Sen. Judd Gregg will vacate at the end of this term. (snip) McCain called the Democrats’ health care legislation a “train wreck” that is “full of budget gimmicks and full of assumptions that can’t be realized.” McCain also criticized Democrats for adding trillions to the national deficit, which he said would increase...

That’s right, Beck fans! Becko Products, Inc.™ releases the newest product that will certainly sweep the Nation—a product so creative that it will undoubtedly dwarf ShamWow®. This product is guaranteed to save thousands of women from embarrassing trips to the bathroom to fix their mascara, a towel so inventive that it will take away that Tammy Faye Baker look. Its name is none other than the Tear Towel®.

For Democrats, the only good thing to come from Tuesday's loss of the Senate election in Massachusetts is this: It could wipe the grin off Robert Gibbs's face. The Democrats' failed struggle to hold onto Ted Kennedy's seat in the liberal state showed how badly the party's brand had been damaged over the past year. But as the White House press corps challenged President Obama's press secretary on Tuesday afternoon about the anticipated loss, Gibbs answered with his usual mix of wisecracks and insults. "Broadly speaking, can you talk about the difference between 59 and 60 votes in the Senate...

NEWARK -- A man was in critical condition Friday night when he accidentally lit himself on fire with a cigarette while cleaning motorcycle parts and unintentionally splashed himself with gasoline, authorities said. The incident occurred at 7:57 p.m. at a residence on 14th Avenue near South 19th Street where a man was cleaning motorcycle parts when he splashed himself with gasoline, said Newark Fire Chief Michael Lalor. He then lit a cigarette and accidentally lit himself on fire, Lalor said. Relatives rushed over and put the flames out.

The debate over full body security scans just got a lot more graphic, thanks to Democratic political strategist and frequent flyer James Carville. Speaking on The Tony Kornheiser Show Friday, Carville laid out, or unzipped, his vision for airport security. But the consummate talker couldn't help sharing too much information. "Let me buy a [security] pass ... so that they can scan me and and search me and measure my penis, then let me get on the plane," he said.

It was a town hall, but this time Barack Obama was not in Iowa or New Hampshire. There were no hay bales, no bunting and no activists with questions about universal health care, clean coal or legalizing marijuana. This forum, after all, was being held in a nation controlled by the Communist Party. Instead of being greeted by voters mulling their options, Obama on Monday met with several hundred well-dressed, attentive and relentlessly on-message students, handpicked by Chinese authorities for the occasion. They listened attentively, nodding in agreement at some of his answers and laughing at his jokes. Most of...

MARTINEZ -- A Martinez high school graduate will appear in federal court today on charges that he masqueraded as a decorated military veteran after being photographed wearing a host of fake medals, including the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart, authorities said. Steven Douglas Burton, 39, of Palm Springs was charged last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with unauthorized wearing of military medals or decorations, a misdemeanor. Burton has never served in the military, authorities say. They say he works at a bank in Palm Springs. He is expected to enter a not-guilty plea today in a...

President Barack Obama called rap star Kanye West “a jackass.” Vice President Joe Biden told a senator to “Gimme a f—-ing break!” Economic adviser Christina Romer declared that Americans had yet to have their "holy s—-” moment over the economy. Those who pay attention to political rhetoric say an unusual amount of profanity has emanated from this White House – even without counting famously colorful White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. But before this statement becomes fodder for yet another partisan debate (with conservatives saying Obama is disgracing the presidency, and liberals that the media are once again being...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States blasted ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya for his "irresponsible and foolish" return from exile before a settlement was reached in the Central American country's political crisis. At an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States to discuss the Honduran face-off, Lewis Anselem, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, also criticized Honduras' de facto government for its "deplorable" action in barring entry of an OAS mission and declaring a state of siege on Sunday. Anselem also criticized Zelaya for fueling violence by slipping back into Honduras last week and holing up in the Brazilian...

Finally agrees Well, I'm glad to know that there is something that President Barack Obama and I can finally agree on. Kanye West is a jackass. No wonder this animal is the symbol of the Democrat Party. Rick Reiss Temecula

Obama: "Cut the President some slack."

Off-air video of Obama calling Kanye West a "jackass."

His justification for two million goes a little something like this; "We had a university, I think it's a university , of - I don't remember which university it is. Look at the pictures and you know they can do body space, looked at it, did the body counts and came up with 1.7 million." Astounding! We must locate the mystery university...of something, somewhere. Of course he wasn't the only one to exaggerate a million or more. Michelle Malkin quoted two on ABC, because she says so - that's why. Limbaugh quoted a British tabloid as a source for his...

{Audio} Obama Calls Kanye West A 'Jackass'

WASHINGTON (AFP) – ABC News has apologized after a high-profile news anchor reported on Twitter that US President Barack Obama called rapper Kanye West a "jackass" in an off-the-record conversation. The exchange, provoked by West's conduct at the MTV Video Music Awards when he interrupted an acceptance speech by teen star Taylor Swift, occurred during a break between a series of interviews by Obama at the White House Monday. The comment, from an off-the-record portion of an interview by US business channel CNBC, was tweeted to one million followers on the micro-blogging site by "Nightline" anchor Terry Moran. The tweet...

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama's candid thoughts about Kanye West are provoking a debate over standards of journalism in the Twitter age. ABC News says it was wrong for its employees to tweet that Obama had called West a "jackass" for the rapper's treatment of country singer Taylor Swift. The network said some of its employees had overheard a conversation between the president and CNBC's John Harwood and didn't realize it was considered off the record. The network apologized to the White House and CNBC.