Free Republic

Encouraging Joe Biden—DC's biggest gasbag—to "storytell" during his State of the Union speech? Worst. Advice. Ever! And yet, previewing the speech on today's Morning Joe, Jen Psaki, the former Biden spox who is now an MSNBC commentator, actually offered this advice: "Joe Biden is an amazing storyteller. I mean, you sit in that Oval Office, Karine can tell you, and he can storytell for six hours. He needs to do that in the speech tonight. . . He needs to tell the story." Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Robert Gibbs and IPAB Members Speaking on Fox News Sunday yesterday, Robert Gibbs was challenged about the composition of Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB. He said that the IPAB would be composed of “medical professionals. They are people that we trust to make medical decisions.” Actually, that statement is FALSE. Obamacare specifically states that practicing medical professionals may NOT comprise the majority of the IPAB’s membership --meaning economists and other potential bean-counters will by definition maintain a majority voting share on the board. Here’s the specific language from page 423 of the statute (emphasis mine): (iii) MAJORITY NONPROVIDERS.—Individuals...

Obama sent a message to Trump By Sam Youngman - 05/18/11 06:06 AM ET Donald Trump was probably never really going to run for president. And President Obama’s epic smackdown of The Donald probably didn’t scare Trump away from the race as much as the idea of releasing his financial records did. But through Trump, Obama sent two powerful messages: This is a game for grown-ups, and Obama’s patience for the silliness of some Republicans only goes so far. White House officials draw little distinction between Trump and other fringe candidates such as former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) or Rep....

I don’t want closure. There is no closure after tragedy. I want memory, and justice, and revenge. When you’re dealing with a mass murderer who bragged about incinerating thousands of Americans and planned to kill countless more, that seems like the only civilized and morally sound response. We briefly celebrated one of the few clear-cut military victories we’ve had in a long time, a win that made us feel like Americans again — smart and strong and capable of finding our enemies and striking back at them without getting trapped in multitrillion-dollar Groundhog Day occupations. But within days, Naval Seal-gazing...

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama experienced a rare speaking stumble Thursday, mixing up Iraq and Afghanistan when responding in a YouTube interview to questions challenging the wars in those countries. The president twice referred to Afghanistan when clearly talking about the situation in Iraq. He said that the United States would withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011 and that combat operations there had ended, which actually describes the situation and policy for Iraq. It was unclear whether Obama realized his mistake. He then correctly stated the situation in Afghanistan, saying the United States would...

Reading this is like watching an unassisted triple play in baseball. You see it, you pause to make sure you’ve seen what you think you’ve seen, and then you marvel at the sheer odds of it having happened. Would a big name at a big magazine like Mark Halperin really sign off on something so absurd, and so fawning in its absurdity, as to be instantly destined for infamy in the blogosphere? Of course not. The odds against it are a million to one. And yet. This is a magic moment, my friends. Instantly comfortable and highly skilled at the...

The The economy is still a nightmare. The military situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan are perilous -- and getting worse. But for all the troubles swirling around the nation these days, America has rarely seemed to be in such steady and capable hands.

From the start, the orator who had reached the White House based in no small part on his eloquence made it clear that he would not necessarily be delivering the same soaring stuff as he did in his campaign. "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility," Barack Obama said in a conspicuously earthbound inaugural address. "A recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties . . . that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining...

Maybe he just doesn't know that there are people who disagree with his massive tax and spend agenda. That would explain a lot. Perhaps the network media's near silence on the "tea party" phenomenon has kept President Obama from realizing that hundreds of tax day protests will happen today? "The White House says the president is unaware of the tea parties and will hold his own event today," ABC's Dan Harris said on "Good Morning America" on April 15. Harris's story was the first ABC News report specifically about the tea parties since Rick Santelli's of CNBC's famous rant calling...

Ouch! Hillary Clinton's softer image is clawed over dumped catSarah Baxter October 21, 2007 AS THE “first pet” of the Clinton era, Socks, the White House cat, allowed “chilly” Hillary Clinton to show a caring, maternal side as well as bringing joy to her daughter Chelsea. So where is Socks today? Once the presidency was over, there was no room for Socks any more. After years of loyal service at the White House, the black and white cat was dumped on Betty Currie, Bill Clinton’s personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his relationship...