Free Republic

Recent polls among American readers (and viewers) of the press continue to show a reluctance to trust the once vaunted U.S. mainstream media. And the recent brouhaha at the New York Times over the Judith Miller fiasco only further muddies the public's trust, not only on how reporters and editors report but also on what they choose to publish (or broadcast). For example, there have been whole forests cut down to provide enough paper for stories about Rep. Tom DeLay, the Texas Republican indicted recently on allegations of money laundering through state political action committees that helped the GOP secure...

Appearing on Lou Dobbs Tonight, Congressman Curt Weldon charged “Lou, this is a cover-up. It’s not a third-rate political burglary. It’s a cover-up of information on the largest attack in the history of the country.” Congressman Weldon was speaking of Able Danger and the information he says Able Danger collected but was not allowed to present to the 9/11 Commission. Able Danger was a relatively small data-mining operation that ended in 2000. One of its members, LTC Anthony Shaffer went public, saying that his group had collected information that identified Al-Qaeda terrorists in several places in this country before the...

By 1 hour, 10 minutes ago OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - As U.S. gays and lesbians prepare to battle a raft of state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage that will likely be on the ballot next fall, activists are recasting the issue as one that needs to be fought on moral rather than political grounds. That is the message Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest and leading U.S. grass-roots gay and lesbian coalition, has taken to more than 2,500 gay rights organizers at its annual conference held in Oakland this week. "What I...

RUSH: Okay, gotta hear this. We got a lot more sound bites of this, but this is the money sound bite. Brian Ross today talking to Mary Mapes of CBS says, "After 12 years of defending him, CBS and Dan Rather later admitted they couldn't vouch for the authenticity of the documents, Bill Burkett's documents, and that they should not have been used and the story should not have aired. Do you," Mary Mapes, "still think the story was true?" MAPES: The story? Absolutely. ROSS: This seems remarkable to me that you would sit here now and say you still...

BALTIMORE -- For the first time, the operators of a California-based Web site are revealing they have evidence that an e-mail address from the Maryland Democratic State Party is associated with MD4BUSH. WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said the operators of FreeRepublic.com are not revealing the name behind MD4BUSH. But this is the first time that they are suggesting the state democratic party is associated with the MD4BUSH account on their Web site. Jim Robinson, the president of the conservative Web site, issued the following statement: "Free Republic has evidence that an mddems.org (Maryland Democratic Party) e-mail address...

Doug just filed a brief After-Action report via cell phone, posted here on his behalf. Self-described rape victim and attorney Susan Estrich came to Pomona College and gave a speech about the media. About 75 mostly Liberals were in attendance. From the back of the room, DFU asked the second question of the evening of Estrich-- specifically why she would avoid speaking with Clinton rape accuser Juanita Broaddrick. According to Doug, she said several words in reply and quickly changed the subject, calling on another audience member. Is it possible that DFU was the ONLY person with a REAL question...

President Bush lied us into war and the revelations produced by the Scooter Libby indictment only confirm this terrible scandal. That’s the essence of the vicious slur Democrats are hurling at the GOP these days, with Minority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) shutting down the U.S. Senate to dramatize the charge. The White House, as the Democrats would now have it, had virtually no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, but the President, Dick Cheney and their gang were so intent on removing Saddam from power they invented facts. And when critics such as Joe Wilson...

WHEN SENATE MINORITY LEADER HARRY Reid abruptly took the Senate into closed session last Tuesday, he sought to portray the move as a desperate, last-ditch attempt to force intransigent Senate Republicans to complete the second phase of an investigation into the use of intelligence before the Iraq war. The procedural move is rare, one of the few things a minority party can do to seize the agenda--and the spotlight--from the Senate's majority. After he called the Senate into closed session, a red-faced Reid sputtered his way through a press conference. "Finally after months and months and months of begging, cajoling,...

Last night Arnold Schwarzenegger was grilled in a televised appearance by a supposedly "demographically and politically balanced audience". However, the questioning was biased strongly against him, and this appearance is the latest in a long line of dirty tricks: at least three of those who questioned him were Democratic Party activists. The L.A. Times does not mention this in their report Governor Stays Cool as Voters Fire Questions: Appearing live on a KNBC-TV Channel 4 forum at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Republican governor was peppered with hostile questions from a crowd of about 75 voters screened...

The John Ziegler Show on KFI has revealed the identify of the questioners of last night's state-wide broadcast forum on NBC and Telemundo. The forum included Arnold, Barbar Kerr (teacher's union) and Fabian Nunez (Dem legislator). Two of the questioners for Arnold are members Democrat central committees and one is a Democrat Congressional candidate! This forum allegedly included an independently selected balanced audience.

Baltimore Maryland (FR)-- Tonight at 6pm est on WBAL TV 11 a story will be aired about the latest developments in the MD4BUSH affair, a story detailing how the Washington Post is coming under pressure to conduct a "NY Times" styled self investigation after the paper admitted that one of its reporters used a FreeRepublic.com member's personal password to view confidential email. The emails are at the center of a scandal that has cost the job of an adviser to MD's (R) Governor Robert Ehrlich. One matter that will continue to be left out of the story, on direction of...

Ronnie Earle, the district attorney from Travis County in Texas, finally has made his strongest case for removing a political operative from office -- himself. Yep, time to go, Ronnie. Mr. Earle's brand of political prosecution makes you want to sing "Goodbye Earl," the Dixie Chicks' tune about abusive men. It's easy to dislike Earle's latest target for judicial mayhem. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay never hides his swagger or his cowboy leadership style. Vocal, tough and unafraid of a fight, DeLay's stick-to-itiveness grates many. But Earle's long-in-the-tooth investigation of Mr. DeLay is not just a grudge of biblical...

Johannesburg - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa has come out in support of polygamy and homosexuality - provided they promote the cause of the Gospel. The church's bishop, Louis Sibiya, said on Sunday that there was not a simple "yes" or "no" answer as to whether a self-confessing gay person could be married and even ordained in the church, or whether a polygamist could be ordained into the ministry. "Rather, we should ask how the acceptance and/or non-acceptance of these promote the course of the Gospel," he said, speaking at 30th anniversary celebrations of the church in southern...

I am in debt to liberal scholars across America. After I wrote about the leftward tilt on campus, they sent me treatises explaining that the shortage of conservatives on faculties is not a result of bias. Professors helpfully offered other theories why conservatives do not grace the halls of academe: 1 Conservatives do not value knowledge for its own sake. 2 Conservatives do not care about the social good. 3 Conservatives are too greedy to work for professors' wages. 4 Conservatives are too dumb to get tenure. I've studied these theories as best I could (for a conservative), but somehow...

October 26, 2005 MSM Makeover: Condi Rice Filed Under: Humor, Media This morning, Michelle Malkin points out the following circumstances regarding a recent photo in USA Today.“Notice anything peculiar about her eyes?,” asks Malkin.“No, Condi isn’t possessed; the photo was manipulated.”This news comes courtesy of From The Pen, which found a pre-doctored version of the Associated Press photo on Yahoo! España:What they didn’t find is the latest photo “revealing” who’s sitting behind Condi in the photo. By using propriety photographic algorithms, we were able to focus in on the background. (If only Dick Morris knew how to use photoshop)That might...

Includes many updates by Michelle Malkin DEMONIZING CONDI By Michelle Malkin   ·   October 26, 2005 06:41 AM ***scroll down for updates...345pm EDT flash: THE PHOTO HAS BEEN REMOVED from USA Today's site with an editor's note...I'll be talking about more unhinged examples of Condi hatred next week. More details here.*** Check out the photo of Condoleezza Rice that was published by USA Today last week: Notice anything peculiar about her eyes? No, Condi isn't possessed; the photo was manipulated. This news comes courtesy of From The Pen, which found a pre-doctored version of the Associated Press photo on Yahoo! España:...

A federal law to protect journalists from having to reveal their confidential sources is necessary no matter what, Tom Curley, president and CEO of The Associated Press said Tuesday. "It's nuts to see reporters going to jail for upholding professional standards," he said at the National Press Club. "We're not asking for an exception just for us. We're asking for an exception that already exists."

DEMONIZING CONDI By Michelle Malkin   ·   October 26, 2005 06:41 AM Check out the photo of Condoleezza Rice that was published by USA Today last week: Notice anything peculiar about her eyes? (Click on the Extended Entry for an explanation.)No, Condi isn't possessed; the photo was manipulated. This news comes courtesy of From The Pen, which found a pre-doctored version of the Associated Press photo on Yahoo! España: Ask USA Today's Graphics and Photos Managing Editor, Richard Curtis (rcurtis@usatoday.com), what the ^$%#@+! is going on. *** Related: Katherine Harris vs. the Photo DoctorsTime's photo distortions

Cindy Sheehan, anti-war movement icon, has deep ties to the Code Pink organization. Will she be going on their, "Friendship Delegation" to Cuba in January? Or on their communist pilgrimage to Venezuala to attend the World Social[ist] Forum in February? Code Pink is yet another anti-war organization, socialist in orientation and leadership, that is dishonest about their goals and aims, tirelessly calling the United States an oppressive terrorist power. Let's go to Cuba? Feel like Bush is trying to crush your dissent? Tired of chanting death to America at anti-war rallies only to find that the American people won't join...

Guns are dangerous. But myths are dangerous, too. Myths about guns are very dangerous, because they lead to bad laws. And bad laws kill people. "Don't tell me this bill will not make a difference," said President Clinton, who signed the Brady Bill into law. Sorry. Even the federal government can't say it has made a difference. The Centers for Disease Control did an extensive review of various types of gun control: waiting periods, registration and licensing, and bans on certain firearms. It found that the idea that gun control laws have reduced violent crime is simply a myth. I...