Free Republic

Instant Internet communication and an explosion in political commentary are magnifying President Obama's gaffes and administration missteps, and could erode his popularity faster than that of other presidents, say experts from both left and right. Intense scrutiny and rookie mistakes by an understaffed administration combine to draw attention faster to Obama's stumbles. Last week was notable for budget battles and a new Afghanistan strategy, rather than for headline-hogging gaffes, although the president didn't escape a few media jeers for his reliance on a giant TV screen in place of his trademark teleprompter to feed him his lines at Tuesday's primetime...

The paparazzi saved Halle Berry's life!!! Or at least her car.As you can clearly see, Halle started to pump diesel gas into her Lexus SUV -- but the paps stopped her before any damage was done. In her defense, diesel gas is better for the environment and provides better fuel economy.

A day before receiving the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s highest honor – the “Margaret Sanger Award” – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, leaving a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” and asking the basilica’s rector, “Who painted it?” In response to Clinton’s question, basilica rector Msgr. Diego Monroy responded, “God!” The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the cloak of St. Juan Diego in 1531. According to a report from Catholic News Agency, Msgr....

Freedom is out of fashion at Ground Zero. Once hailed as a beacon of rebirth in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Freedom Tower has been stripped of its patriotic name -- which has been swapped out for the more marketable "One World Trade Center," Port Authority officials conceded yesterday. More than seven years after the terror attacks and amid an effort to market the tower to international tenants, sentiment gave way to practicality. "As we market the building we will ensure that the building is presented in the best possible way," said PA Chairman Anthony Coscia. "One World Trade...

[Video, photo, definitions] According to the media we hate, George Bush was a moron for saying, “Nu-cu-lar” (despite the fact that he captained a nu-cu-lar submarine, Jimmy Carter said it the same way). We’re still waiting to hear how stupid Barack Obama is for mispronouncing “defibrillator” on the Tonight Show. Guess the story was simply lost in the flood of mainstream reportage of the President’s “Special Olympics” quip. Oddly enough, ...

President Barack Obama said he believes the global financial system remains at risk of implosion with the failure of Citigroup or AIG, touching off “an even more destructive recession and potentially depression.” His remarks came in a “60 Minutes” interview in which he was pressed by an incredulous Steve Kroft for laughing and chuckling several times while discussing the perilous state of the world’s economy. “You're sitting here. And you're— you are laughing. You are laughing about some of these problems. Are people going to look at this and say, "I mean, he's sitting there just making jokes about money—”...

<p>Most students at Columbia do not have firsthand knowledge war. Military violence has been a vicarious experience, channeled into our minds to television, film, and print.</p> <p>The more sensitive among the struggle to extrapolate experiences of war from our everyday experience, discussing the latest mortality statistics from Guatemala, sensitizing ourselves where parents were time memories, or incorporating into our framework of reality as depicted by a mailer or a Coppola. But the taste of war-the sounds and chill, the dead bodies-are remote and far removed. We know that wars have occurred, will occur, are occurring, but bringing such experienced down and tour hearts, and taking continual, tangible steps to prevent war, becomes a difficult task. Two groups on campus, Arms Race Alternatives (ARA) and Students Against Militarism (SAM) work within these mental limits to foster awareness and practical action necessary to counter the growing threat of war. Through the emphasis of the two groups differ, they share an aversion to current government policy. These groups, visualizing the possibilities of destruction and grasping the tendencies of distorted national priorities, are throwing their weight into shifting America off the dead-end track.</p>

Under the link is the actual transcript of Hussein's speech ! He is claiming his father, after the March 7th, 1965 Voting Rights March in Selma AL, got a ticket and came to the U.S. ! How could his father come to the U.S. in 1965 and meet his mother if BO was born in "August, 1961" ??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdYByptC8mY (Parenthetical "1965" inserts added for clarity) Here is the transcript: Yet something happened back here in Selma, Alabama. Something happened in Birmingham (in 1965) that sent out what Bobby Kennedy called, “Ripples of hope all around the world.” Something happened when...

The White House says former Vice President Dick Cheney is the second most popular member of the "Republican cabal," behind only talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday brushed off Cheney's criticism of President Barack Obama's new administration. Cheney said Sunday that Obama's decisions are threatening the nation's safety. Obama reversed many of his predecessor's executive orders, including how the country treats suspected terrorists.

Rio de Janeiro (AP) - His meet-and-greet with the U.S. president was bumped to Saturday, and when the White House announced his official visit, they misspelled his name. But when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva becomes the first Latin American leader to sit down with President Barack Obama this weekend, he brings undisputed clout. Silva runs the world's fifth-most-populous nation and ninth-largest economy and has close ties with leaders across the political spectrum. He's been asked to lobby Obama for free trade on behalf of conservatives in Colombia and for dropping the U.S. embargo against communist Cuba. Even...

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta filled in as host on Larry King Live on Wednesday, six days after ending his bid to be Obama's surgeon general. Despite his medical training, he did not see fit to correct former President Bill Clinton after he repeatedly referred to human embryos as not being fertilized.

Won't you please donate to the Joe Biden Brain Transplant Fund.

Return to the Article March 05, 2009 Obama's slap in the face of our ally Severn Call It's in the Odyssey, the rather sacred act of giving a gift as a host. The UK Daily Mail reports that when President Obama and UK Prime Minister Brown exchanged gifts: ... despite being leader of the world's most bountiful nation, President Obama handed over nothing more thought-provoking than 25 classic American films on DVD. For his part, the visitor ... gave Barack Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet - once called HMS...

Tonya Harding's back and this time she's swinging at President Barack Obama. In an interview on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," the infamous Oregonian lashes out at Obama for talking about doing a "Tonya Harding" and "knee-capping" on the campaign trail in his fight against then U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. "He has this country to think about .¤.¤. and he has to bring me up?" she says bitterly. "Guess what? I get jobs because he used my name on national television." So, strap on your knee pads and have a listen. But be aware there are some Tonyaesque expletives:...

Cobo convention center, one of the many aging buildings downtown, is threatening to become the latest tinderbox in resurgent racial hostilities between the mostly black city and its predominantly white suburbs. With calls for self-determination in how the venue operates, members of Detroit's embattled City Council have reopened wounds more than four decades old. (snip) Last week, Council President Monica Conyers, who is black, told a white Teamsters' union official during a contentious meeting on whether to accept the deal that most of the people who work at Cobo during the annual North American International Auto Show "don't look like...

Liberal blogger and Media Matters employee* Oliver Willis channeled his inner Ted Turner last Wednesday, while writing for his eponymous Web site.

Our friends over at Radio Equalizer caught liberal radio talker Mike Malloy in a bit of hypocrisy. Malloy obviously thought his wife was a scream as she pretended to be Governor Bobby Jindal portraying him as an outsourced computer tech from India replete with cutsey faux Indian accent. Malloy's wife acted as if Jindal was the Simpson's character Apu, or something. Now, one cannot help but realize that if a conservative had indulged in such an outrageous parody of an ethnic politician, Mike Malloy would have eviscerated that action presenting it as a high crime. Yet, when he and his...

Vice President Joe Biden, tasked with the overseeing the $787 billion stimulus package,has been having a little trouble with his numbers.During his interview on CBS's the early show Wednesday, Biden told viewers to check out the government's web site. You know,I'm kinda embarrassed. Do you know the Web site number?? he asked a aid standing out of view, " I should have it in front of me and I don't. I'm actually embarrassed.

In tonight's mini-State of the Union, President Obama said the "nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it." One problem. We didn't. That would be Karl Benz, in Mannheim, Germany. Just sayin'...

TV Newser: MSNBC's Chris Matthews has responded to his uttering of the words "Oh God" just as Gov. Bobby Jindal emerged to deliver the GOP response last night. TVNewser has obtained some of what Matthews will say on "Hardball" tonight: "I was taken aback by that peculiar stagecraft, the walking from somewhere in the back of this narrow hall, this winding staircase looming there, the odd anti-bellum look of the scene. Was this some mimicking of a president walking along the state floor to the East Room?"

Worth linking since the story’s already out there and it comes from a reporter at a major paper who seems to have witnessed it herself. Even so, especially after TV Newser and HuffPo uncritically posted the John Gibson “bright blue scrotum” smear, I’m erring on the side of out-of-context until there’s a full write-up. Bobby Jindal was ‘pitiful,’ Helen Thomas tells film crew, right before making a ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ crack

What's with the personal attacks against Bobby Jindal, who gave the Republican response to Obama's speech last night? The MSM and faux conservatives (CINO's) are piling on Jindal with Ad Hominem attacks, with one calling Jindal's speech "almost childlike," and are focusing on the delivery of his speech, rather than on the particulars in his speech. What is it with this liberal obsessive fixation on how something is said (the delivery) - which seems to be the case when Obama gives a speech - rather than on what is said?

Bobby Jindal must be doing something right: Chris Matthews is making ugly remarks about him. On this evening’s Hardball, Matthews accused the Louisiana governor of “stupid talk.” It got even better for Bobby: Dem Gov. Ed Rendell announced that “I’m voting for Charlie Crist” over Jindal. Thank you, Ed! Rendell was a guest on this evening’s Hardball, and Matthews played a clip of Jindal and Crist’s contrasting comments on the stimulus plan. Jindal was critical, Crist thought it was great. MATTHEWS: Governor Rendell, that’s cartoon talk by Jindal. Nobody’s talking about a train or a light rail from Disney World...

When President Obama speaks before Congress and the nation tonight, he will be facing some of his toughest critics. Grammar junkies. Since his election, the president has been roundly criticized by bloggers for using “I” instead of “me” in phrases like “a very personal decision for Michelle and I” or “the main disagreement with John and I” or “graciously invited Michelle and I.” The rule here, according to conventional wisdom, is that we use “I” as a subject and “me” as an object, whether the pronoun appears by itself or in a twosome. Thus every “I” in those quotes ought...

Between the end of Bennett Mornings and the beginning of the Laura Ingraham show, XM166 (America Right) ran AP Radio News with John Belmont. The last or next to last item was a live report with a female AP reporter at the Mardi Gras by the name of Foster. Belmont asked how parade participants could show up at 6 am and last till midnight. Foster laughed and responded that she had to get up at 4am at the hotel so that they could, "...put on our blackface and Afro wigs."

He said yesterday "I just want to make sure that we're having an honest debate and presenting to the American people a fulsome accounting of what is going on in this program." Dictionary.com defines "fulsome" as follows: –adjective 1. offensive to good taste, esp. as being excessive; overdone or gross: fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor. 2. disgusting; sickening; repulsive: a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods. 3. excessively or insincerely lavish: fulsome admiration. 4. encompassing all aspects; comprehensive: a fulsome survey of the political situation in Central America. 5. abundant or copious. Hmm, maybe "fulsome"...

Mockery of and apologies to the Supreme Court chief justice aside, Vice President Biden on Monday learned how difficult it is to deliver an oath of office. The vice president fumbled his words while swearing in Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in a mock ceremony held at Foggy Bottom. After smoothly saying and having Clinton repeat that she does "solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," Biden, who was using a note card, faltered. "... that I will bear -- excuse me ... that I will...

How many vice presidents does it take to shoot from the lip? Ask Vice President Joe Biden, who this week experienced a sweat-inducing "did I really say that?" moment after he lamely tried to turn U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts into a punch line while standing next to the president of the United States. Instead, Biden found himself the target of an arctic blast of reaction from President Obama.Ouch. Not only did his line about "my memory is not as good as Justice Roberts" - a reference to Roberts flubbing the words to the oath of office when he administered...

Here is video of Vice-President Joe Biden - the ultimate gaffemaster - taking a shot at Chief Justice John Roberts today about his mistake yesterday in administering the Oath of Office to Barack Obama. Biden was asked by Obama to swear-in White House staffers today at a ceremony, and before doing so, Biden cracked, "My memory is not as good as Chief Justice Roberts'." President Obama was obviously uncomfortable with Biden's remark, as you will notice he gently nudges Biden's elbow as if to say "move on Joe." Lest anyone has forgotten Joe Biden's many gaffes, here is one of...

Wildlife officials said a rhesus monkey known to throw feces when mad is on the loose in Tampa Bay. Authorities have been trying to capture the primate since Tuesday afternoon, but it managed to evade a bucket truck and tranquilizer dart. -snip-

The language on this video is not suitable for people under 18. If you are offended by profanity, do not click on the video.

Gov. Ed Rendell came to the defense of Rep. John Murtha on Wednesday by saying the veteran congressman was fatigued from campaigning when he called his western Pennsylvania district "racist"... "Did Jack make a mistake? Sure he did, but it's what you do that counts," Rendell said at their joint appearance Wednesday at a rally at a union hall in Uniontown.... Murtha is facing a stiffer-than-anticipated re-election race against Republican William Russell, a retired Army lieutenant colonel.... The National Republican Congressional Committee is planning a television commercial based on the "racist" remark and on Murtha's past remarks about U.S. Marines...

MESILLA, N.M. | When Republicans began booing the mention of Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. at a McCain rally on Saturday, Sen. Lindsey Graham told them to cut it out. "Oh, no, no, no, no, keep talking, Joe, please," Mr. Graham, a close confidant of Mr. McCain's, told the crowd - and for good reason. At this point, Sen. John McCain's campaign message is almost entirely a response to gaffes from Mr. Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama. Most of the ads the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee have announced in the past...

'Rednecks' cracks may cost MurthaBy: Josh Kraushaar October 26, 2008 09:40 PM EST Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), is in an unexpectedly tight race for an 18th term after effectively calling the constituents of his Southwestern Pennsylvania district racists and rednecks. Earlier this month, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial board that “There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area� in response to a question about Barack Obama’s prospects in his district. A week after apologizing, he told a local Pittsburgh TV station that “this whole area, years ago, was really redneck.� Both comments were captured on videotape, and...

Sen. John F. Kerry defended his controversial joke suggesting the GOP’s John McCain wears “Depends” adult diapers, saying today it’s the type of ribald humor you hear at the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day roast or on late-night TV.Kerry, appearing before the Boston Herald editorial board, bristled at the suggestion his jab was not senatorial.

The Increasingly Erratic, Gaffe-Prone Joe Biden Wednesday, October 22, 2008 By Michelle Malkin If the prospect of Joe Biden sitting a heartbeat away from the presidency doesn’t give you palpitations, you are not paying attention. Hysterical Sarah Palin-bashers on the unhinged left and elitist right have dominated campaign press coverage and pop culture. They’ve ridiculed her family, her appearance and her speech patterns. They’ve derided her character, her parenting skills, her readiness and her intellect. Meanwhile, the increasingly erratic, super-gaffetastic Joe Biden gets a pass. What does the guy have to do to earn the relentless scrutiny and merciless mockery...

At a business summit on energy, Politickerma.com reports, a prominent supporter of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Mass., made a crack about Sen. John McCain's age. "These are the exciting last two week moments of the presidential campaign," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., today in Cambridge, Mass. "So it's a very special time. I can't wait for it to be over. I am so tired of the press' silly questions that they ask along the way. And cable television which reduces everything to stupidity - the lowest common denominator of conflict." "I don't know if any of you know what it's like....

On the heels of telling the Pittsburgh Tribune Review that racism would play into the vote in Western Pennsylvania for president next month, Rep. Jack Murtha told local Pittsburgh television station WTAE that it's difficult for many in the area to change, saying just five to 10 years ago the entire area was "redneck." You have to wonder how residents of Pennsylvania like the descriptive phrases that have been piled on in the past few months. First, it was bitter and God and gun clinging, then it was racist, now they are rednecks. In an interview with reporter David Brown...

The animated sitcom 'Family Guy' is no stranger to controversy, but on Sunday night the show went into uncharted territory as it seemed to weigh in on the presidential race by likening the McCain/Palin ticket to the Nazi party in World War II. In the episode, two of the characters, Stewie (a talking baby) and Brian (a talking dog) are transported to Poland during the Nazi invasion of World War II. In one scene, the characters beat up and steal the uniforms of two Nazi officers. Stewie looks down at his Nazi uniform and notices a McCain/Palin campaign button attached...

Rep. John Murtha said today in a prepared statement that he is sorry for making the comment that Western Pennsylvania is a racist area. Yesterday Murtha told the Tribune-Review that "Obama's got a problem with the race issue in Western Pennsylvania" and that the junior senator from Illinois could expect his skin color to cost him up to 4 percentage points at the polls on Nov. 4. In his statement today, Murtha said: "While we cannot deny that race is a factor in this election, I believe we've been able to look

Obama rejects Rev. Jackson's tirade against 'Zionists' Ynetnews, Israel - 6 hours ago Jesse Jackson in which he says an Obama administration would crush 'the Zionists clout' in Washington. Israeli generals duped into supporting Obama /

You've read the quote. You've heard the rumors. Now, hear the audio of Mark Warner calling the NRA, people of faith, home schoolers and people who believe in the right to life "a threat to what it means to be an American." When this issue first surfaced in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, then gubernatorial candidate Mark Warner "angrily denied the claim" and called it "inaccurate." But the audio will tell you a different story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpicD6UIq8A

In a confidential internal memorandum obtained by Face The State (PDF), the Colorado Democracy Alliance outlines a roster of "operatives" who worked for Democratic victory in the 2006 general election. The document outlines specific tasks for various members of the state's liberal infrastructure, including a campaign to "educate the idiots," assigned to the state's AFL-CIO union. Among the operation's intended targets: "minorities, GED's, drop-outs." Individuals named in the document, marked "CONFIDENTIAL," "for internal use only," and "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE," are high-level elected Democrats including House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, former Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, as well as Gov. Bill Ritter's press...

VIDEO MSNBC's David Shuster continued the attack on Governor Sarah Palin for not allowing reporters in on meetings she attended at the United Nations. Fellow Newsbuster Ken Shepherd pointed out recently the media never complained over not having full access to Barack Obama's meetings with foreign leaders during his tour through the Middle East and later Europe. However, Shuster's attack included a very edited down tape of Palin and Dr. Henry Kissinger, which attempted to make Palin look like she knew little of what was being discussed. Moreover, Shuster seemed to take delight in pointing out Palin's spokeswoman misspelled Kissinger's...

Minnesota's U.S. Senate race took yet another odd turn Sunday when skirmishing broke out between the top two contenders over whether Democratic candidate Al Franken reverted to his "Saturday Night Live" days to help craft an "SNL" skit that spoofed Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The political website Politico reported late Saturday that Franken had proposed the idea for the skit and was actively involved in its creation; it cited two anonymous sources at NBC, which airs the long-running show. Franken's campaign Sunday denied that Franken had pitched skit ideas. Spokesman Colleen Murray said Franken had talked to SNL producer...

Obama On Letterman: 'Palin Would Be The Lipstick' Presidential Hopeful Says Media Took His Words And Ran; Defends Bush Policies On Afghanistan, AIDS In Africa NEW YORK (CBS) ― Presidential hopeful Barack Obama appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman" in New York on Wednesday after a day of heated debate by media and political pundits over comments some took as a slam against Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Obama spent much of his visit talking about Palin and clarifying his earlier comments. "This is sort of silly season in politics, not that there's a non-silly season, but it...

Amie Parnes reports from Lebanon, VA: Obama poked fun of McCain and Palin's new "change" mantra. "You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig." "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink." "We've had enough of the same old thing." The crowd apparently took the "lipstick" line as a reference to Palin, who described the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull in a single word: "lipstick."

From Farmington Hills, MI: Obama told the crowd that McCain and Palin spent most of the convention talking about their biographies. Palin's bio is "compelling," Obama said. The crowd booed. "No, it's an interesting story." More boos. "No, no, it is. I mean that sincerely. Mother, governor, moose shooter." The crowd broke out in laughter. "That's cool. That's cool. That's cool stuff," Obama said.

RUSH: We got Obama and his mispronunciation of the mascot of Penn State University. We've looped it three times. OBAMA: Penn State right here, Nitally Lions. Penn State right here, Nitally Lions. Penn State right here, Nitally Lions. RUSH: Penn State Nitally Lions as identified by The Messiah.

Barry Obama has slipped on his own faith by saying "John McCain has not... talked about... My muslim faith" Of which Stephanopolous carried the water and corrected him by saying "Christian faith". I think this is a VERY telling freudian slip by Barrack.