Free Republic

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy, will be nominated to be the next ambassador to Japan, the Washington Post reports. "Looks like there will be a Camelot East — make that Far East: Caroline Kennedy is heading to Tokyo to be the U.S. ambassador. Kennedy, whose support for President Obama during his 2008 campaign was seen as crucial, had been widely talked about as a candidate for the plum diplomatic post, but now things have apparently been firmed up," reports the Post.

Filmmaker Michael Moore’s bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York’s JFK airport Wednesday night. Police took Patrick Burke, who says Moore employs him, into custody after he declared he was carrying a firearm at a ticket counter. Burke is licensed to carry a firearm in Florida and California, but not in New York. See, Moore believes in 2nd Amendment rights for his well-heeled self, but in typical totalitarian-embracing left-wing fashion, he just doesn’t believe in 2nd Amendment rights for the less well off or less politically connected.

To the list of liberals who vote for higher taxes -- and then proceed to complain about them -- add comedian Bill Maher. Incredibly, the caustic, left-wing Maher recently warned, "ln California, I just want to say: Liberals -- you could actually lose me." As a resident of California, a state with high income taxes, Maher complained that his taxes are "over 50 percent." What's more, Maher made a point seldom heard except on Fox News or by a rich Parisian. Maher said, "Rich people ... actually do pay the freight in this country ... like 70 percent" of the...

Let’s pretend that in the spring of 2012 Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, John Engler of the Business Roundtable, Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity, and Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association began to organize an assembly of right-leaning groups. Let’s pretend that in the months since there had been not one but two meetings where these luminaries joined with representatives of Christians United For Israel, the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Tea Party Express, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, and the American Petroleum Institute to discuss strategy and promote a series of “structural...

Al Gore Nets Another Fortune on Apple Stock By Javier E. David Former U.S. vice president Al Gore recently netted a huge payday by selling his cable station. Now, it appears he's making another big profit buying Apple's (AAPL) stock on the cheap. Al Gore According to a filing with the Securities and Exchanges Commission, Gore -- a director on Apple's board -- exercised an option to purchase nearly 60,000 shares of the tech giant at the bargain basement price of $7.48, costing him a total of about $445,000. But with Apple's current market price at about $500 a share,...

Michael Moore got a bad review from at least one upset critic at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards...on Monday. Moore was there to present Best First Film to David France for his doc "How To Survive a Plague," a salute to a protest group that stormed St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1989 over the AIDS crisis. But Armond White, gadfly critic and former organization chair, began heckling him for "anti-Catholic" rhetoric. Moore raised hackles when he recalled how activists at the height of the epidemic...interrupted Mass at St. Patrick's. Moore stated, "I personally like that one. I say that...

The White House on Tuesday afternoon reached out to major philanthropic foundations not typically associated with gun control to gauge how much they are willing to get involved in President Obama’s future gun violence prevention efforts, according to a person on the call. The call, which featured Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Jonathan Greenblatt, the director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, and members of Vice President Biden’s staff, was largely a “listening session,” according to the person on the call, who represents a foundation invited to participate. The person said the call...

Who needs a Mayan apocalypse when you have Obama? The Occupy Movement, as we all know, was and is a tool of the elite. Skilled in projection and deflection, they screamed that big business was the enemy of the people and Marxism was the cure. No sane American would fall for that tripe. What the lame movement, if they had been honest, would have railed against was big business in collusion with big government. A marriage made in hell and brought to you by Barack Obama and the bourgeois socialists. We now have many, many examples of these elitists who...

Old Sam Donaldson is back in the news. You remember Sam, don't you? Physically, he tends to remind one of an eagle. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have the vision of one - particularly in regard to our future. Here's what Sam had to say last weekend: "It's the Tea Party and thinking of the Tea Party and people like that that are driving the Republicans out of contention as a national party. You cannot win nationally if you don't know something about the way the country's changed, and the Tea Party seems to think the country can go back...

Today is Christmas Day. Hanukkah ended nine days ago. New Years Day is seven days from now. Yet... for some explicable reason, Google thinks today is "Holidays." In their description of their Christmas day graphic, Google writes "Happy Holidays from Google." Well thanks, Google that's very nice of you. Very inclusive.

Google was the third largest source of Obama’s campaign cash. A number of Google executives took jobs within Obama Inc and Google’s PAC has plowed large amounts of money into the Democratic Party. Google’s creepy ex-CEO Eric Schmidt was a major Obama donor and campaign advisor, and was even considered for a Cabinet post. Schmidt was on Obama’s transition board and is a member of his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Bruce Springsteen is a fabulously wealthy man who sings about the poor, the downtrodden and the lower middle class. You know, the people hit hard by the last four years of the Obama presidency.This weekend, Springsteen visited the Steel City to talk up a second Obama term, promising the crowd in classic class warfare terms what we can expect from Hope and Change, the sequel.

Jay McInerney, 56, is the author of Bright Lights, Big City and Brightness Falls. His latest book is the short story collection How It Ended Last week I was at a party in a Manhattan art gallery attended by the inevitable mix of artists, journalists and wealthy art collectors. I ran into a friend, a painter, who is a strong supporter of the Democratic party, but she told me she wasn't donating money to the Obama campaign this year. "He's been a huge disappointment," she said. "Not one major Wall Street banker has been held accountable for the financial crash,...

Bruce Springsteen, whose music has been the soundtrack for President Obama’s campaign rallies, will join former President Bill Clinton at a pro-Obama event in the battleground state of Ohio next Thursday. “Bruce Springsteen’s values echo what the President and Vice President stand for: hard work, fairness, integrity,” said Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, in a statement Saturday morning about the Oct. 18 event in Parma, Ohio. “His appearances will help with our get out the vote effort in these critical swing states and we are thrilled with his ongoing support,” Messina said ahead of the appearance in a state where...

WASHINGTON -- With the recession hit in 2008, Congress put the idea of a "skills shortage" and a need for more H-1B visas in a closet. That didn't mean, though, that interest in raising the H-1B cap went away for everyone. New York City Mayor Bloomberg, for instance, last year called the limits on both temporary and permanent employment-based immigration a "form of national suicide." Microsoft has long advocated for more work visas. But the company's advocacy was quieted during the recession as well, as it announced in 2009 a layoff of 5,000 workers. Circumstances at Microsoft have since changed...

The Obama campaign has launched its “For All” campaign, encouraging supporters to take pictures of themselves with their hands on their hearts and a note explaining why they support President Obama. Actress Jessica Alba uses the Pledge of Allegiance as an example of the campaign in an email to supporters. “Growing up, my classmates and I started every day with a ritual: We’d stand up, put our right hand over our hearts, and say the Pledge of Allegiance,” explains Alba. “To me, that gesture was a promise. A promise to be involved and engaged in this country’s future. A promise...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In 2008, Al Gore strode onto the stage at Denver's Invesco Field to a hero's welcome, throwing his support behind Barack Obama to take on the "global climate crisis." When Obama takes the stage this week, Gore will be nowhere in sight. He isn't coming to the Democratic National Convention but is spending the week in New York City, anchoring coverage of the event for his network Current TV. [SNIP] While many Democrats in Charlotte were reluctant to talk about Gore for attribution, some said Gore's diminished profile — and the environmental movement's more broadly — is...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog The following rich liberals have all used legal tax shelters to legally lower their taxes The following rich liberals have all used legal tax shelters to legally lower their taxes:Debbie Wasserman SchultzThe Weekly Standard reports:Disclosure forms reveal that Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a member of Congress from Florida, previously held funds with investments in Swiss banks, foreign drug companies, and the state bank of India. This revelation comes mere days after the Democratic chair attacked presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for holding money in Swiss bank accounts in the past.Nancy PelosiThe Daily...

Contrary to popular belief, 'Paul Ryan is not Freddy Kruger'. Mainstream media outlets wasted little time in their attempt to discredit the newly appointed vice presidential candidate, while practically ignoring every new gaffe committed by the current one. The constant and vicious attacks of his conservative views and budget proposals mirror the ordeal Sarah Palin endured, but the career congressman has dealt with it all before.  Seemingly everyone has an unfavorable opinion that they're anxious to share, including musicians like Rage Against the Machine lead guitarist Tom Morello. In one of his many op-eds for Rolling Stone, the Nightwatchman called Ryan...

"I think, first of all this must seem odd to people in other countries that we view our Constitution as if it was written by God himself. That it was somehow, through some sort of divine intervention or whatever, it was etched in stone like Moses and the tablets. And because what they thought was right in 1776 to 1789, that is the way we have to live today in the 21st century," Michael Moore said on the Tuesday night broadcast of CNN's "Pier Morgan Tonight." "I mean, we wouldn't go to a doctor and have him put leeches on...

Cher is refusing to back down from a Twitter comment she posted on Friday that is considered a slur against members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The pop singer and passionate Democrat sent out the tweet urging President Barack Obama and his aides to get organized or risk losing November's election to Republican Romney, who is a Mormon. Cher's tweet said: "I Feel if he (Obama) doesn't get all his DUCKS IN A ROW we'll b forced 2 listen 2Uncaring Richy Rich! The whitest man in MAGIC UNDERWEAR in the WH (White House)." Some news agencies...

Some of the president's most ardent entertainment industry supporters quietly tell The Hollywood Reporter that while they realize he needs to deploy all of his weapons to compete with deep-pocketed Republican super PACs, they fear the increasing reliance on stars and celebrity contests could backfire with swing voters and mobilize the right. Reaction was particularly strong to the $40,000-a-plate dinner co-hosted June 14 by Sarah Jessica Parker and Vogue editor Anna Wintour with guests including Meryl Streep, Aretha Franklin and Bravo's Andy Cohen. Critics say the tony, heavily promoted event­ -- Parker sent an e-mail to supporters promising the evening...

You need not use the left's absurdly low and usually ridiculous standards surrounding what is and isn't racism when it comes to Barack Obama to be taken aback by crybaby Bill Maher's blog post yesterday: Also because the idea that the blame for our government’s dysfunction is equally shared by the parties just is a giant, steaming mound of horseshit and anyone who has paid attention to politics over the last 20 years knows it. Or as I like to call it, “The Rise of the Party of the Apes.” Maher then went on to single out black Republican Congressman...

First lady Michelle Obama took her inspirational family story on the road over the weekend, telling the graduating class of Oregon State University that having a corner corporate office and a big paycheck isn’t the prize it looks like when entering the job market. “Success isn’t about how your life looks to others, it’s about how it feels to you,” Obama said Sunday, retelling how she and her brother, Oregon men’s basketball coach Craig Robinson, grew up in a small Chicago home pushed by parents who said “be true to ourselves.” For both, she said, that meant throwing away their...

Jon Stewart, the left-wing star of the low-rated "Daily Show," might not be richer than Romney today, but the pace he's currently on means that someday he may very well be.Of course that means nothing to Stewart as he continues to carry Obama's water and launch divisive class warfare attacks from the platform of a super PAC known as Comedy Central to attack Mitt Romney's wealth. Though Stewart distances himself from the “one-percenters” and bellows over their extravagance, his bank accounts bear all the marks of the “multi, multi, multi, multi millionaires” he mocks. The 49-year-old Stewart, born Jonathan Stuart...

Every America-hating leftists dream come true, being praised by Hanoi Jane. Jane Fonda, ‘Peace, Love and Misunderstanding’ Star, On The Occupy Movement and The Legacy Of ’9 To 5′ — HuffPo Huffington Post: Again, your character is a war protester. What’s your opinion of the Occupy movement? Jane Fonda: Right on! I say right on! It’s an important, wonderful movement. It doesn’t fit the mold. HP: Is that what you like about it? That it doesn’t fit the mold? Jane Fonda:I think that’s what allows it to be successful in its own way. Because it has no leader; it has...

You may not have realized it, but the current run-up in oil and gasoline prices is actually a right-wing plot to oust President Obama. Big oil companies and/or Wall Street speculators have inflated prices to foment voter unrest and help Republicans seize the White House this fall. The possibility of armed conflict between Israel and Iran has nothing to do with it, or is a contributing factor at best. This theory has been echoing across the blogosphere for weeks now. The most detailed version appeared on the widely read Daily Kos blog, which included a lengthy post on Feb. 26...

Best bet for the American left? Matt Damon. A suggestion by outspoken liberal filmmaker Michael Moore became an Internet sensation on Wednesday. Since he urged the 41-year-old actor to run for president of the United States on the weekend, the idea has gained traction on both political blogs and Hollywood websites. A big name like Mr. Damon might help secure electoral victory, the director of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 said while taking part in a virtual town-hall discussion hosted by the blog FireDogLake over the weekend. “I think that he has been very courageous in not caring about...

“Celebrities have other needs,” so says the Israeli super-duper model Bar Refaeli, she of the Illustrated Sports sexy swimsuit edition, and the part-time girlfriend of the aging boy actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. > ...she used the fake marriage to avoid having to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, something required of all young Israelis, both male and female. Here is the full quote from the Israeli website Ynet.com. “I really wanted to serve in the IDF, but I don’t regret not enlisting, because it paid off big time,” she said. “That’s just the way it is, celebrities have other needs. I...

The American political climate for achieving change is “very, very ugly,” according to Bruce Springsteen, as he launched a staunch defence of Barack Obama. "There's a widespread political consciousness that's perhaps deeper in Europe than it is in the States,” he told the Sunday Times magazine. “The climate [in America] is very, very ugly for getting things done. The moderate reforms President Obama fought to make are called Marxist, socialist. “I mean, the most extreme language is put into play to describe the most modest reforms that would move the economy back towards serving a majority of its citizens.” The...

ONE NATION WORKING TOGETHER, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2 Screen Actors Guild is proud to support the One Nation Working Together March in Washington D.C., and in cities across the country, this Saturday, October 2. We represent the most diverse membership of any labor union on earth. We have members who are months-old, others in their nineties and every age in between. We are conservatives, moderates, progressives and liberals, non-believers and people of every faith, members of every ethnic group and national heritage, gender identity, sexual orientation, and physical ability. In short, we are a microcosm of the rich diversity of the...

While certain executives at News Corp. may not agree, it is obvious that at the moment, the top business news channel on Wall Street is CNBC. With that in mind director Oliver Stone prominently features the network's anchors prominently in the upcoming sequel to his 1987 film "Wall Street." This despite the fact that the film is produced by the 20th Century Fox film studio, a sister company to Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Per MarketWatch.com's : And no actual journalists shine brighter in the new 20th Century Fox production than Maria Bartiromo and her CNBC posse. If...

This is a heads up regarding Progressive Auto Insurance. You know who they are. They’re the ones with the clever television ads featuring the perky brunette actress all dressed in white. What you might not know is that the chairman of Progressive is Peter Lewis, one of the largest funders of the left in America . He’s your typical rich spoiled kid who took over the company from his father and apparently feels “guilty” for his success and now dedicates himself to making it impossible for anyone else to become wealthy. Between 2001 and 2003, Lewis funneled $15 million to...

This delusional liberal infighting speaks for itself: "I think that what's bothering them is that liberals and the left have been right from the beginning. From the beginning of this administration, what did people on our side of the fence say? You should take over these banks temporarily and fire all the thieves who stole our money. But instead, what did they do? They enabled them. They called for more offshore oil drilling. They expanded the war in Afghanistan. The stimulus package -- they caved in to the Republicans. Everything that we've been trying to push them to do has...

Chelsea Clinton Wedding Guest List Revealed Posted by Devon Thomas NEW YORK (CBS) It's wedding season and Hillary and Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea has her guest list all sorted out. The First Daughter, 30, who is getting married on July 31 to Marc Mezvinsky, is throwing a wedding bash that will reportedly have up to 500 guests, including some of the biggest names in politics and entertainment. Just who made the cut? According to the Hudson Valley News, guests include President Obama, singer Barbra Streisand, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw, and media moguls Oprah Winfrey and Ted...

Eccentric comedian and former talk show host Roseanne Barr claimed on her blog July 8 that Republicans are avid kiddie porn viewers who like to have sex with young children. The liberal activist and comedy queen was blogging about sicko children’s author K.P. Bath, who was just slapped with a six years prison term for child porn possession last week. In an item titled “typical republican child porn consuming geek,” Barr posted a mug shot of Bath and wrote that he was “a typical republican who loves reagan and palin and despises the ‘nanny state’ and socialism.”

Things aren't going well for the original Dark Lord of the Sith. Dave Prowse, who wore the Darth Vader costume in the first three 'Star Wars' films, has been banned from the forthcoming Lucas Film Star Wars Celebration party in Orlando, Florida. Not only that, he's been told his presence won't be welcome at any Lucas Film/Star Wars-related events. There could be a reason, though, seeing as Uncle George is probably fuming at the comments Prowse recently made to SlashFilm about not receiving any residual payment for 'Return of the Jedi' -- because it didn't make a profit(!):

THE shocking images of oil-covered wildlife and ruined beaches across the Gulf of Mexico have horrified millions. But passionate green campaigner Sir Paul McCartney believes the environmental disaster may have a silver lining, with the search for clean, renewable energy now being pushed forward. The Beatles legend said: "Sadly we need disasters like this to show people. Some people don't believe in climate warming - like those who don't believe there was a Holocaust. "But the facts indicate that there's something going on and we've got to be aware of it if we want our kids to inherit a decent...

Ted Kennedy's KGB Correspondence By Kevin Mooney on 6.22.10 @ 6:08AM Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's self-serving, secret correspondence with Soviet agents during the height of the Cold War included proposals for collaborative efforts designed to undermine official U.S. policy set by Democratic and Republican administrations, KGB documents show. With the media now reporting on the late senator's just released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file, now is an opportune time for a more expansive investigation into Kennedy's KGB contacts. The agency took a keen interest in a 1961 "fact-finding" trip the Massachusetts Democrat took to Mexico and other parts of...

Fairey, , "Some of the works are about gridlock in Washington. Washington is too intertwined with corporate America . . . I had a lot of hope for Obama, but it's not panning out. He's not pushing hard enough."

Media Matters: Did Fox News edit video of President Obama’s commencement speech at West Point to remove audience applause? Filmmaker Michael Moore thinks so...

Sometimes referred to as “The Mouth of the South,” the CNN founder lashed out against religious believers in the past. He once dubbed Christianity a “religion for losers” and wondered aloud whether the Ash Wednesday observers around him at work were “Jesus freaks.” His marriage to Jane Fonda was rumored to become strained when she started finding religion. And while his stance has certainly mellowed with the years - he apologized for his past comments and joined with churches in 2008 to fight malaria - his suggestion that God may have had a hand in the oil disaster that killed...

“I’m not a real religious person, but I’m somewhat religious. And I’m just wondering if God is telling us he doesn’t want us to drill offshore,” he said. “And right before that we had that coal mine disaster in West Virginia where we lost 29 miners,” as well as repeated mining disasters – “seems like there’s one over there every week” – in China. “Maybe the Lord’s tired of having the mountains of West Virginia, the tops knocked off of them so they can get more coal. I think maybe we ought to just leave the coal in the ground...

President Obama and the first lady on Thursday reported earning $5.5 million in 2009, the majority of which was from the sale of Obama’s books, the White House said. By contrast, former President Bush and Laura Bush reported a taxable income of $719,274 in 2007. The Obamas paid nearly $1.8 million in federal income tax and reported giving $329,100 to 40 charities. Their tax return is here. ---- Some context: The Obama's household income jumped from $991,296 in 2006 to $4.2 million in 2007. It was $2.7 million in 2008. ---

Language Warning - THR: [James] Cameron calls [Glenn] Beck a "f***ing asshole" and says that global warming deniers have "got their head so deeply up their ass I'm not sure they could hear me." And that's just Cameron getting started.

Michael Moore gets the Michael Moore treatment in a new documentary created by a fellow Michigan resident. Accountant turned filmmaker Kevin Leffler isn’t a dyed in the wool Republican trying to score cheap shots off the liberal gadfly. He’s just a regular Midwesterner who knew the guy being trumped up in the press as the straight talking Everyman wasn’t the real deal. Leffler grew up in the same part of Michigan as Moore, attending the same Catholic Church and even working together on a local youth hotline. So when Leffler calls out Moore, it means something. “Shooting Michael Moore” lets...

Moore: Democrats are 'going to get an ass-whoopin' of biblical proportions' By Tony Romm - 03/07/10 09:08 AM ET Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore on Sunday railed on Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, predicting, "Democrats on Election Day 2010 are going to get an ass-whoopin' of biblical proportions if things don't change right now." In an open letter to the White House, Moore placed the blame for Democrats' dismal electoral prospects in 2010 squarely on the shoulders of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, recently a popular target for liberals dissatisfied with the White House's handling of healthcare. While Moore praised the...

There's going to be another crash. The commercial real estate bubble hasn't burst yet. That's going to burst. The credit card debt is so huge right now, it will never be repaid. That's a house of cards waiting to fall. So the crash of '08 is going to look like coming attractions. And we're in for a much, much worse time. When even Michael Moore sees that the Dems are fubarin', that the economy has NOT BEEN ADDRESSED by The One, and that we're likely headed for another, bigger recession/depression, ya gotta at least ask, WHY? Why has this fatass/walking...

Michael Moore's schlockumentary "Capitalism: A Love Story" has been approved for a taxpayer-funded subsidy he once criticized. "So, as Moore was making a film about evil capitalists taking money from regular folk, he was actually applying for a taxpayer subsidy from a state with huge fiscal problems and staggeringly high unemployment:"

The tea partiers are enjoying their day in the sun, but coffee is the beverage preferred by most Americans, and we don't have time to gang up and holler and wave our arms -- we prefer to sit quietly with coffee in hand and read a reliable newspaper and try to figure out what's going on in the world. Great heaps of dead bodies are moved by front-loaders and dumped, uncounted, unidentified, into open pits in a stricken country while people feast and walk treadmills on enormous cruise ships sailing a hundred miles off the coast en route to the...