Free Republic

Of course it is a challenge for any modern national leader, to stand tomorrow on the beaches of Normandy and recall the greatest days and martial triumphs of World War II. The comparison is obvious and embarrassing, between the giants and the pygmies: Churchill and Cameron, Hollande and de Gaulle, above all Franklin Roosevelt and Barack Obama. In 2014, at least Britain’s prime minister and France’s president must bear responsibility only for their own countries. But the President of the United States is the standard-bearer for the global cause of freedom, commander-in-chief of the principal might of the forces of...

On the heels of his widely-praised exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five captured Taliban commanders, which Democratic strategists are comparing to trading General George Patton for five taxi drivers, President Obama went them one better and swapped all remaining Guantanamo detainees for a bag of magic beans. In announcing the trade, Secretary of State John Kerry stated, "President Obama has unloaded hundreds of unskilled laborers and taxi drivers whom we already have enough of, and transported them from Gitmo to Afghanistan where they will be more likely to find jobs that fit their training and aspirations, like driving a...

Obama in 2008 said he would never negotiate with a terrorist organization and blasted Senator John McCain and President Bush for suggesting that he would. This was the day after President Bush spoke to the Israeli Knesset in 2008 when he called out 'the false comfort of appeasement which has been repeatedly discredited by history'

Among the questions being raised about this weekend's exchange of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five top Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo is why Congress was not informed of the move ahead of time. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Meet the Press on Sunday that concerns over the health and perhaps even the survival of Bergdahl required secrecy, telling reporters, "We couldn't afford any leaks anywhere" because the deal was "essentially an operation to save the life of Sgt. Bergdahl." But just under a year ago, in June 2013, White House press secretary Jay Carney was unequivocal in his response...

The furious parents of an officer who they claim was killed while searching for freed Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl today said that they have been lied to as part of a ‘cover up just like Benghazi’. The mother and father of Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews are angry that they have been told different stories about how their son died. First his commanders said that their son was blown up while hunting a Taliban commander - but only now that Bergdahl has been freed after five years in captivity are they learning the truth. Lt Andrews’ parents told MailOnline that their...

Two Republican lawmakers said President Barack Obama violated U.S. laws when he approved the exchange of an American soldier believed held by Islamist insurgents for five years for five Afghan detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon of California and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma said Saturday in a statement that Obama is required by law to notify Congress 30 days before any transfer of terrorists from the U.S. detention facility.

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog When Obama carried out his Solyndra con game, he broke the same law that Martha Stewart went to prison for breaking In 2009 the Obama administration gave $535 million to Solyndra, claiming that it would create 4,000 new jobs. However, instead of creating those 4,000 new jobs, the company went bankrupt. It was later revealed that the company’s shareholders and executives had made substantial donations to Obama’s campaign, that the company had spent a large sum of money on lobbying, and that Solyndra executives had had many meetings with White House officials. It was also revealed...

...One of the selling points of Obamacare was the lowering of health insurance costs. Nancy Pelosi promised, “Everybody will have lower rates.” President Obama was more specific, telling us that his signature program would “Bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family.” A year later, however, Mrs. Pelosi, in the face of rising premiums for many, forgot her promise of the previous year, "I don't remember saying that everybody in the country would have a lower premium." Mrs. Pelosi’s sudden bout of amnesia isn’t surprising. Health insurance premiums rose up to 56 percent under Obamacare and some of her...

Over at Commentary, our friend Jonathan Tobin rightly asks “Where’s the Outrage Over CIA Outing?” It should be remembered that it was only a few years ago that the same Democratic Party that currently runs the White House was up in arms because the name of a CIA official was leaked to the press…. the outrage about [Valerie] Plame’s outing in the liberal mainstream press was universal and white-hot. An angry Washington press corps helped manufacture a crisis that forced President Bush to appoint a special prosecutor to look into an act that was proclaimed to be nothing short of...

CNN) -- pRresident Barack Obama on Wednesday outlined a foreign policy vision of "might doing right," arguing that modern pragmatism requires both a strong military and the diplomatic tools of alliances and sanctions to exert influence and provide global leadership. He told graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point that after the nation's "long season of war and divisions about how to move forward," they now would represent America with the duty "not only to protect our country, but to do what is right and just." Watch this video Obama outlines foreign policy vision Under fire from...

Bill Kristol is no fan of President Obama’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He made it quite clear on CNN’s “Crossfire” during a heated argument with The Atlantic’s Peter Beinart. “We have sacrified blood and treasure in that country,” Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, said. “President Obama sent tens of thousands of troops there and now he is making their sacrifice in vain. I find it sickening.” An argument ensued with the liberal Beinart, who said Obama’s greatest failure as president was deploying more troops to Afghanistan

CNN’s international correspondent Jim Clancy called the West Point response to President Obama’s meandering foreign policy address “pretty icy” Wednesday.Clancy said it was “not really a great speech to give at the U.S. Military Academy,” and the address has drawn bipartisan criticism.“It was a philosophical speech,” he said. “It was not a Commander-in-Chief speaking to his troops. And you heard the reception. I mean, it was pretty icy.”Obama said he believed strongly in American exceptionalism, but he continually used straw men in his address by implying that critics of his vision of foreign policy always advocated first and foremost for...

President Barack Obama's failures to adequately address his administration's biggest challenges demonstrates that he does not have the competence to be an effective president, some liberals and Democrats have begun to claim. CNN's John King said Sunday that Democrats have been telling him privately that Obama is "detached, flat-footed, even incompetent," he "doesn't want to take command, doesn't want to act fast," and "this White House doesn't appear to have its hand on the lever [of government]." And on Tuesday, liberal National Journal columnist Ron Fournier accused Obama of "intellectual dishonesty" for blaming his failures on Republicans. "The candidate of...

According to the AP, a CIA agent’s name was leaked by the White House . The AP calls it an “embarrassing flub” even though it was a crime when an aide in the Bush administration leaked the name of part-time agent Valerie Plame. What’s given little attention in the story is the fact that the Washington Post reporter who wrote the story sent his copy to the White House to be checked for “accuracy.” ... First of all, any reporter worth his salt would not depend on the subject he’s reporting on to verify accuracy. That’s just crazy. He’d make...

In the middle of the 2012 Presidential campaign it was easy to end a war: President Barack Obama came out swinging at his Republican rival over the issue of Afghanistan on Saturday and Sunday but may have swung a bit too hard, making claims more sweeping and definitive than what he's previously said on the subject. After slamming GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney for ignoring the issue during his speech at the Republican National Convention last week, Obama said he had put the U.S. on a sure path to military withdrawal from Afghanistan. "I put forward a specific plan to...

I wrote here and here about the Obama administration’s proposed rule on “affirmatively furthering fair housing” (AFFH), an attempt to dictate how we shall live. In essence, President Obama seeks to use the power of the national government to create communities of a certain kind, each having what the federal government deems an appropriate mix of economic, racial, and ethnic diversity. The proposed AFFH rule, issued last July, was expected to be finalized by the end of last year. But the year ended with no further action. 2014 was supposed to be the year Obama’s “year of action” — the...

President Obama berated Real Clear Politics reporter Alexis Simendinger after she asked him about reports of the U.S. sending trainers to help the rebels in Syria. Moments after the president finished speaking with individual students and taking pictures with the press at the White House’s science fair exhibit, Simendinger asked him a question regarding these reports. “I’m sorry, we’re doing a science fair- c’mon, c’mon,” Obama responded before rushing out of the room and avoiding comment on the breaking news.

As President Obama toured the White House Science Fair, news broke that he would keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after the end of the year even though he signaled that combat operations would end in 2014. After Obama finished talking to individual students and posing for pictures with the press, White House correspondent for Real Clear Politics Alexis Simendinger asked him a question about breaking news on the White House's approach to Syria's civil war as he prepared to exit the room. “I’m sorry, we’re doing a science fair - c’mon. C’mon.” Obama said irritably as he turned and walked...

There are multiple levels of irony in this New York Times report on the impact of ObamaCare on poor patients in the nation’s hospitals. Congress demanded the power to revamp the health-insurance industry and expand Medicaid in order to help the poor get better medical care for less money. In reality, the opposite appears to be happening, as hospitals attempt to force the poor into ObamaCare: Hospital systems around the country have started scaling back financial assistance for lower- and middle-income people without health insurance, hoping to push them into signing up for coverage through the new online marketplaces...

Nick and Rachel Robinson were excited about the possibilities that Obamacare offered them when they found out they were expecting a third child. “It’s one of those times where you hear the news and there’s this immediate sense of joy and excitement like, ‘Yay, a new kid. That’s awesome!’” Nick Robinson told NPR. But the happy news also came with a new set of worries. “What are we going to do? How are we going to pay for this? This is intense.” When the option of the Affordable Care Act became available, the Robinsons believed it was the answer to what they...