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The Smithsonian Institute has just revealed an official portrait of former President Barack Obama in Washington, DC. Just before dramatically unveiling the former president's portrait, which depicts him sitting in a garden amid green ivy, the Institute presented a portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, and it looks like it definitely left a huge impression on her. The portrait was greeted with gasps and applause. "Wow, wow," Obama said in awe once the portrait was unveiled. She gave a short speech afterward. "Can we just say wow again?" she said. "I have to tell you that as I stand...

Barack and Michelle Obama re-emerged on the public stage Monday in Washington, only this time for an event that has nothing to do with politics. The former first couple's official portraits were unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, a rite of passage for most former presidents, all of whom have their portraits hanging in the museum.

RUSH: Folks, I don’t know how I’m gonna do this. They had the official portrait unveiling today of Barack Hussein O and Michelle (My Belle) O, and I said, “Oh. My.” And so did the audience, when one of these portraits was unveiled. They did it at the Smithsonian. Now, I remember when the official portrait of Bill and the witch — ah, sorry — Hillary Clinton were unveiled. They did it at the White House. They had it in one of the rooms in the White House. George Bush welcomed the Clintons in and all of their buddies and...

Can you imagine if Donald Trump’s official portrait artist painted white women holding the decapitated heads of African-American women? There would be social chaos. But as Americans we are supposed to sit back and applaud Obama’s artist for chopping off the heads of white women to be carried like a trophy by African-American women? Was this artist, Kehinde Wiley, paid with public tax monies to paint Obama’s portrait?

The artist who painted former President Obama’s portrait for the Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution, has an interesting past. While reviewing previous works by artist Kehinde Wiley, it was discovered that he has a great fondness for painting black women beheading white women. Both beheading pieces are titled “Judith beheading Holofernes”, referencing a story in the Book of Judith, which involves a beautiful woman who seduces an invading general before he is able to destroy their land, gets him drunk, and then decapitates him.

The first IRS viewpoint discrimination case to be filed, Z Street v. IRS, has been settled, with disturbing revelations about how the Internal Revenue Service treated pro-Israel organizations applying for tax-exempt status. I founded Z Street in 2009 to educate Americans about the Middle East and Israel’s defense against terror. We applied for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code in December 2009—a process that usually takes three to six months. Instead, the application languished. In late July 2010, an IRS agent truthfully responded to our lawyer’s query about why processing was taking so long: Z Street’s application...

There’s a headline I bet you didn’t see coming, huh? We’re living in a time when the American energy sector is surging and becoming a dominant force not only domestically, but globally as well. There’s a president in the White House who is loosening up restrictions on drilling --SNIP-- And because of our old friend the Renewable Fuel Standard, that means that the refinery has to purchase government mandated RIN credits (Renewable Identification Number) in order to legally operate. In case you’re wondering how much those RIN credits cost these days on the bizarre market which has grown out of...

A Wall Street Journal report detailing the broken-down status of talks between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner on the year-end “fiscal cliff” reveals that Obama threatened to use both his inaugural and State of the Union speeches to blame Republicans if there’s no deal. Negotiations reportedly came to a standstill after Boehner proposed increasing the tax rate on top earners: Mr. Obama repeatedly lost patience with the speaker as negotiations faltered. In an Oval Office meeting last week, he told Mr. Boehner that if the sides didn’t reach agreement, he would use his inaugural address and his...

U.S. health officials on Friday said they were revoking legal guidance issued by the Obama Administration that had sought to discourage states from trying to defund organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials also said the department is issuing a new regulation aimed at protecting healthcare workers’ civil rights based on religious and conscience objections. The regulation protects the rights of healthcare workers from providing abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization, the officials said during a media call with reporters. The announcement comes one day after HHS said it was...

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which oversees the Internal Revenue Service, reports that in fiscal 2016 the IRS closed four cases in which IRS employees were found to have violated a law governing their behavior toward taxpayers and that these violations included “harassing and abusing taxpayers and using obscene and profane language.” In 1998, Congress enacted a law imposing restrictions on the way that IRS employees could treat taxpayers. As explained by the IG, this included a prohibition on an IRS employee contacting a taxpayer at “unusual or inconvenient times,” contacting the taxpayer directly if the taxpayer “has...

Support for the terrorists and sanctions on Israel. Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism.Matt Duss had once compared Israel’s blockade of Hamas to “segregation in the American South.”  After the murder of the Henkin family in front of their children, the stabbing of a two-year-old and his mother in Jerusalem, Duss wrote, “it shouldn’t shock anyone that Israel’s harsh occupation and abuse provokes Palestinians.” He blamed the “rising violence” on Israel and not the PLO terrorists. "Israel does need to start facing...

Four days after Judge Schnider unsealed the custody records, Ryan dropped out of the race for the horror of (allegedly) propositioning his own wife and then taking “no” for an answer. Alan Keyes stepped in as a last-minute Republican candidate. And that’s how Obama became a U.S. senator. He destroyed both his Democratic primary opponent and his Republican general election opponent with salacious allegations about their personal lives taken from “sealed” court records. Obama’s team delved into Sarah Palin’s marriage and spread rumors of John McCain’s alleged affair in 2008 and they smeared Herman Cain in 2011 with hazy sexual...

Former CIA case officer Sabrina De Sousa thanked the Trump administration for intervening to save her from extradition to Italy and imprisonment in a statement on Friday. “I want to extend my deepest appreciation to the Trump administration for all their efforts on my behalf. Without their support I would be spending tonight in an Italian prison,” said De Sousa, in a statement quoted by Fox News. “The Obama administration and former CIA Director John Brennan abandoned De Sousa the last seven years, and in six weeks, the Trump team made her freedom possible,” Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) told Fox...

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, First Lady Michelle Obama pretty much compared the relationship between her husband and the rest of the country to that of a parent and an injured child. Noting that we’re now feeling what not having hope feels like, Mrs. Obama explained how “hope” was more than a slogan for Barack Obama. “Our children respond to crises the way they see us respond,” Mrs. Obama said. “You know, it’s like the toddler that bumps his head on the table and they look up at you to figure out if it hurts.” She went on to...

Michelle Obama says the White House needs a “grown-up” and the nation will come to appreciate President Barack Obama. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey set to air Monday night on CBS, the first lady says the election has reinforced her view that her husband’s administration was able to inspire hope “because we feel the difference now.” “Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like,” she says. “You know? Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. And Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. I mean, he and...

Michelle Obama fed her husband's feud with Donald Trump on Friday as she gave a gloomy description of the hopeless climate his election win has created. The First Lady used her final interview in the White House to tell Oprah Winfrey that a 'grown up' should be in charge of the country. Looking forward to president-elect Trump's looming inauguration, she said even though hope was lost, it was necessary to move on. 'Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary,' she said in her first direct response to the November 9 election result. Mrs Obama's remarks...

Her husband repeatedly used messages of hope in his presidential campaigns and during his time in office. But US First Lady Michelle Obama has struck a much less upbeat tone in her last TV interview before the family leaves the White House. Speaking to talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Mrs Obama said America's outlook had changed since Donald Trump won November's election. "Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like," she said. Mrs Obama played an unusually prominent role in the 2016 election cycle, throwing her support behind Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and trading barbs with Mr Trump. She...

Michelle Obama says Americans will miss having a 'grown-up' in the White House In interview with Oprah Winfrey, Obama says 'people will come to appreciate' her husband's presidency Michelle Obama said the White House needs a "grown-up" and the U.S. will come to appreciate President Barack Obama. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey set to air Monday night, Obama said the election has reinforced her view that her husband's administration was able to inspire hope "because we feel the difference now." "Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like," she said. "You know? Hope is necessary. It's a necessary...

China and the United States are set to jointly announce their ratification of a landmark climate change pact before the G20 summit early next month, the South China Morning Post has learned. Senior climate officials from both countries worked late into the night in Beijing on Tuesday to finalise details, and a bilateral announcement is likely to be made on September 2, according to sources familiar with the issue.... ...“There are still some uncertainties from the US side due to the complicated US system in ratifying such a treaty, but the announcement is still quite likely to be ready by...

A community college in Illinois is trying to defend itself after it decided to offer special classes only available to black people. “College: Changes, Challenges, Choice” is a one-credit introductory course at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, and is intended to help new students “assess your purpose for college, assess your study strategies, set college and career goals, examine your values and decision-making skills, and develop an appreciation for diversity.” But while the class may want students to appreciate diversity, the school doesn’t practice what it preaches. Two sections of the class are specifically set aside exclusively for...