Free Republic

Free Rock Concert Preceded Big Obama Rally in Portland Hugh Hewitt just told me that right before Obama addressed that huge crowd in Portland, the indie rock band the Decemberists played a free 45-minute concert. Now, I'm sure Obama would draw a big crowd either way, but wasn't that worth mentioning in the coverage? From Wikipedia: "Named both in reference to the Russian Decembrist Revolt (which may explain its use of the National Anthem of the Soviet Union as an introduction at many concerts)..." Lovely. I wonder if they played, "Sixteen Military Wives." The video depicts a bully named "Henry...

Bruce Dickson a contestant on American Idol Dallas, Jan 24, 2008 / 02:07 am (CNA).- A 19-year-old contestant for the “American Idol” singing competition faced scrutiny from judges and celebrity commentators after revealing he is a virgin who has never kissed a girl, Cybercast News Service reports.Bruce Dickson, a show contestant from Bostrop, Texas, at the American Idol Dallas auditions was asked to share something interesting about himself.   He told the judges he had never kissed a girl."What?" Randy Jackson asked. "On purpose?" “On purpose," Dickson said. "On my wedding day, that will be my first kiss." Jackson's advice to...

<p>A new storm is brewing in the world of Da Vinci theorists after a mysterious group claimed it has used mirrors to uncover hidden biblical images in some of the great master’s most famous works.</p> <p>The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings In recent years, art history scholars have unveiled Templar knights, Mary Magdalene, a child and a musical script hidden in the Italian’s paintings.</p>

Seven weeks after the collapse of legislation in Congress, the outcry against illegal immigration is louder than ever, manifested by proposed clampdowns at the state and local level and an uproar over the arrest of an undocumented immigrant in the execution-style slayings of three New Jersey college students. Scores of organizations, ranging from mainstream to fringe groups, are marshaling forces in what former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calls "a war here at home" against illegal immigration, which he says is as important as America's conflicts being fought overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. While most of the groups register legitimate, widespread...

Pew judged the levels of knowledgeability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct. Watchers of the Lehrer News Hour on PBS followed just behind. Virtually bringing up the rear were regular watchers of Fox News. Only 1 in 3 could answer 2 out of 3 questions correctly. Fox topped only network morning show viewers.

As I have traveled around the country, one line in my speeches always draws cheers: "The monologue of the Religious Right is over, and a new dialogue has now begun." We have now entered the post-Religious Right era. Though religion has had a negative image in the last few decades, the years ahead may be shaped by a dynamic and more progressive faith that will make needed social change more possible. In the churches, a combination of deeper compassion and better theology has moved many pastors and congregations away from the partisan politics of the Religious Right. In politics,...

NEW YORK - In the sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world, some are questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar during Prince's Super Bowl halftime show. Prince's acclaimed performance included a guitar solo during the "Purple Rain" segment of his medley in which his shadow was projected onto a large, flowing beige sheet. As the 48-year-old rock star let rip, the silhouette cast by his figure and his guitar (shaped like the singer's symbol) had phallic connotations for some. A number of bloggers have decried "Malfunction!" — including Sam Anderson at New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer. Daily News television critic David...

I am safe on the plane now. On the way to Los Angeles International Airport this afternoon, I thought I was about to be murdered. In the run-up to a weeklong business trip, I called the car service I've been using for years to pick me up at my home. The driver arrived promptly at 1:30 p.m., the arranged time. The ride to the airport started out just fine. The driver began making small talk. I noticed he had a Jamaican flag on his dashboard, so I asked if he was Jamaican. He said he was, and he asked if...

Harry Reid says: “I believe in ensuring all facts come to light.” However, two years after $1.1 million was paid directly to Reid for the sale of land which he no longer personally owned, he announced he was amending his ethics reports to Congress… to more fully account for the Las Vegas land deal, which was reported last week in a story by the AP. [After initially refusing to discuss the matter - Reid reportedly hung up on the AP reporter when asked about it - he has since offered to amend his financial disclosures link] Reid labeled the AP...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats enter the fall campaign with a clear edge in the high-stakes fight for control of the U.S. Congress, riding a wave of momentum that has them positioned to retake the U.S. House of Representatives and make significant gains in the Senate. President George W. Bush's low approval ratings and public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, gas prices and the country's direction threaten Republican leadership in Congress and put Democrats within reach of victory on November 7, analysts said. "I don't think the question any longer is can Democrats win control of Congress, it's can Republicans do...

GARDEN GROVE Gelia Crayton is the picture of conservative California. She worships at the Crystal Cathedral, Orange County's gleaming megachurch, and opposes abortion and gay marriage. She thinks illegal immigration is the scourge of the state. Crayton's hardline views are at odds with the moderation Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has gone out of his way to advertise this year, as he seeks re-election. Yet on a recent Sunday after church services here, the 58-year-old real estate agent pledged to stay loyal to the governor "until he says, 'Taxes are going to go up and welcome illegals.'" Crayton's pragmatism helps explain how...

Americans are donating thousands of dollars to support Minutemen patrolling the border. But you may be surprised where your money is NOT going in this 4-month investigation. Video (Requires Real Player)

WASHINGTON - Some election-year advice to Republicans from a high-ranking source who has the president's ear: Don't use a proposed constitutional amendment against gay marriage as a campaign tool. Just who is that political strategist? Laura Bush. The first lady told "Fox News Sunday" that she thinks the American people want a debate on the issue. But, she said, "I don't think it should be used as a campaign tool, obviously." "It requires a lot of sensitivity to just talk about the issue — a lot of sensitivity," she said. The Senate will debate legislation that would have the Constitution...

REPUBLICANS are urging President George W Bush to dump Dick Cheney as vice-president and replace him with Condoleezza Rice if he is serious about presenting a new face to the jaded American public. They believe that only the sacrifice of one or more of the big beasts of the jungle, such as Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, will convince voters that Bush understands the need for a fresh start. The jittery Republicans claim Bush’s mini-White House reshuffle last week will do nothing to forestall the threat of losing control of Congress in the November mid-term elections. Fred Barnes...

Of the three intellectual pillars of modern liberalism -- Marx, Darwin, and Freud -- only one is still standing. Marx fell in 1989, along with the Berlin Wall. Freud's demise is more difficult to date; suffice it to say that, by the end of the century, no one, with the possible exception of Woody Allen, took him seriously any more. Darwin, I predict, will suffer a similar fate within the next ten to fifteen years. That may seem counterintuitive in light of recent legal and public-relations setbacks suffered by critics of Darwinism -- notably a federal judge's decision forbidding the...

(I am a staunch conservative converted to the right by Rush Limbaugh. I remember the exact issue of my conversion - Limbaugh pointed out that so called cuts in federal spending were actually cuts in the growth of spending. Clinton's duplicity in using the words "spending cuts" insulted my sense of what defines honesty as did Clinton in general. But over the years I have become critical of talk show hosts. )In my opinion the best hosts are as follows; Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt, Denver's Mike Rosen and Laura Ingraham. Hosts that suffer by comparison include Sean Hannity,...

The link above will get you to listen to the show. Just before the end of the last hour, Todd Schnitt took a call from "Doug" (?) I think that was his name. Schnitt is going to talk with him off the air.The guy claims to have had personal contact with Muslim extremists who tell him a bomb will go off in the San Fernando valley in California "on the ninth"...though he says he is UNSURE of what MONTH on the "ninth". I do NOT put much credibility into these claims--but I did want to post this in case anyone...

As election time nears, we are bombarded with political ads and speeches by candidates telling us their great plans for running the country. At the end of the recent presidential debate, for example, the Democratic nominee recited a litany of supposed cures for nearly everything that ails us, beginning each sentence with the phrase “I have a plan…” The problem is that government is not supposed to plan our lives or run the country; we are supposed to be free. That our public discourse strays so far from this principle is an unhappy sign of our times. Those who believe...

Lou Dobbs Tonight 9-22-2003: CNN becomes more fair and balanced?Instead of watching FOX tonight, I happened to tune into Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN. I wasn’t expecting to stay tuned very long, but found myself watching the entire news show, including CNN’s commercial sponsors, normally the commercial break an opportunity to hop stations for a variety of views, but I stayed on the CNN channel to keep in step with the Dobbs presentation and program. I was surprised. As a conservative, though the program is not my political slant, I have to say that Lou Dobb’s program is indicative of...

<p>NEW YORK - MSNBC on Monday fired Michael Savage for anti-gay comments.</p> <p>The popular radio talk show host who did a weekend TV show for the cable channel referred to an unidentified caller to his show Saturday as a "sodomite" and said he should "get AIDS and die."</p>

May 5 — It was a simple plan, really. All I wanted to do was see a movie. Pretty straightforward. No strings attached. A two-hour escapist vacation in a darkened theater. No war. No politics. I knew the movie had planes in it, but I was pretty sure President Bush would not be flying any of them. So what happened? I headed into “X2: X-Men United,” unprepared for what may be the most socially relevant blockbuster of our times. (snip) All too heady for a comic-book movie? Well, I’d go so far as to say that the persecution of mutants...

The number of missing children was 1,100 now it's 532. Fox news tracked many of them down in hours and DCS has been trying for years. I'm outraged, I'm a replublican but I'd throw Jeb Bush out of Florida on his ass, what a loser.