Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration refuses to back Egypt’s attacks against the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL), which were launched after the jihadist group savagely beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians. On Wednesday, a reporter asked Rear Adm. John Kirby, the outgoing Pentagon press secretary, “Do you support Egypt’s right to bomb ISIS targets in the wake of the Christian Coptics being killed?” “We aren’t taking a position here in the Pentagon on these recent strikes by Egypt…we weren’t notified ahead of time. We didn’t participate or support them in any way, and we’re not taking a position on it,” said the press...

Joe Biden If the question is asked, “What is the number one reason that any first time presidential candidate really has for selecting a running mate?” a common answer is, “Someone who could step in as president should the need arise.” Although that should be a primary consideration, it is rarely if ever the case no matter which political party one is talking about. In almost all cases an individual is selected as a running mate for one reason and one reason only and that is to help get the ticket elected. It is very simple, if the ticket fails...

World leaders played an interactive nuclear war game designed to test their responses to a terrorist atomic "dirty bomb" attack that threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. David Cameron joined Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Xi Jinping and other world leaders to play a "nukes on the loose" war game to see how they would cope with a terrorist nuclear attack. The German chancellor grumbled at being asked to play games and take tests with the Prime Minister, US and Chinese presidents around a table with dozens of heads of state at a nuclear summit in The...

Mary Kissel and James Taranto discuss the current scandals facing the White House and put them into recent historical perspective

When did the GOP go from being merely stupid to downright suicidal? In the final scene of Thelma & Louise, when Detective Hal Slocumb realizes that the two desperate demoiselles are about to drive off the edge of the Grand Canyon, he runs after them in a futile attempt to stop their senseless suicide. When I first watched that scene, twenty years ago, my primary emotion involved the tragic loss of that '66 Thunderbird. Now I think I finally understand the impotent despair the film's screenwriter, Callie Khouri, was attempting to convey when she sent Slocumb on his hopeless sprint....

It's always been a good sign for "Saturday Night Live" when people are still talking about the show on Monday morning. That's happening more often now that the venerable comedy program is sharpening its satire of President Barack Obama. This weekend's show opened with a parody of Obama's news conference with China's president that included jabs at the administration's spending on economic stimulus, health care reform, bailouts and Cash for Clunkers. America's $800 billion debt to China was the butt of many jokes.