Free Republic

Unto the jungle gods of politics we commit the bodies of our Republican brethren; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of these ignoramuses’ political extinction… Well, now, isn’t that the media narrative as to the hooting and hollering in Washington, D.C. over debt ceilings, government shutdowns, and so on and so on? Is there anything to such talk? I suggest that before moving that discussion forward we acknowledge and bewail the barren naïveté of those Republicans — are you listening, Sen. Cruz ?— who thought all they had to do to make...

Dear Friend, In this video commentary, I discuss how to put the case against Obama to a friend. Tune in!

Leave aside for a moment whether it was wise for President Obama to order our military to intervene in Libya's civil war, siding with rebels we know little about against a dictator who has sponsored terrorism against us. A more fundamental question comes first: Did Obama have constitutional authority to do it? President Washington's actions counsel otherwise. In responding to Indian raiders, Washington repeatedly declined to order offensive -- as opposed to defensive -- military action because Congress had not approved it, as he believed the Constitution required. In 1792, William Blount, governor of the territory that became Tennessee, wrote...

Bill Clinton showed up on Time Magazine covers often enough, but never disguised as another American president. But so far Time has presented us with a cover picture of Obama in FDR drag and another one of Reagan embracing Obama. Before the big O's term is done, we may well be treated to another cover of Obama playing basketball with Andrew Jackson on the cover of Newsweek or in bed in the Lincoln Bedroom with Abe Lincoln for Time's last print issue. Back in the 90's, Time's editors seemed to think that Clinton could stand on his own without dressing...

In a call between the two leaders on Saturday morning, Obama wagered "the best beer in America" against the best lager on an American win.

So now the rap on President Obama is that his response to the oil spill along the Gulf Coast hasn't been heartfelt enough. He comes off as emotionally detached, critics say, and, by the way, isn't it a pity that the white folk from the coastal red states who never wanted a black man in the White House in the first place are complaining that he doesn't care about them? Talk about projecting their hard feelings onto others. "The politics of the disaster are Cajun hot, but Obama is cerebral cool," wrote Howard Fineman on msnbc.com. So we get our...

We here in Britain are well-aquainted with the haughty disdain with which U.S. President Barack Obama likes to treat his European allies. We might have the largest military force of any European country fighting alongside the Americans in southern Afghanistan, but that doesn’t seem to count for much at the White House, where Mr Obama’s shabby treatment of our prime minister has now become the norm. Whether it is offering him a box set of dvds, or forcing him to conduct important bilateral meetings in the kitchens of the U.N. complex in New York, Mr Obama’s charmless treatment of Gordon...

Camp David's woodsy confines lure him to 10th visit WASHINGTON - -- Why hasn't President Barack Obama kept his pledge to make Chicago's South Side his "Kennebunkport"? Two words: Camp David. The ultra-private, presidential mountain retreat -- a half-hour from the White House by helicopter -- has quickly found fans within the First Family. Their stay for Labor Day weekend was Obama's 10th visit.... ...With Obama's return Sunday, he has logged all or part of 26 days at Camp David, White House officials say.

The Obama administration backed away from a confrontation with China after Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said during confirmation hearings that “President Obama — backed by the conclusions of a broad range of economists — believes that China is manipulating its currency.” China immediately hit back, denying that it manipulated its currency to get an unfair trade advantage. Within days, Vice President Joe Biden said on television: “There's been no judgment based in the administration that there has been a manipulation.” That word, he explained, “triggers within trade agreements certain responses.” And President Obama himself telephoned Hu Jintao to give his...

MOSCOW — In a setback to the escalating U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan , the president of Kyrgyzstan said Tuesday that his government will shut down the American air base in his country. U.S. officials say that the Manas Air Base is vital to plans to send an additional 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan , a linchpin of President Barack Obama's efforts to pacify the country. The announcement by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came in Moscow , not in his own capital, and shortly after the Russian government reportedly agreed to lend Kyrgyzstan $2 billion , write off $180 million in...