Free Republic

Some call it wishful thinking, but President Barack Obama has all but declared an end to the global war on terror. Obama is not claiming final victory over extremists who still seek to kill Americans and other Westerners. Instead, he is steering the United States away from what he calls an equally frightening threat: a country in a state of perpetual war. In a landmark speech Thursday in which he sought to refine and recalibrate his counterterrorism strategy, Obama asserted that al-Qaida is "on the path to defeat," reducing the scale of terrorism to pre-Sept. 11 levels. That means that...

Despite his self-proclaimed history of mental instability and post-traumatic stress, one-time congressional candidate and perennial activist Adam Kokesh is organizing a pro-gun rally in which marchers will walk with loaded rifles into Washington from Virginia. “This is now a call for mass civil disobedience on July 4th anywhere in Washington, D.C.,” Kokesh wrote on the event’s Facebook page. “We will march with rifles loaded & slung across our backs to put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated & cower in submission to tyranny.” Kokesh, who served as a Marine artillery officer and reservist, attended Claremont McKenna...

President Obama is known for bowing to foreign dictators, emperors and Kings but it is such a chore to do it individually. Flying around the world to bow to each killer, oppressor, and tyrant is so time consuming. If only he had a way to do it to every American enemy at once it would save our bower in chief sooooo much time. Well, it appears he’s found a way. In a bow to every foreign enemy at once President Barack “linguine spine” Obama has proudly announced that the U.S. won’t use its own nuclear weapons even if we are...

Why do so many people love Sarah Palin? Why do so many hate her? I cannot recall a politician in recent memory that has been both so loved and so reviled for no discernible reason. When Palin was announced as John McCain’s running mate on the 2008 Republican presidential ticket many conservatives were intrigued, including me. It was reported that the Alaskan governor had been a member of Pat Buchanan’s “Buchanan Brigades” during the commentator’s presidential bids in 1996 and 2000 and that Palin had ties to the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party. An “America First” states rights’ radical on a...

Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh signed an eight-year, $400 million contract in 2008 with Clear Channel Communications! In terms even I can understand, that's $50 million a year -- not to mention tens of millions more in endless endorsements. I've just got to ask: Why on God's green Earth does he make so much money? Yes, I realize Limbaugh is the de facto Führer of the Republican Party. Yet, as far as I can tell, he's making well over half-a-billion dollars the next eight years for doing nothing more than always being wrong. Didn't Limbaugh predict the invasion of Iraq...

Retired General Antonio Taguba, the officer who led the Army's investigation into Abu Ghraib, recently wrote in the preface to the new report, Broken laws, Broken Lives: "There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account." Should those who ordered war crimes be held to account? With the conclusion of the Bush regime approaching, many people are dubious, even those horrified by Administration actions. They fear a long, divisive ordeal that...

Citing dissatisfaction with his party's strategy on Iraq, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) announced yesterday that he would run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Again. Kucinich, 60, a five-term House member and one of the most liberal members of his party, made an unsuccessful bid for the nomination in 2004. He stayed in the race long after it became clear he had no chance of success. The congressman said he would announce his candidacy today at City Hall in Cleveland, where he served as mayor in the late 1970s and plunged his city into a celebrated budget crisis over the...

Churchill attacks essay’s critics University of Colorado president calls for calm By Craig Gima cgima@starbulletin.com Ward Churchill, the outspoken Colorado professor who created a national uproar by comparing 9/11 victims to Nazis, told an overflow crowd at the University of Hawaii last night that he is the target of a right-wing strategy to attack academia. "I was targeted because they thought I would be an easy target," Churchill told the crowd of about 800. "That was a mistake. "It's not just an attempt to purge me," he said. "It's a purge of the academy." The crowd was mostly sympathetic to...

Visiting with U.S. troops in Baghdad on Thursday, failed presidential candidate John Kerry trashed Commander-in-chief George Bush for making "horrendous judgments" and "unbelievable blunders" that have undermined the war effort. In a series of demoralizing comments first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the defeated Democrat griped, "What is sad about what's happening here now is that so much of it is a process of catching up from the enormous miscalculations and wrong judgments made in the beginning." Kerry said that because of the Bush administration's mistakes, "the job has been made enormously harder." Among the errors cited by the...

STRATHAM - Hardly predawn, but early for a Sunday morning, a group of approximately 50 people gather at the Stratham Hill Park parking lot. Within the hour most will take part in a unique international spelling bee, one that has gained its reputation for scripting out peace messages with naked bodies, rather than for any aptitude in orthography. There are a few dog walkers and a couple of park workers about. None appear to pay attention to the largely female group. Though many of these women will choose to remain anonymous, their hope is that people will soon pay them...

Council passes anti-war resolution Boulder reverses earlier decision to avoid Iraq statement By Greg Avery, Camera Staff Writer January 22, 2003 Boulder's City Council on Tuesday formally expressed opposition to a United States-led war with Iraq, reversing its skepticism about such a declaration last fall. Responding to a growing push by hundreds of people around the city — peace activists, students, business owners, religious leaders, elementary school teachers and others — the council voted 7-2 in support of a resolution urging diplomacy instead of war. Boulder joined a growing list of at least 42 cities around the country that have...

<p>Even as U.S. troops inch toward the Persian Gulf for a possible war with Iraq, anti-war activists say it can be difficult to rally outrage or media interest back home. So a group of Marin County women has resorted to the ultimate attention grabber: getting nude.</p>

Publication date: 01/09/2003 Why do men like war so much?BY LANI SILVERSpecial to The Examiner    MEN SEEM TO BE out of control. They like war way too much.    They are way too aggressive. My proof: 200 million people were murdered in the 20th century because of war and genocide. Since most decision-makers are men, and most soldiers are men, we need to reflect a little on this problem.    I know, you want to yell out Indira Gandhi! Margaret Thatcher! Golda Meir! (Everyone gets so excited that they can name three women who fall into this war-mongering category. Can anyone name a fourth woman...