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Leading defense officials from the United States and Israel, meeting in Israel this week, raised the controversial attack on the U.S. ship USS Liberty, by Israel, in June 1967. The attack has caused considerable controversy over the years despite both governments being reticent to publicly discuss the affair. It is rare that defense officials from either side discuss the attack which killed 34 U.S. service personnel, and wounded 171 others. In talks this week however between the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael Mullen, and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, together with other senior Israeli...

The flame of which America is the white-hot heart is the living fire of the West. But who knew I would find one of the most moving descriptions of what the United States represents in one of my youngest son’s books? Rick Riordan has created Percy Jackson, son of a human woman and Poseidon, the (Greek) God of the Sea. In The Lightning Thief, Percy discovers what it means to be a half-blood; that the gods truly are immortal—and they are living in America: Explains Charon the Centaur: “Come now, Percy. What you call ‘Western civilization.’ Do you think it’s...

"I wish each and every Iranian could travel abroad, come to the U.S. or go to Europe, for just one week, and feel, smell, and breathe freedom, human dignity, and realize the value of their lives." Ahmed BatebiVoice of America Interview Washington DC, USAJune 30, 2008AHMED BATEBI HAS ESCAPED TO THE UNITED STATES-- The brave Iranian student activist who was sentenced to death and who was severely tortured for years in the notorious Evin Prison in Iran has arrived safely in the United States! During a break from prison, Batebi fled Iran traveling through Iraq and Austria and finally arriving...

I make a point of looking at the Economist each week, in order to see what this part of the establishment are thinking. I can not normally stand to read it for than a couple of minutes (as it makes me feel unclean), but that is enough time to find some utter absurdity with which amuse people. However, this week I think I have come upon the worst Economist article of all time: The title, featured on the front cover, is "McCain's lurch to the right"... For those who do not know British "political speak", "lurch to the right" is...

RUSH LIMBAUGH: A BOMBASTIC BLOWHARD, BUT OUR BOMBASTIC BLOWHARD! I’ve been listening to Rush, off and on, for some 22 years or so, ever since my bride told me that some guy had been on Sixty Minutes and he said the things I had been saying for years. So, of course, I sent for the transcript to find out who this alter ego of mine was all about. I discovered the bride was right. I don’t listen for all 3 hours of his syndicated broadcast; some days I don’t listen at all and on others I catch him for just...

Denver—With a recent move to relegate peaceful protestors beneath the Denver homeless population, Re-create 68 has now vowed that there will indeed be “a bloodbath” at the Democratic National Convention should they try to keep them fenced in. The American Civil Liberties Union and several advocacy groups have filed an amended complaint to their lawsuit, stating that their First Amendment rights have been violated by security restrictions. “What the hell do they think we are? Barnyard animals,” asked Tom Mestnik, a member of The Re-create ’68 Alliance, an umbrella group organizing the protesters. “They’re giving the homeless a free pass...

The supporters of Senator Barack Obama continuously tout their candidate as a new type of candidate, a man that is positioned above the fray of the political process. A political genius filled with new and exciting ideas to “change” our country. Obama is indeed a new and fresh face in politics. He served 7 years in the Illinois state legislature before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He served just 2 years in the Senate before declaring his candidacy for the office of President. He has relied on his gifted oratory skills to deliver speeches that have inspired...

Since I began posting on FREEREPUBLIC.COM, TOWNHALL.COM, CONSERVATIVEOASIS.COM, and on other conservative websites, the responses there and hits on my website, http://genelalor.com, lead me to blieve there is indeed hope for America! Thank you all and thank you, God!

RFFM.org Guest Column by Gregg Jackson * About a month ago, the California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, issued a declaratory opinion that Proposition 22, which states that, "Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California," enshrined into statutory law by 61.4% of California voters in 2000 (over four million voters), was "unconstitutional" on the basis that "gender discrimination" violates the equal protection clause of the state constitution. The LA Times reported: "The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would...

Jack Kemp, not the politician of the same name, has been a frequent contributor to American Thinker and the T(im)Birdnow Blog. He has also been quoted in National Review Online's PhiBetaCons blog and has written for the Baltimore Jewish Times. SundialMan@aol.com Read more articles by Jack Kemp

RE: Happy Fourth of July! Congressman Klein, I am too old to be bamboozled. Or so I thought. I thought there was a chance, perhaps no bigger than a man’s fist against the horizon, but a chance nevertheless, that you could have been one of the better ones in Congress. I thought that you could be a Congressman who not bring shame to our – yours, mine – district every time you opened your mouth. Alas, I was wrong. Take our neighbors. Or, as that noted political sage Henny Youngman said, “Please”. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz – Her public utterances, reflecting her...

The Orwellian doublespeak that Obama spews in portraying himself as "a uniter" and someone who "will bring this country together" is the polar opposite of everything this man has said and done and would be laughable if it were not so deadly serious. More digging from Atlas reader Laura: Obama probably did not think about the presidential office possibility when he wrote the book "Dreams From My Father" as it is laden with racist categorizations. Obama catagorizes people according to skin tone, as some are olive, pale, walnut, etc. Almost to the point of being laughable, if it was not...

More ties to the radical left have surfaced in Barack Obama's past. The latest stem from his involvement with the activist group, ACORN... ACORN...is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. Obama was a member of ACORN and taught leadership conferences for the group while working for Miner, Barnhill & Galland... Obama actively sought and received the endorsement by ACORN for his local campaigns. He has now done the same in his bid for the USA presidency... So what is ACORN all about? In a Spring 2003 article for...

In an ominous trend for Obama, only 54% of Hillary voters will vote for Obama and 1/3 will stay home. Maybe the Messiah is running low on Kool-Aid.

UH-OH: Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis. Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body. . . . "Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam. Perhaps they...

The thrust of the article, however, is not to highlight the folly of the leftist policies of mandating the use of biofuels, it is of course, to bash the Bush Administration. "The daily said the report was finished in April but was not published to avoid embarrassing the US government, which has claimed plant-derived fuels have pushed up prices by only three percent." Last time I checked, Bush is not in the Enviro-kook camp, so it’s not like he’s trying to cover for Barack Obama, Al Gore, and their minions, who want to use more biofuels as an alternative to...

The left is proudly saying “I’m not a patriot” when just moments ago we were being warned not to call them unpatriotic. Apparently some have not gotten the message. This appears to be part of the Obama syndrome. Rush Limbaugh has an entire list of things we can’t say about Barack Obama and his friends. And in his sudden pirouette with his American flag lapel pin, his newfound love of country, his bear hug of the second amendment, his “nuancing” of his position on the Iraq war. Now I know how the faithful Communist felt in the 1930s and 1940s...

The shop might run out of stock at this rate.

The tolerant left speaks their mind

http://msunderestimated.com/2008/07/05/an-unrepentant-proud-american/

On this day in 1960, per an executive order by President Dwight Eisenhower, the nation's 50-star flag became official. Especially on the Fourth of July, patriots salute Old Glory -- continued at http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com/blog/2008/07/mccain-is-a-hero-and-obama-is-a-zero.html

Ah yes, the compassionate agents of Hope and Change. "The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. And today is my favorite Fourth of July ever, because the United States got an AWESOME [emphasis in original] birthday present: Jesse Helms finally died." More . . .

Several reporters from The New York Times board the Q train at DeKalb Avenue during the morning rush and marvel at the diversity of the 128 passengers in a single subway car and see “all the homelands, all the ages, all the professions” that comprise “New York City in the summer of 2008.”The Stiletto offers her own tribute to our nation’s diversity on this, the 232nd anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from monarchal tyranny – especially the diverse ways in which we choose to pursue happiness (or not) - with this collection of articles: † Couch Potatoes (and those...

Cross posted from Radarsite Bush used phony patriotism to start war From the Chicago Sun Times http://www.suntimes.com/news/greeley/1034720,CST-EDT-greel02.articleANDREW GREELEY agreel@aol.comThe Russians call World War II "The Great Patriotic War." The current longest of our wars could well be called the same thing. It is a war that originated in the orgy of patriotism ("U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!") that followed the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and has been sustained by the patriotism of those who support it ("Our soldiers are defending American freedom") and false promises of some latter-day prophets ("We are winning the war in Iraq.") It is...

Change, it turns out, wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Having campaigned for the past year as the agent of transformation, the man who would lead an historic shift in America's political direction, Barack Obama is discovering that there is quite a lot he likes about the way things are. Since securing the Democratic nomination a few weeks ago, the only change coming from the Illinois senator has been in what he seems to stand for. Last month he dropped his opposition to a Bill before Congress that would give telecoms companies immunity from prosecution for carrying...

Read the Declaration today. Then read it to your kids. Talk to them about the sacrifice of time, treasure and life that our Founders made (and that many in their families made as well). Ask them if they would have signed, knowing that as they did so, they were signing their own death warrants. Then remind them that today, as we eat hot dogs and corn-on-the-cob and gasp at amazing pyrotechnical displays (probably from China), we have men and women—almost children themselves—fighting and dying to protect our liberty. Most of you who have discovered this site hold the same profound...

Column One: Anatomy of a massacre By CAROLINE GLICK Government and police spokesmen would have us believe that the carnage in Jerusalem on Wednesday was unavoidable. Husam Taysir Dwayat, the convicted rapist, burglar and drug dealer turned jihadist who mowed down innocent people with his bulldozer on Jaffa Road was not suspected of links to terrorist organizations. The sociopathic, violent criminal who had "returned" to Islam over the past month raised no red flags. There was nothing to be done. No one is to blame. Rescue workers approach the wreckage of a car on Jaffa Road shortly after a bulldozer...

When Barack Obama asks us to believe in one of his changes, it is never quite clear whether the rubes to be fooled are the Great Unwashed who agree with the Flop or the naifs who agreed with the Flip. The eternal question always is, "who are the rubes"? Well, in what is obviously a gust-busting turn, the editors of the New York Times are beginning to worry that they are the rubes. In this morning's lead editorial ("New and Not Improved"), they detail and denounce many of Obama's post-Hillary pivots to the center. As their irritation builds, I'm thinking...

Hurricane Katrina moved Louisiana's government to suspend the second amendment when it declared a state of emergency. Firearms were confiscated by force of law and military power. When the state of emergency was lifted, the second amendment was not restored, and the people's firearms were not returned. A Federal district court ruled that guns confiscated would not be returned to their rightful owners. We're talking about legal firearm owners here. Common sense dictates that removing firearms from legal owners leaves only the criminals in possession of firearms, emergency or no. The Associated Press reported that some police officers asked if...

NOTE: This was originally posted on my blog at The 7-10, but I thought the readers here at The Free Republic might be interested in this post as well. This post is part of an ongoing series assessing various names being floated around for vice presidential picks. In this particular post, I reexamined Mitt Romney. ----- The former Massachusetts governor seems to be the most logical and most beneficial pick for John McCain. I was originally skeptical about his political future, but have since become more bullish about his chances. Romney will not help deliver Massachusetts, but it could make...

Ignoring leftist Attorney General Manny Mazuz's gratuitous advice that demolishing terrorists' homes, while legal, could "raise significant legal problems," Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the IDF to begin the process of issuing demolition orders against the homes of terrorists Ala Abu Dhaim of Jebl Mukaber - who murdered eight students in March at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav - and Husam Taysir Dwayat of Sur Bahir, who murdered three Israelis on Wednesday. On Thursday, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz had informed the government that according to the law, Israel may demolish terrorists' homes within areas of Israeli sovereignty, but doing so could raise...

Joy Johnson, Torture Dem, Iraqi Human Shield and Anti-Israel Activist Joy Johnson, half the Durham Rape\Torture couple, who participated in caging and abusing a man and woman, is notorious for her role as Vice Chairman of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice chairwoman of the Young Democrats. But she is also a veteran left wing activist who went to Iraq as a human shield with the Iraq Peace Team and an anti-Israel activist who went to Israel with the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions to protest against the demolition of the homes of terrorists. Joy Johnson and her husband...

Are The NY TImes Obama Drugs Wearing Off ? Its taken a long time but it looks as if that hit of Barack Obama LSD that the NY Times too may be wearing off. Today's Times editorial criticized the "chosen one" for his flip-flops on public financing, the FISA bill, faith based federal programs, the death penalty and gun control. I think the best part is near the end, where the Times editorial board admonishes the Senator NOT to change is position on Iraq, obviously it was written before yesterday's flip-flop: Editorial New and Not Improved Senator Barack Obama stirred...

This July 4th Remember What We Are Fighting For On July 4th Let me suggest that we pause and reflect on what we are fighting for: Islam has very little respect for humanity, as we understand it. In the first place, it does not consider non-Muslims as human beings. Therefore, it is useless to talk with Islam about human rights, equality in the eye of law, religious freedom, and freedom of expression, democratic rights, people’s government, universal suffrage, and any universal declaration of human rights. That is why it is impossible to negotiate or compromise with Islam or to secure...

Obama's Grim Proving Ground Thu, Jul 3, 2008 at 6:09:15 pm PST Barack Obama’s image as a “community organizer and activist” suffers when you take a closer look at the Chicago neighborhoods where he put his ideas for hope and change into action: Grim proving ground for Obama’s housing policy - The Boston Globe. CHICAGO - The squat brick buildings of Grove Parc Plaza, in a dense neighborhood that Barack Obama represented for eight years as a state senator, hold 504 apartments subsidized by the federal government for people who can’t afford to live anywhere else. But it’s not safe...

Harold Hill Will Be Played by Barack Obama My least favorite musical was always THE MUSIC MAN. Oh, the music itself was masterfully scored, lovely and the play itself is well-written. But it's Meredith Wilson's love story about a con man reformed by real love. It presents the same false hopes that Disney's been selling to females for years now. Love cures all. And the musical is a complete con in itself. In my ongoing education about the interpersonal exploitation and abuse of trust in emotionally/ psychologically damaging relationships, and the personality disorders that cause this endless trauma, I (and...

Leftard Jews pay Bloody Jiyza for Jewish Genocide This is depraved. Why wouldn't a Muslim kill Jews and insure a solid financial future for his family. This is impossible to fathom and clearly represents how broken Israel is. They have laid down. More Jewish Victims of the Bleeding Heart Idiots Steve Plaut (hat tip David) 1. For many years the Israeli Far Left and the Israeli media (pardon me for repeating myself - they are largely the same people) have had a bugaboo over the matter of "Vidu Hariga" or "Making sure they are dead." In confrontations with terrorist infiltrators,...

Obama, the Racist The Orwellian doublespeak that Obama spews in portraying himself as "a uniter" and someone who "will bring this country together" is the polar opposite of everything this man has said and done and would be laughable if it were not so deadly serious. More digging from Atlas reader Laura: Obama probably did not think about the presidential office possibility when he wrote the book "Dreams From My Father" as it is laden with racist categorizations. Obama catagorizes people according to skin tone, as some are olive, pale, walnut, etc. Almost to the point of being laughable, if...

Help, I am trying to find a particular quote that speaks about the cycle of history where first there is slavery, then freedom, then apathy, then slavery again.

It's not the changing positions I mind as the "explanations" that assume I'm stupid; that I'm an Alzheimer's sufferer whose memory is blank beyond the last 5 seconds. I realize that for some, the fact that he's "cute" is all that's required. For others the fact that he's a Democrat. Or that he's "black." ("Vote for the half-Kenyan") For still others it's the belief that he's lying to fool the rubes while "we" know what he really means. For his acolytes, Obama in his own words: I serve as a blank screen,” he wrote in “The Audacity of Hope,” “on...

Crossroads in History: The Struggle against Jihad and Supremacist Ideologies...The true challenge of Islamic supremacism to America and the free world is not about Islam, Islamism, or terrorism, but about us. It is a historic challenge to determine whether we truly have the courage of our convictions on equality and liberty and we are willing to fight for these ideals, or if we will instead accept the continuing growth of anti-freedom ideologies here and around the world.    Islamic supremacists are counting on their belief that America is no longer willing to fight for such freedoms, that it has...

The Supreme Court of the United States has developed a bit of an identity crisis of late. As a judicial body, they can’t seem to decide if they are part of the legislative branch of government or part of the judicial branch. On the legislative side, they have handed down decisions that have done nothing less than to create new laws, citing foreign laws or public consensus as the justification for their decision. On the judicial side, they adhere to the original interpretation of the Constitution and decide cases based solely on the constitutionality of a law or case. To...

Happy 4th of July. Enjoy the long weekend, but please pause to remember those who fought and died to make that enjoyment possible. Freedom is never free. A free people claim their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate. -- Thomas Jefferson, Rights of British America, 1774 Poem: It is the Soldier...

Would today's Democrats ever agree to the language in this document written by our Founding Fathers?

What is the Fairness Doctrine? - It’s NOT about fairness o It is a government plan to censor talk radio and Christian radio - FCC regulation that requires broadcasting stations to air both sides of a controversial issue o Reduces, rather than encourages discussion of controversial issues of public importance o While in effect, broadcasters limited controversial programming in fear of government sanction and administrative and legal expenses - Equal time would be provided free of charge, becoming costly to broadcasting licensees, who would eventually drop popular shows like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham o In fact, Bill...

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on. Glory, glory, hallelujah!First the good news: Watch and listen to a beautiful patriotic song written by Iraq Vet Eric Keller dedicated to the the service of our brave veterans. "Patriot" From the sublime to the pitiful. . . America has never seen in its history such blatant attempts by a political party to undermine and subvert the populace and the military in a time of war. Soon after the United States stunning and overwhelming ousting of the Saddam regime in Iraq - with Demokrat...

This comic pretty much sums up the attitude of the author with regard to the "do nothing" congress. Yep, it's time for another slam on democrats by "Geeks On Caffeine." Note: The author has requested that you visit the web site and that you refrain from copying and pasting the strip into the body of this thread. Thanks!

Palm Beach–In what could only have been deteremined as a yet another hit piece by the New York Times, Zev Chafets, delivered a masterpiece in his 8,000 words on Rush Limbaugh. There are certain times that many pieces of literary work should be written. I can think of no better time than the Fourth of July to publish this excellent piece. The piece is a study of Limbaugh, his lifestyle, an abbreviated life history, and his stance on many issues. It flashes back and forth throughout his life, but gives Americans a better understanding of what Rush LImbaugh does and...

INDEPENDENCE DAY–JULY 4TH, 2008 July 3rd, 2008 HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, AMERICA! Click the link to hear Lee Greenwood’s tribute to our nation and to the men who died to keep it free, GOD BLESS THE USA, aka, PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN: http://www.sceniclasvegas.com/proud_to_be.html God Bless The USA If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life, And I had to start again with just my children and my wife, I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today, ‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away. I’m proud to be...