Free Republic

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan on Monday declared the "defeat" of the U.S. and its allies in the 13-year-old war, a day after the coalition officially marked the end of its combat mission. And, as Heath Druzin of Stars and Stripes reports, some U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan in what their commander describes as: “... a non-combat mission in a combat environment.”

Former Obama White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, now a political commentator for CNN, casually admitted that, yes, his party uses race to convince minorities that Republicans seek to oppress them. Before the midterm election, Carney said: "Republicans are going to pick up seats in the Senate and the House, and they may win control of the Senate. So (Democrats) need to mobilize their base voters, and that is especially true of minority voters." Carney also admitted that the use of the race card is cynical: "Equating support for stand-your-ground law ... doesn't mean you supported the action that took...

Republican strategist and former John McCain consultant Steve Schmidt has joined the team helping Texas Gov. Rick Perry with the strategy around his indictment, POLITICO has learned. Schmidt is the latest addition to a team that Perry has been expanding with legal hands. The Republican governor, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, has been indicted for allegedly abusing his power by vetoing funding to the office of a Democratic prosecutor who wouldn’t resign after a drunken driving arrest. “We’re bringing in the best of the best to help us handle this … this is serious, we’ve got to handle it with...

Somebody will do a Ph.D thesis in political science one day on the psychology of this stuff. Follow the link to hear the full clip. It’s delightful. (snip) Imagine the kind of conservative bubble in which the thought of Sarah Palin as a “serious political contender” is considered incontestable. Imagine the kind of conservative bubble in which holding a female who once ran for vice president of the United States responsible for something she said in a public speech is considered an act of sexism and disloyalty. To be clear, I’m not offended by this freakshow vulgarian in the least....

Comedy has many approaches and subjects: leaders, governments, things we don't understand. In the vein of the latter, I suppose it is understandable to pick on religions. In any event, freedom of speech allows it. What is generally not condoned, however, is continuous and repeated sweeping insults to those with a differing point of view. The worst forms of prejudice and racism are bred out of this type of one-sided banter. Blacks in this country were never given the chance to defend themselves against claims of being less intelligent than whites during the time of slavery. Jews and non-Aryans were...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin fired back against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday calling him a "silly little man" after he said that he was not interested in invading Alaska. Putin downplayed the value of Alaska during a question-and-answer session in Moscow today, pointing out that it was a cold northern territory. “What would you need Alaska for?” he said, advising Russians "not be overenthusiastic” about the state. “Mr. Putin, such a silly little man on this matter of invading Alaska,” Palin said in a written statement to Breitbart News, pointing out that it was obvious that Russia got...

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) is having a bit of a freak out out over Sarah Palin's endorsement on Thursday of state senator Julianne Ortman, the leading candidate to win the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in Minnesota and challenge him in the November general election. On Monday, Senator Franken sent out a dire email warning of Palin's influence on the election. He also could not resist attacking the Koch brothers as well. "Sarah Palin is now involved in the race — she just endorsed the Republican who, according to the Koch-affiliated poll, is only three points down," he...

Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, president says unprecedented ‘aggressive settlement construction’ detrimental to peace process Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama cautioned on Sunday ahead of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister. In an interview with Bloomberg, Obama stressed that time was running out for Israel to achieve a peace deal, and added that he believed Netanyahu had the capacity to rally Israel’s citizens behind an agreement. But if Netanyahu “does not...

I am done. This site has broken me. I am as staunch a conservative as you will find. After returning from Iraq, injured and upset, I turned here and found a welcoming community that shared my thoughts. I am a proud Gadsden Flag waiving man of the Tea Party movement. But because I don't think Sarah Palin is as historically important as other GOP women in the past, I am now considered an idiot, a RINO, ass-kisser and whatever negative connotation you can throw my way. This site has changed so much since that dictator want to be became President...

Reince Priebus ✔ @Reince This month, we all honor all women, including the many Republican women trailblazers http://bit.ly/ME3EMX #WHM 10:20 AM - 1 Mar 2014 RNC Statement on Women’s History Month - GOP WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement marking the beginning of Women’s History Month: “Today marks the... RNC @GOP 21 Retweets 10 favorites RNC Statement on Women’s History Month Posted March 1, 2014 WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement marking the beginning of Women’s History Month: “Today marks...

Hagel holds press briefing to discuss defense budget

**SNIP** The Salt Lake Games were held less than five months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush prefaced his declaration with a few non-scripted patriotic words: "On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation, I declare open the games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the Winter Games." Said Bach: "All the other heads of state respected the charter and I'm absolutely sure the charter will be respected tonight." Putin stayed true to the text, saying in Russian: "I declare open the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in Sochi."

In his new “Kristol Clear” prediction segment on Morning Joe, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol augured Thursday morning that Sarah Palin might run for president in 2016. “I mean, why wouldn’t she run?” he asked, causing NBC News White House correspondent Chuck Todd to answer what was probably a rhetorical question. “I think it’s a financial reason,” Todd said. “To get back into the spotlight. Get the speaking fees back up. You know, there’s some question in my mind about [Mike] Huckabee’s motivation, how much of that is about — you know, there’s a lot of people who run for...

Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-Democrat who is running for governor in Florida, echoed former Gov. Jeb Bush in describing what he characterizes as an extremist turn in the GOP. "I think I'll quote Jeb Bush. He said it better than I ever could. Today's Republican Party, at least the leadership, is perceived as being anti-women, anti-minority, anti-immigrant, anti-education, anti-gay couples, anti-environment," Crist said Wednesday on CNN's "Piers Morgan Live." "Pretty soon, there's nobody left in the room," he added. A potential 2016 presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, who preceded Crist as governor of Florida, has said the GOP needs to alter a...

Women would do a better job than men of solving the current government stalemate, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said on Monday—because “a woman doesn’t want to ruin the person on the other side of the aisle or the table.” … Why not put Sarah Palin in the room, joked Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who was interviewed along with Wasserman Schultz. “You know, I would argue that even if Sarah Palin were in the room, that we could find a way to get to yes, because that’s usually women’s goal,” Wasserman Schultz replied. …

This jerk has the audacity to be giving advice to the NRA now? What a putz.

Secretary of State John Kerry told the press in Beijing that he discussed with Chinese government officials investing in America's infrastructure. Kerry called the security concerns "very, very few; very, very little." "We welcome Chinese investment in the United States. And a very, very small percentage of investment is subject to a process where we have a security evaluation because of the nature of the business or the particular location. But it’s very, very few; very, very little. And obviously, there are sometimes concerns when there’s a state ownership of a particular business because that raises a different set of...

Obama, like Carter, may provoke one of our enemies to test our teeth and claws. Remember the medieval fable about the mice that wanted their dangerous enemy, the cat, belled, but each preferred not to be the one to attempt the dangerous deed? Likewise, the world’s bad actors have long wanted America belled, but, like the mice, so far they have not been stupid or daring enough to test America’s teeth and claws — that is, until now. In 2008 Barack Obama campaigned on the general principle that the entire Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism protocols were either superfluous or illegal. That opportunistic...

Sen. Chuck Schumer D-N.Y. asserted on the Senate floor this afternoon that the Second Amendment was “not absolute” comparing restrictions on assault weapons to restrictions on child pornography. “No amendment can be absolute,” Schumer said. “I believe you can be pro-gun and pro gun safety, just like you can be in favor of free speech but also against child pornography.” Schumer proposed an assault weapon bans for civilians arguing that it would be an acceptable restriction on the Second Amendment. “We can come together,” he said. “There can be a way of moving forward in the middle.”

Oh man, this is classic. McCain totally referred to Romney as “President Obama” and went on for a few seconds before Gov. Haley corrected him. Hilarious!