Free Republic

This year on Barack Obama’s birthday a group of Russian activists shined a laser show of Obama fellating a banana on the US Embassy in Moscow.hdi is nothing more than a que

Russian strategic nuclear bombers conducted at least 16 incursions into northwestern U.S. air defense identification zones over the past 10 days, an unusually sharp increase in aerial penetrations, according to U.S. defense officials.

Putin's Secret Message to ObamaI’m Andrew Klavan and this is the Revolting Truth. Ever since President Obama took office, he’s been making friendly overtures to the Russians, trying to “press the reset button” in relations between our two countries. In 2012, the president was even caught on an open mike promising he’d have more “flexibility” to cave in to Russian demands after he was re-elected. Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded warmly to Obama’s gestures by warmly cheating on our arms treaties, warmly supporting our enemies in Syria, warmly annexing Crimea, and warmly abetting the destruction of a Malaysian airliner...

As American officials fire off diplomatic salvos at Russia in response to that nation’s purported actual artillery salvos into Ukraine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said recently that among other actions, the U.S. military is dusting off decades-old plans, just in case. “We’re looking inside our own readiness models to look at things that we haven’t had to look at for 20 years, frankly, about basing and lines of communication and sea lanes,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, America’s top military officer, said at the Aspen Security Forum Thursday evening. “What the military does when faced with these crises...

Vice President Biden told Vladimir Putin that he did not believe the Russian leader had “a soul” during a visit to the Kremlin in 2011, the vice president said in a New Yorker magazine interview published Monday. Biden said the incident occurred while he was touring Putin’s office in the Kremlin. “I had an interpreter, and when he was showing me his office I said, ‘It’s amazing what capitalism will do, won’t it? A magnificent office!’ And he laughed. As I turned, I was this close to him,” Biden said, signaling that the two leaders were standing just inches apart....

Hillary Clinton says there’s “growing awareness” that Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was probably shot down by Russian insurgents — but argued that European leaders must “take the lead” on any action if that proves to be the case. Clinton made the comments about the doomed plane in a wide-ranging interview with TV host Charlie Rose set to air Thursday night. Portions of the taped interview were released ahead of airtime.

A Malaysian passenger airliner with 295 people on board crashed in Ukraine near the Russian border, Interfax cited an aviation industry source as saying on Thursday.

Vladimir Putin has ordered troops in central Russia onto “combat alert” in snap military drills a day after confirming the country is beefing up its presence on the Ukrainian border. The move, which will not affect troops stationed on the Ukrainian border, follows a series of reports of fighting in eastern Ukraine spilling over the frontier into Russia. Announcing the move on Saturday morning Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, said the drills would run from June 21 to June 28. “In accordance with [Mr Putin’s] order, from 11.00am Moscow time the troops of the central military district as well...

Russia is somewhat obsessed with Jen Psaki. The State Department spokeswoman has turned into Russia’s favorite punching bag as relations with the United States have deteriorated over the crisis in Ukraine. She is demonized on television. Her gaffes are celebrated widely as internet memes on Russian social media. A popular radio morning show even mocked her in a song set to a popular children’s tune. “There is nobody more competent than Psaki, nobody more pretty, or smarter,” sang the chorus, sarcastically. The song accused her of peddling “nonsense” to journalists and urged her to “keep it up, we want to...

Having just returned from Ukraine, I found it hard to recognize the world President Obama described in his West Point foreign policy speech last week. The facts on the ground - in Russia, Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan - contradict the key points he was making. That disconnect makes friends and enemies worldwide question his ability to lead. Unbelievably, Obama is still dithering about helping moderate rebels who are now battling the jihadis. In his speech, he says he'll work with Congress "to ramp up support" for the moderate Syrian opposition, but a senior adviser says those discussions won't be held...

The United States and Russia are approaching "a second Cold War," and President Barack Obama is to blame for the deteriorating relations between the countries, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Medvedev said Russia is preparing retaliatory steps in response to the sanctions the United States imposed on the country due to the escalation of conflict in Ukraine. "We are slowly but surely moving toward a second Cold War, which no one needs," Medvedev said. "Why am I saying this? Because a competent politician knows how to make reserved, careful subtle, wise, and intelligent...

Moscow is banning Washington from using Russian-made rocket engines, which the US has used to deliver its military satellites into orbit, said Russia’s Deputy PM, Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and defense industries. According to Rogozin, Russia is also halting the operation of all American GPS stations on its territory from June 1. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Between now and the end of June, more than two dozen states will hold primary elections. A major subplot of this year’s midterm elections is the competition between the Republican establishment and the tea party wing of the party. The establishment is fighting back, but has the tea party already won? The general election is still six months off. But Tuesday opens the summer preseason of intraparty contests, which starts with an important primary in North Carolina. Between now and the end of June, more than two dozen states will hold primary elections. After a July break, the preseason will...

Dmitry Rogozin, the Russian deputy prime minister, told the United States they could "jump on a trampoline" to get to space. Since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the United States has lacked any domestic means of sending humans to orbit. NASA has sent astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Russian spacecraft since that time.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book on her time as President Barack Obama's secretary of state will be released on June 10, her publisher says. Publisher Simon & Schuster said Wednesday that Clinton would share "candid reflections about key moments during her time as Secretary of State as well as her thoughts about how to navigate the challenges of the 21st century." Clinton's book has been widely anticipated as she considers another presidential campaign in 2016. The former first lady and New York senator is already a best-selling author: Her 2003 memoir, "Living History," sold more than 1 million copies.

Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the conflict between Russia and Western allies over Crimea is a “clash of values” and that it’s up to Russian President Vladimir Putin whether there’s “another Cold War.” “I hope there is not another Cold War,” Clinton said during the question and answer portion of an appearance in Montreal. “Obviously, nobody wants to see that. I think that is primarily up to Putin.”

Dmitry Rogozin @DRogozin Follow Comrade @BarackObama, what should do those who have neither accounts nor property abroad? Or U didn't think about it?)http://bit.ly/1ebMXDM 10:26 AM - 17 Mar 2014 As Krauthammer puts it, “if he thinks that sanctioning seven Russians, out of a population of, what, 150 million, is a sanction, he’s living in a different world.” I don’t know about Dr. K’s suggestion that we could get the Europeans to join in on real, robust economic sanctions, given their degree of energy dependence on Russia, but today’s announcement definitely amounts to little more than weaksauce symbolic gesture: He’s being...

"Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov press a red button symbolizing the intention to "reset" US-Russian relations March, 2009."

President Obama "has signed an Executive Order that authorizes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for activities undermining democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine," according to the White House. White House spokesman Jay Carney explains in a statement: "As President Obama has made clear, the United States is pursuing and reviewing a wide range of options in response to Russia’s ongoing violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – actions that constitute a threat to peace and security and a breach of international law, including Russia’s obligations under the UN Charter and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine,...

Hillary Clinton essentially has been coronated the next Democratic nominee and first woman president of the United States 33 months before the 2016 election. This media-driven certainty ignores her many negatives, including the Benghazi debacle on her watch, the circus sideshow of her husband Bill, her tendency to give off an unlikable vibe, and the possibility that another green amateur could swoop in out of nowhere to defeat her in the primaries like Barack Obama did in 2008. There is also the issue of Israel