Free Republic

Published on Aug 5, 2015 Commentators of The Viewers View, share their thoughts on the debate, why they feel Donald Trump will be our next president and what they feel about the state of the African-American community in America under the Obama administration.

WASHINGTON — A rare gap in the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf this fall could hinder military capabilities in the war against the Islamic State, the Obama administration’s nominee to lead the Navy told the Senate Thursday. Adm. John Richardson conceded the effects of a two-month gap in carrier presence — the first since 2007 — under intense questioning from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as the Senate Armed Services Committee weighs whether approve the admiral’s nomination as chief of naval operations. “Without that carrier, that will be a detriment to our capability, yes, sir,” Richardson...

<p>AUSTIN – Former Gov. Rick Perry again Friday asked a state judge to toss out the indictment accusing him of abusing his authority.</p> <p>Perry’s lawyers said the charges against the former governor were too vague and failed to allege a violation of the law.</p>

A secret plea deal for Britain’s Prince Andrew’s pal Jeffrey Epstein protected the prince and any other high-powered friends who may have used his alleged sex slaves, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. Federal prosecutors promised they “will not institute any criminal charges against any potential co-conspirators of Epstein” if the Wall Street money manager pled guilty to two relatively minor state underage sex charges that put him in a local jail for 13 months, the confidential plea agreement obtained by Radar says. A lawsuit filed by four women, who say federal prosecutors illegally ignored them and kept them in the dark...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a “victim” of bad publicity, according to Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor and U.N. ambassador. “He has been the victim, Kim Jong Un, of a lot of bad press, a lot of bad international attention, with the Sony hacking, with [being] taken to the International Criminal Court by some U.N. countries, a number of other very destabilizing moves that he has made, shooting the missiles, nuclear testing,” Richardson said on Friday on MSNBC’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall.”

The Taliban may be prepared to renounce terrorism and sever links with al Qaeda, accept a power sharing role in a new Afghan government and even tolerate American bases in their country, according to a new report. A panel of four experts from the Royal United Services Institute interviewed four senior figures - each one part of the "pragmatic" or "moderate" part of the Islamist movement - at a secret location in the Arabian Gulf. The four figures, among them two former Taliban ministers, a Mujahideen commander and a well-connected negotiator, surprised the experts by insisting that they had no...

A veteran State Department diplomat and longtime Pakistan expert is under federal investigation as part of a counterintelligence probe and has had her security clearances withdrawn, according to U.S. officials. The FBI searched the Northwest Washington home of Robin L. Raphel last month, and her State Department office was also examined and sealed, officials said. Raphel, a fixture in Washington’s diplomatic and think-tank circles, was placed on administrative leave last month, and her contract with the State Department was allowed to expire this week. Two U.S. officials described the investigation as a counterintelligence matter, which typically involves allegations of spying...

Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor who held in two senior positions in President Bill Clinton's administration, was labeled a turncoat in 2008 for endorsing Barack Obama over Hillary Rodham Clinton. Now, as Clinton weighs a second presidential run in 2016, Richardson wants the political world to know he's not on board -- yet. When I called Richardson last week soliciting his thoughts on Clinton's book tour, the first thing Richardson said was, "You know I'm not in the 'Ready for Hillary' camp, right?" "It's because of our differences when I endorsed Obama," Richardson said. "The differences haven't healed,...

As detectives escorted Aazis Richardson from Scranton Police Headquarters Friday night, he gave a simple explanation for shooting a McCarthy Flowered Cab driver twice in the back of the head. “That’s what I do to people that don’t listen.”

Hey, did you see what Senator Cruz tweeted out last week ahead of Big Guy’s “all-hat-no-cattle” trip to Texas? Here it is: That seems a little dismissive on Ted’s part doesn’t it? Even a little derisive? If I were Senator Cruz, I’d make sure all my tax records were in order: IRS agents singled out dozens of organizations for additional reviews because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their exemption applications…in some cases, groups were asked for lists of donors, which violates IRS policy… Yikes! That last part – about the list of donors - is a little disconcerting....

Commence w/ the Palin treatment, evilmonkeys! Some people might be startled to hear Democratic strategist James Carville out there on ABC's This Week (with fellow Clinton alum Stephanopouos) -the 'progressive' home field- praising conservative rising-star Ted Cruz up-and-down like this- yet it appears that's precisely the reaction he was looking for: 'I think he is the most talented and fearless Republican politician I’ve seen in the last 30 years. I further think that he’s going to run for president and he is going to create something. ... I’ve listened to excerpts of his speech in South Carolina. He touches every button, and this guy...

Isn’t this just cozy? Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) is working both sides of the Export-Import Bank. Not only does Richardson sit on the bank’s advisory committee, he’s also a board member of one of its loan recipients. The U.S. Export-Import Bank recently steered hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loans to Spanish green energy conglomerate Abengoa, which happens to share an advisory board member with the bank. The Ex-Im Bank approved a $78.6 million direct loan to Spain-based Abengoa in December. It also approved a $73.6 million direct loan to a wind farm in Uruguay, which...

Jesse Jackson Jr.’s victory in Illinois is the latest example of a congressman winning reelection under a dark cloud of corruption, illustrating that in some districts voters are blindly loyal to certain beloved candidates. Jackson, son of the famed civil rights con man with the same name, is not the only U.S. House member to accomplish this feat. We’ve seen this around the country in the past few elections, most notably in Florida and Louisiana. We’ll get back to those after going through Jackson’s remarkable reelection this week despite being out half a year with a mysterious “mood disorder.” A...

Bill Richardson and Newt Gingrich on foreign policy politics and the WH response to Libya attacks.

Ahmed Shah Masood (c. 1953–September 9, 2001) (variant transliterations include Ahmad, Massoud, etc.) was a Kabul University engineering student turned Afghan military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the nickname Lion of Panjshir. Various transliterations include: Ahmad / Ahmed / Akhmad / Achmad, Shah / Schah / Chah, Massoud / Massud / Massood / Mas’ud. Ahmad Shah Massoud was born 10.06.1332 (01.09.1953)[2] in Jangalak[3]/ Panjsher[5]as son of police commander Dost Mohammad Khan. At the age of five, he started grammar school at Bazarak and stayed there until second grade....

This chapter looks at the Spanish company Abengoa that received more than $2.8 billion in loans and grants—making them the second largest recipient of the $16 billion doled out through the DOE 1705 loan guarantee program. From the introduction of this serialized book, the thumbnail says: Abengoa has two solar projects: Solana and Mojave Solar. Solana’s Fitch rating is BB+. Just before Christmas, 2010, the company received $1.45 billion from the DOE for a solar thermal plant, to use parabolic trough technology in Gila Bend, AZ. Mojave Solar’s rating was BB. Yet the company received $1.2 billion in September 2011...

The House Ethics Committee has found Rep. Laura Richardson guilty of violating rules that prohibit pressuring her staff to perform campaign work and personal errands and is recommending that the House issue a reprimand and fine her $10,000. The panel also found that Ms. Richardson, a Democrat from California, obstructed the Ethics panel’s investigation by altering or destroying evidence and a deliberately failed to respond to a subpoena for documents. The committee also said she attempted to influence the testimony of witnesses. Ethics Committee Chairman Jo Bonner, a Republican from Alabama, and ranking member Linda Sanchez, a Democrat from California,...

The video says it all. Texas is Rising for Newt Grinrich.

Ex-Gov. Bill Richardson is one of several former top U.S. government officials pocketing large fees to speak in support of an Iranian group that is listed by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. Richardson, a former energy secretary and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was in Washington, D.C., in January and in Paris in February to call on the State Department to remove the Mojahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, from the terror list. During the ’70s, the MEK killed U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of...

You may remember how, last year, the New Progressive Alliance burst upon the scene, with the goal of promoting a liberal candidate to challenge Barack Obama in the Democratic Party primaries. This month, they found that candidate. This week, the New Progressive Alliance endorsed the presidential campaign of Democrat Darcy Richardson. Darcy Richardson campaign button “Darcy Richardson is the best way for Democrats sick of the past three – and 30 – years’ needless compromises to register their dissent,” says the New Progressive Alliance. Unlike Stephen Colbert, Darcy Richardson is actually on the ballot – in Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma and...