Free Republic

A United States still deeply divided over Jan. 6 has hurt its standing overseas, tarnishing the reputation of a country that has long promoted democracy efforts abroad. The one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot marked not just a reflection point in the U.S., but also among allies and adversaries alike, who witnessed Democratic lawmakers largely gather on their own to remember a day when the democratic process in the United States came under a serious and violent challenge.

Obama is in trouble, not least after putting out what is widely thought to be a forged birth certificate. And, hey presto! He suddenly announces that Bin Laden is dead, supposedly killed on Sunday in a compound in Pakistan during a raid by US Navy Seals - the day after the anniversary of Hitler's death. This is by no means the first time Bin Laden has been pronounced dead. Diverse sources have been claiming this for some time. As early as December 2001, the Pakistani president Gen Pervez Musharraf was mooting that he had been killed by American bombardments in...

On June 15, 1995, defense attorney Johnnie Cochran goaded assistant prosecutor into asking Simpson to put on a leather glove that was found at the scene of the crime. The prosecution had earlier decided against asking Simpson to try on the gloves because the glove had been soaked in blood, mangled during scientific investigation, and frozen and unfrozen several times. Darden was advised by Clark and other prosecutors not to ask Simpson to try on the glove, but to argue through experts that in better condition, the glove would fit. Instead, Darden decided to have Simpson try on the...

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The United Nations on Thursday feted 60 years of peacekeeping around the world, with its overstretched "blue helmets" in high demand but somewhat tarnished by sex abuse and corruption scandals. "Today, we have more than 110,000 men and deployed in conflict zones around the world," UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a message to mark International Day of Peacekeepers. "They come from nearly 120 countries, an all-time high, reflecting confidence in United Nations peacekeeping," he said. And Jean-Marie Guehenno, the Frenchman who has led the UN peacekeeping department (DPKO) for the past eight years, also paid...

BEDFORD, N.H. - Republican Mitt Romney on Wednesday jabbed at President Bush, saying the image of the United States has suffered globally based on the perception that it invaded Iraq unilaterally. Addressing civic and business leaders, the former Massachusetts governor chided Bush as his fellow Republican traveled overseas for an economic summit and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been critical of U.S. efforts to install a missile defense shield in Europe. "I do think that we have suffered over the past several years for a number of reasons, and I think you probably know what they...

<p>Arnold Schwarzenegger, the gubernatorial candidate who's vowed to "clean up Sacramento," has recruited for his team a passel of political operatives with some serious dirty laundry of their own.</p> <p>Remember Chuck Quackenbush? He was the insurance commissioner driven from office three years ago when it was discovered that he went soft on insurance companies that allegedly bilked thousands of policyholders whose homes were damaged in the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake.</p>