Free Republic

How about a little game - let’s count how many SUVs are parked around Edwards’ 28,000-square foot mansion (click here for hi-res photo)...

KABUL (Reuters) - A wanted Taliban insurgent leader in Afghanistan, Mullah Brother, was killed on Thursday in a U.S.-led raid in the southern province of Helmand, the Afghan Defence Ministry said, citing ground commanders. Brother served as a top military commander for the Taliban government until its removal from power in 2001 and was a member of the movement's leadership council led by its fugitive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. Mullah is a title for a Muslim cleric that many senior Taliban use. It was not clear if the name Brother, which other Taliban leaders have used to refer to him,...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.S. has pledged continued support for Lebanon's army, which has been fighting a vicious battle against al-Qaida-inspired Islamist militants. The pledge came during a visit by top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Adm. William Fallon, head of the U.S. Central Command, who met separately with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, Defense Minister Elias Murr and army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman in a brief trip to Lebanon on Wednesday. In a statement after the meetings, U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman praised Lebanon's efforts and reiterated "the strength of the strategic partnership between the United States and Lebanon." "Lebanon,...

This one makes you want to say, "Captain Kirk to the Starship AP. Beam us up, there's no intelligent life in the AP News Room." on August 29th, the AP published a story scolding the U.S. Military for refusing to use a non-lethal "ray gun" to control crowds in Iraq and they quote a few military sources who claim they issued an "urgent request" for the system. It takes over half the story before the reader is finally told that this system is still experimental and that this "ray gun" has never been put into production, so "urgent requests" or...

WILLS POINT -- If you hate creepy-crawlies, you might want to avoid Lake Tawakoni State Park, where a 200-yard stretch along a nature trail has been blanketed by a sprawling spider web that has engulfed seven large trees, dozens of bushes and even the weedy ground. But if you hate mosquitoes, you might just love this bizarre web. "At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland," said park Superintendent Donna Garde. "Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. "There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught...

So sometimes you have to put your right foot forward Your turn. Michael Trujillo, LtCol, USMC (Retired): "I have always been a fan of yours, but I would like to take this opportunity to disagree with you. Understandably, you took exception to [Ted] Nugent's behavior. Now you know what the right feels when entertainers from the left spew the same kind of venom at President Bush. . . . When's the last time you wrote a column on the classless behavior from the left? Lord knows you've had ample opportunity." Sir: I understand where you're coming from. No doubt I've...

Then there's the matter of lying. Senator Craig jumped all over former President Clinton as being "bad, nasty and naughty" for having a consensual affair in his office with an adult woman and then lying about it. I'm not going to defend the president for what was clearly inappropriate and wrongful conduct, but at least he finally came clean about it. The senator is still playing the blame game. I don't believe in outing people who prefer to keep their sexual orientation private. But exposing hypocrisy is the appropriate business of the media.

WASHINGTON -- One day after Alberto Gonzales submitted his resignation as attorney general and two days before it was made public, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten was on the phone Saturday feeling out who might be available as a replacement. That Bolten had a short list in hand indicates that even if George W. Bush had been ready to ride out his presidency with his dear friend at the Justice Department, senior aides were eager to staunch the political bleeding. It was not surprising that nobody on Bolten's short list resembled Gonzales (thought it would be hard to...

JAMARCUS MARSHALL, a 17-year-old high school sophomore in Mansfield, La., believes that no one should be able to tell him how low to wear his jeans. “It’s up to the person who’s wearing the pants,” he said.Mr. Marshall’s sagging pants, a style popularized in the early 1990s by hip-hop artists, are becoming a criminal offense in a growing number of communities, including his own.Starting in Louisiana, an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public, and they have enacted indecency ordinances to stop it.Since June 11, sagging pants have...

Sen. Larry Craig’s discretion is just the latest in a series of poor judgments – both of a political and/or personal nature that has inflicted the Republican Party in recent years, thereby hurting the Republican ‘brand’. Now, thanks to actions such as these, we find the GOP in the minority in both houses in Congress, with a Democratic White House coming in 2009 looking increasingly likely. Unless the Republican Party – and its leaders – realize that the RINOs and hypocrites of our party are destroying it from within, the blood-letting will only continue pushing us further into the minority....

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Some outraged motorists have scrawled warning messages and curse words on gas pumps after paying up to $4.50 for a gallon for gasoline at a station near Orlando International Airport. Residents and tourists said they were shocked to see the gas prices at the Landing Strip gas station located on Semoran Boulevard, just north of the airport. "I didn't even look until I pulled up and I went, 'Holy cow,' " driver Julie Melser said. There are no signs advertising the high prices at the station. Some people improvise after noticing the gas prices. "I've already swiped...

The Census Bureau announced Tuesday that 36.5 million Americans are "poor." Presidential candidate John Edwards claims these 36.5 million Americans "do not have enough money for the food, shelter and clothing they need." According to Edwards, poverty is an appalling national "plague" forcing "one in eight of us" to live in "terrible" circumstances. But, if poverty means (as Edwards claims) a lack of nutritious food, adequate warm housing and clothing, then very few of the 36.5 million people identified as "poor" by Census are, in fact, poor.... According to the government's own data, the typical person defined as "poor" by...

Bringing Politics Back to the People - The Do-It-Yourself Campaign of Ron Paul Sean Scallon August 28, 2007 In 1964, just before the New Hampshire primary, an average Joe named Paul Grindle didn’t particularly care for the choice of candidates running for the Republican nomination for President. So he decided to run his own candidate for president. With the help of a few friends and using the most sophisticated marketing techniques at the time, Grindle created a boomlet for Henry Cabot Lodge, former Massachusetts U.S. Senator, 1960 GOP Vice-Presidential candidate and then the U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam. Lodge wasn’t...

PARIS -- "We," the finance minister says, "have a terrible past." She also says: "In a way, we've had it too easy." Christine Lagarde is correct on both counts. Her first "we" refers to Europe; the second, to France. Both Europe's cataclysms and France's comforts condition the context for reforms. Lagarde, 51, has a more informed affection for America than anyone who has ever risen so high in this country's government. She was an exchange student at a Washington prep school and a Capitol Hill intern during the Nixon impeachment proceedings. As a partner in a large law firm based...

Nation of Islam Allowed to Review PBS Documentary on Moderate MuslimsBy Kevin MooneyCNSNews.com Staff WriterAugust 30, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - A conflict of interest involving the radical Nation of Islam and the Washington, D.C., affiliate of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) is an example of unethical journalism that benefits extremist Muslims, according to a national security expert and a Hollywood filmmaker. Martyn Burke, director of documentary films at ABG Films, and Frank Gaffney, president of the conservative Center for Security Policy, produced a documentary for a PBS series - "America at a Crossroads" - that focused on Muslims in America, Europe,...

Predicting a recession is about as reliable as forecasting where a hurricane will hit. But that hasn't stopped CEOs, government leaders and economists from bringing up the "R" word in recent days. And nearly all of them have a simple solution: the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates--and soon. J. Scott Applewhite / AP Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Your 17 rate increases have worked--mission accomplished," AutoNation CEO Michael Jackson advised the Fed during a CNBC interview on Wednesday. "From my 40 years in the business, I look at the American consumer. They've pulled back, and every time they pull...

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Days of debate have produced no rational explanation for the Virginia Tech massacre other than the fact the gunman began by placing no value on his own life. Someone who is prepared to die is lethal, as suicide bombers have proven too often. But while government policy throughout the Western world has been turned upside down to combat terrorism, many of us react to the carnage unleashed on Monday by throwing up our hands in despair. That's because doing something about mentally disturbed people such as Cho Seung-hui before they commit a serious crime is unacceptable to...

Hezbollah is planning to file a host of lawsuits against Israel over the damages it caused during the Second Lebanon War. Lebanese individuals with dual citizenship will file the suits in the countries where they hold citizenship. Attorney Ibrahim Awada, who heads Hezbollah's legal department, revealed the plan last week on a Syrian television program devoted to "Zionist crimes against Lebanon." He said that each plaintiff will hire a lawyer in the country where he files suit, and Hezbollah will pay the lawyers' fees. The Lebanese government began mulling lawsuits against Israel immediately after the war ended last summer, but...

WASHINGTON -- Republicans face another hostile political climate next year, but GOP congressional election strategists think they may have found a way to overcome it. According to party officials, the emerging campaign game plan will play off the voters' deepening disapproval of the Democratic-run Congress by urging Republican challengers to run an anti-incumbent, anti-Washington, insurgent campaign. "We're working closely with our candidates as we head into next year to tell them don't be afraid to run against Republicans as a whole, run against Washington as a whole, talk about runaway spending and pick and choose the issues on which to...

When the radical Islamist Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in June, several commentators concluded that since the organization's primary concern was consolidating its rule, it would try to reach a long-term truce with Israel. In accordance with this rationale, Hamas would be more flexible on a deal to free the abducted soldier, Gilad Schalit, and would refrain from attacking Israel. Neither scenario materialized. Kassams are fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Photo: AP In reality, Hamas is not signaling moderation, but continuous violent struggle against the Jewish State. The organization is waging a limited war against Israel and...