Free Republic

What is the proper word for the claim by Hillary Clinton and the more factually disinclined supporters of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination -- made in speeches, briefings and interviews (including one by this reporter with the candidate) -- that she has always been a critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement? Now that we know from the 11,000 pages of Clinton White House documents released this week that former First Lady was an ardent advocate for NAFTA; ...snip...Now that we know from official records of her time as First Lady that Clinton was the featured speaker...

When Moqtada al-Sadr extended his cease-fire in Iraq last month, many wondered what he had in mind. Did he intend to bide his time, purge his movement of dissenters, or simply withdraw from public life to study Islam in Iran? Almost two weeks ago, Sadr himself provided an answer. He failed: “I have failed to liberate Iraq, and transform its society into an Islamic society.” – Moqtada al-Sadr, Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, March 8, 2008Moqtada al-Sadr — the radical cleric dubbed “The Most Dangerous Man in Iraq” by a Newsweek cover story in December 2006 — has just unilaterally extended...

Maybe there’s something in the drinking water in Albany. New York has gone through one gubernatorial sex scandal just to land in the middle of another. What appeared to be limited to simply a personal issue with incoming Governor David Paterson has now blossomed into an issue of potential electoral misappropriation of funds. Paterson now admits that he may have used campaign funds to pay for his extramarital trysts — and you’re not going to believe how he categorized the expense: Gov. Paterson admitted Wednesday he may have improperly billed his campaign for at least one hotel tryst with a...

Any constitutional lawyers want to explain how making schoolkids swear loyalty to the United States violates the First Amendment but not making adult voters swear loyalty to their new party? The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has launched an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against voters who maliciously switched parties for the March 4 presidential primary.Elections workers will look for evidence that voters lied when they signed affidavits pledging allegiance to their new party…After the election, some local Republicans admitted they changed parties only to influence which Democrat would face presumed Republican nominee John McCain in November. One...

Turnabout is fair play, as Barack Obama and his campaign found out today. Ten days after demanding the resignation of Geraldine Ferraro for her “divisive” comments on race, Ferraro launched another broadside at the Obama campaign. Calling Wright a “racist bigot,” she criticized Obama for his own failure to address divisiveness: Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro said today that she objected to the comparison Sen. Barack Obama drew between her and his former pastor in his speech on race relations Tuesday.In the speech, Obama sought to place the inflammatory remarks of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a broader context,...

After the tumultous events during the past week regarding Barak Obama and his mentor Reverend Wright, hundreds of questions have been asked and answered concerning Wrights comments and what they meant, by not only media figures and internet politivo guru's, but by Obama himself. The one question I have is where is the man best suited to answer these questions? Why has Wright escaped into the woodwork as Michelle Obama did after her "for the first time in my life..." comment? Why the secrecy, why has he been hid from the public and media? WHERE IS PASTOR WRIGHT?

An Iraqi Insurgent Tell-All: Al-Qaida Is To Blame For "Killing Sunnis" And "Demolishing Their Homes, Mosques, and Their Hospitals" By Evan Kohlmann The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of a recent interview with a senior military commander of the Hamas al-Iraq insurgent group in the restive Diyala province of Iraq. During the interview, the unnamed Hamas commander sharply condemned the "criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and... other jihad movements... The occupying forces were unable to enter many districts and villages of Diyala until Al-Qaida paved the way for them when they began killing the...

Hillary Clinton's campaign uses pastor scandal to undermine Barack Obama By Toby Harnden in Washington Last Updated: 12:55am GMT 21/03/2008 Hillary Clinton's campaign has seized on the fallout from the furore over Barack Obama's pastor to argue that her Democratic rival would be dangerously vulnerable in a presidential election against John McCain. While ordering staff not to comment directly on the controversy surrounding the inflammatory black liberation rhetoric of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, senior Clinton aides have privately made the case to Democratic officials that nominating Mr Obama would be a reckless gamble. Watch: Obama's race speech | Part 2...

Barack Obama's controversial pastor reprinted an article by a Hamas leader in the church's newsletter. In an issue dated July 22, 2007, in a section titled "Pastor's Page," the church reprinted an article by Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook in which he justifies Hamas' withholding of recognition of Israel's right to exist. The article originally appeared as an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. Dov Hikind, a New York state assemblyman, issued a news release condemning the Democratic presidential candidate's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., and calling on Obama to sever his ties with Wright and his church, Trinity...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two contract employees for the State Department have been fired and a third disciplined for inappropriately looking at the passport file of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's passport file, a spokesman said Thursday. Spokesman Sean McCormack said the department itself detected the instances of "imprudent curiosity," which occurred separately on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. He would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined. "We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case," McCormack said. Bill Burton, a...

In Tucson, 40 to 50 supporters of U.S. troops and the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq demonstrated peacefully on Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the war's start. Across the street from the demonstration in front of a Midtown military recruiting station, a handful of protesters faced off with anti-war signs. --- snip ---

Somebody sent me an email mentioning the ATF ordering Leatherman tools engraved with "Always Think Forfeiture". I followed the link to the original message thread at www.subguns.com.The thread includes a link to the Federal Business Opportunities website, where you can read the bid for yourself.From the www.fbo.gov website:The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms requires the following items, Purchase Description Determined by Line Item, to the following: LI 001, EXACT MATCH ONLY - Leatherman Micra Color: Blue - Part number 64340101K Engraved with: ATF-Asset Forfeiture AND "always think forfeiture" PLEASE REFER TO THE ATTACHMENT. NOTE: ATF MAY REQUEST A SAMPLE...

FENTON, Mo. (AP) — With more than a dozen people killed by floodwaters and rivers still rising, weary Midwesterners on Thursday weighed not just the prospect of a sodden cleanup but the likelihood that their communities could be inundated again. Families in some areas have been forced from their homes multiple times in the past few years, making the routine of filling sandbags and rescuing furniture into a familiar drill. The first day of spring brought much-needed sunshine to some flooded communities, but many swelling rivers were not expected to crest until the weekend in Arkansas, Missouri, southern Illinois, southern...

Colorado's two largest newspapers and Elitch Gardens will host the biggest party of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, officials announced today. "This is going to be one of the biggest events ever in the city of Denver," Host Committee President Elbra Wedgeworth said. The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, through the Denver Newspaper Agency, will pay to host the so-called media party and will invite the 15,000 members of the media, the more than 6,000 delegates and alternates, and assorted Democratic VIPs. Partygoers will be treated to Colorado and southwest cuisine as well as cotton candy and snow...

table> A Marine with the 24th MEU's KC-130 detatchment preps his bird for takeoff. The KC-130j crews have flown throughout the country in support of ISAF. Marines from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 365 (Reinforced), 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, test the controls of a KC-130J prior to a flight. The KC-130J pilots and crew have been crisscrossing the country, flying cargo and passengers for ISAF. US Army soldiers catch a ride on a Marine KC-130j. HMM-365's KC-130 detatchment has been tranporting people and equipment all ove aAfghanistan in support of ISAF since their arival. Marines from...

Yemeni officials have said they will hand over the prime suspect in the murder of wealthy Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen, despite the absence of an extradition treaty with Britain. The move comes after it emerged Farouk Abdulhak was smuggled out of the country on a private jet. He left Britain a day before police discovered the 23-year-old's body in the basement of his Great Portland Street flat. The 21-year-old student and friend of Miss Magnussen fled London on Saturday, apparently flying to Athens before travelling to his native Yemen. Dr Abu Bakr al-Qurbi, Yemen's foreign minister, said: "It is...

Marines with MWSS 271, attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, lay down AM2 matting while in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. This AM2 matting will be essential in the support of aircraft while conducting operations in support of NATO. Marines with MWSS 271, attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, NATO International Security Assistance Force, lay down AM2 matting while in the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. This AM2 matting will be essential in for the landing and parking of aircraft while conducting operations in support of NATO. Marines with MWSS 271, attached to the 24th Marine...

Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. At The Cross Beneath The Cross of Jesus The Old Rugged Cross Crown Him With Many Crowns Lead Me To Calvary Army Spc. Nathan Bolt-Ray, a mechanic in Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, turns a wrench while fixing a radiator on Forward Operating Base Keating in Afghanistan's Nuristan province Feb. 28, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird Joe Cocker ~ There Goes My Baby Leon Redbone ~ 14th Street...

3/20/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The Air Force deputy chief of chaplains traveled to Southwest Asia in March to meet Airmen and to speak at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing's annual National Prayer Breakfast. Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Cecil R. Richardson was the guest speaker during the breakfast, delivering a message on the United States national motto: 'In God we trust.' The National Prayer Breakfast is "an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate what it means when our Constitution says we can freely exercise our faith," said the chaplain, who assists the Air Force chief of chaplains in overseeing a corps...