Free Republic

[photo] Arms, for God’s sake. The story is about Michelle Obama’s arms. Get your mind out of the gutter. But consider it proof that there is no aspect of the Obamas’ lives too trivial to be glorified by the press. CNN breathlessly reports that Michelle Obama’s arms are very toned. She can be seen on the March cover of Vogue magazine (gasp) in a sleeveless dress. She also (double gasp) wore a sleeveless dress to the president’s speech to the joint session of Congress. And now (triple gasp) she’s on the cover of People magazine in yet another sleeveless dress....

That the Democrats are keen to crack down on conservative talk radio -- crack down on free speech they don't like, that is -- is now impossible to deny. Two approaches are being contemplated. The one getting the most attention involves creating a new Fairness Doctrine. The old doctrine was a Federal Communications Commission regulation, codified in the late 1940s, that required radio and television broadcasters to provide airtime to opposing viewpoints and to cover issues of concern to their communities. The FCC, encouraged by the Reagan administration, junked the doctrine 22 years ago, rightly recognizing that the rule wasn't...

The Speaker of the House won't mention his name, but the White House has shown a willingness to invoke the name of radio host Rush Limbaugh whenever challenged. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) won't comment on anything the hero of conservatives has to say — and he has a lot to say — but the White House on Monday was only too happy to respond to Limbaugh's repeated assertion over the weekend that he hopes President Obama's presidency fails.

I am trying to capture the spirit of bipartisanship as practiced by the Democratic Party over the last eight years. Thus, I have chosen as my lead, the proposition: Obama lied; the economy died. Obviously, I am borrowing this from the Democratic Party theme of 2003-08: "Bush lied, people died." There are, of course, two differences between the two slogans. Most importantly, I chose to separate the two clauses with a semicolon rather than a coma because the rule of grammar is that a semicolon rather than a coma) should be used between closely related independent clauses not conjoined with...

Bulgaria MP Yanev: Numerous Southern Villages Are Converted to Islam by Force 3 March 2009, Tuesday Girls from the village of Ribnovo, in Saudi Arabian attire, are pictured after taking a class on radical Islam. Photo by BGNES Despite Bulgaria's European Union membership, some regions of the country need a second liberation from Ottoman yoke, the Bulgarian Member of the Parliament (MP), Yane Yanev, stated, cited by the Bulgarian news agency, BGNES. Yanev, who is the leader of the opposition "Order, Law, Justice" Party (RZS) spoke Monday in Blagoevgrad as reported by the local BGNES correspondent. The leaders of RZS...

“I must confess I was impressed by Sen.Barack Obama from the first time I saw him. At first I was excited to see a black candidate. He looked youthful, spoke well, appeared to be confident - a wholesome presidential package. I was put off soon, not just because of his shallowness but also because there was an air of haughtiness in his demeanor that was unsettling. His posture and his body language were louder than his empty words. Obama's speeches are unlike any political speech we have heard in American history. Never a politician in this land had such quasi...

The story is history, very famous history at that. How a solitary Indian lawyer took on British imperialism and won, gaining independence for India. Independence was at one time presumed impossible, with Mohandas K. Gandhi's strategy of nonviolent protest openly mocked and derided by the British. Yet not only did Gandhi carry the day and win his country's struggle for independence, it was the Gandhi model that was later used by an American minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. to finally end the American segregation system put in place by Democrats for a century following the Civil War. The recent...

Gazans want open borders, not handouts After billions pledged at international donor conference toward Strip's rebuilding, ordinary Palestinians say there will be no real success until border crossings are opened. 'I don't think we can derive hope from the conference,' resident says As the world's top diplomats pledged billion of dollars for war-ravaged Gaza in Egypt on Monday, ordinary people here, from merchants to housewives, said they'd rather have open borders than handouts. Donor Nations Egypt: $4.4B raised for Gaza reconstruction / News agencies During Sharm el-Sheik Gaza aid conference, where donors pledged $4.4 billion, Clinton says Obama administration has...

Out of the frying pan, into the friary. Forty-five New Yorkers who have lost their faith in the flailing economy, want to put their trust in God are responding to subway ads to become friars through a Midtown-based Franciscan community, the Holy Name Province. To pursue a life of charity, they'll have to give up the rat race - and also money and sex. "I thought it was speaking to me," said George Camacho, 29, a Flushing, Queens, resident who saw one of the 1,000 "BeaFranciscan.org" ads on the subway. The NYU graduate, who rents the basement of his parents'...

If losing one’s job weren’t enough to worry about in this recession, for many Americans there’s the added angst of being able to afford one’s retirement. CNBC.com Wall Street in Crisis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that may help explain why the seemingly relentless declines in home and stock prices have ravaged consumer confidence. The depth of that damage will be evident later this month when the Federal Reserve reports on household wealth in the fourth quarter, which will pick up where the third quarter left off. At $56 trillion, it was some 12 percent below what it was during its peak in...

I began writing these columns 36 years ago and have come to the conclusion that it's time to bring them to a close. It's certainly not a problem of lacking subject matter. It's simply that I am 85 now, and the energy and creative juices are just not what they used to be. Anyone in that age bracket will know what I mean. Happily, I am not ending the column with a gloomy conviction that America is heading to hell in a handbasket. On the contrary -- barring all the usual problems with which I have had to deal in...

Listen Live Right Now:Sound off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9am until Rush Jim Vicevich hosts “Sound off Connecticut” every weekday morning and although he tends to lean to the right “Sound off Connecticut” welcomes and encourages viewpoints from every side. So call in and voice your opinion. This is your chance to “sound off.” :)=^..^= http://www.wtic.com/pages/13975.php Jim Vicevich Jim Vicevich hosts “Sound off Connecticut” every weekday morning. Republitarian by nature (see Larry Elder, KABC), Jim has more than 20 years experience in broadcast television. With 6 Emmy nominations and 3 Telly Awards, Jim has worked most recently as business and...

During the last 15 minutes of the hit show "24", Keifer Sutherland talks about climate change and how the screening of "24" is a "green" studio....

Monday March 2, 2009 Cherie Blair Says Catholic Church Sexist, Credits Personal Success to Contraception By Hilary White and John JalsevacLONDON, March 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Church "marginalizes" women and keeps them "virtually invisible" in its public face, says Cherie Blair. Speaking on a BBC television program, the wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair said that "ambivalence" towards women is a "fundamental weakness" of Christianity and of Catholicism in particular. The controversial remarks were made during the final installment of a documentary, Christianity, that was aired on BBC's Channel 4 on Sunday night. During a section of...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is arriving in Israel on the first of what will no doubt be many visits. Beyond the simple self-interest of making her feel appreciated, most Israelis are genuinely glad that she was appointed to this job. The reason why is critical to understanding the future of US Middle East Policy and US-Israel relations. What is most important is that Clinton is regarded as a realist. She watched her husband try really hard and put his prestige on the line in attempting to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace; she saw him being made to look foolish by...

How to Get Jail Time With Daryl HannahThousands meet in DC to protest coal use By ASHA BEH Updated 2:00 PM EST, Sun, Mar 1, 2009 Orange may not be your color. But there's a good chance you won't arrested as you protest coal use in the nation's capital. After all, Daryl Hannah will be there, with thousands of other activists, surrounding the gates of the Capitol Hill Power Plant and chanting Kumbuyah -- er, "No more coal!" and other green epitaphs. As welovedc.com blogger Donna C. reports, Capitol Climate Action is being billed as the largest mass civil disobedience...

I think we can all agree (perhaps not) the GOP has a long way to go to simply get to mediocre as far as conservative principles are concerned. RINO's abound and the GOP has become nothing more than "Democrat Light". WHAT IF Rush does in fact start a conservative 3rd party, and his 20 million listeners immediately leave the GOP and join this new outfit. Let's also assume this happens in the next couple of weeks.. What are the implications for the '10 races? What are the implications for the '12 race for President? Wouldn't this simply split the GOP...

A biographer of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin contends that if the economy hadn't tanked, her presence on the GOP ticket would have made the election much closer than it turned out. Lorenzo Benet is an assistant editor at People magazine who traveled to Alaska to interview Governor Palin last summer with the idea of writing a book about only the second sitting governor to give birth to a child while in office.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has some advice for people complaining about the state of the global economy: stop whining. "It doesn't make any sense for people to sit back and whine and to complain about the economy slowing down because we have to look forward rather than back," he said during a speech at the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany, on Tuesday. "We have to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And the only way we are going to do this is by being optimistic and finding new ways to stimulate the economy," he said....

Clinton: US will do all it can to prevent nuclear Iran US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, afterward saying that the two had had a "broad discussion" about iran and that that there had been common understanding about the threat emanating from Teheran. Clinton and Peres after their meeting in the President's Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Photo: Mark Neyman/GPO Clinton maintained that the US would do "everything it could" to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. That is the goal "of any tactic we employ," she said. "When we talk...