Free Republic

Here is video of conservative political analyst Bill Kristol saying Gov. Sarah Palin may be "crazy like a fox" in her decision to resign as Governor of Alaska. Kristol said the decision is unconventional, and a a "huge gamble," but it just may turn out to be a stroke of genius. Kristol made the comments just after Palin made a speech announcing her decision, yesterday, July 3, 2009. . . . . (Watch Video)

CNN and other major news outlets have reported that Sarah Palin has abruptly resigned as governor of Alaska. The suddenness of her announcement raises the question about whether Palin resigned to avert a major scandal. One logical place to start looking is the affair that has Alaska political circles buzzing: an alleged scandal centered around a building contractor, Spenard Building Supplies, with close ties to Palin and her husband, Todd. Many political observers in Alaska are fixated on rumors that federal investigators have been seizing paperwork from SBS in recent months, searching for evidence that Palin and her husband Todd...

Even for a nonconformist, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has defied political logic with her sudden, stunning announcement to leave office more than a year early. Supporters and critics alike say the former GOP vice presidential candidate's resignation, announced Friday afternoon and effective July 26, is an inexplicable move for a high profile Republican widely seen as a contender for a White House run in 2012. A half-term governor campaigning for president? "If she is thinking that leaving her term 16 months early is going to help her prepare to maybe go on to bigger and better things on the political...

Can anybody here name the present Chairwoman of the RNC? I can't. But if the RNC had any brains, which they have shown precious little so far, I ask her to step aside and invite Sarah Palin to fill the post. ex animo davidfarrar

London, U.K. (AHN) - A Briton who lost one eye and blinded the other in an accident was able to see again after part of his tooth was implanted in his eye socket as part of a unique sight-restoration surgery. Martin Jones, 42, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire saw his wife for the first time when doctors removed the bandage off his operated eye. "The doctors took the bandages off and it was like looking through water and then I saw this figure and it was her," Jones told The Daily Mail on Friday. Jones had been blind for eight years...

Mount Rushmore's Starry Night Credit & Copyright: Wally Pacholka (TWAN) Explanation: This starry night sky sparkles above the Black Hills of South Dakota and the United States' Mount Rushmore National Park. The historic site features enormous sculptures of four US presidents; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, carved into the southeast face of granite cliffs. Above the monumental symbols of the country's independence and early history, the night features stars and constellations familiar to northern skygazers around the world. Most noticeable are the stars of Ursa Major and the asterism known as the Big Dipper, almost resting...

The reason is pretty simple. Sarah Palin loves America. And she knows we are a hair's breadth from losing much of what we and millions of our countrymen have painstakingly built with sweat and blood over more than two centuries. She knows that Cap and Trade is not just another piece of legislation. It is a hollowpoint bullet aimed straight at the heart of the American economy. She knows that health care reform is designed to, and will, utterly devastate the quality and availability of health care that is currently the best the world has ever known. She knows that...

THE last time Barack Obama was in Russia, he and Senator Dick Lugar were detained by border guards for several hours at an airport in the Urals, where they were looking at how American funds were helping to get rid of stocks of dangerous Soviet-era weapons. America’s president has every reason to hope things will go better this time, but that is not setting a very high hurdle for success. Of all the great power relationships Mr Obama inherited from George Bush, Russia is the most awkward—awkward not only because it has been getting ever harder to deal with but...

With Shoreline communities filling up with visitors for beach season, golf carts laden with towels and umbrellas could be popping up on local roads. After a year of uncertainty for owners about whether they could drive their carts on the road, new legislation passed by the General Assembly authorized towns to allow golf carts, with certain restrictions. This week, the Old Saybrook Police Department started a program for owners to register their vehicles, following recent approval by the Police Commission. State Rep. Marilyn Giuliano, R-Old Saybrook, said a reinterpretation of existing state regulations about a year ago led to golf...

Sam The Eagle presents Stars & Stripes Forever. (See link.)

New York, NY (AHN) - People will be able to climb to the Statue of Liberty's crown on the Fourth of July, for the first time since that portion of America's most famous symbol was closed to the public for safety reason shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. National Park Service officials had barred the public from visiting the crown out of concerns that it would be difficult to evacuate in case of an emergency because access is by a narrow 168-step double-helix spiral staircase. Officials have made improvements by adding a public address system and will limit the...

Celebrate Dependence Day If You Are A Lib. Others may celebrate what Independence we have left. When I was medevaced out of Vietnam in 1970 my life ended and it ended for some time. Many of us felt worthless - for some time. But, eventually we learned "But By The Grace Of God Go I." There are many vets from all wars, as well as patriotic non-veterans, wondering why we did it and what is the use when the sneering, non-patriot types (I'll be kind, today, July 4th, and just call them libs)seem to have taken control of our government,...

There is a paradox at the heart of liberty, a tension between our desiring what is good and our willingness to sacrifice true happiness for fleeting satisfaction. “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom,” abolitionist Wendell Phillips said. Lord Acton echoed the idea, calling liberty, “the delicate fruit of a mature civilization.”The delicacy of freedom cannot be explained without recourse to the realities of good and evil. Freedom is both universally sought and everywhere in jeopardy because of the imperfection of human nature. We are beings who seek what is good, but are tempted by what is evil. Freedom–the capacity...

Many FReepers are skeptical of Romney's conservative credentials. They don't like his past positions on abortion, healthcare, and gay marriage. They feel his rightward shift on social issues to be less than sincere. Many conservatives are angered by the Left's attempts to character assassinate Palin thru silly ethics complaints. They have made Palin's administration and family into side shows. The ethics complaints have driven her to be $500,000 in debt. This situation might provide an opening for Romney to gain Palin's support. Romney could step in to pay off Palin's legal debt. He then could make a speech about how...

Iran has unveiled plans to invest around $75 billion in its two major gas fields by 2015 to exploit their huge undeveloped reserves. Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Seyfollah Jashnsaz said that the country would finance a $40 billion investment in the South Pars gas field in a five-year plan to produce some 28 billion cubic meters of gas annually from the field. Iran and Qatar share the largest gas field in the world in the Persian Gulf, where the Iranian part is divided into 24 phases. Jashnsaz also noted that a $25-billion investment is planned...

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 4, we celebrate American independence! During this time I hope that Americans will take a few minutes to reflect on how we gained our independence … while so many, to this very day, are still unable to achieve liberty. The fact is, we can thank our success on one thing — the individual right to bear arms. If it were not for the firearms owned by private citizens in the late 1700s, the British would have easily defeated us. Yet so many today are willing to give up this basic right in the hope that government will...

A few reminders about fireworks, taken from the warning labels: 1. Do not hold in hand. This is apparently so nonintuitive it must be stamped on every item; you must wonder how stupid Chinese factory workers think we are: What else do we need to tell these idiots? Also, do not put in pants. Do not sleep with lit fireworks. Do not juggle. 2. Place on level surface. This one mystified us in North Dakota, a land so flat it made the gentle rolling hills of Iowa look like a brutal Himalayan range. Daddy, what does that mean? Well, it's...

"What better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with fireworks - only Ludlow Kissel takes it to a new height by putting on a display that will go down in history." (Quote from the flicklives.com page.) Shep read this story on the air pretty much every July 4th. You can listen to the story in mp3 audio file format or download it for later enjoyment at the Internet Archive, here (direct link to the mp3). The story appeared in written form in Playboy, and later, in Shep's first book, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.

On Christmas Day, Sen. Arlen Specter flew to Europe and the Middle East for 11 days of meetings with government officials. The travel-disclosure form the Pennsylvania Democrat filed for the trip reported the seven-country tour with his wife, an aide and two military officials on a private military jet cost $571 a person, or a total of about $2,800. The real cost was far higher, in excess of $70,000, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Mr. Specter's travel report is one of scores of examples of the gap between the expenditures congressional delegations are required to report and what...

DURHAM -- As a Durham officer shot Thursday recovers from a second surgery, relatives of the man charged in the shooting say he acted in self-defense. Officer D.J. Youmans remained in stable condition at Duke Hospital Friday. His family has arrived from New York to be with him. "We're just praying a whole lot," Durham Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr. said before returning to the hospital Friday afternoon. Youmans, a Durham officer for less than two months, and his training officer, Cpl. B.D. Schnee, were responding to a shots-fired call at the South Square Townhomes on Shannon Road about...