Free Republic

Help me out here. President Obama immediately "meddles" in the affairs of Honduras, denouncing a military coup, the intent of which is to preserve the country's constitution, but when it comes to Iran's fraudulent election and the violent repression of demonstrators who wanted their votes counted, the president initially vacillates and equivocates. Are we expected to accept this as a consistent foreign policy? Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was reluctant to call the removal of President Manuel Zelaya a coup, if for no other reason than it would stop U.S. aid flowing to the impoverished Central American nation. The...

Israel deports Gaza boat activists, including former US congresswoman, Nobel laureatePublished Monday July 6th, 2009 Matti Friedman, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JERUSALEM - Israel has deported a former U.S. congresswoman, a Nobel peace prize laureate and other activists who were arrested trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said Monday. The Israeli navy commandeered the boat last week as it tried to sail from Cyprus to Gaza. It was the latest in a series of trips by activists trying to bring attention to the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the territory after the Islamic...

GOSHEN — While acknowledging that it doesn’t go far enough in stemming climate change, Rep. John Hall lauded the nation’s new Clean Energy and Security Act, which promotes the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency. “Is this the bill I would have written if I were a dictator? No. Is it what we can get?” said Hall, who supported the bill despite its shortcomings. “We needed to get a bill passed that had broad support.” Hall, D-Dover Plains, promoted the measure at the Orange County Government Center Monday flanked by County Executive Ed Diana, as well as county Legislator...

Twitter has been criticized as a time-waster -- a way for people to inform their friends about the minutiae of their lives, 140 characters at a time. But in the past month, 140 characters were enough to shine a light on Iranian oppression and elevate Twitter to the level of change agent. Even the government of Iran has been forced to utilize the very tool they attempted to squelch to try to hold on to power.

Carol Stream, IL—Ron Bellarsky once lived a normal, happy life, going to work and home on a daily basis. But lately, Ron has been distracted. Far too distracted to go to work, take care of his kids or even get a good night’s sleep. It isn’t Barack Obama prancing through Russia that has him distracted. It’s Sarah Palin and her resignation that has left an ugly scar on his world. At least that’s what Bellarsky claims. He says that she’s interrupted the smooth flow of every day life, and “that she needs to just go away to help bring all...

Oh, how quickly times have changed. Just a few short years ago, Democrats were up in arms over King George III's (President George W. Bush's) "unconstitutional" executive power grabs. Where are these people now? I'll tell you where they are: right in the thick of it, enabling President Barack Obama to consolidate and exercise unprecedented power. Remember when Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy complained that the constitutional "checks and balances that have served to constrain abuses of power for more than two centuries in this country" were at risk because Republicans controlled the executive and legislative branches? How about Sen. Russ...

If Sarah Palin formed a new political party, would you join it?

Is Malia Obama following in the fashionista footsteps of her mother, First Lady Michelle Obama, and flashing designer duds? For the flight with her family from Washington DC to Moscow, the 11-year old First Tween sported a skirt that bears a striking resemblance to one by designer See by Chloe. The skirt is available for purchase online at Intermix, retails for $345 but is now on sale for $219. The White House does not comment on the clothing choices of the First Daughters’ and would not confirm that the skirt was indeed by the designer. If so, Malia, who just...

Researchers have found that it is possible to guess many -- if not all -- of the nine digits in an individual's Social Security number using publicly available information, a finding they say compromises the security of one of the most widely used consumer identifiers in the United States. Many numbers could be guessed at by simply knowing a person's birth data, the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University said.

BREAKING NEWS: SOUTH CAROLINA KILLER IS DEAD

Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! By Alan Caruba Monday, July 6, 2009 Sarah Palin’s stunning announcement on July 3rd that she would step down as Governor of Alaska at the end of the month left all the political pundits gazing into their crystal ball desperately looking for an explanation. The most obvious answer was the one she offered. She had done as much as she thought she could do for Alaska and now she wanted some time with her family. We are conditioned to never believe what politicians tell us and, in most cases, that is the wisest thing, but Palin breaks...

Chalk up another strange twist in the Sarah Palin affair. Just when we thought blogger attacks on the Alaska guv would spike, her surprise resignation is being met with positive blog buzz. Whereas her "Zeta Buzz" was 54 percent negative before her weekend resignation press conference, it has since changed to 69 percent positive, say our friends at Zeta Interactive. Here's what they tell us about Palin: Over the past few weeks, the blogosphere has been flooded with information—celebrity deaths, rumors, speculation, gossip and commentary. On July 3, another topic made its way into online communities, chat rooms and social...

Just how long was the New York Times sitting on this article? Click here to read the whole thing The Corner: During the campaign, I wrote a piece called “Why Won’t Obama Talk About Columbia? — The years he won’t discuss may explain the Ayers tie he keeps lying about.” So now, nearly six months into the Obama presidency, the mainstream media has finally done a bit of the candidate background reporting it declined to do during the campaign — other than in Wasilla — and whaddya know? The New York Times unearthed a 1983 article called, “Breaking the War...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Bill Clinton aims to refocus international attention on this Caribbean country's deep economic problems and environmental decay during his first visit as the United Nations' special envoy to Haiti. The former U.S. president, who is expected to meet with Haitian President Rene Preval and visit hurricane-battered areas, is lending his prestige to the plight of the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere as world attention has shifted to the global financial crisis and other trouble spots. He was scheduled to arrive late Monday, but no public events were planned until Tuesday, the United Nations said.

President Barack Obama will throw out the first pitch at the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. President Obama will be the fourth U.S. President to throw out the first pitch at the Midsummer Classic joining John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. President Obama will be the seventh U.S. President to attend the All-Star Game. The first U.S. President to attend an All-Star Game was Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937.

text of the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Section 1. : The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. Section 2. : The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited. Section 3. : This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the...

WOAH…Cameron is that you!?! Woah! Honestly, I don’t recall seeing Cameron Diaz in this condition ever in my life! We were used to that beautiful smile of hers and fresh look, which always made her so natural looking and now….wow!

But the panic among mainstream media commentators and the GOP establishment suggests real worry that if she does, she might pull off an upset. Why else the vehement assertions that she's clearly made a terrible mistake? Why else the categorical insistence that her political career is finished? Aren't they all protesting too much? The media establishment didn't protest much about the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. He gave a good speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, was elected to the Senate that fall, and immediately started running for president. He didn't accomplish much in his four years in the Senate...

In my family I am an island, the lone conservative and sole person to ever vote Republican. This has resulted in few political discussions coming up in my presence. However, the other day while speaking to my mother — a devout leftist who regularly refers to the hosts of MSLSD by their first names — the beltway sledge seeped into our conversation. I could not resist expressing disgust over the bizarre cult that has formed around our shallow and foppish president, Barack Obama. I wondered aloud why leftists seem uniformly incapable of criticizing any of their co-religionists. My mother took...

"Government Motors" is driving Americans away There is a groundswell of disdain for the federal bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler, even as polls show that a growing "Buy American" sentiment is boosting sales for the only Detroit automaker that avoided bankruptcy and federal rescue - Ford. "I won't buy a socialist car," columnist and radio talk-show host Hugh Hewitt thundered. Others agree - at least about GM. "Over the years, we have mostly been a General Motors family. Since GM has become Government Motors, we will never again buy a GM product," said William Crowley of Spicewood, Texas. However,...