Free Republic

Enough people have compared the ‘new GM ads’ to 1980s Chrysler ads that GM had to issue a statement saying they have nothing in common. The General Motors marketing chief Bob Lutz said, GM Chairman Ed Whitacre “is the perfect choice to help re-introduce a damaged brand to a country of skeptical consumers.” “What we were looking for was a highly credible spokesperson who would be a new fresh face,” Lutz said, noting that Whitacre “is the new guy in town. He's tall, good looking, has impeccable white hair and has this nice soft Texas drawl and limps a little...

Who wrote the following: "We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent. We must dare to think about 'unthinkable things' because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless." A "right-wing extremist" didn't write these words, nor did a cable TV or radio talk show host. Sen. J. William Fulbright, the late Arkansas liberal Democratic senator and Bill Clinton mentor, wrote them in his 1966 book, "Arrogance of Power." The arrogance of power and disdain for average Americans is what fueled much of the dissent expressed in town hall meetings. Growing numbers of...

A leading human rights group has suspended its senior military analyst following revelations that he is an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia. The group, Human Rights Watch, had initially thrown its full support behind the analyst, Marc Garlasco, when the news of his hobby came out last week. On Monday night, the group shifted course and suspended him with pay, “pending an investigation,” said Carroll Bogert, the group’s associate director. “We have questions about whether we have learned everything we need to know,” she said. The suspension comes at a time of heightened tension between, on one side, the new...

The President's speech to a joint session of Congress failed to move the health reform ball closer to the goalposts. Instead of bringing much-needed clarity to the issues, it was yet another laundry list of platitudes and generalities, just a listing of the provisions already in the bills in Congress. This is exactly what the public did not need and was not looking for. Keep in mind that this proposal is huge. It will directly affect each and every American for generations. It will control fully 17% of the national economy. This is far bigger than Social Security or Medicare....

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 34% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -4.

One of Pete Stark's Town Hall meetings was held in Fremont, California. Although the media reported that only one person was in opposition to Stark in San Leandro, Fremont was a different story. A senior citizen told Pete "don't pee on my leg and then tell me it's raining", Pete's reply: "I wouldn't dignify you by peeing on your leg - I wouldn't waste the urine". Not exactly Congressional level behavior in my opinion... Here is a condensed version of the meeting which gives you a flavor of the questions that opponents and supporters alike asked Stark. VIDEO

VM reader and, starting today, guest contributor “benjaminTheDonkey” attended the D.C. Tea Party on 9/12. With video camera in hand, he got some very impressive feedback from participants of all stripes, parties, religions, and races. This is 14 minutes of really inspiring stuff.

<p>What was virtually improbable a week ago, the Senate voted 83 - 7 to add an amendment to H.R.3288 (Title: Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies)that would cut funding to ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.</p>

Following President Obama’s speech to Congress last week, support for his health care reform plan increased steadily to a peak of 51% yesterday. However, the bounce appears to be over. The latest daily tracking shows that support has fallen all the way back to pre-speech levels.

In-your-face filmmaker Michael Moore came to Pittsburgh instead of Hollywood last night to show his latest rabble-rousing documentary, "Capitalism: A Love Story" to its first American audience, a spirited group of union workers energized by the AFL-CIO convention Downtown. A last-minute change of plans and an invitation from the convention's organizers brought Mr. Moore to the city, where he emboldened a crowd with stories of union struggles and victories, then led what he called a "march in support of single-payer health care" down Penn Avenue. The crowd of 1,400, by organizers' estimates, then filed into the Byham Theater, where Mr....

I am not a lawyer, nor an auditor, but I do believe that non-profits need to disclose their books. Is there a law forcing them to reveal their balance sheets, and allow outsiders to compare with gum't disclosures. The ACORN people are changing their name, but the trail is still warm. Maybe someone has more on this. All I have is an idea to help stop them cold...

BELLEVILLE — A Belleville West High School student was beaten aboard a bus on the way to school Monday, and a police spokesman said the beating could be racially motivated. The 17-year-old victim was white and the teen assailants were black. Police released a video of the beating, which shows the victim being punched repeatedly while other students on the bus gather to watch, some cheering. It doesn't appear that the victim did anything to provoke an attack and tried only to defend himself. Police said it all unfolded in a five-minute span. The victim was trying to find a...

U.S. retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 2.7% in August, the biggest increase in more than three years, boosted by government subsidies for cars, higher gas prices, and busy crowds at the malls, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday. Sales were stronger than the 2.3% expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch, largely because of widespread sales gains outside the gas stations and the auto lots. See Economic Calendar. Sales are down 5.3% compared with a year earlier. The figures are adjusted for seasonal differences, but not for price changes. Read the full government report. The strong August sales will probably boost...

It's the only real scientific answer, after all.

These women can navigate the tax code so well that they managed to gin up dependent child tax credits for underage El Salvadorian prostitutes. They provided detailed instructions on how to obtain a low interest, government subsidized mortgage for a brothel. They gave clever insight into laundering a pimp’s take of prostitute earnings into a campaign account for a would be Democratic politician. I look at them, as an independent film producer, and think; “must hire.”

For many years, Ford Motor Co. was considered the sickest of Detroit's car manufacturers. But conventional wisdom was stood on its head last fall when Ford parted company with General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC by forgoing federal help during the most perilous times for automakers. By the end of that crisis, GM and Chrysler had received a total of $64 billion, while Ford got nothing — though like other automakers, it is receiving federal aid to develop green technologies. Now, nine months later, Ford appears to be well along on the road to recovery and in many ways...

If this link does not work, do a search on line for "glenn beck listen live" This is scary, the young man who filmed the ACORN video.

<p>Rudeness has taken center stage of late (old news to anyone who drives in South Florida). Etiquette experts say society has changed, and not for the better.</p> <p>R-E-S-P-E-C-T.</p> <p>Does the rash of high-profile rudeness we've witnessed in the past few days suggest we've forgotten the basic concept?</p>

Recent scandals look to have hurt Kyle and Jackie O's 2DAY FM breakfast radio show, with ratings figures showing a drop in listeners. The latest survey, by Nielsen, shows that the audience dropped 2.2 percentage points from a 12 per cent share to 9.8 per cent in the period from June 28 until September 5. The show remains the top rating Sydney FM breakfast show, but it was the biggest casualty in the early morning slot, losing about 35,000 listeners. Sandilands and co-host Jackie O went off air for two weeks in August following the rape revelation scandal in which...

TROUTVILLE, Va. - An animal rights group wants to rent a prison building the state plans to close and turn it into the nation's first chicken empathy museum. A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals official sent a letter Monday to Gov. Tim Kaine asking to rent the Botetourt Correctional Center building in Troutville.