Free Republic

Valerie Jarrett is the most powerful figure in the White House, rivalling President Obama in the scope of her influence over the fate of the Republic. Her personal Secret Service detail attests to the importance of her role in our government – in a position that is unelected and unconfirmed by the Senate. She has served as godmother of Barack Obama’s political and personal life, from introducing him to his future wife Michelle Robinson to integrating him into Chicago’s political machine and power structure. Professor Paul Kengor provides fascinating details about her background, and that of other key members of...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stirred controversy after paying tribute to a monument complex to Soviet soldiers killed in Hungary during the suppression of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising. Hungary's law states that the present day freedom ‘blossomed' out of that uprising also known as the ‘1956 revolution' and anyone ‘justifying the crimes committed by the communist system is to be punished'. This means that Putin's commemoration of the soldiers violates Hungarian law. Despite government officials denying that Putin laid a wreath at the monument specifically commemorating Soviet invaders, an advance of the itinerary of Putin's visit said that he would...

Daniel Greenfield's article: The Ghosts of Auschwitz in the Middle East Posted: 04 Feb 2015 08:35 AM PST In exile in Argentina, the world’s most wanted man was writing a defense of the indefensible. He rejected “so-called Western culture” whose bible “expressly established that everything sacred came from the Jews.” Instead he looked to the “large circle of friends, many millions of people” whose good opinion of his crimes he wanted. These millions of people were not in Germany. They weren’t even in Argentina. His fellow Nazis had abandoned him after deciding that the murder of millions of Jews was...

Following in the tradition of "McClintock" a couple of weeks ago, today's feature is another Shakespearean Western. Leonard Maltin calls it "Othello On The Range" and it's an apt description. Ernest Borgnine plays the Othello character, Rod Steiger's Iago, Valerie French is Desdemona and Glenn Ford is the Cassio character. Also starring Charles Bronson and Felicia Farr(Mrs. Jack Lemmon). Sidenote: I believe both Ford and Borgnine were Republicans.

The rich heritage of Tunisia, maybe the only place where the Arab Spring stands a chance Modern-day Tunisians, more Westernized than most Arabs, see themselves as descendants of the great Carthaginian general who invaded Italy. The Arab Spring began in Sidi Bouzid, a small Tunisian town, at the end of 2010. In a desperate protest against the corrupt and oppressive government that had made it impossible for him to earn a living, food-cart vendor Mohamed Bouazizi stood before City Hall, doused himself with gasoline, and lit a match. His suicide seeded a revolutionary storm that swept the countryside and eventually...

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Milt Campbell, who became the first African-American to win the Olympic decathlon in 1956 and went on to play professional football and become a motivational speaker, has died after a battle with prostate cancer, his family said Saturday. He was 78.

I’m in my 70s and remember skating round to this at Brixton Roller Rink (long gone) when I was a teenager, trying to impress the girls – and someone else was also probably checking out the talent at the same time across the ocean… I’m 68 and this is my favorite R’ n R’ instrumental of all time. Reminds me of Bond’s Ice Cream parlor back in 1957 in Cedar Grove, NJ where I spent more time than I did in my own home. Plonking around on an acoustic guitar at home trying to copy the guitar solo (and failing...

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine: Video Members of a bipartisan group of lawmakers called the Congressional Prayer Caucus want to make sure President Obama knows the country's national motto. Forty-one Republicans and one of the five Democrats from the caucus sent a letter to the president asking him to correct a mistake he made during a speech last month in Jakarta, Indonesia when he said -- quote -- "In the United States, our motto is E Pluribus Unum -- out of many, one." The lawmakers point out the official national motto -- approved by Congress in 1956...

Vin Scully recently watched the MLB Network replay of the perfect game pitched by Don Larsen for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. He watched and he listened.

For Egypt, the Suez War was a military disaster with thousands of dead, wounded or captured. The Israelis captured miltary equipment they would put to use in later wars. The Egyptian Air Force was driven from the skies with much of it destroyed on the ground. But Abdel Gamal Nasser and his Egyptian regieme won a great propaganda victory that was handed to him by the power of the United States in getting Britain, France and Israel out. The United States wanted to win favor with the "Third World." Nasser didn't run away from Soviet support after the war and...

The Soviet armies took the city center of Budapest quickly on the morning of November 4, 1956 but fighting continued for some days in other parts of the city. Soviet tanks and aircraft were used to break resistance in the industrial areas of Budapest and in other cities. Guerilla fighting was also going on in the countryside for several weeks. Some 200-thousand refugees fled to Austria and Yugoslavia. Meanhwile, the Yugoslav Embassy conducted negotiations to get Imre Nagy out of its embassy in Budapest and received assurance from the new Hungarian Commnist leader Janos Kadar for safe conduct of Imre...

Howard K. Smith described the aftermath of the Suez Crisis for Great Britain as a case of the "emporer without clothes." Indeed, the United Kingdom was now confirmed as a second rate power after being forced by economic pressure from the United States to accept a cease-fire, a UN force and withdrawl from Egypt. The process of withdrawl dragged on for a few months, accompanied by violent protests from Egyptians in Port Said against the British. UN forces began to arrive on November 21st, 1956 and set up shop. Meanwhile, the British hoped to get back in the good graces...

At 6:20 AM on November 6, 1956 amphibious landings began at Port Said with Royal Marines and Centurion tanks coming ashore. Helicopters flew in additional troops and supplies. Egyptian resistance was broken as the newly landed forces linked up with the paratroopers landed the day before. Meanwhile the pressure for Britain and France to agree to the cease-fire called for by the UN General Assembly was building. Late on the evening of November 5th the Soviet Union sent letters to Israel, Britain and France that carried a threatening tone. Israeli Prime Minister Ben-Gurion was particularly offended by the questioning of...

As Prime Minister Anthony Eden appeared to weaken in the face of opposition in the Conservative Party and from the United States, France worked harder than ever to land troops and take the Suez canal as soon as possible. France wanted to control the canal before a UN force would come and take over. Invasion planning moved landings back to November 7th, but considerations for the speed of the Israeli advance and the American presidential election brought the date to November 6th with the invasion ships speeded up. At one point, the French suggested taking the canal with Israeli soliders...

Today, Hungarians commemorated their 1956 revolution against Soviet occupation. 1956 was a real revolution, and 2,800 Hungarians gave their lives in the pursuit of liberty and sovereignty, two words which have lost meaning to some in the free world. It is with a sad heart, but with joyous spirit that I salute Hungary today. Liberty. Sovereignty. Revolution. These words are bandied about often nowadays in the West, but many times with little meaning, especially by the Left. For example, we constantly hear about Palestinian "sovereignty" -- over land which at best they can claim only partial historical ties to --...

It was becoming increasingly obvious that Soviet forces were closing in on Budapest, but Imre Nagy continued to seek negotiations for a Soviet withdrawl from Hungary. By November 3rd with the city surrounded, the Soviets said they were ready to talk and a delegation that included the Defense Minister, Pal Maleter, (who led freedom fighter resistance when the revolution began) went to dinner with Soviets at 10pm. By midnight, they were all under arrest. During the early morning hours of November 4th the advance of Soviet troops into the city began. After Mr. Nagy and his cabinet met and learned...

By early morning on November 2, 1956, all the Egyptian troops that could get out were withdrawn across the Suez Canal from Sinai. Troops cut off in the Gaza Strip and at Sharm-el-Sheikh would end up surrendering to the Israelis. Anglo-French bombing put the Egyptian Air Force out of action and forced whatever planes were left to fly out of the country. The RAF bombed Radio Cairo and hit its main antenna mast, knocking out its signal. Meanwhile in New York the emergency session of the UN General Assembly broke off at 5 AM so delegates could eat something and...

With the Egyptian army pulling out of Sinai and the RAF attacking Egyptian airfields, the Israeli army in Sinai spread out to take control of the entire peninsula outside the Anglo-French exclusion zone. Nasser ordered Egyptian forces not to fight the British or French, but they were allowed to fight Israelis, whom Nasser considered to be the "real" enemy. At 5 PM debate began at the United Nations General Assembly that lasted until 2AM November 2nd when a resolution was passed by a 65 to 5 vote. It called for: 1. An immediate cease-fire and a halt to the movement...

As Soviet forces moved away from Budapest on October 31st there was great hope for the future. Imre Nagy addressed a crowd from the Parliament Building and said: "we are living in the first days of our independence..." Nagy told some foreign reporters that negotiations with the Soviets would include the idea of Hungary withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact and becoming neutral territory. While Soviet forces pulled out of the city airports around it were under Soviet control. One area the Soviet troops abandoned was western Hungary around the Austrian border. Aid moved in and refugees moved out over this...