Free Republic

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is one of President Vladimir Putin's closest confidants and is regularly mentioned as a possible successor to Putin in 2008, made some uncharacteristic political statements in a 1 March interview with "Moskovskii komsomolets." "Only democrats, with their split personalities, could believe that we might get help from abroad," Ivanov said. "Nobody will help us except ourselves. Therefore we should be powerful and capable of guaranteeing our national security in any situation."' He also criticized Russian liberals for viewing Russia only as "a money-making enterprise." Recent Russian media reports indicate that the Kremlin has ordered...

Sen. Barack Obama is heading to Iraq later this month with two Senate colleagues, Republican Chuck Hagel and Democrat Jack Reed, according to two sources familiar with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's plans. The sources said the official Congressional delegation trip, known as a CODEL, will occur around the time Obama heads overseas for a previously-announced campaign trip to France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, and Jordan to help beef up his foreign policy credentials. Officials are keeping the precise dates of Obama's trip under wraps, however, for obvious security reasons. The inclusion of Hagel on the official portion of the...

Ham Sandwich (Candidate for PWC Attorney) has a commercial up on YouTube:

Web site pits Ebert against salty sandwich Move over Mickey Mouse, Ham Sandwich is working on a write-in campaign. Prince William area Republicans didn't offer a candidate for Commonwealth's Attorney this year, but that hasn't stopped a conservative write-in campaign for Hamilton "Ham" Sandwich, Esq. ... Regarding the candidate's qualifications, one local expert - Mary Ann Kauchak, food columnist for the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger - said that a decent ham sandwich should be "good and smoky." "The Cuban sandwich is the hottest thing in the deli world, right now," Kauchak said. "I'm not really crazy about Virginia...

Hurt, incensed and moved to tears, mayoral challenger Dorothy Brown on Friday accused state Sen. James Meeks of sexism and calling her a "loser" unworthy of endorsement in her race against Mayor Daley. "I am not a loser. I am a winner. I am the epitome of the American dream and Dr. Martin Luther King's dream," said Brown, clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court. "To make the kind of statement he made in the face of my hard work -- the challenges and discrimination I have overcome in growing up poor and becoming a respected countywide elected official in...