Free Republic

The White House said President Biden would soon issue an executive order that would ban new investment, trade and financing by US people and entities in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. “This EO [executive order] will also provide authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine,” said Jen Psaki, White House press secretary. “We will also soon announce additional measures related to today’s blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments.” Psaki said the measures were separate from the economic sanctions the US has threatened to impose if Putin invades Ukraine. “We are continuing to...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted, then deleted, a tweet he posted on Thursday that read that the United States would “stand with the people of Hong Kong.” The South China Morning Post first reported on Blinken’s deleted tweet. The deleted tweet read, “Beijing should let the voices of all Hong Kongers be heard. The PRC’s disqualification of district councilors only weakens Hong Kong’s long-term political & social stability. We stand with the people of Hong Kong and continue to support their human rights & fundamental freedoms.” Blinken soon sent a similar, but watered-down, tweet: “The PRC’s disqualification of seven...

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday eased back on the harsh message she sent to potential migrants during her trip earlier this week to Guatemala and Mexico, saying that she is “committed” to guaranteeing that the United States will be a “safe haven” for people seeking asylum. “Let me be very clear, I am committed to making sure we provide a safe haven for those seeking asylum, period,” Harris said in an exclusive telephone interview with EFE after returning from her first international trip as vice president. Harris was responding to criticism she has received from her own Democratic Party...

MASKS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED IN ORANGE COUNTY, CA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ao6tx5aCxQ&feature=youtu.be

Obama’s plan to raise and train an army of Syrian rebels to take on ISIS has become yet another strategic foreign policy embarrassment, this one costing American taxpayers $500 million. Only 60 Syrian fighters volunteered to receive training from the US Army, far short of an effective force to fight ISIS. The initial plan was to train 5,400 troops. Most likely the Syrian rebels are well aware of Obama’s previous actions in the Middle East, but since Iran has sided with the Assad regime, who is going to protect them and their families once the Iranians get the bomb? Secretary...

President Barack Obama stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday. The late-night host welcomed Obama for his first in-person visit to the Jimmy Kimmel Live stage with a humorous introduction: "The first Kenyan-born Muslim socialist ever elected to run this country." In Jimmy Kimmel style, the duo partook in a reading of mean tweets, to which Obama replied, "I have to say though, those weren´t that mean... You should see what the Senate says about me." Obama admitted that he does not "physically tweet in general" because he "generally" has "some other stuff to do." Kimmel and Obama also addressed

DALLAS — The transmission of the Ebola virus to a nurse here forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday to reconsider its approach to containing the disease, with state and federal officials re-examining whether equipment and procedures were adequate or too loosely followed, and whether more decontamination steps are necessary when health workers leave isolation units. “We have to rethink the way we address Ebola infection control, because even a single infection is unacceptable,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., told reporters.

ISLAMABAD: Even though US Secretary of State John Kerry succeeded in brokering a deal to resolve the deadlock over the Afghan presidential election run-off, confusion still persists about the proposal of forming a “government of national unity”. On July 12, Kerry announced the agreement in the presence of both rivals Dr Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul. “The winner of the election will serve as the president and will immediately form a government of national unity,” said Kerry. However, the top US official failed to explain the composition of the unity government. Kerry’s vague proposal has caused uproar...

The State Department’s Counter Terrorism (CT) Bureau apologized on Tuesday for promoting a controversial Muslim scholar whose organization has reportedly backed Hamas and endorsed a fatwa authorizing the murder of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The apology came on the heels of a Friday Washington Free Beacon report detailing the CT Bureau’s promotion of Sheik Abdallah Bin Bayyah, the vice president of a radical Muslim scholars group that was founded by a radical Muslim Brotherhood leader who has called “for the death of Jews and Americans.” Bin Bayyah himself is one of several clerics who endorsed a 2004 fatwa, or religious...

The White House inadvertently blew the cover of the CIA’s top officer in Kabul during President Obama’s surprise trip to Afghanistan on Sunday. The name of the spy agency’s station chief in Kabul was included on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in Mr. Obama’s visit with U.S. troops. The White House provided the list that was sent out in a “pool report” by a reporter traveling with the president to thousands of journalists, including foreign media, who receive the reports.

The CIA’s top officer in Kabul was exposed Saturday by the White House when his name was inadvertently included on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in President Obama’s surprise visit with U.S. troops. The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual, who had been identified on the initial release as the “Chief of Station” in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for its highest-ranking spy in a country. SNIP The Post is withholding the name of the CIA officer at the request of...

The CIA’s top officer in Kabul was exposed Saturday by the White House when his name was inadvertently included on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in President Obama’s surprise visit with U.S. troops. The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual, who had been identified on the initial release as the “Chief of Station” in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for its highest-ranking spy in a country. The disclosure marked a rare instance in which a CIA officer working overseas had his...

Tommy Vietor started working for Barack Obama when he was still Senator Obama--well before he became a presidential candidate--and until Friday, the 32-year-old Vietor hadn't stopped. His first job for Obama was as the driver of a press van, and he rose up the ranks through the 2008 campaign, and then the White House press office, to become the National Security Council spokesman. Now leaving the White House to open a political communications firm with the president's departing speechwriter Jon Favreau, Vietor says it's been the privilege of a lifetime to work for the president. "It's been kind of a...

Russian leader Vladmir Putin sent in troops and tanks to invade neighboring Ukraine and the Obama administration is coming to the rescue with . . . selfies! State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was mocked Thursday after posting a photo of herself on Twitter holding a sign that read #United­For­Ukraine @State­Dept­Spox.” Psaki, who has worked closely with President Obama since his 2008 campaign and is the chief communications adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, is smiling and giving a thumbs-up in the photo. But the cheerleading for beleaguered Ukraine wasn’t trending or scaring off bully Putin, said critics in the blogosphere. “Presenting...

Vote for your favorite reason (and GIF) to get covered Need health insurance? Go to HealthCare.gov right now. As millions of Americans scramble to fill out their March Madness brackets, we've got another big milestone coming up: the March 31st deadline to sign up for health insurance. If you need affordable coverage, head over to HealthCare.gov and #GetCoveredNow. If you've got insurance, help spread the word by voting for your favorite reason to get covered.

A newly disclosed audio recording purportedly depicts a conversation between two American diplomats, in which one curses the European Union as they discuss how to handle turmoil in Ukraine. American officials were quick to suggest a Russian role in the apparent leak, which came as Russia is engaged in a tug of war with the E.U. and the United States for influence over Ukraine. The audio recording, incorporated into a video with Russian subtitles and posted on YouTube Tuesday, appears to be a conversation between the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, Victoria Nuland, and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey...

Gates writes about Obama with an ambivalence that he does not resolve, praising him as “a man of personal integrity” even as he faults his leadership. Though the book simmers with disappointment in Obama, it reflects outright contempt for Vice President Biden and many of Obama’s top aides. Biden is accused of “poisoning the well” against the military leadership. Thomas Donilon, initially Obama’s deputy national security adviser, and then-Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the White House coordinator for the wars, are described as regularly engaged in “aggressive, suspicious, and sometimes condescending and insulting questioning of our military leaders.” During that...

US Secretary of State John Kerry looks like a bit of an idiot these days. On Monday he announced that he will be returning to Israel and the Palestinian Authority and Jordan for the fifth time since he was sworn into office on February 1. That is an average of more than one visit a month. And aside from frequent flier miles, the only thing he has to show for it is a big black eye from PLO chief and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. When Kerry was here last month he unveiled a stunning plan to bring $4 billion...

The Obama campaign’s desperate “felony” charge against Mitt Romney ought to serve as a wake-up call for the Romney campaign and for the American public regarding the utter amorality of the president and his functionaries. Although the jejune Boston Globe story was quickly debunked, that of course won’t stop them from pounding home the Big Lie that Romney continued to run Bain in 1999 while he was saving the Winter Olympics as long as it’s useful and “fits the narrative.” Here’s why: All’s fair in love and war — so what if the charge is untrue? No one will remember...

Brett McGurk is another example of just what an amateur Barack Obama is. Today comes news that the Commerce Secretary committed two hit and run crashes after suffering “seizures.” There is no word on what caused the seizures and Johnny Walker was unavailable for comment. (Initial reports were that drugs and alcohol were not involved) Now, there is Brett McGurk. You should read this if you don’t know who he is. But the gist is this. [UPDATED} Brett McGurk is Barack Obama’s nominee to be Ambassador to Iraq. His experience includes having an affair with a Wall Street Journal reporter...