Free Republic

Former President George W. Bush today cheered on the “progress” in pushing comprehensive immigration reform through Congress. “The legislative process can be ugly,” Bush said with a chuckle in an interview aired today on ABC’s “This Week.” “But it looks like they're making some progress.”

Nothing on the wires yet. No more news given than what I put in the headline.

A group of Republican leaders including the vice-chair of the Republican National Committee say they will try in January to pass a resolution accusing President George Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing "socialist" policies. Pretty blunt. (having some trouble accessing the website since it was put up on Drudge Report)

Both presidential candidates took a few days to get their bearings and talking points in order after the beginning of the wild week on Wall Street. McCain McCain's quick comment: Fire Chris Cox, Chairman of the SEC. That effort to find a convenient scapegoat misses the mark and is also unfair. Cox has responded with a ten-point rebuttal pinpointing specific SEC actions — including strengthened investor protections, targeting fraud, emergency orders against naked short-selling involving Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, "sweeping" and "landmark" enforcement actions, etc. It is understandable that McCain wants to distance himself from President Bush. That does...

Anti-Bush Richard Immerman, the assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analytical integrity, has written a journal article harshly critical of President Bush and his administration for what he charges is their role in the "politicization" of intelligence. The article echoes liberal academic criticism of the president and his advisers, but with one significant difference: Mr. Immerman is now the top U.S. intelligence official in charge of checking politicization within 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. The appointment of Mr. Immerman as the analysis' "ombudsman" is raising questions among intelligence analysts about whether the office of Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell...

Mitt Romney engaged in a heated discussion about his Mormon faith with a prominent Des Moines talk show host off the air on Thursday morning. The contentious back-and-forth between Romney and WHO's Jan Mickelson began on the air (video link courtesy Breitbart.tv) when the former governor appeared on the popular program that has become a regular stop for GOP presidential hopefuls. But the conversation spilled over to a commercial break and went on after the program ended, where a visibly annoyed Romney spoke in much greater detail about his church's doctrines than he is comfortable doing so in public. The...

One of the things that surprises me so far in the race for the White House is that none of the Republicans is positioning himself clearly as the anti-Bush. I think there is a yearning for such a candidate among the Republican electorate. Here's some evidence. For some time, Strategic Vision, a polling company, has been asking Republican voters if they see George W. Bush as a conservative in the mode of Ronald Reagan. Not only did very few Republicans view Bush that way when the question was first asked last fall, but the number has fallen to the level...

Many people were protesting against the war in Iraq Hundreds of demonstrators have rioted outside the US embassy in Mexico City, in the latest protest against President George W Bush's tour of Latin America.Protesters burned US flags and threw stones at police guarding the building. Tear gas was used to disperse the crowds. Several people were injured, including a number of police officers. The violence came hours after Mr Bush pledged to reform controversial immigration laws, during two-day talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Mr Bush made the announcement on Tuesday at the start of talks with Mr Calderon....

Columbus, Ohio (AP) -- Gov. Ted Strickland said he would welcome Iraqi refugees to Ohio, clarifying his comments last week were meant to express frustration with President Bush instead of the people displaced by the war. The Democrat told The Associated Press last week he was not inclined to accommodate any refugees because doing so would help bail out the president. "I am sympathetic to the plight of the innocent Iraqi people who have fled that country," he said. "However, I would not want to ask Ohioans to accept a greater burden than they already have borne for the Bush...

Flight ban for anti-Bush T-shirt The T-shirt featuring President Bush could offend, Qantas says A passenger barred from a Qantas airlines flight for wearing a T-shirt depicting US President George Bush as a terrorist has threatened legal action. Allen Jasson said he was sticking up for the principle of free speech by challenging the decision by the Australian flag carrier. Mr Jasson was stopped as he was about to board the flight from Melbourne to London last Friday. Qantas said the T-shirt had potential to offend other passengers. The T-shift features an image of President George W Bush, along with...

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) contended Friday that President Bush is rushing new troops to Iraq and betting that Congress won't cut off funds once they're in battle. The White House called her assertion "poisonous." In an exchange of harsh rhetoric that underscored the intensity of the political fight, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the war should not be "an obligation of the American people in perpetuity." "The president knows that because the troops are in harm's way, that we won't cut off the resources. That's why he's moving so quickly to put them in harm's way,"...

According to the website VidClick, actor Danny DeVito made an appearance Wednesday on the ABC gab-gest "The View" to promote his new movie "Deck the Halls." Almost immediately it was obvious he had been drinking and comediane Joy Behar said he had been throwing back the booze the entire night before with none other than George Clooney. At one point he says, "'I knew it was the last seven limoncellos that was going to get me." How often have that happened to you? If you watch the clip, DeVito does okay until he launches into a tirade about President Bush...

To get a feel for the new political atmosphere in the wake of the Democrats' takeover of both houses of Congress, I've been listening to Neil Young's most recent album, Living with War, recently, which was released earlier this year. As you may be aware, especially if you've seen the superb Saturday Night Live parody of it, the album is a collection of retro-1960s-style "protest" songs opposing the Bush administration and the American public's sheeplike acceptance of his many atrocities (ooops—overtaken by events, Dude!). A sympathetic appraisal of one of the most talked-about songs on the album, "Let's Impeach the...

Once upon a time Julia Wilson dreamed of becoming the next Christina Aguilera, a pop star famous for glamour but not politics. Instead, she's become the next Cindy Sheehan, receiving global attention for displaying her anger at President Bush. The story of the Sacramento teenager questioned last week by federal agents about her anti-Bush Web page has spread around the world, with newspapers in Egypt, China, Australia and Europe publishing articles about her and national television stations clamoring for interviews.

Blog | Talk Radio Online | Columnists | Your Opinion | The News | Photos | Funnies | Books & Movies | Issues | Action Center They just don't get it The left misreads the NIE and Islamic terrorism By David Strom Wednesday, September 27, 2006 Much has been made in recent days about the supposed conclusion of the latest National Intelligence Estimate that the war in Iraq has inflamed Islamic terrorists. The New York Times “broke” the story last week with a headline that screamed "Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat." The NIE in question, completed last...

GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations human rights investigators said on Thursday that legislation proposed by President Bush for tough interrogations of foreign terrorism suspects would breach the Geneva Conventions. In a statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council, the five independent envoys also said Washington's admission of secret detention centres abroad pointed to "very serious human rights violations in relation to the hunt for alleged terrorists." They again called for the closure of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of foreign terrorism suspects are being held, alleging continued violations of international law on torture and arbitrary...

RICHMOND — An obscure new political group headed by an Iraq War veteran will begin airing television ads today that accuse Republican Sen. George Allen of voting to withhold lifesaving body armor for U.S. troops.The bluntly worded 30-second ad by VoteVets.org is significant because it's the first attack ad of this year's hotly contested Senate race between Allen and Democrat Jim Webb.It's also the first of many likely to be aired this fall not by campaigns but by so-called 527 organizations similar to 2004's anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the pro-Democrat Americans Coming Together. The ad's tone is...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former soldiers and parents of Americans fighting in Iraq opened anti-war, anti-Bush "Camp Democracy" in the heart of Washington, a demonstration planned to last several weeks. After spending early August near President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and the end of the month at his family retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, the protesters set up camp in the US capital between the Congress building and the White House. Started by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, "Camp Democracy" will welcome pacifists, Democratic lawmakers, union leaders, environmentalists, feminists and those fighting for immigrants' rights. Five tents will be open...

A US student who sued school officials after he was made to censor his T-shirt that labelled President George W Bush "Chicken-Hawk-In-Chief" and a former alcohol and cocaine abuser won an appeal yesterday to wear the shirt to school. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Zachery Guiles, who through his parents claimed his free speech rights had been violated. School officials made him put duct tape over parts of his T-shirt that showed a Bush image surrounded by cocaine, a razor blade, a straw and a martini. Guiles, who as a seventh grader in 2004...

Ontario university mocks Bush in new campaign Updated Tue. Aug. 29 2006 11:21 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff A small northern Ontario university has sparked controversy by launching an edgy new recruitment campaign that mocks U.S. President George Bush and his Ivy League alma mater. [b]Dubbed "Yale Shmale," the $100,000 crusade features a goofy image of Bush 'Yale University, Class of 1968' on posters that will be plastered across Toronto in a bid to attract potential new students.[/b] As well as rolling out a series of posters, Lakehead University also took the campaign to its website, where readers are informed...