Free Republic

Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that she could not rule anything out if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes ahead with a military operation in Rafah. Partial transcript as follows: RACHEL SCOTT: Leader Schumer was very blunt in his remarks on the Senate floor, he called Netanyahu an obstacle to peace. He’s calling for new elections in Israel. The President called that a good speech. What did he mean by that? Does the administration believe that there needs to be new elections in Israel? HARRIS: Well, I will not speak for Senator Schumer. But we...

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel that it lacks “credit” to conduct the kind of military campaign necessary to defeat Hamas, saying that the Biden administration would not tolerate large-scale bombing over months in southern Gaza. Blinken’s remarks were leaked to the Israeli press. The Times of Israel quoted a transcript of his meeting with Israel’s war cabinet: Blinken: You can’t operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north. There are two million Palestinians there. You need to evacuate fewer people from their homes, be more accurate in the attacks, not hit UN facilities,...

HARRISBURG, PA — With the all-important 2022 midterm elections coming up, Pennsylvania finds itself once again in the national political spotlight. Long seen as a bellweather swing state whose gentle sways to the left and right would indicate how the rest of the country was leaning, this year has the added importance of practical influence: the 2022 gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races could be hugely influential to the future balance of power in both the state and nation. The race for the next governor finds voters split along all the old familiar lines: most Democrats support current Gov. Tom Wolf...

Click here to read the full articleFor­mer Attor­ney Gen­er­al William Barr has com­plet­ed his back­stab­bing of Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump in a new book by ABC reporter Jon Karl.A por­tion of the new book, titled “Betray­al,” was obtained by The Atlantic and it showed the break between Trump and Barr.Barr said the break came after he told The Asso­ci­at­ed Press, “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affect­ed a dif­fer­ent out­come in the election.”“There’s been one asser­tion that would be sys­temic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were pro­grammed essen­tial­ly to skew...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning congratulated Joe Biden after US news outlets declared him the winner of the election. "Congratulations Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the U.S. and Israel," he tweeted. Netanyahu also thanked Trump for his friendship and actions taken during his presidency. "Thank you Donald Trump for the friendship you have shown the state of Israel and...

And so it comes down to Lisa Murkowski in the end. Will the vote on witnesses end in a 50-50 tie, or will Republicans have a narrow majority to carry the day toward a swift conclusion of Donald Trump’s Senate trial? Earlier this morning, CNN’s Manu Raju reported that Mitt Romney had decided to vote for witnesses and documents to extend the House investigation:

The ex-chief of staff for House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) helped Democrat Terry McAuliffe beat Republican Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia’s gubernatorial election race. Boyd Marcus, the chief of staff for Cantor until 2003—who later teamed with another GOP operative Ray Allen to found the firm Marcus Allen, which Cantor employed until earlier this year—joined the McAuliffe campaign after Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, with whom Marcus campaigned, did not win the GOP nominee in Virginia. “I was looking at the candidates, and I saw Terry McAuliffe as the guy who will work with everybody to get things done,” Marcus...

<p>TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie says he understands victims' frustrations a year after Superstorm Sandy but maintains that his administration isn't to blame for delays in aid reaching victims.</p> <p>In an interview with The Associated Press as the anniversary of the Oct. 29 megastorm approached, Christie blamed Congress, which took three months to approve a $50.7 billion relief package for the region, and a thicket of red tape put in place to prevent the type of fraud that occurred after Hurricane Katrina.</p>

WITH a single bold act, President Obama could correct the country’s course, help assure his re-election, and preserve our children’s future. He needs to redefine America’s mindset about national security away from the old defense mentality that American power derives predominantly from our military might, rather than from the strength, agility and competitiveness of our economy. He should make it clear that today American jobs and wealth matter more than military prowess. As Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared last year, “The most significant threat to our national security is our debt.” There are...

It seems fair to ask, when one uses standard liberal catch-phrasing, volunteers for an organization like the NAACP, becomes party to an eminent domain lawsuit to take property from a small business on behalf of the government and is linked to the solicitation of government stimulus funding, just how conservative is said individual? Given that the individual in question is Reince Priebus, currently seeking the RNC Chairmanship and talking like a conservative, how is it that he seems to have so walked the walk of a typical liberal over the years? This was only ten years ago, after all. Certainly,...

Based upon talking to multiple sources over a period of weeks, I've been able to confirm that a deal struck between the Barbours, Henry and Haley, and Reince Priebus, is set to put Nick Ayers in at the RNC as political director to pave the way for Barbour's 2012 Presidential bid. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is trying to get his southern claws around the RNC as one of his cronies, Nick Ayers, the 28 year old Republican Governors Association Director, is being pumped up to challenge an already embattled Michael Steele. Incoming Republican Governor Association Chairman, Texas Gov. Rick Perry,...

House Republicans are backing away from their pledge to cut $100 billion from the federal budget. GOP aides say Republicans will still look to make significant cuts to spending, but the whole idea of cutting $100 billion was based on the premise that President Obama’s full-year 2011 budget would be enacted. They say the GOP will remain true to its pledge to try to return non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels, but that their pledges to reduce the budget by $100 billion do not apply to the budget being developed for the second half of fiscal 2011, which ends Sept. 30....

<p>FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The National Rifle Association has endorsed North Carolina Democratic Rep. Larry Kissell in his first re-election bid.</p>

Former President Bill Clinton is welcoming a galaxy of international stars to the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative later this month, including Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, whom Mr. Clinton has vowed to help Senator Barack Obama defeat in November. The event, scheduled to run Sept. 23-26 in New York, is nonpolitical and has featured prominent Republicans in the past, including Laura Bush in 2006. Mr. McCain is to deliver the opening remarks; Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, is to address the participants by satellite. “C.G.I. isn’t about politics,” said Matt McKenna, a spokesman for Mr....

Pigeon O'Brien, a friend to Reille Hunter, tells Maggie Rodriguez that John Edwards is still lying about the affair...

BAGHDAD - Iraq’s government welcomed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday with word that it apparently shares his hope that U.S. combat forces could leave by 2010. The statement by Iraq’s government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, followed talks between Obama and Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki — who has struggled for days to clarify Iraq’s position on a possible timetable for a U.S. troop pullout. Al-Dabbagh said the government did not endorse a fixed date, but hoped American combat units could be out of Iraq sometime in 2010. That timeframe falls within the 16-month withdrawal plan proposed by Obama, who arrived...

The statement by an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki calling his remarks in Der Spiegel "misinterpreted and mistranslated" followed a call to the prime minister's office from U.S. government officials in Iraq. Maliki had expressed support for a withdrawal plan similar to that of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in an interview with Der Speigel. U.S. troops should leave Iraq "As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned," Maliki had said. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight...

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes." Maliki was careful to back away from outright support for Obama. "Of course, this is by no means an election endorsement. Who they...

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a German magazine that he supports Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. The apparent endorsement of a cornerstone of Obama’s foreign policy drew swift praise from the Obama camp. But the White House stressed that any timelines are contingent on “security gains” in the region. “U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” al-Maliki told the magazine Der Spiegel. He said he wants U.S. troops to leave...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months. In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."