Free Republic

I can’t help but recall not long ago the president having to answer questions about whether he had a “litmus test” for appointees to the Supreme Court. He was asked specifically whether a candidate’s view on abortion would determine his or her qualification. The message was clear: Mr. President, you better not make this about abortion. The president followed through on his word. He appointed an accomplished judge who is a man of integrity. He chose a man hailed on both sides of the aisle. Even former Al Gore Campaign attorney, David Boies, had only complimentary things to say about...

...The real "Over There" is not something you want to watch while sitting in your La-Z-Boy sipping a lemonade. The real thing isn't flashy. And it sure isn't suitable for TV. It involves scenes that look like this very graphic video from Iraq. This clip shows what happens when the human body has intimate contact with a 5.56 round...

You can learn as much about someone by what their friends say about them as by what their opponents do. While I never want to pre-judge or misjudge someone based on their associations, knowing who vouches for them and who does not can be very telling. Such is the case with the president's nominee for the Supreme Court, John Roberts. Tonight, as I watched some of the coverage of the president's nominee to the Supreme Court, I got a pretty good idea about this man. Not because he gave such a riveting speech. Not because I could hear confidence and...

President George W. Bush will announce his nomination to replace outgoing Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor at 9pm EDT tonight. Unfortunately, many American children aren't taught in public schools the importance of the Supreme Court or the role they've played in shaping (and sometimes perverting) U.S. law since Marbury v. Madison

Pusued the following after hearing Rush today discuss the Amici Brief that had been filed by more than a few Media Outlets. The treason may be 'Mr. And Mrs. Wilson; but the hoax is on us it seems.The question is; will the responsibile parties for this slander/treason be held accountable. . .and how far will our MSM go; playing 'cat and mouse' with the truth so as to 'bring a story home' for ratings and . . .an agenda?     Media Admits Rove is Innocent Posted by: Dale Franks on Wednesday, July 13, 2005   You probably won't hear...

WASHINGTON — Free speech advocates are frustrated with a host of American companies they say have been collaborating with oppressive regimes in countries like China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, to help them filter and monitor the Internet activity of their citizens. Big technology names like Microsoft, Yahoo! and Cisco have been criticized roundly in recent years for providing foreign governments with the tools they need to crack down on Internet use, but critics say they have not been able to do much more than complain. "These companies' lack of ethics is extremely worrisome," said Lucie Morillon, the Washington representative of...

With all the commentary, protests and Monday morning quarter-backing taking place on a daily basis regarding the Iraq war, I was struck by a USA Today report about the Army's re-enlistment rates. It turns out that soldier re-enlistment rates are one-third higher than the Army's target. The report attributes the increased numbers to better monetary bonuses and to "a renewed sense of purpose in fighting terrorism."I'm curious how much air time this particular report will receive in the mainstream media today and this week. "The biggest thing is that soldiers believe in what they are doing," said. Col. Debbra...

You know, a lot of people join the military to see the world, only to get disillusioned and get out because it didn’t happen. Since joining the military, I’ve been to Mexico, Canada, Panama, Ecuador, Ireland, Germany, Kuwait, and Iraq (not necessarily in exotic order). With that said, even if a soldier never leaves the country, I’m willing to bet they’ve seen things and been places they hadn’t been and seen before. Now, listen to the story of the boy from Texas (although, I’m a military brat myself and had already seen the world as a teen): For instance, I...

A Guide to PirateBallerina Churchilliana Our library of Churchill prevarications, misdirections, and general arcania has grown very large, and, we're afraid, largely unread. As a public service, we offer a refresher course in our coverage of Ward Churchill: We noted back in February that academia would attempt to recast the debate over Churchill as a "freedom of speech" and "academic freedom" issue. And that's what's happened. We compiled a basic Churchill history as well as a chronology of life events to assist readers and researchers alike. We shed light on his scholarly pretentions back in March We were first to...

Hugh's blog about the next SCOTUS nominee makes an interesting prediction (among many that are out there): "the left will use the "return of Lochner" rhetoric as a smokescreen for its real strategy for defeating a nominee, which is the Townsel Gambit times a hundred. The nominee can expect the left, harnassing the energy and fanaticism of MoveOn.org etc and using the technology of the web, to identify, canvass and interview every member of the nominee's high school, college and law school classes, plus associates at law firms and past clients as well as lawyers who have appeared before the...

http://fifthnail.blogspot.com/2004_03_21_fifthnail_archive.html The above url is the blog site of that sick bas**rd, Joe Duncan who was caught at Denny's with one of his victims. He went by fifth nail. There are several entries there. The last blog was in May but I saw that around 500 people have left messages since he was caught.

I was looking at the spattered dust outside my room today when it hit me. Someday our soldiers will leave this ugly, barren FOB. The high guard towers will lay empty, their glowering profile softened by unruly nests of squawking birds. The sandbags will rot away from dusty windows and the shimmering light of day will finally dance in cloistered rooms. Warehouses full of supplies will lay barren. Motorpools thick with the low, lethal silhouettes of armored vehicles will sit empty save for wretched and twisted weeds. Sections of the high perimeter wall will crumble and fall into chaotic piles...

Durbinization alert: Tons of readers are e-mailing me about NBC News anchor Brian Williams' comments tonight in which he apparently compared the Founding Fathers to modern-day terrorists. The remarks seem to pooh-pooh the story about Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's alleged involvement in the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Williams previewed his argument on his MSNBC blog: Many Americans woke up to a curious story this morning: several of the former Iran Hostages have decided there is a strong resemblance between Iran's new president and one of their captors more than 25 years ago. The White House...

The Federal Election Commission says Web blogs just might be a threat to democracy and it's considering whether to police them. The issue, being discussed during FEC hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, is whether some Web sites actually provide unregulated benefits to specific political campaigns. The famously free-spirited Web community is fighting back.....

Transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with milblogger Austin Bay: Tuesday, June 28 Col. Austin Bay back from the Middle East, after a 51-hour return trip. And yet, he was still more coherent than Ted Kennedy on one of his sobriety days. You can read more of Col. Bay's adventures here, but below is the transcript on Hugh's show earlier this afternoon: HH: Colonel, welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show, and welcome back to the U.S. AB: Thanks, Hugh. It's great to be back. HH: I heard you had quite an adventurous return. AB: Yes. Fifty one and half hours...

Lead-in to the President's address tonight. Instead off listening to Senatorial chumps from Massachusetts like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry undermine what is going on in Iraq, let's see what people who have actually been there and served on the ground think. Up first, Matt the paratrooper from Black Five. Here's what he had to say: HH: Good to talk to you, Matt. I want to start with tonight, and the president's...what do you expect the president to say tonight? Black5: Well, you know, I'd expect a couple of things. Of course, he's going to focus on the troops. I've...

WEEKEND UPDATE: SKUNKED! By Michelle Malkin   ·   June 19, 2005 11:03 PM The fishing report: Me: 0. Zip. Nada. My five-year-old daughter: 10 bluegill and crappie. No keepers. Me: A very unlucky Texas rig (lizards and pumpkin plastic worms). Daughter: Nightcrawlers under a Winnie-the-Pooh bobber (can't beat it). The fish that got away: An at least 6 lb. largemouth bass that I will be sobbing about for the next 5 days. A few photos of my daughter's catches at Flickr. Back to work in the morning. Sniff... Update: Blogger Kevin Sinclair had much better luck than I did. Wowee.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Constitution fever! Public conferences and sessions in Baghdad and other provinces seem to be endless nowadays; municipalities, NGOs and forums are all very excited about Iraq's top topic which is writing the Iraqi constitution and they obviously don't want to miss the chance to take part in the historic event. Such activities play a good role in educating the population and activating the concept of public involvement in the state's decisive steps through organizing sending the people's suggestions and thoughts to the authorities and making sure they're being considered. During the past week, we were able...

I'm interested in doing some semi-weekly blogging on events from a Christian perspective, but I would rather contribute to an existing collaborative blog than start one on my own. Anyone interested in bringing on another contributor? You're welcome to browse my posts to see how I write, and I can send samples by email as well. I feel compelled to write not so much about politics as about issues that arise in our everyday Christian walk... personal ethics, balancing work and family, family leadership, church participation, relating to our neighbors, and the like. Freepmail me if you have a blog...

<p>Like a growing number of employees, Peter Whitney decided to launch a blog on the Internet to chronicle his life, his friends and his job at a division of Wells Fargo.</p> <p>Then he began taking jabs at a few people he worked with.</p>