Free Republic

President Bush got a firsthand look Thursday at ways the government fights illegal immigration and said that securing the border with Mexico will require more people and modern technology. For Bush's arrival at the airport in nearby McAllen, Texas, the Border Patrol had set up several tools it uses on patrol _ helicopters, a boat and a small plane. "We're going to help build a virtual border," he said. "This border is changing and it needs to change so the Border Patrol can do its job." Guard officials said 6,199 troops were somewhere in the four Southwestern border states. Bureau,...

President Bush ran for office as a "compassionate conservative." And he continues to nurture his conservative base — even issuing his first veto this week against embryonic stem cell research. But lately his foreign policy has come under fire from some conservatives — including the father of modern conservatism. CBS Evening News Saturday anchor Thalia Assuras sat down for an exclusive interview with William F. Buckley about his disagreements with President Bush. William F. Buckley's Stamford, Conn., home is a tranquil place that allows Buckley to think and write, and spend time with his canine companion, Sebastian. "He's practically always...

Dear Mr. President, Thank you for the letter you sent explaining the wonderful things the Republican party is doing for me and asking for money. A truely proper response would be too lengthy. As I wish not to take up too much of your valuable time, let me respond briefly and ennunciate the conditions under which the Republican party is eligible for what remains of my money. I will donate $250.00 to the Republican party upon verification of the following: 1. FairTax enacted and IRS disbanded. 2. Borders 100 percent secure, Illegals rounded up and sent packing, those who hire...

An Associated Press report on President Bush's veto of the stem-cell research bill emphasized that it served "to underscore his politically risky stand against federal funding for the embryonic stem-cell research that most Americans' support." The same report asserted that conservatives "consider embryonic stem cells to be early human life." It concluded with a quote from one of the bill's supporters, former Sen. John Danforth, "who lost a brother to Lou Gehrig's disease. … 'I think a lot of people are going to vote on this issue. … Is somebody telling me I don't count? My brother doesn't count? What...

Presidential press secretary Tony Snow today defended his boss' level of commitment to border security, saying President Bush is "cognizant" of the fact terrorists may be entering the U.S. illegally. "The president has made his views on border security well-known," WND told the spokesman, "and my question: Would the president make border security a higher priority if he were convinced it was being used as an entry point by terrorists like those who are part of Hezbollah and al-Qaida?" Responded Snow: "Think of it this way. The president committed as much money to the borders already as the House of...

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush has issued the first veto of his presidency, rejecting a bill to expand federal research on stem cells obtained from embryos.

Thune Says He'd Distance Himself From Bush Jul 19 1:06 PM US/Eastern By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Freshman Sen. John Thune, the Republican hero two years ago for ousting the Senate Democratic leader, said Wednesday that if he were running this year, he'd distance himself from President Bush and his agenda. In 2004, the White House political operation recruited Thune to challenge Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. He dealt the Democratic Party a major blow, edging Daschle in South Dakota as Bush captured a second term. Thune, a conservative who rarely breaks with the GOP or Bush,...

Conservative intellectuals and commentators who once lauded Bush for what they saw as a willingness to aggressively confront threats and advance U.S. interests said in interviews that they perceive timidity and confusion about long-standing problems including Iran and North Korea, as well as urgent new ones such as the latest crisis between Israel and Hezbollah. "It is Topic A of every single conversation," said Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank that has had strong influence in staffing the administration and shaping its ideas. "I don't have a friend...

Bush says Muslim welcome to head UN (AFP) 11 July 2006 WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush said he did not oppose the idea of a Muslim being the next UN Secretary General as long as they were willing to “blow the whistle” on human rights abuses. At the same time, he told a small group of reporters on Monday, two days before leaving for Germany and a group summit in Russia, ”we’re really looking in the Far East right now” to find a successor to UN chief Kofi Annan. But asked whether he would oppose a Muslim in...

Last week's headlines prove the point: North Korea fires missiles, Iran talks of nukes again, Iraq carnage continues, Israel invades Gaza, England observes one-year anniversary of subway bombing. And, oh, yes, the feds stop a plot to blow up tunnels under the Hudson River. World War III has begun. It's not perfectly clear when it started. Perhaps it was after the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. Perhaps it was the first bombing of the World Trade Center, in 1993. What is clear is that this war has a long fuse and, while we are not in the...

LOS ANGELES - Former President Bill Clinton praised President Bush on Saturday for supporting reforms that would allow millions of illegal immigrants to seek citizenship but said the debate in Congress is being fomented by Republicans who want to divide America. "I'm proud of him for doing it and I thanked him for doing it," he said of Bush during a "Cafe con Clinton" breakfast speech to the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights advocacy group. Clinton said Bush's roots in Texas — which has one of the nation's largest Hispanic...

The Truth About 'La Raza'by Rep. Charlie Norwood The nation's television screens many days recently have been filled with scenes of huge crowds carrying the colorful green and red flag of Mexico viewers could well have thought it was a national holiday in Mexico City. It was instead, downtown Los Angeles, Calif., although the scene was recreated in numerous other cities around the country with substantial Mexican populations. Hordes of Mexican expatriates, many here illegally, were protesting the very U.S. immigration laws they were violating with impunity. They found it offensive and a violation of their rights that the U.S....

The National Council of La Raza has posted its speaker line-up for the radical organization's convention in Los Angeles July 8-12. Top, but not necessarily surprising, inclusions: Bill Clinton, Villaraigosa, turncoats like Sam Brownback (who just wants to keep his state's blood-stained slaughterhouses running on cheap, disposable labor) and so on. But catch the featured speaker in Tuesday's finale: Karl Rove. Karl Rove!!? Karl Rove. I predict a seat at the big-boy table will soon be openly handed over to CAIR and their cohorts. Click the link to see all the illustrious, infamous names on NCLR's event calendar.

George W. Bush is an inside-the-box guy fated to grapple with an outside-the-box world. That, in a nutshell, is the source of all the political problems that have hobbled his presidency. President Bush isn’t likely to change enough to execute a dramatic turnaround. But Republicans will soon begin in earnest the process of selecting their next leader. They should make a concerted effort to understand and learn from his mistakes. Above all, the Bush experience should teach Republicans and conservatives to shun the conventional. Conventional wisdom these days is rotten to the core. Every one of its articles of faith...

Bush: Climate change is 'serious problem' US President George W. Bush said it was time to move past a debate over whether human activity is a significant factor behind global warming and into a discussion of possible remedies. "I have said consistently that global warming is a serious problem. There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused," Bush told reporters. "We ought to get beyond that debate and start implementing the technologies necessary to enable us to achieve a couple of big objectives: One, be good stewards of the environment; two, become less dependent on foreign sources...

The collapsing "consensus" on immigration is bad news for George W., but maybe not necessarily bad news for the 12 million illegal aliens hiding in plain sight among us. Amnesty, by whatever name the White House and the Senate contrive to call it, looks dead, dead, dead. But once the Senate version, already a little fragrant in the noonday sun, gets its unceremonial burial, everyone can get down to finding an authentic consensus.

The House and Senate will soon start hammering out the stark differences between their immigration reform proposals. The Senate bill would put undocumented workers in the United States on a path toward citizenship. But the House version, firmly supported by the Republican leadership, omits such a plan, which many in the GOP call "amnesty." It stresses enforcement. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, introduced the original House bill. As Judiciary Committee chair, he is expected to be the House's lead negotiator on the immigration bill. He spoke with U.S. News about how this is going to be a difficult bargaining...

Craig: We’re down by 2 points, and time is running out! The Spartans need a miracle! Arianna: Or the perfect cheer. — NBC “Saturday Night Live” skit featuring Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri. One of my favorite skits on “SNL” is these “cheerleaders” for the “Spartans.” Whenever their team is in trouble, “Arianna” calls for “the perfect cheer.” They cheer this cheer and, presumably, they — well, I’m not sure what happens. Maybe the team does better or at least these cheerleaders feel better. In any event, the Bush/GOP team is in trouble. The President is down in the polls...

President Bush has refused to meet with border law-enforcement officials from Texas for a second time. His response to their request came in the form of a letter Monday, angering both lawmakers and sheriffs. In fact, some Republican members of the House, upset by what they call the administration's seeming lack of concern for border security, are preparing to hold investigative hearings in San Diego and Laredo, Texas, early next month. Members of the House Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation hope to expose serious security flaws that could potentially lead to terrorist attacks in the country, said Rep. Ted...

Despite having no authorization from Congress, the Bush administration has launched extensive working-group activity to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada. The membership of the working groups has not been published, nor has their work product been disclosed, despite two years of massive effort within the executive branches of the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The groups, working under the North American Free Trade Association office in the Department of Commerce, are to implement the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, signed by President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, on...