Free Republic

Kurds fight for freedom on Iran-Iraq border By Betsy Hiel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, September 16, 2007 QANDIL RANGE, Iraq -- Off a rocky mountain road meandering through creek beds, a small, stone military outpost is hidden near the Iraq-Iran border. Peach, pomegranate and fig trees tremble in the hot breeze. Under a thatched-roof awning, leafy vines cover the outer walls and offer a little relief from the intense sun. A young Iranian guerrilla listens to music on an iPod as his comrades hang Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition belts and walkie-talkies on a beam behind the vines. Amin Karimi, 34, a soft-spoken,...

Remember Me By Salena Zito Time punishes war. The war in Iraq is no exception; as each moment passes, public resolve, politics and passion erode its mission. Collectively, many Americans tend to remember the mistakes and politics that led us there, rather than the faces of the men and women who serve and defend us.

Web media upstart caters to conservatives By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, April 10, 2007 Today, Gerow and longtime associate Jeff Lord officially began QubeTV.TV -- a unique video, photograph and social network designed especially for conservatives. Gerow and Lord have deep conservative roots: Both worked in the Reagan administration, Lord as White House political director and Gerow as an aide in Ronald Reagan's campaigns starting in 1976. Both consider QubeTV to be the conservatives' answer to YouTube, a popular free video-sharing Web site founded in February 2005 which enables users to upload, view and share video clips. Last fall, Google...

Glenn Beck on the edge By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, January 21, 2007 One year ago, he was balking at the idea of doing a TV show on CNN -- so much so that he went kicking and screaming into the initial sit-down with the cable news channel's executives. "Just so you know," he told

Santorum closes gap, Rendell widens lead By Brad Bumsted and David M. Brown TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, May 4, 2006 HARRISBURG -- Aided by a $1-million-plus TV advertising blitz, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell has opened a 14-point lead in his re-election campaign against Republican challenger Lynn Swann, according to the latest Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/WTAE-Channel 4 Keystone poll. The statewide poll of 578 registered voters released today also showed U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn Hills, has pulled within six points of his likely Democratic challenger, state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., of Scranton.

Excerpts from James Woolsey's visit By Jason Cato TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, May 2, 2006 Excerpts from former CIA Director James Woolsey's visit Monday with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: On the motivation behind part of the Iraqi insurgency:

It's the border, stupid By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, April 23, 2006 LAREDO, Texas There is no homeland security without border security. Americans sitting in the heartland may not be sweating over border issues but Webb County, Texas, Sheriff Rick Flores thinks they should be. "Any sheriff, whether they are in Dallas, Iowa or even Nebraska, would much prefer that we squash a threat at the border than force them to deal with it after it gets through us," the sheriff told me in his office here.

Third and Long Lynn Swann's substance-free campaign. by Salena Zito Pittsburgh LYNN SWANN, Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, walked into the room and instantly owned it. He was among five hundred or so guests attending a March fundraiser for Senator Rick Santorum with George W. Bush as the headliner. But it was Swann who was the man of the moment, rubbing elbows with Pittsburgh's elite in the tony suburban neighborhood of Sewickley, where he happens to live.

Blame colicky Suri, not Exxon, for gas price panic By Eric Heyl TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, April 28, 2006 Price gouging? Don't be silly. A myriad of legitimate reasons exist as to why the cost of gas continues to soar. Among them are skyrocketing crude oil prices, escalating international tensions and a need to ensure ExxonMobil executives can afford what the company now charges for gas. (Suffice to say former ExxonMobil CEO Lee Raymond, who pocketed $400 million last year, doesn't now and probably won't ever again fret a fill-up.)

Rendell says he signed pay raise to 'kiss a little butt' By Brad Bumsted STATE CAPITOL REPORTER Thursday, April 27, 2006 HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell told a group of Bucks County business people he signed last year's pay raise to "kiss a little butt" with the Legislature and ensure continued enactment of his own agenda. That's a "jaw-dropping statement" that says it all about the governor and the "danger of another four years" with the Philadelphia Democrat in office, said Lenny Alcivar, spokesman for Republican Lynn Swann, Rendell's opponent.

Swann & Jubelirer Tuesday, April 25, 2006 Just when it looked as if Lynn Swann's gubernatorial campaign was getting on track, the candidate appears to have taken a steady, deliberate aim at his foot and pulled the trigger with conviction.

It's the border, stupid By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, April 23, 2006 LAREDO, Texas There is no homeland security without border security.

Swann's hour of crisis By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, April 16, 2006 What's the biggest problem with Lynn Swann's campaign for governor? It is not his awkward grasp of the issues. Nor is it his anemic fundraising. It isn't that he's never sought public office before, nor is he handicapped because he's black. Lynn Swann's big trouble? He is handled by amateurs.

Playing for keeps By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Despite the conventional wisdom, the midterm elections still could be the Year of the Pachyderm. But as John Kerry tells me, don't count out the donkey just yet. First, forget the vitriol. What matters to the public is a concrete agenda. These elections will expose the Beltway crowd to what it fears most -- how the electorate really feels.

North Hills teachers find time to write By Eric Heyl TRIBUNE-REVIEW They're worth every penny. We don't know exactly how much North Hills School District teachers will earn under the contract they preliminarily agreed to Wednesday, just hours before a threatened strike. The district and the union declined to release details until the pact is ratified. But no matter how much they will earn under the new agreement, they are worth every penny. For evidence, look no further than their ability to multitask. Not only do these unappreciated educators labor strenuously during the school day to impart knowledge upon their...

Former Nazi guard finds little sympathy By Jason Cato TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, February 23, 2006 Anton Geiser reacted the way most people would when he watched a concentration camp prisoner step out of line and get riddled with bullets. "I was very upset. I did not like it," the former guard in a Nazi SS Death's Head Battalion told federal authorities in an interview last year, according to a transcript released this month. "I thought to myself, 'We all have good days, some days are maybe not as good. So that poor soul maybe had something he couldn't take no more.'"...

Santorum defends use of exclusive mortgage lender, donor Thursday, February 23, 2006 LEESBURG, Va. (AP) - When Sen. Rick Santorum refinanced the loan on his 5,722-square-foot home in this distant Washington suburb, the mortgage came from a private bank that caters to wealthy investors and has donated to his charity. The $500,000 loan was signed by the bank's president and chief executive officer, Michael Crofton, who has given money to his campaign, court records show.

Newt, reloaded By Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Ask any political inside-trader what's the most underperforming stock in America and the answer is: Republican. Hard to believe that a year ago elephants danced in the streets. Bush won, Daschle lost. Karl Rove was proclaimed "Political Architect of the Year" and "mandate" was the word of the day. A year later, Republicans risk becoming irrelevant if they don't get their heads out of their flanks. Republicans lack leaders rising in their ranks, those who generate ideas and think strategically about how to restore America's psyche. Going back to the future would be...