Free Republic

An internal government document obtained by ABC News appears to contradict Sarah Palin's most recent explanation for why she fired her public safety chief, the move which prompted the now-contested state probe into "Troopergate."

It's a little early to play the race card, but the Obama partisans, if not Barack Obama himself, are scared. They don't know what else to do to get their expectations, so carefully nurtured over spring and summer, in line with reality. The mainstream media's ganging up on a pregnant 17-year-old girl didn't work. Neither did the candidate's calling her mother a pig. After Mr. Obama became the inevitable president, dispatching Hillary Clinton, the inevitable nominee, his cult thought it was going to be a downhill coast to a left turn into Pennsylvania Avenue. Alas, the slam dunk - the...

KDKA’s John Shumway reported: “A local couple unexpectedly got to meet Vice Presidential Candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and GOP Presidential Nominee Sen. John McCain during their visit to Washington County last weekend. They share something in common with Palin. They also have a child with Down syndrome. In a sea of smiling faces at Consol Energy Park, Kurt and Margie Kondrich, along with their daughter, Chloe, caught the attention of the candidates.” Margie was holding a sign that said, “We (Heart) Kids With Down Syndrome.” McCain and Palin left the bus and met with the family. “They just came up...

Ever since Spiro Agnew lambasted the press in 1970 as "nattering nabobs of negativism," Republicans have reveled in attacking the national media for its so-called "liberal bias." President George H.W. Bush ran for re-election in 1992 with a bumper sticker that read "Annoy the media: Re-elect Bush." His son, the current President Bush, trotted before cameras in 2001 with a copy of Bernard Goldberg's book on the subject, "Bias," conspicuously cradled in his hand.

In every war there is one decisive battle. This battle doesn't end the war; a great deal of hard fighting lies ahead. But in retrospect it's the moment when one side's ultimate victory -- and the other side's ultimate defeat -- were sealed. In our Civil War this decisive battle was Gettysburg. In World War II, it was Midway. Unexpectedly -- perhaps even astonishingly -- this year's presidential campaign is shaping up as the decisive battle in the Culture War that's been tearing apart our country for decades. On one side are the Traditionalists. We believe that church and State...

(IsraelNN.com) The Labor party caucus decided a short time ago to back party chairman Ehud Barak and vote against the government Wednesday on a bill to dissolve the government. The decision effectively is the last nail in the coffin for the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Three Labor Knesset Members, Education Minister Yuli Tamir (Labor) and MKs Amir Peretz and Yoram Marciano did not vote on the caucus decision. The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Silvan Shalom, has the backing of the other key coalition party, Shas, as well as Opposition parties. Prime Minister Olmert warned at the Cabinet...

Posterity may well remember the Hillary Clinton campaign as the nearest that a member of the female gender had thus far gotten to the nomination of a major political party. But the episode will be recalled for many other salient features as well. The first time that the wife of an ex-president had leveraged her first-lady status into a senatorial seat and then a bid for the presidency. http://www.slate.com/id/2193684/

House GOP draws line on immigration WASHINGTON -- House Republican leaders yesterday refused to yield on immigration, insisting that any bill to emerge from upcoming House-Senate negotiations will contain no provisions for undocumented immigrants to become citizens. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/05/27/house_gop_draws_line_on_immigration/

"Those who hate evil hated the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, after all, was a made-up country, created by a band of gangsters called Bolsheviks and Communists. They murdered between 20 million and 40 million innocent people, spread their totalitarianism around the world, and thereby rendered hundreds of millions of people slaves and automatons. From the 1930s to the 1950s, liberals and social democrats vigorously opposed communism. But the rest of the world's Left, especially its intellectuals and artists, not only did not oppose communist governments, they were the greatest defenders of communism."

For his part, Mr. Murtha, a decorated, retired Marine Corps colonel, said his goal was to let Iraqis know they must step forward and take control. "All of Iraq must know Iraq is free -- free from United States occupation."