Free Republic

Lenin said, “For us the most important of all arts is the cinema,” and it would appear that decades later he has a devotee in Brian De Palma who made his mark by mimicking Hitchcock in most of his movies but tipped his creative hand and deep-seated ideology in Casualties Of War, a movie about the rape and execution civilian Vietnamese in the Viet Nam war. Redacted is a sloppy reboot of that ham-fisted narrative updated with a cutting edge feel but with all the attendant misguided intensity and sloganeering. The story is based on the Al-Mahmudiyah incident of March,...

In an exclusive interview on WBAL's "The Buzz", Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele says his comments about President Bush and the Republican Party were taken out of context in a story in The Washington Post.He says he is not running away from the President. "If the President wants to come and help me in Maryland he is more than welcome because I'm not going to turn my back on a friend," said Steele on "The Buzz" on WBAL.The Post reported on a conversation Steele had with nine reporters from newspapers, magazines and networks over lunch at a Capitol Hill steakhouse Monday....

Since 9/11 there are really only two types of entertainment: pre or post. And in the timid world of television you won’t find much dealing with issues that approach our current era of uncertainty and conflict. Battlestar Galactica is the exception. The show has dealt with genocide, war, torture, treason, abortion, scarcity of resources, a prison uprising, faith, a breakdown of military discipline, love and loss, fear, cowardice, bravery, and an election. All while the constant and oppressive threat of annihilation surrounded the remnants of mankind after their planet was destroyed hurling them in to space escaping destruction and searching...

Newspaper Reveals Logging Into Internet User's Account BALTIMORE -- The identity of an Internet user connected to the firing of a former gubernatorial aide remains a mystery. However, new disclosures from The Washington Post may shed light on how to solve the mystery. The editor said that information came from someone associated with MD4Bush and that the reporter used it to log into MD4Bush's account several times before the story was published.

Governor Ehrlich's Chief Counsel has sent a letter to the co-chairs of a legislative committee investigating hiring and firing practices of the Ehrlich administration.Included in that letter obtained by WBAL News, Jervis Finney provides the co-chairs with documents he says he uncovered during his investigation into the identity of "MD4Bush".He points to a now-former State Democratic Party official Ryan O'Doherty who he says sent an email to party supporters hours before the Washington Post published it's first story about the rumors about Mayor O'Malley.The following is the text from that e-mail: "There will be a big story in the Post...

From Clooney's website: About The Movie "Good Night, And Good Luck." takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow, and his dedicated staff - headed by his producer Fred Friendly and Joe Wershba in the CBS newsroom - defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist 'witch-hunts'. A very public feud develops when...

Begging Jim's indulgence I think it's appropriate to ask the question that is at the heart of the Harriet Miers nomination.Do you think it's time to reverse Roe v. Wade?

Statement on the Nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme CourtWASHINGTON (October 4, 2005) -- The following statement can be attributed to David N. O'Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC):"President Bush has an excellent record of appointing judges who recognize the proper role of the courts, which is to interpret the law according to its actual text, and not to legislate from the bench.  We believe that Harriet Miers is another nominee who will abide by the text and history of the Constitution."  BACKGROUND ON HARRIET MIERSAccording to published reports, Harriet Miers has been active since...

WBAL-AM talk-radio host Chip Franklin, who frequently comments on state government -- and whose show often provides a friendly forum for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. -- has been paid more than $30,000 in the past three years to appear in commercials for the Maryland Lottery. Franklin, who hosts a morning show with about 130,000 listeners a week, receives a $1,500 payment each time he tapes a television commercial for scratch-off lottery tickets in an arrangement that predates Ehrlich's election. He is paid by Eisner Communications, a Baltimore advertising agency hired by the lottery. Station management and Franklin defend the...

American Security Council Year: 2002Issue: Foreign Aid and Policy IssuesWebsite: http://www.ascusa.org/asc_home.phpEmail: American Security Council 405 North Street, SW Washington D.C. 20024 Phone: 202-479-4580 Fax: 202-479-4587 Public policy research organization focussing on defense, foreign policy and economic issues. Serves as educational secretariat of the Congressional Caucus on National Security. American Security Council Ratings: State Office District Name Party Ratings AK U.S. Senate Sr Ted Stevens Republican 75 AK U.S. House At-Large Donald E. 'Don' Young Republican 75 AL U.S. Senate Sr Richard C. Shelby Republican 75 AL U.S. Senate Jr Jefferson B. 'Jeff' Sessions Republican 75 AL U.S. House 2...

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the order by Governor Ehrlich barring state employees from contact with two Sun writers. U-S District Court Judge William Quarles said in his order he was dismissing the case filed by The Sun because The Sun was seeking more access to government officials than that accorded a private citizen. The judge wrote, "The Sun seeks the declaration of a constitutional right that neither the Supreme Court nor the Fourth Circuit has recognized." The judge also ruled the The Sun could not demonstrate irreparable harm or the likelihood of success in the case...

Having read (embedded Rolling Stone reporter) Evan Wright’s Generation Kill I’m reminded of so many friends I’ve forgotten from my adolescence and what they encountered after joining the armed forces. The book details the run from Kuwait to Baghdad but the details of the mundane and insane world of the recon Marines is the key to this book. No amount of brutality and inane commentary comes close to understanding the elite world owned by a ragtag group of Rat Patrol troops in a hostile territory known as Iraq. The word retarded is used more than any other and certainly encompasses...

When Americans go to the polls this November it won’t just be to place a vote for or against a candidate, it will be a vote for America’s future and its place in history. Few elections in the past can compare with this one for one simple reason: on September 11, 2001 we were attacked on our soil by terrorists in an attempt to affect America’s foreign policy and our choice of leaders. And in that respect the choices couldn’t be clearer: We can choose the President who has taken the fight to the terrorists and their nation state supporters,...

"A grace that comes from humility," is what President Bush said of Ronald Reagan, whose decade in Alzheimer's purgatory ended mercifully in his death 5 June. And perhaps that humility was leavened well from a lifetime's professional and personal affiliation to the Chicago Cubs, on behalf of whom did Mr. Reagan first enter the public life. To America's political conversation he restored the concept of government as the agony and not the ecstasy of her citizens' lives; to the sinking ship of the Soviet Empire he handed an anchor. And that was surely philistine's work compared to flying by the...

I can't tell you how thrilled Nancy and I are to be here with you tonight to celebrate the "forty-fourth anniversary of my thirty-ninth birthday." Haley told me he was going to gather a few friends for dinner tonight, but I had no idea! Before I get started here, I want to thank my dear friend, Margaret Thatcher, for being part of yet another important milestone in my life and for those very kind words. As most of you know, Margaret and I go back quite a ways. We met at a time before she became Prime Minister and I...

Address on behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater Rendezvous with Destiny October 27, 1964 This speech is a verbatim transcript of "The Speech" given as a portion of a pre-recorded, nationwide televised program sponsored by Goldwater-Miller on behalf of Barry Goldwater, Republican candidate for the presidency whom Ronald Reagan actively supported.Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn't been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few...

This was President Reagan's formal goodbye to the nation after the completion of two terms in office.This is the 34th time I'll speak to you from the Oval Office and the last. We've been together eight years now, and soon it'll be time for me to go. But before I do, I wanted to share some thoughts, some of which I've been saving for a long time. It's been the honor of my life to be your president. So many of you have written the past few weeks to say thanks, but I could say as much to you. Nancy...

TALLAHASSEE — The state's environmental secretary got approval from Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet Tuesday to move forward with the seizure of 160 acres owned by a man who refuses to sell it for Everglades restoration. Secretary Colleen Castille of the Department of Environmental Protection told Bush and the Cabinet that her agency is still trying to work out a settlement with Jesse Hardy, a Collier County man who has refused to sell his fish-farm property the state says it needs for a massive restoration of the Everglades. If the agency can't work out a deal with him by...

NEW YORK  — An internal United Nations audit from 2003 found significant problems with the international organization's Iraqi oil-for-food program, revealing that millions of dollars went unaccounted for. The 23-page audit by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (search) into the program now the subject of an independent probe looking into allegations of abuse also revealed problems with the oil-for-food program's administration, specifically with a company that employed Secretary General Kofi Annan's son as it prepared to bid for an oil-for-food contract. Click to read the U.N. internal audit of the oil-for-food program. The audit devotes almost 20 pages to the...

I watched the most brutal example of human depravity when I watched Nick Berg’s head carved off by a dull knife at the hands of so-called Muslims in the name of a religion of peace during a time of war. September 11th has faded as a surreal memory but this time the reminder of our enemies is personal. This isn’t a long shot of planes hitting a building with Hollywood special effects or dust filled canyons of stone reminiscent of some movie. This is a visceral, gut-wrenching, up close and personal murder in the name of people who want to...