Free Republic

Senate Sleepovers Force Paradigm Shift for Military By Michael McBride Saturday, July 21, 2007 While Senate sleepovers prove to be fun publicity stunts replete with dramatic unveilings of numerous hide-a-beds, slumber-stilted orations, and polarized politics; they harbor something much more insidious and much more dangerous. Senate hi-jinks are shifting the paradigm of American warfighting far out into the foreseeable future, and likely beyond. Combined with the daily MSM bodycounts which are used only to skew support of the war away from President Bush and our Congressionally supported, UN mandate driven, Iraq invasion and re-construction; Congressional jockeying on the Iraq...

Train of thought: A letter to Sen. Arlen Specter By Diana WestJuly 20, 2007 Dear Sen. Specter: I'm writing today because I didn't get a chance to respond to your parting comment as you left the train last week in Philadelphia. If you recall, we were both riding the Acela out of Washington; I was the columnist sitting across the aisle from you (both literally and in a Washington way, often, figuratively). I introduced myself and offered you that day's column for your reading pleasure. You can't blame a gal: How often do the ink-stained wretched get a U.S....

Not Worth Fighting For: Defeatist Republican Senators By Hugh HewittThursday, July 12, 2007 I have written three books in the past three years that deal in whole or part with the differences between the Republican and democratic parties: If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat, Painting The Map Red, and A Mormon In The White House. I believe in party politics, and the silly folks arguing for “non-partisan” or “bipartisan” approaches to politics distinguish themselves chiefly as ignorant of American political history or thoroughly deceptive in their appeals to the public. What, I wonder, was the non-partisan approach to...

What America Can Expect In A War Against Terrorists by Dr. Anthony Kern -- September 14, 2001 "Dear friends and fellow Americans: Like everyone else in this great country, I am reeling from last week's attack on our sovereignty. But unlike some, I am not reeling from surprise. As a career soldier and a student and teacher of military history, I have a different perspective and I think you should hear it. This war will be won or lost by the American citizens, not diplomats, politicians or soldiers. Let me briefly explain. In spite of what the media, and...

June 28, 2007 Succeeding at anti terrorism (updated) Ethel C. Fenig As World War ll recedes into the mists of ancient history, while former enemies have ostensibly turned into allies, many of the ugly, grim realities of defeating Germany have been downplayed. One, that has special relevance today, is defeating post war terrorism. Yes, after Germany's defeat, many Nazis became terrorist Werwolf (werewolves) according to a recently released book by Professor Perry Biddiscombe of the University of British Columbia. After their military defeat by regular forces, the occupied population produced terrorists who engaged in bombings, sniping, poisonings, and other attacks...

Email staff of Senators or Representatives directly I have no idea who maintains it, but it is very current. In most cases that I have used it to e-mail, especially the chief of staff, I have received an answer within an hour or two. Especially, if you have personal information, you make the staff look good. He or she can tell the member what they have discovered. The staff lives for these moments. Click the following link and bookmark it for the next battle. email Congress Staff Directly

What really happened in the Middle East Vasko Kohlmayer The Terrorism Awareness Project, an offshoot of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, has put out an excellent overview of the history of the Israeli Palestinian conflict called What Really Happened in the Middle East. A straightforward presentation of facts, this ten-minute multimedia production cuts through all the noise, passions and dissembling that have made this subject so difficult to understand and should be seen by all those interested in this problem. Like almost everything that bears Horowitz's imprimatur, this eye-opening presentation is highly instructive and superbly executed. What really happened in...

Time to Split the BlanketBy Patrick J. Buchanan Saturday, June 2, 2007 "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical." So said Jefferson. It would appear to be time again for a little rebellion in the Grand Old Party -- this time against George II. For President Bush has attacked his own loyalists for a lack of patriotism. "If you don't want to do what's right for America," he said of opponents of the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill, "if you want to scare...

June 11, 2007 ROB LONG ¡Hola! Hello! Welcome to the new Immigration and Naturalization Telephone Customer-Care Center! Open seven days a week, 24 hours a day — just like the border itself! Welcome! We’re pleased to be able to help you. Para español, oprima el numero dos. For English, please press one. For all other languages, please visit us online at www.homelandsecurity.gov/ slowtrack. Please note that the Office of Border Control, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, has instituted new border procedures for all persons crossing the U.S.–Mexico border. Please note that visas, passports, and any form of...

I have been trying to call my Senators (Spector, Casey) this afternoon and the phones are jammed. I called about 10 times to each and could only get through to one line and it had a message that the voice mail was full. In order to get my message to them I then e-mailed. In addition, I found a site that has the e-mail addresses of the staffers of each Senator and Representative and e-mailed each of them. Maybe you would like to have that site. If so see the link below: Congressional staffers e-mail

Blame-Bush buffoonery Tim Schieferecke Hi, my name is Tim Schieferecke and I'm a native western Kansas farmboy. No, I don't know anyone from Greensburg as I'm from northwest Kansas, but I do know what rural folks from anywhere in Kansas are like. Apparently my current leftist Governor Kathleen Sebelius doesn't though, nor does she comprehend the availability of heavy equipment assets. It was hard for me to hold my lunch down when I heard her craft an anti-Bush spin on the disaster that befell the good people of Greensburg. Slow recovery? This statement is disingenuous at best but in local...

The Case for the Strong Executive HARVEY C. MANSFIELD Complaints against the "imperial presidency" are back in vogue. With a view to President Bush, the late Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. expanded and reissued the book of the same name he wrote against Richard Nixon, and Bush critics have taken up the phrase in a chorus. In response John Yoo and Richard Posner (and others) have defended the war powers of the president. This is not the first time that a strong executive has been attacked and defended, and it will not be the last. Our Constitution, as long as it...

Tipping Point -- Suicide on the Web Something fascinating just happened. I suspect it will be studied by those who do such things, but at this point, it is clear that last weekend we saw a sea change in the way gun owners react to threats. If you heard Gun Talk last Sunday, Feb. 18, you heard Jim Zumbo, longtime hunting writer for Outdoor Life, addressing a blog (online comment piece) he wrote. If you didn't hear it, you can download the archive file here: http://guntalk.libsyn.com. It's the February 18 show, "part C." Jim basically committed career suicide. In short,...

Rosie and Khalid Sittin’ in a Tree . . . K-I-S-S-I-N-G By Doug Giles Saturday, March 17, 2007 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) painted himself during his trial this week at Club Gitmo as employee of the decade for Al Qaeda’s Death Monkey Squad. This piece of Samsonite prattled on with Islamic glee about his noxious brain farts such as . . . • The suicide hijackings of 9/11. Remember 9/11/2001? Think back, way back to like . . . uh . . . 5 ½ years ago when 3,000 people died during a terrorist attack here in the U.S. Does...

I don't know the name of this performer, but he is very funny.

Thursday, February 1st, 2007 Hillary Clinton - universally known, widely admired and hellbent on becoming our next President - will have a hard time turning her fame into votes, according to nine ordinary New Yorkers I watched talk for a couple of hours about their hopes, fears and desires for abetter nation. That creates an opening for Barack Obama, who the same minipanel of voters like, and want to know more about. I was hiding out behind a two-way mirror, watching a focus group run by superpollster Craig Charney, who has sampled voter opinion for everyone from Bill Clinton to...

Why Global Warming is Probably a Crock By James Lewis As a scientist I've learned never to say "never." So human-caused global warming is always a hypothesis to hold, at least until climate science becomes mature. (Climate science is very immature right now: Physicists just don't know how to deal with hypercomplex systems like the earth weather. That's why a recent NASA scientist was wildly wrong when he called anthropogenic warming "just basic physics." Basic physics is what you do in the laboratory. If hypercomplex systems were predictable, NASA would have foolproof space shuttles --- because they are a lot...

Rewriting the Rules of WarBy Col. Tom Snodgrass A curious thing happened in American thinking about warfare in 1961 - the rules needed to be rewritten, or so thought "the best and brightest" civilian strategists that President Kennedy brought with him into the White House. In his book The Best and Brightest, David Halberstam covers how Robert McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, William P. Bundy, Dean Rusk, George Ball, et.al, arrogantly ignored the historical lessons of warfare and set about to change the rules of war. This change has had far-reaching negative effects, even to today. What was at the root of...

head> A Defeatist Strategy By Bob WeirThe Democrats have an interesting method of turning events into self-fulfilling prophesies. They say they're for the troops, but against the war (after they were for it). Then, they proceed to endanger the lives of the troops by condemning the war, thereby giving aid and comfort to the enemy, emboldening further action and convincing them to hold out for eventual retreat. The tactic they use has been to criticize "the way the war is being handled" as they start a propaganda campaign to convince the American public that the war was a mistake. While...

November 7, 2006 -- THE screenwriter William Goldman changed history in Hollywood with three simple words: "Nobody knows anything." He was giving a simple and profound explanation for why some movies succeed and others fail. His answer: Nobody knows anything until the audience decides. In the world of political punditry, it's time to invoke the Goldman rule. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of high-profile blabbermouths out there (me included) trying to tell you which way the electorate is going to go. Chances are, if you're reading these words, you are the sort of person who pays attention to our blabber-mouthery....