Free Republic

According to broadcast reports, an indictment will be handed down in the Imette St Guillen case. Until this week, 41-year-old Darryl Littlejohn was just a "person of interest" in the brutal slaying of Imette St. Guillen, 24, who was raped, strangled and suffocated by someone who stuffed a sock in her mouth and wrapped her face like a mummy in clear plastic packaging tape, suggesting that her killer wanted to freeze the pained expression on her face. Also, the killer chopped off her signature long, black hair before disposing of her body along a road in Brooklyn on Feb. 25....

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The last Global Geographic Literacy Survey, assessing the geographic knowledge of 18-24-year-olds in nine different countries -- Canada, France, Mexico, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Germany and the United States -- was, at best, a disappointment. It found, for example, that only 17 percent of young Americans could locate Afghanistan on a map; 29 percent could not correctly identify the Pacific Ocean; and 11 percent were unable to find the continental United States. If high-school geography classrooms around the United States are anything like that run by "teacher" Jay Bennish, at Overland High School in Aurora, Colorado,...

To hear it said once again out of the mouth of Congressman John Murtha that all is lost is both disheartening as well as disingenuous. According to the congressman, we might as well pick up our gear and pull out of Iraq. Yes, that's the Democrat ticket. Let's allow all the Iraqi people to be slaughtered by the hands of terrorists. It is terrorists who are trying their best to cause a civil war in a newly formed democracy. However the good people of Iraq are not buying into their disruptive mind set. There will be no civil war in...

The Supreme Court's recent 8 to 0 decision (Justice Alito not yet participating) shot down a claim that oil companies were colluding in setting prices. That claim was upheld by the far-left 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but neither liberals nor conservatives on the Supreme Court were buying it. This unanimous vote should also tell us something about those politicians who are forever blaming rising gasoline prices on oil company collusion and "greed." There is no point exposing a lie unless we learn to be skeptical the next time the liars come out with the same story. After hurricane Katrina...

The United States is, without a doubt, the most generous country in the world. We are generous in times of natural disaster, donating untold amounts of dollars to help rebuild the lives of those devastated by tsunamis, earthquakes, and other emergencies. We are generous in the defense of freedom, offering military aid to oppressed peoples longing for democracy. Unfortunately, we have also become generous with countries that do not have our best interests at heart. For instance, let's consider the United Nations voting records of various Arabic and Islamic states. Back in the early part of the ‘90s, American servicemen...

When I was considering which political party to affiliate with, it was my understanding that the GOP was comprised of conservatives who believed in: * Strong national defense * Fiscal responsibility--Balanced budgets, Controlled spending * Law and order * Minimal federal government * States' rights and autonomy * Low taxation * Individual responsibility * America First! These principles meant that the GOP was committed to the security of the American people, and to shielding the American entrepreneurial spirit from oppressive over-governance. THAT GOP was the party of hope. The American people awarded THAT party with control over the White House...

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed ..." There may be a better description of what is happening in Iraq than the words of Yeats'. It does not come to mind. Before President Bush ordered Gen. Tommy Franks to invade, four forces held Iraq together: Saddam's regime, the Baath Party, the secret police and the army. The conquering Americans, as has been their way from Sherman to LeMay, smashed them all. The center that held Iraq together, repulsive as it was, is gone. But, the comment of Yuval...

At first blush, conservatives debating whether Ronald Reagan was a better foe of big government than George W. Bush can sound like obsessive comic-book fans arguing in their parents' basements about whether Superman was stronger than the Incredible Hulk. But as 2008 approaches and the Right becomes more reflective—as opposed to reflexively defensive—in its assessment of our 43rd president, such discussions will play an important role. The debate is already intensifying. Fred Barnes recently compared Reagan and Bush at year six in a piece for The Weekly Standard. He implies in his new book Rebel-in-Chief that Dubya's conservatism is superior...

I was sent the following column entitled "The Republican Talk Radio 'Big Lie'" written by Steven Crockett, co-host of Democratic Talk Radio, in which he laments the failures of liberal talk radio. As I don't wish to be accused of taking his words out of context, I will address his piece in its entirety.... "It has always been known that more people will believe a lie, the bigger the lie is and the more often the lie is repeated. Talk radio as defined by the Republican Right mindset is completely based on lies. The entire way Republican Right talk show...

On "Meet the Press" this past Sunday, NBC reporter David Gregory, after making a half-hearted apology for his poor conduct in arguing with the White House Press Secretary about the Cheney hunting accident, stated that the White House press corps is "a proxy for the American people." After exhibiting his rude behavior, poor analysis and lack of professionalism, Mr. Gregory then displays his arrogance and pomposity by taking on the role of "proxy for the American people." After seeing Mr. Gregory in all his glory, I hereby revoke my proxy and will give it someone who can better represent my...

The Venezuelan president viewed by the Bush Administration as a communist madman got some choice words from the US Secretary of State. Making her sharpest criticisms yet about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Condoleezza Rice said that Venezuela and Cuba are ''sidekicks'' of Iran and dangers to Latin American democracies. And she gave new details of a US diplomatic campaign to contain Chávez. Recently, a member of the Iranian parliament visited Cuba for meetings with his counterparts. The meetings between the Iranians and Cubans and Venezuelans bring to mind the axiom "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Rice told...

Steven M. Warshawsky's "In Defense of Ann Counter" is a well-meant, but misguided attempt to rally conservatives automatically behind Ann Coulter, even when she goes too far. Ms. Coulter usually makes the conservative case with principle and passion, in a memorable, often wickedly funny way. But sometimes she is thoughtless instead of thoughtful, in her zeal. Mr. Washawsky found it "very troubling that conservative commentators are so offended by a few harsh words for our sworn enemies." The latest Ann Coulter brouhaha is over her crude characterization of Muslims as "ragheads" during an enthusiastically received speech at a Conservative Political...

"Blackmail." That's what Hamas leaders call peace countries refusing to fork over funds to the killing cult, Islam. My, how terms are given totally different definitions in these days of confusion. Of course, Muslims are used to providing their own definitions to otherwise traditional terminology. For instance, on the Council on America-Islamic Relations (CAIR) web site "jihad" is defined as overcoming inner struggles in order to become a better person. That's called giving dramatic surgery to the well-known definition of "jihad" which is to slay every non-Muslim in the name of the Koran's Allah. How magical of Muslims to redefine...

On Sunday morning, February 12, 2006, in a church in Bellevue, Nebraska, I couldn't escape the feeling that I was a witness to history. There, at the sparsely attended 8:30 service, stood Gen. Georges Sada, a retired Iraqi general from Saddam Hussein's air force. As he shared his personal testimony, I found myself wondering how long the so-called mainstream media could ignore the message he was imparting. Sada is a member of the board of directors of World Compassion, headed by Dr. Terry Law, an Oklahoma minister who accompanied the general on Sunday morning. The reasons for Sada's presence in...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa claims he received word of the new details of the 2002 terror plot like most Americans -- watching President Bush's speech on a cable news channel. He complained that his office should have been warned beforehand about Bush's speech since the details concerned his city. "I'm amazed that the president would make this (announcement) on national TV and not inform us of these details through the appropriate channels," the mayor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't expect a call from the president -- but somebody." However, the White House did notify...

Rush Limbaugh, the man with 'talent on loan from God,' paid Neil Cavuto a visit on his TV show 'Your World' which was being broadcast from the golf course at Pebble Beach, California. The most listened to talk radio host in America was happy to share his feelings on the events of late as well as speculate on those to come. Rush started out by scolding democrats over giving the President a hard time over the NSA domestic wire tap issue. Rush said the Democrats miscast it and that it's NOT domestic spying, "They've made it look like they're interested...

Calvina Fay of the Drug Free America Foundation has pulled out as a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which begins in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, because a “mini-debate” she was scheduled to appear in had been stacked against her. As it now stands, the event will feature two advocates of drug legalization, both of them funded by leftist billionaire and anti-Bush activist George Soros. Having put most of the left-wing political movement and many liberal Democrats on his payroll, it is apparent that Soros is now working to manipulate the conservative movement. It is surprising that CPAC...

Political analysts and pundits have long suspected that former Vice President Al Gore is considering another run for the presidency. He lost to President Bush in 2000 after a highly contested race and he stubbornly continues to encourage the Democrat Party base to believe Bush "stole" the election. With front-runner Senator Hillary Clinton's recent poll numbers revealing she'd be a weak, polarizing candidate, conventional wisdom is that Gore believes he has a good shot at capturing the Democrat Party nomination which is usually clinched by a candidate moving to the left and once nominated then appear to be moving to...

"The road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting, yet it ends in danger and decline," railed President Bush in his State of the Union. Again and again, Bush returned to his theme. "America rejects the false comfort of isolationism. ... "Isolationism would not only tie our hands in fighting enemies, it would keep us from helping our friends in desperate need. ... "American leaders from Roosevelt to Truman to Kennedy to Reagan rejected isolation and retreat." Why would a president use his State of the Union to lash out at a school of foreign policy thought that...

In an unprecedented move, the nation's top military officers blasted the editors of the Washington Post and editorial cartoonist Tom Toles for an editorial cartoon published in the newspaper on Monday and on its website. The letter to the Post editors charges that the six military leaders "believe you and Mr. Toles have done a disservice to your readers and your paper's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who have volunteered to defend this nation, and as a result, have suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds. ... As the Joint Chiefs, it is rare that we all put...