Free Republic

Shepherd Smith just led the 7:00 news hour with a story on the Shirley Sherrod case. He stated that the original video of her speech to the NAACP (which was released by Andrew Breitbart) was EDITED to present her out of context. Smith played the portion of the clip that included Sherrod stating that she did not give the white farmer all the help she could have. Smith then stated that the full clip shows that this was taken out of context and then played the part of the clip in which Shirley said it was revealed to her it...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A close friend of the massage therapist who accused former Vice President Al Gore of repeated, unwanted sexual contact says the woman was not after money, and just wanted Gore held accountable. The alleged abuse took place at the Hotel Lucia in a hotel room in 2006, according to police reports. The woman told police she was "repeatedly subjected to unwanted sexual touching" in Gore's hotel room at the Hotel Lucia, according to the police report. Donna Burleigh told KGW the massage therapist called her after the alleged 2006 incident and described being sexually assaulted by a...

We’ve defined insubordination down. When Douglas MacArthur was cashiered by President Truman in 1951, Secretary of Defense George Marshall explained to Congress that the dismissal resulted from “the wholly unprecedented position of a local theater commander publicly expressing his displeasure at and his disagreement with the foreign and military policy of the United States.” That puts Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s making a joke about Vice President Joe Biden in perspective. There’s no doubt that McChrystal was out of line in his cringe-making Rolling Stone interview. It shows terrible media judgment ever to have agreed to a profile by a reporter for...

Benedict Arnold was an American general who was considered a patriot but turned out to be a traitor to American freedom. Will Stupak's name become as infamous in our own time?

The Order [Yuval Levin] Upon first hearing there was talk of an executive order yesterday, I wondered how the administration’s lawyers thought such an order could go beyond the letter of the law in restricting abortion funding. This was a question the Bush administration examined quite extensively on several occasions, and the lawyers involved always agreed that the legal precedents from the time between the Roe decision and passage of the Hyde amendment, as well as some after the Hyde amendment, are extremely clear in stating that federal funds cannot be denied to the provision of abortion except by explicit...

A MELBOURNE bookstore has sparked outrage after being discovered selling a "control a woman" remote - on International Women's Day. The ABC reported Borders was forced to defend the $15 novelty product after a woman told of her anger at seeing it during last week's celebration of female rights and achievements. Katie Robertson told ABC Radio she was "troubled" by the toy, "mainly because it encourages a stereotype of women as submissive, who are to be controlled". "There are certain buttons on there. For example, the male may decide that he wants beer, sex or food," she said. "He may...

STRONGSVILLE, OHIO -- Retirees who voted Republican in the last presidential election, Carol and Paul Gerhardstein were unhappy about Democratic plans to overhaul the nation's health-care system. But they showed up at a rally this week to hear President Obama defend his proposals, and a funny thing happened. "He convinced me that we are doing the right thing. He's going to look out for us," Carol Gerhardstein said after Obama's motorcade departed in a cold drizzle Monday. "I gained a little more trust in him." With the nation bitterly divided over proposed changes to the health-care system and a House...

It's no secret that members of Congress broker deals on the treadmill or in the weight room of the House and Senate gyms. But former congressman Eric Massa's accusation that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once berated him in the gym's shower over his vote against President Obama's budget left Washington watchers wondering how much business politicians conduct while naked. The answer, lawmakers revealed Tuesday, is not much. The private gyms are sanctuaries where lawmakers can huff, puff and disrobe knowing that only fellow members will see them. If Massa's shower tableau did take place -- a scenario...

Far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders provoked angry scenes outside Parliament yesterday after claiming that Islamism and democracy are 'incompatible'. Mr Wilders was visiting London to show his anti-Islamic film Fitna at the House of Lords. About 200 members of the English Defence League marching in support had to be kept apart from anti-fascist demonstrators chanting 'Nazi scum, off our streets' by lines of police. EDL members, some of them carrying English flags, chanted back: 'No surrender to the Taliban.' About 50 arrests were made, mostly those taking part in the protest organised by Unite Against Fascism, a police spokesman said....

In an interview with Greta Van Susteren on FOXNews' On the Record, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) stated that he understand that negotiations are currently going on between the House and the Senate Democrats to reach a compromise Obamacare bill. He asked that any new Obamacare bill be made available at least 72 hours prior to the Obama - Republican meeting proposed for Feb. 25. (no link to interview available yet)

A second US citizen who was detained by North Korea for crossing the border has sought political asylum in the communist state, a South Korean newspaper said Saturday. snip He crossed the border near the city of Tumen in northeast China into North Korea's Onsong County on Monday, the daily said. "I came here because I did not want to serve as a cannon fodder in the capitalist military. I want to serve in the North Korean army," the American was quoted as telling North Koreans, according to the daily. However his identity including his name and occupation remained unknown,...

This is about the time Barack Obama becomes bored with his job. He's in his second year as president, and he's discovered that even with all the powers of office, he can't do everything he wants to do, like remake America. Doing stuff is hard. In the past, prosaic work has held little appeal for Obama, and it's prompted him to think about moving on. snip According to the book, the majority leader invited Obama to his office for a talk. "You're not going to go anyplace here," Reid told Obama. "I know that you don't like it, doing what...

The speaker says the House should pass the Senate's version of the plan and then use 'budget reconciliation' to make changes that some lawmakers want. The procedure could circumvent a GOP filibuster. Laying out a possible path to approving healthcare legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said Wednesday that the House should pass the Senate's version and then use a process known as "budget reconciliation" to make the changes some lawmakers are demanding. The politically fraught strategy might allow Democrats to salvage a version of the overhaul that senior lawmakers pushed through the House and Senate late last year....

If Washington Wire readers are interested in reading Andrew Young’s forthcoming tell-all on his decade behind the scenes with John Edwards, the story heats up on page 154 when Young begins to recount how the 2008 presidential hopeful and former Democratic Party vice presidential nominee was taken down by an extramarital affair and a brazen attempt to hide his daughter’s paternity. snip Young describes his alleged discovery of a compromising videotape of Edwards and a naked, pregnant lover, identified by Young as Hunter. “It was like watching a traffic pileup occur in slow motion — it was repelling but also...

An international human rights organization has criticized a U.S. Supreme Court ruling about election spending in America. The criticism comes from a senior official of the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The head of its office that monitors democratic practices [Janez Lenarcic] says the ruling effectively lifting limits on election spending by corporations and unions "threatens to further marginalize candidates without strong financial backing or extensive personal resources."

David Axelrod, a senior adviser for President Barack Obama, told the Washington Post that the health care bill has been such a drag that the only thing the party can do is to pass it and then hope it becomes more popular: Despite the general opposition to the legislation in this and other polls, Democrats reiterated Monday their belief that, once the politically debilitating debate ends, they can turn health-care reform into a winning issue. Their strategy is to make a populist argument that they say will put Republicans on the defensive for opposing politically popular measures designed to check...

"Port-au-Prince is a morgue," Jean said at a Manhattan press conference, recounting how he collected the corpses of small children and adults from the festering streets on his recent trip. Tears streamed down his face as he looked into the camera, speaking to his countrymen. Residents should be evacuated to tent cities outside Port-au-Prince to allow for aid to reach them and so cleanup can begin in earnest, Jean said, asking for help from around the world in building encampments. "We need to migrate at least 2 million people," Jean said, promising to draw on his status as one of...

U.S. authorities are readying for an influx of Haitians seeking to escape their earthquake-racked nation, even though the policy for migrants remains the same: With few exceptions, they will go back. Fears of a mass migration have not materialized so far, but conditions in Haiti become more dire each day and U.S. officials don't want to be caught off guard. (snip) "This is a very dangerous crossing. Lives are lost every time people try to make this crossing," Ms. Napolitano said, addressing Haitians directly. "Please do not have us divert our necessary rescue and relief efforts that are going into...

The international effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the victims of last week's Port-au-Prince earthquake was hit by bickering today as a French government minister accused the Americans of trying to occupy Haiti instead of helping it. snip Six days after the quake, however, precious little aid is getting beyond the airport perimeters - largely because of security concerns snip 280 emergency centres were finally due to be set up, starting from today, to provide shelter and to distribute the enormous stockpiles of donated water and food that have been building up at Haiti's airport. The centres are due to...

The first Samaritan’s Purse cargo plane arrived in Haiti Wednesday with emergency relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that rocked the country on Tuesday. The initial shipment included shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits, as well as members of our disaster response team. Our team is comprised of veterans of many disaster responses, but even they were shocked by what they encountered when they arrived. “The streets are full of people that have no home to go back to,” said Dr. David Gettle, medical advisor. “They’re running out of food, fuel, and water. The situation is...