Free Republic

Sarah Palin and her One Nation bus tour are making a surprise trip to Iowa, if you haven’t heard. In an email sent yesterday to supporters of her political action committee she said she’s going to “meet folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this week.”(snip) Sarah Palin has proved that she is the quasi-political attention-getting master of the US media universe. That’s because there just happens to be a debate in Ames, Iowa tonight among declared GOP presidential contenders. A straw poll follows this weekend. So hundreds of political reporters are already in Iowa – pre-positioned for...

Firefights broke out between NATO forces and Afghan police in two parts of Afghanistan overnight, with four Afghan officers killed in one of the incidents, officials said Wednesday. In southern Kandahar province, Afghan police and NATO troops clashed in Arghandab district -- a farming community just outside of Kandahar city, said Shah Mohammad, the top official for the district. He said four Afghan police officers were killed and four wounded.

The acting U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction resigned unexpectedly Thursday afternoon, removing the White House's only real contender for the post and injecting new uncertainty into a troubled watchdog office. Herb Richardson, who assumed his post in February, told National Journal in an interview that he will be leaving for a job in the private sector. Richardson had been in the job for just under six months and was undergoing a frustratingly long wait to see if the Obama administration would formally tab him for the post on a permanent basis. People familiar with the matter say that...

President Barack Obama’s upcoming bus tour through the Midwest states typically viewed as swing states during presidential election years will be paid for by the taxpayers, the White House says. Obama will start the tour on Aug. 15 and will talk about strengthening jobs and the economy, the White House announced on Tuesday. “He is very happily getting out into the country again after a very sustained period here in Washington and he looks forward to talking to folks about growing the economy, creating jobs," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. "We will have more details, as I said,...

The Alaska Attorney General’s office has dismissed yet another frivolous ethics complaint filed against Governor Palin by a leftwing political blogger. This particular blogger is from Texas (where she volunteered as a precinct captain for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign), and yet her dismissed complaint against Governor Palin has cost the State of Alaska time and resources because no matter how absurd the complaint is, the state must respond to it. These complaints also cost Governor Palin personally to defend herself. This small band of leftwing bloggers have dedicated their lives to spreading lies, half-truths, and failed legal analysis about allegations...

Sarah Palin told Sean Hannity tonight, "Heck if we were real terrorists Barack Obama would want to pal around with us."

Last week I attended a cocktail party on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It’s an unfortunate part of life every now and then for this prefer-a-basketball-game-and-soft-pretzel New Yorker. With that being said, any opportunity to mingle with members of New York City’s left-wing elite serves to provide both a wealth of amusement and—quite often—column-worthy entertainment. This particular party happened to occur the same day it was revealed that Sarah Palin will be keynoting a tea party rally in Iowa on September 3. So, Palin came up quite a bit. What did some of Manhattan’s finest lefties have to say about her?...

Governor Sarah Palin's 8/01/2011 interview with Greta Van Susteren (on Biden's "Terrorist" comment)

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement today regarding his vote in opposition to the new version of the Budget Control Act of 2011: “Last week I made the difficult decision to compromise and voted for Speaker Boehner’s plan. While the Boehner plan was not perfect, it was a realistic approach and a step in the right direction. Among other things, it required passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution before a second increase in the debt ceiling. “However, the legislation before us today was not quite as good. By contrast, today’s deal only requires a Balanced...

Senator John Kyl: Tea Party Republicans remind me a lot of Senator Barack Obama who also refused to raise the debt limit.

WASHINGTON– Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement today regarding his vote on the Budget Control Act of 2011: “Over the past several weeks, I have been listening to many folks in the 9th District who are rightfully concerned with our nation’s debt and, like I am, are frustrated by Washington’s lack of spending discipline. Many have urged me to make a common sense compromise, and even some of those who oppose the Boehner plan understand the need to do something to bring about stability and peace of mind to the American public. After reviewing constituent comments, I made...

Republican Study Committee member Tom Rooney is circulating a stark letter calling out committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and accusing the group of threatening “not only the future of the RSC itself, but that of our hard fought majority.” The tough letter comes a few days after an RSC staffer was caught trying to gin up conservative groups to target other Republicans who were leaning in favor of Speaker John Boehner’s deficit reduction bill. Rooney’s letter to Jordan says that the incident, in which RSC staffers sent emails to conservative listservs urging them to pressure GOP lawmakers within the RSC,...

Out here in proverbial politico flyover country, we little folk are watching the debt ceiling debate with great interest and concern. Today I re-read the open letter I wrote to Republican Freshman Members of Congress in November 2010, just days after they were ushered into office in an historic landslide victory due in large part to the activism of commonsense patriots who are considered part of the Tea Party movement. I respectfully ask these GOP Freshman to re-read this letter and remember us “little people” who believed in them, donated to their campaigns, spent hours tirelessly volunteering for them, and...

A grizzly bear sow with a cub attacked a group of teenagers on a month-long survival-skills course Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains, causing severe injuries to two of the hikers, according to Alaska State Troopers. (snip) The group was on the 24th day of a 30-day backpacking trip, school spokesman Bruce Palmer said by phone from Wyoming. It was the group's first day unaccompanied by adult instructors, Palmer said. "For the last bit of the course, we would have them travel as a student group without the instructors, utilizing the skills that they've learned over time," Palmer said. (snip)...

It’s been almost three years since I, along with many others, was introduced to Governor Sarah Palin. In that time we have been saturated with coverage of her and just about everybody on the left and the right, has had the opportunity to get to know who she is and what they think of her. At least that’s what I thought. (snip) I thought she hadn’t gotten a fair shake in the media, but I felt confident that I could see through the bias and that I understood who she was, what she had done and what my opinion would...

"Obama lies, economy dies. He says "default's catastrophic" then opposes deal to avert it. Nonsense. Gold stars to GOP trying to deal w/this."

New Port Richey, Florida - Airport security is a part of traveling these days, from walking through X-Ray machines to being patted down. But one New Port Richey couple contacted 10 News to say the search they received went too far. "It was extremely thorough, almost a violation, "says Jason Steitler as he describes how a TSA official searched him at the Greater Rochester International Airport July 6th. Steitler's disability requires he uses a wheelchair. "They did the hair then did the neck. Then they had me do a pushup in my chair, then got down into my inner thigh...

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina in a video sent to supporters this morning announced that the Obama 2012 campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a whopping$86 million, far surpassing their stated goal of $60 million. (snip) He said 98% of all donations were $250 or less. The average donation was $69.

Dear Senator Murray: For many months now, your colleagues in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee leadership have engaged in a series of disparagements and ad hominem attacks about us, apparently as part of a concerted political and fundraising strategy. Just recently, Senator Reid wrote in a DSCC fundraising letter that Republicans are trying to “force through their extreme agenda faster than you can say ‘Koch Brothers.’” So you can imagine my chagrin when I got a letter from you on June 17 asking us to make five-figure contributions to the DSCC. You followed that up with a voicemail* indicating that,...

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement today regarding the EPA’s finalized Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. The rule requires 27 states in the eastern half of the United States to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants. This rule impacts 3,642 electric generating units at 1,081 facilities: “Today’s release of the final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is yet another attack on American jobs by the EPA. If the EPA’s purpose under the Obama Administration is to create uncertainty in the economy, kill jobs, and increase electricity rates, then mission accomplished. “In Southwest Virginia, a...