Free Republic

A US Navy spy plane flew over the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was conducting drills to the south of Taiwan.The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet announced the flight of the Navy P-8A Poseidon, and Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the plane flew on the south side of the median line, an unofficial barrier that separates the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.A US Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane, file image.China said it tracked the US aircraft and accused the US of hyping the incident. "The troops of the PLA Eastern Theater Command have tracked and monitored...

Elon Musk responded to Donald Trump's recent criticism by saying it was time for the former president to "hang up his hat & sail into the sunset."Musk commented via Twitter after sharing a story about Trump on Saturday night calling the Tesla and SpaceX CEO a "bullsh*t artist.""I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset," Musk tweeted Monday night. "Dems should also call off the attack – don't make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency."Musk's tweet came after Trump's appearance at...

Barring a miracle, South Carolina will bury the last libertarian-leaning candidate of '08 COLUMBIA, SC—One by one, the great libertarian hopes of the 2008 presidential cycle have been dashed. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was touted—some might say over-hyped—as an example of a Western "libertarian Democrat" for his friendliness to gun rights, for signing a medical marijuana law, and for a tax-cutting record that earned him a B on the Cato Institute's Fiscal Policy Report Card. He dropped out of the race after failing to break the six percent mark in Iowa or New Hampshire. At his final debate appearance...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Appealing to Saudi Arabia to encourage higher oil production to help lower prices is not in the long-term interest of the United States, Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson said on Wednesday. The White House said President George W. Bush hopes that as a result of his talks this week with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, OPEC would be encouraged to increase production to help alleviate high oil prices, which have touched $100 a barrel. Appearing on CNN, Thompson was asked whether, as president, he would turn to Saudi Arabia for help as Bush did. Thompson, a former...

Gun rights advocates were understandably dismayed when the Bush Administration Justice Department submitted a brief in District of Columbia v. Heller, the big Second Amendent case to be argued later this term, calling for a remand of the case for reconsideration of D.C.'s gun laws under a less demanding constitutional standard. Given the Bush Administration's support for an "individual rights" view of the Second Amendment, many find it incomprehensible that the Administration would not support the D.C. Circuit decision holding D.C.'s draconian gun restrictions unconstitutional. The DoJ's brief is also a potentially unwelcome development in the Presidential race, as it...

Fred Thompson just mentioned that he questions John McCain about illegal immigration and tax cuts!

Politico.com an upstart (but seemingly well-funded) political blog has been sticking it to Fred Thompson for weeks. So Friends of Fred are Sticking it to Politico (dot com). Please visit the site.

Perhaps the biggest fraud ever to be perpetrated onto the American people is Global Warming. Al Gore is just the symptom. If not given cover by a group of supposed climate scientists and other left-wing academics, Mr. Gore would be easily seen as the nutcase, phony alarmist that he is. Alas, nearly the entire left of the political spectrum has bought into this hoax, and more than a few ‘conservatives’ have also succumbed to the hysteria, including Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee. Fred Thompson, at least since he started campaigning for the GOP nomination, has provided some biting remarks regarding...

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said he's met frequently with influential social conservatives who are willing to accept his position on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage even though it doesn't go quite as far as they would like. Thompson favors a constitutional amendment that bars judges from legalizing gay marriage, but also leaves open the door for state legislatures to approve the practice. He said social and religious conservatives who would prefer an amendment that also bars legislatures from legalizing gay marriage can live with his view. "Everyone I have talked to in my meetings...

Why, just as the investigation into Clinton campaign corruption was hitting pay dirt, did Fred Thompson suddenly strike a deal with Democrats to shift the hearings into a softer, gentler discussion of legislative changes? Consider the momentum building: 1. Venerable Gore, now wisely hiring criminal lawyers, was shown to be fund-raising from federal property for his own campaign, which forced Janet Reno to shake up Justice's hapless bureaucracy - in hope of evading the law's mandate to seek court appointment of a real prosecutor. 2. Our rogue president, after selling face time to an engaging hustler for $300,000, was shown...

Fred Thompson has been acting like he has all the time in the world to get his campaign going, with his aides and advisers saying they wanted to get a first-class organization humming before the “Law & Order” actor steps out for his close-up. One adviser, seeking to calm down an excitable reporter, even pointed out that “there will be two World Series” before the 2008 election. But in fact Thompson – who plans to travel the country with his family in a luxury bus emblazoned with the words “Security, Unity, Prosperity” -- is in a race against time that...

McLean, VA – On September 6, 2007, Fred Thompson will be announcing his intention to run for President of the United States with a webcast available to millions at www.imwithfred.com. The launch of the video will be followed by a five-day campaign tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. “I believe that there are millions of Americans who know that our security and prosperity are at risk if we don’t address the challenges of our time; the global threat of terrorism; taxes and spending that will bankrupt future generations, and a government that can’t seem to get the most...

Fred Thompson will formally announce his candidacy for president next Thursday September 6th, via a webcast, political director Randy Enwright just told supporters on a conference call. Thompson will then head out on a "grass-roots tour" of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He'll then do a second round of stumping the following week in Florida before returning to his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, on the 15th. The Thompson campaign will file their papers with the FEC on the 6th, making his candidacy official and bringing an end to his "testing-the-waters" stage. On the night of the 6th, Thompson's campaign...