Free Republic

The candidate’s post-masculine charisma tempts America in the age of Oprah. Summer 2008 In the patois of punditry, “charismatic” has come to mean little more than “like a rock star.” But the striking thing about the charismatic leader is the extent to which his followers regard him as a healer of wounds, an alleviator of pain. In this sense, surely, Senator Barack Obama is charismatic. The carefully knotted ties and the dark, conservatively tailored suits only accentuate the exoticness of his shamanism; he has entered the American psyche not as a hero but as a healer. The country, or much...

Jay McKinnon, a self-described Department of Homeland Security-trained document specialist, has implicated himself in the production of fraudulent Hawaii birth certificate images similar to the one endorsed as genuine by the Barack Obama campaign, and appearing on the same blog entry where the supposedly authentic document appears. The evidence of forgery and manipulation of images of official documents, triggered by Israel Insider's revelation of the collection of Hawaii birth certificate images on the Photobucket site and the detective work of independent investigative journalists and imaging professionals in the three weeks since the publication of the images, implicate the Daily Kos,...

Dalai Lama draws 50,000 to Seattle stadium By Laura Myers Sat Apr 12, 7:27 PM ET Tens of thousands of people packed a Seattle sports stadium on Saturday to hear the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, call for nonviolence and to make the 21st century a "century of dialogue." Drums played, American Indian chiefs wearing feathered head-dresses danced and organizers said about 51,000 people -- many of them families -- listened under sunny skies to the Dalai Lama speak about compassion. Sitting in a red chair under a canopied stage on the stadium field, the robed leader made no...

Open Windows Today's Scripture “Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10 AMP). Today's Word from Joel and Victoria God wants to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings on you today! But you have to do your part first. Your part is to...

. "...as a person, I love him,'' the Dalai Lama said about President GW Bush. ``We immediately became friends. He's a very nice person.''

WASHINGTON — The Dalai Lama said he was "deeply touched" Wednesday by his receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal, which he received in an ornate ceremony under the U.S. Capitol dome -- but not before having a hearty laugh over his inability to speak perfect English. "It is a great honor for me to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. This ... will bring tremendous joy and encouragement to the Tibetan people, for whom I have a special responsibility," the Dalai Lama said, reading from his prepared remarks. The Dalai Lama was surrounded by top congressional leaders and President Bush Wednesday...

Former President May Still Be Ultimate Power Broker (CBS) HARLEM -- At about 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, 13 floors above 125th Street off Fifth in Harlem, the former President of the United States walks into a packed double conference-sized room with not enough room on the riser in the back for all the TV cameras. And only two or three of the cameras are from local news or the usual networks. Many are from business outlets, and half are from international news agencies, particularly outfits that cover Latin America. Because standing there with Mr. Clinton are Frank Giustra, one of...

In a move to increase its relevance in the presidential selection process, the Golden State is set to jump up its primary from June of 2008 to February 5th, less than a year away. This may benefit New York's presidential aspirants, and especially its Republican one. Last week I noted Giuliani's electric support at the California Republican Party convention. A recent poll has resoundingly brought forth the same message. This morning, the Wall Street Journal's John Fund notes the following numbers: With California moving its presidential primary to Feb. 5 of next year, what Golden State voters think about White...

Pundits of all political persuasions have been chattering about whether Rudy Giuliani, whose name is invariably modified by the description "social liberal," can overcome the objections of many religious conservatives to win the Republican nomination. Will his assurances to appoint judges in the mold of Roberts, Alito and Scalia be "enough" to put their concerns to rest? Will conservatives overlook social issues in an election focusing largely on foreign policy? The more interesting question is whether Giuliani can establish a new description of what it means to be "socially conservative." Perhaps to be socially conservative means something more than just...

Giuliani Strikes a Note With California GOP Testing the Waters, Former N.Y. Mayor Garners 4 Ovations SACRAMENTO, Feb. 10 -- Rudolph W. Giuliani came west to learn whether his brand of Republican politics has a chance among party members significantly more conservative than himself. By the time he had received a fourth standing ovation Saturday at the California Republican Party convention, the answer seemed clear. Equating the U.S. fight against terrorism with the Civil War and the Cold War, Giuliani told about 750 of his party's faithful that failure in Iraq would turn that country into a "massive headquarters for...

At first glance, the congregation gathered in a warehouse in Doral, Fla., seems like a typical Hispanic evangelical group. There's the 10-piece band, the singing and swaying, the whooping and hollering. But look a little more closely. There's not a cross in sight. The lectern is emblazoned with a near replica of the U.S. presidential seal, except that it reads in Spanish, government of god on earth. Off to the side stand three burly guys in dark suits with Secret Service-style earpieces. When a door by the stage opens, the guards leap into action. They surround the man with slicked-back...

What can be more astonishing between a saint confusing people and a rogue speaking the truth? Two such unexpected observations became media bytes recently. The Dalai Lama, on a month-long trip to the US and South America, said at San Francisco and Chicago that Islam is a religion of compassion which is being unfairly marginalised by few extremists. Ye Xiaowen, the Director of State Administration for Religious Affairs, recently said that Buddhism can reduce social divisions in China better than Islam and Christianity, adding Buddhism can help believers cope with fast-changing society plagued by wealth gap and social unrest. In...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities say a businessman pardoned by former President Clinton has been found dead inside his South Beach condo. Miami Beach police say 63-year-old Almon Braswell was found dead October 28th in his Ocean Drive condo by his employees. It's believed he died from a previous injury. Additional information hasn't been released. The Miami-Dade County medical examiner is labeling Braswell's death as "unclassified" pending more tests. Clinton granted 177 pardons and clemencies just before leaving office in 2001. Braswell was pardoned of convictions for fraud and other crimes stemming from false claims in 1983 about...

ROME (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama said after meeting Pope Benedict on Friday that "a few mischievous Muslims" should not be allowed to give the Islamic faith a bad name. Muslims worldwide were offended by a speech by the Pope last month in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed spread Islam by the sword. The backlash has been sometimes violent and hardliners declared war on the Pope. The exiled spiritual leader of 6 million Tibetan Buddhists living under Chinese Communist rule said Benedict and his predecessor John Paul II, who died last year, shared with...

Veteran U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, walks past an anti-U.S. banner placed among the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment during the 34-day long Hezbollah-Israel war, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006. Jackson, who said Tuesday that an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants and two others held captive by Hezbollah are alive, also said Syria, a main backer of both Hamas and Hezbollah, wanted to be involved in a prisoner swap that included the three Israelis and Syrian nationals detained by Israel in the Golan Heights....

Mel Gibson has become the designated Hitler-of-the-Month for August 2006, displacing both Saddam Hussein and Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the previous front-runners. However, conservative Christians, before rushing to condemn or defend their fallen hero, might ponder the incident for a moment, before presuming to form an opinion. To give credit where it is due, Zev Chafets, in his LA Times commentary “Slurring More than His Words”, makes several valuable points. To begin with, Mr. Gibson’s first line of defense—the Tequila made him do it—is absurd. As Chafets commnts, “Evidently Gibson wants people to believe that, although he personally loves Jews, the...

Dalai Lama has links with CIA, Indian Army: China Saibal Dasgupta BEIJING: China on Wednesday accused the Dalai Lama of collaborating with CIA and Indian armed forces to organise the 'Indian Tibetan special border troops'. They also accused him of being involved in a 'swindle' by using wrong facts to mislead world opinion about the situation in Tibet. The Dalai Lama continues to work for Tibetan independence under the guise of seeking autonomy for the region, China said in a statement. The Dalai Lama's demand for "one country, two systems" for Tibet as is the situation in Hong Kong and...

Link to story due to copyright restrictions: Evangelist arrested on federal charges (opens in new window)

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese man who conned dozens of farmers out of 2 million yuan (135,770 pounds) to grow trees he said would be used in the 2008 Olympics has been jailed for 12 years, a Chinese newspaper said on Tuesday. Liu Lutang was barking up the wrong tree when he duped more than 50 farmers into contracts to buy saplings of a maple tree for 20 yuan ($2.50) each, promising them he would buy them back at a higher price after six months, the Beijing News said. "He told the farmers (they) would be used in the Olympics,"...

Former President Bill Clinton praised evangelical Christians on Thursday for their recent efforts on global warming and debt relief for poor nations and said he sees growing understanding between people of different faiths. Clinton made the remarks while accepting an award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. He said that as president he had "a consuming interest in the intersection of religion and politics." He said evangelicals, few of whom voted for him, "were instrumental in the biggest debt relief initiative in history in my last year as president because they believed in the admonition of the Scripture to...