Free Republic

The hometown newspaper of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., criticized him for “doing the dirty work” to protect President Trump, after he wrote up a memo that allegedly outlines surveillance violations by the U.S. government. “What, pray tell, does Rep. Devin Nunes think he’s doing by waving around a secret memo attacking the FBI, the nation’s premier law enforcement agency?” the Fresno Bee wrote in an op-ed published Thursday. “He certainly isn’t representing his Central Valley constituents or Californians, who care much more about health care, jobs and, yes, protecting Dreamers than about the latest conspiracy theory.”

Europe pledged Wednesday to press on with new charges for airline carbon emissions across its airspace as of January 1, after scoring a key victory over US rivals in the EU's top court. The decision was welcomed as vindication by the European Union, which told US airlines to get ready to obey the law in the same way EU companies respect American regulations. But it was not without collateral damage, with industry sources fearing a possible trade war after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned of reprisals ahead of the ruling. A high-ranking source in the aviation sector told...

Centrist House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are working together privately on healthcare reform. The talks have been so secretive and politically sensitive that some members interviewed by The Hill refused to name other legislators involved in the bipartisan effort. Members of the centrist GOP “Tuesday Group,” the New Democrat Coalition and the 52-member Blue Dog Coalition have been discussing both the policies and politics of moving their middle-of-the-road ideas in a body of Congress usually dominated by liberal or conservative ideology. Those centrist factions are wary of the proposals their respective leaders will introduce this month. Blue...

(sigh) Time to bend over and grab the Vaseline.

www.heritage.org The Great EU Inquisition: Europe's Response to the U.S. Rendition Policy by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. February 6, 2006 WebMemo #988 “We do not have a war against terror.”[1] This extraordinary statement by a senior European Union (EU) official reflects the divide between Washington and Europe’s leading political institutions over the fight against al-Qaeda. Despite three major terrorist attacks on European soil in the past three years (in London, Madrid, and Istanbul), many top European officials still do not grasp the magnitude of the terrorist threat. Instead, they are engaged in a campaign of pandering...

AS Abu Musab al-Zarqawi continues to wreak havoc in Iraq with his international band of jihadists, European governments are increasingly worried about his ability to inspire and organise terrorist attacks in western Europe. Counter-terrorism experts meeting in Israel this week say the war in Iraq has given new impetus to Zarqawi's growing al-Qa'ida network in Europe. The EU's counter-terrorism co-ordinator, Gijs de Vries, said: "The trend is clear. As was already apparent in the Madrid attack and the killing of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, Europe has become both a target and a source of terrorism perpetrated in the...

Per Fox News...

MIDI - AQUARIUS - version 2 When we're faced with battles we can't lose Under the sand their heads they've ducked They hope that terror is just stopping As our allies they've sucked It is the twilight of the crapweasel Eurotrash, the crapweasel Eurotrash The Eurotrash, the Eurotrash France and Germany are useless Spain turned tail so easily They gave to the world the Nazis, and the fascists, and the commies Now when they are really needed...they go crying to their mommies The Eurotrash, the Eurotrash The U.S. is always where they turn We've come to their rescue before...

The usual dem whiners are hoplding a press conference. Nacy Reid, Harry Pelosi, and Steny (what kind of name is Steny) Hoyer are on CSPAN right now with the same old, same old whinging about everything.They are especially trying to hammer DeLay and are really blabbering about issue of bipartisanship.There are some good questions about dems who have had trips paid for. Pelosi (who is such a vile character that she is almost fun to watch) is giving slippery, non-responsive answers to other questions and, of course, whinning!This will certainly be on CSPAN a couple of times over the next...

In 1992, before delivering the Supreme Court's ruling in an abortion case, Justice Anthony Kennedy stood with a journalist observing rival groups of demonstrators and mused: "Sometimes you don't know if you're Caesar about to cross the Rubicon or Captain Queeg cutting your own tow line." Or perhaps you are a would-be legislator, a dilettante sociologist and a free-lance moralist, disguised as a judge. Last Tuesday Kennedy played those three roles when, in yet another 5-4 decision, the court declared it unconstitutional to execute people who committed murder when they were under 18 years old. Such executions, it said, violate...

'The change for the moment is more in tone than substance," wrote Alec Russell, reporting on President Bush's European outreach in yesterday's Daily Telegraph. You don't say. My colleague is almost right. In Brussels yesterday, the President's "charm offensive" consisted of saying the same things he always says ¨- on Iraq, Iran, Palestine, the illusion of stability, the benefits of freedom, the need for Egypt and Saudi Arabia to get with the programme, etc. But, tone-wise, the Bush charm offensive did its best to keep the offensiveness reasonably charming ¨C though his references to anti-Semitism and the murder of Theo...

Over lunch at a Washington think-tank some time ago, a high-ranking German official told the room about his country's determination to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council. The reaction? From the Americans present, indifference verging on boredom. For the Europeans, though, it was as if the official had dropped a concrete block on their toes. It was a fascinating moment of culture clash that demonstrates some ominous truths about American-European relations. The first truth is the traditionalism of American policy elites. Even when the evidence is thrust into American faces, it is hard for them to accept...

UNITED Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has appealed to all Iraqis for reconciliation "on all sides" after the country's national elections. US President George W. Bush hailed them the poll as a "resounding success". Mr Annan's statement, issued at the UN in New York as he attended an African Union summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, said reports had indicated that Iraqis "turned out in large numbers to exercise their right to vote". "It will be some days before final results are known, but current indications are that the elections have been successfully carried out. I wish to pay...

A Wonketeer writes, point your browser here (link) at noon and you will be able to listen to this crap fest yourself.Don't do it before noon or you will be subjected to more 1950's music than you can handle.When you think about it, it totally makes sense : Air America the liberal radio network, will not be broadcasting in the DC metro area.. DC went 70 percent for Gore! They don't need convincing.We suspect that Air America will blow. Then again, it could suck.Or perhaps it will achieve some mysterious simultaneous combination of the two. And while we are normally...