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So, a Republican has convincingly won Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat. After opposing health reform. And supporting the waterboarding of terrorists. And appearing as a nude centerfold. In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by three to one. And where Republicans haven’t won a Senate election since 1972. After a high-profile visit by President Obama. Who won the state by 26 points last year. But who now carries no political weight in the bluest state in the country. With vicious, public recriminations starting among Democrats even before election day. Following major losses in Virginia and New Jersey. It means that...

Scott Brown beats Martha Coakley -- and life goes on Well, that was quick. I thought the Apocalypse would be, you know, more of a blockbuster production, with a lot of explosions and computer-generated effects. Instead, just a phone call of concession -- offstage, no less -- from Martha Coakley to Scott Brown. You’d think from the overheated commentary that this was the end of the world (as we know it). Instead of having 20 more votes in the Senate than the Republicans, the Democrats now have only 18 more votes. Run for your lives. From the Democratic Party’s point...

Proposition 8, which would establish marriage as a union between a man and a woman, passed with 52.1% of the vote, against 47.9% opposed, with 94.6% of precincts reporting. The approval marks a stunning upset in a $70 million campaign that just weeks ago looked to be running in favor of preserving gay marriage rights. The passage of Prop 8, as it is known, would be a major victory for religious conservatives seeking to ban gay marriage in other states, and a crippling setback for the gay rights movement nationwide.

Map of Iraq. Click to view. Iraqi security forces are massing more than 30,000 soldiers and police for an upcoming operation against al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army in the eastern province of Diyala, according to police and military officials. The operation, which was expected to be launched this week, has been scheduled to kick off on August 1, an anonymous senior Iraqi military officer told AFP. "The operation is aimed at cleansing the region of insurgents, al Qaeda and militias who are still there," the officer said. Like other offensives against al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army, the...

Download this latest episode of Covert Radio to find out. Bill Roggio from the Long War Journal reacts to CIA Director Hayden on his claims that AQ is largely defeated. Bill raises questions about the claim including issues of Al Qaeda fundraising in the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia–the so called Golden Chain. Bill looks at Al Qaeda ascendancy in other areas including Somalia and Egypt. It is l10 minutes of critical analysis.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2008 – Al Qaeda has worn out its welcome with Sunni residents of western Iraq’s Anbar province and, consequently, the terror group’s influence there is over for good, the Marine Corps’ most senior officer said here today. The Sunnis became disgusted with al Qaeda’s brutal methods and backward ideology, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway said at a breakfast event at the National Press Club hosted by Government Executive Magazine Determined to rid themselves of al Qaeda, Sunni leaders in Anbar province formed concerned local citizens’ groups that attacked terrorists at every turn, Conway said. During...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's defense minister declared victory Thursday over the Fatah Islam militant group, saying it had been crushed after a monthlong military assault on its stronghold in a northern refugee camp and only mopping up remained. A Muslim cleric who has been acting as a mediator said later that Fatah Islam agreed to stop firing, and calm descended over the Nahr el-Bared camp outside the port of Tripoli The battle, Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-90 civil war, killed 76 soldiers, at least 60 militants and more than 20 civilians. It came amid a fierce political power...

Barring a miracle, there will be no Pride Week Festival in Ottawa this year, festival organizers say, after city council rejected please for emergency funding yesterday. Somerset Councillor Diane Holmes asked councillors and the mayor to grant $20,000 to help get this year's event - the 20th anniversary edition - off the ground. But the plea fell mostly on deaf ears, and the move was defeated on a vote of 15 to 3.Ms. Holmes then tried to get councillors and the mayor to agree to give organizers $12,000 to pay for insurance so a small-scale festival could be held. This...

<p>Hopes dimmed for putting a massive infrastructure bond plan on the June ballot when the state Senate failed early today to muster a two-thirds vote on a $47.3 billion package authored by Democratic leaders that Republicans denounced as a "sham."he 24-12 Senate floor vote at 12:30 a.m., which did not include any Republican support, fell three votes short of the 27 votes necessary to keep the plan moving toward the Assembly and possibly derailed efforts to put it on the June primary ballot.</p>

It's Curtains for al-Qaida What happens when Iraqi "insurgents" take on Zarqawi's thugs? By Christopher Hitchens Posted Monday, Jan. 16, 2006, at 1:57 PM ET The best news from Iraq this year would certainly be the long New York Times report of Jan. 12 on the murderous strife between local "insurgents" and al-Qaida infiltrators. This was also among the best news from last year. For months, coalition soldiers in Iraq had been telling anyone who would care to listen that they had noticed a new phenomenon: heavy fire that they didn't have to duck. On analysis, this turned out to...

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair was defeated today when parts of his government's plans to ban incitement to religious hatred were voted down in the House of Commons. Amendments put forward by the House of Lords were accepted by narrow majorities of 10 and one, although the government has a theoretical majority of 65 over the opposition parties. The legislation had attracted criticism as muzzling free speech. It would have made incitement to religious hatred punishable by a jail term of up to seven years. Junior Home Office minister Paul Goggins told the Commons: ``We are seeking to close a...

You probably won't find anything special printed on your calendar for the 19th and 21st of January. In case you are wondering, those are the respective birthdays of Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. As a nation we have already honored Martin Luther King, Jr., and will commemorate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln next month, but Lee and Jackson are especially dear to my heart. They were great men who embodied the inspiring courage, uncompromising honesty, principled conviction and moral fortitude we no longer see in our leaders today. Both Lee and Jackson were men...

(CNSNews.com) - America is defeated in Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a "slave of slaves," and the political strength of President George W. Bush is beginning to "seep away into the sand," according to British MP George Galloway who made the remarks in a speech delivered this week at Damascus University in Syria. The remarks were carried by the Al-Jazeera TV network on November 13. "America is losing the war in Iraq," said Galloway. "[P]ublic opinion in Britain and America is moving decisively against the policy of Bush and Blair." "No American soldier who leaves his barracks can...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2005 – President Bush today told attendees at a military spouses luncheon here that they and their husbands and wives deserve a clear strategy for victory over global terrorism. Terrorism is "a mortal danger to all humanity," Bush said at Bolling Air Force Base. He added that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States revealed the terrorists' destructive intent for the United States. The terrorists would like to strike America again, Bush said. Yet, the United States will continue confronting terrorism and "will not rest or tire until the war on terror is won," he...

Writings is the home for general works by friends of the Claremont Institute that don't fall into any other site category, such as our projects or Precepts newsletter.Derek Leebaert is a professor at Georgetown University and a consultant with the Zurich-based firm Management Assessment Partners (MAP). He is the author of The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Shapes Our World and Commandos and Conquerors: Special Operations and the Rise and Fall of Nations.Between Realism and IdealismPosted on June 23, 2005 Between Idealism and RealismPosted on June 23, 2005Tyranny And UtopiaPosted on May 31, 2005 Looking for something? Enter...

Opposition pass vote in bid to topple government Last Updated Tue, 10 May 2005 18:30:32 EDT CBC News OTTAWA - Opposition MPs passed a motion Tuesday night that they claim should topple the government – but the Liberals have dismissed the vote as nothing more than a procedural matter. The motion passed by 153 votes to 150. Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs voted for the motion calling on the public accounts committee "to recommend that the government resign." The NDP and two Independents voted with the Liberals against the motion. Liberals have rejected claims by the opposition that this...

Confederate heritage groups got excited when Gov. Bob Riley's annual proclamation designating April as Confederate History and Heritage Month dropped a paragraph saying slavery was the cause of the Civil War. The groups were pleased because they consider that description of slavery historically inaccurate. Their excitement, however, was short lived. "It was a mistake," said Jeff Emerson, the governor's communications director, on Monday. He said he did not know how the mistake was made. Emerson said the governor was unaware of the deletion until The Associated Press contacted his office. The governor quickly reissued the proclamation with the paragraph on...

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...

Ditto, Tom...Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle says goodbye.     This is an email-able, copyright-ready graphic you can use in emails, on blogs, in flyers, on posters... anything that's noncommercial.

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!