Free Republic

Democratic Senate candidates, facing withering criticism on the national health care law, are gambling they can turn voters against two billionaire brothers funding the attacks—even if few Americans would recognize the pair on the street. In an accelerating counteroffensive stretching from the Senate chamber to Alaska, Democrats are denouncing Charles and David Koch, the key figures behind millions of dollars in conservative TV ads hammering Democratic candidates and their ties to President Barack Obama. Democrats depict the Kansas-based Koch (pronounced “Coke”) brothers as self-serving oil barons who pay huge sums to try to “buy” elections and advance their agenda of...

Hurricane Michele Bachmann? Groups Hope to Name Storms After Climate-Change Deniers National Journal Alex Brown 5 hours ago If a pair of environmental groups get their way, Hurricane Michele Bachmann or Tropical Storm John Boehner could be the next storms threatening to wreak havoc on the U.S. A new petition, proposed by Project Name Change and 350+ Action Fund, seeks to name storms after politicians who the groups say deny climate change. The groups' website provides a list of the targeted politicians. Of course, it is unlikely that the World Meteorological Organization will change its naming practices, but the petition...

"Any1 who would run out to buy an assault rifle after the Newtown massacre has very little left in their body or soul worth protecting. ;^\" Hey, gun owners: There’s “very little” about your life and even your very soul “worth protecting” if you bought an assault rifle after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, according to funnyman Jim Carrey. Because, you know, he values life and stuff. The emoticon at the end of his tweet just shows how much he cares. “Dumb and Dumber” doesn’t begin to cover this one. And Much like Musket Morgan, we’re guessing Carrey couldn’t...

President Obama promised “meaningful action” to prevent gun violence, but he didn’t explain exactly what that meant. Although a push for some kind of gun control legislation seems likely, there’s also the possibility of an anti-gun “informational campaign” as described in 1995 by then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder. Holder, now Obama’s attorney general, proposed using various levers of media and pop culture to attach a social stigma to guns, just as smoking has been stigmatized in recent decades. “One thing that I think is clear with young people and with adults as well, is that we just have to be repetitive...

Incitement is a government tool to ready their subjects and the world for an intended war. Incitement is particularly employed by the PA, Hamas and UNRWA to instill and maintain a hatred of Jews/Israelis. It contains a two-pronged attack. It promotes grievances, the Jews stole our land and are oppressing us, and it demonizes Jews, the Jews are Nazis, sons of apes and pigs, drink our blood, steal our organs, etc. The grievances justify going to war against Israel and the demonization justifies a second holocaust. So why then is Israel paying lip service to it's cessation and worse, actively...

Washington is about to bump smack into the nation's debt ceiling, and the Obama White House is demanding that it be raised without any cost-cutting measures attached. Republicans say no -- raising the prospect of the government lacking sufficient funds to pay its bills. That'd cause problems -- but if refusing to hike the limit is what it will take to start an adult discussion about the nation's finances, we say: Go for it, folks. "I have to hold my ground," says freshman Rep. Mike Grimm (R-SI), "because otherwise I really believe . . . our economy will be destroyed."...

One of the first books that made me thirst for God was, ironically, about His polar opposite. The book is Andrew Delbanco's The Death of Satan: How Americans Have Lost the Sense of Evil, The author describes the disastrous results of Americans rejecting the concept of evil. When Satan was alive and well, citizens practiced the Ten Commandments, atoned for their sins, and worried about eternal damnation. But today, inhabitants eschew the devil as an anachronism of days gone by. And what has been the result of the Death of Satan? More bloodshed than ever before in the history of...

"Boule de Suif" is a famous short story by French writer Guy de Maupassant about a group of passengers in a horse-drawn coach trapped behind Prussian lines during the Franco-Prussian War. The passengers include two nuns, an upper-class factory owner and his wife, a petty bourgeoisie couple who own a small shop, a politician, a wealthy aristocratic couple, and of course the prostitute named Elizabeth Rousset. The name "Boule de Suif" translates to "Bowl of fFat," a reference to the prostitute from a time when fat women were considered very attractive. Before their detention, the passengers enjoy each other's company,...

Clinton Heckled in Blue New York, Says Half of Republicans Need Psychiatric Help http://www.theblaze.com/stories/clinton-heckled-in-blue-new-york-says-half-of-republicans-need-psychiatric-help/

The face-off between the ruling party and the people continues to unfold, as Democrat politicians hold town hall meetings across the country to build support for the Obama administration's latest power grab, misleadingly labeled 'health care reform.' The faux outrage politicians manufacture on demand has been replaced by real outrage. Outrage at the American people for failing to understand the nuances, the broad outline of a 1,000 page plus bill that most politicians haven't even read. Hey, that's what staff is for, explained new Democrat, Arlen Spector. Peons from fly-over country are daring to challenge the carefully scripted and (deliberately?)...

As one White House official explained it to me Limbaugh became an issue not because he is the most prominent Obama critic but because the talk show host embodies “hyper-partisanship.” Limbaugh became a stand-in for White House view of Republicans as a party that is not constructive, not willing to seek common ground and out of touch with a bipartisan thirst for solutions to pressing economic problems. Obama’s aides connect the dots and see a picture of a dark, unappealing political landscape on the right in which Republicans have become so in-grown that not one of them felt free to...

AIG is trying to take the bull's eye off its back. The embattled firm took down its most prominent sign in Manhattan and asked employees to return their controversial bonuses by 5 p.m. today. The fuss over $165 million in bonuses for execs in the risk-taking Financial Products division that first caused all the problems led to subpoenas and death threats. CEO Edward Liddy last week asked those who got $100,000 or more to give at least half the money back. Management asked execs in the unit to let them know by 5 p.m. if they plan to return all...

When the media keep repeating that someone is beyond the pale, some people are bound to believe them. Recent events show that radicals will even try to kill people who have been demonized in this manner. Perhaps that is the goal behind the policy of demonization: to neutralize and remove the people’s democratically elected representatives. Recently, we are being confronted with the bizarre phenomenon of defenders of Western freedoms, including Jews, being demonized as “Nazis,” while subsequently Nazi methods are used to eliminate them. The authorities, meanwhile, do not come to the aid of the victims since the latter are...

Democrats took a swipe at Republicans - and conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh - with a Web page launched Wednesday morning on the official site of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The page - found at imsorryrush.com - allows users to construct a Mad Libs-style message to Limbaugh using "the secret Republican Apology Machine" and sign it with the name of prominent Republicans who've released mea culpas to Limbaugh recently - including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. [Snip] Limbaugh made headlines on his radio show when he stated, four days before Barack Obama's inauguration, that he wanted...

Michael S. Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, arranged for his 2006 Senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed, his finance chairman from that campaign has told federal prosecutors. Federal agents in recent days contacted Steele's sister, a spokesman for Steele said yesterday. (snip) Fabian's claims emerge as Steele begins his new role at the RNC, where he oversees the raising and spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in party money. The former Maryland lieutenant governor has faced questions about his handling of campaign money...

GENEVA (Reuters) – The world's top diplomat for Islam called on Friday for an end to what he termed efforts to equate the religion with terrorism and said the 'demonization' of Muslims around the world must be fought. But speaking soon after the U.N. General Assembly passed an Islamic-sponsored resolution condemning "defamation of religion" for the fourth year in a row, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said his group was committed to respecting freedom of expression. There was a "rising tide of incitement to religious hatred and discrimination and intolerance targeting Muslims," he told a meeting called by the Organization of the Islamic...

Doing the Holocaust “Schtick”   By Hillel StavisFrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, May 16, 2008 “Some U.S. citizens travel with an unconscious attitude of superiority” “Being openly gay or lesbian is outside the cultural norms of Palestinian life…” “It is best that you not raise the issue of being gay or lesbian with Palestinians..” “It’s best not to practice your Hebrew with Palestinians even if someone uses it with you.” “It is better not to wear a kippah or yarmulke in Palestinian communities.  Again, while our hosts are glad to meet Israelis and Jews, there are many eyes and ears watching...

Army must make law enforcement against settlers a policy backed by action Mooky Dagan Published: 09.21.06, 14:49 For years human rights organizations have pointed out the complicity between the Israel Defense Forces command headquarters in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israeli settlers, nurtured by policies intended to facilitate the Judaization of the West Bank. The army’s bond with the settlers leads to a policy of non-action as far as maintaining the law and the security of Palestinians, who are subject to constant violent harassment by their illegal neighbors. While the IDF and the Civil Administration (which deals with civilian conflicts...

John McCain has been the darling of the U.S. media since his 2000 slugfest with George W. Bush for the Republican nomination. McCain has studiously courted this media approval, but with the Senator's eyes set on 2008, McCain realizes the coziness with the press is a double-edged sword and an actual impediment to the GOP nomination.It's amusing to watch the slow, yet inevitable shift in the media's attitude toward their favorite GOP politician these past six years. You always knew that if McCain were to get the Republican nomination in 2008, all of his liberal media pals who had been...

Baruch Marzel, a disciple of the late extremist Meir Kahane and leader of the National Jewish Front party, recently sent a threatening letter to Hadash MK Mohammed Barakei warning that he was sending appraisers to assess the value of his home in advance of his "expulsion." Barakei sent the letter on Monday to the Knesset security chief, who then passed it on to the police for inspection. Barakei, who lives in Shfaram, warned that he could not be "responsible" for Marzel's safety if he enters onto his property. In the letter, Marzel said that after Barakei supported the "transfer of...