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Vance is one of the least popular vice-presidential picks this century. It's important to make a good first impression — whether you're on a first date, interviewing for a job or running to be vice president of the United States. And the two men who recently joined the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets have made very different first impressions. According to 538's new polling average of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's favorable and unfavorable ratings, the Democratic candidate for vice president has an unusual quality for a modern politician: He's well liked. As of Aug. 15 at 1 p.m. Eastern, 38...

"I have a lot of enemies. This may be the last time you see me for a while. I have a lot of very rich enemies. They're not happy with what I'm doing. But I figure we have one chance to do it. No other president is gonna do what I do." - @realDonaldTrump

Administration efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform, for example, have failed. Asked about calls by Sarah Palin to impeach Obama over the administration’s immigration policies, Holder said: “She wasn’t a particularly good vice presidential candidate. She’s an even worse judge of who ought to be impeached and why.”

Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has taken intense heat from the media and the left over his statement that there are “78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party.” In the wake of the controversy that has resulted from his remarks, West, who was slated to be a speaker at an event hosted by the Martin County chapter of the NAACP this past Saturday, was disinvited from addressing the group. Mediaite has more about the reasons behind the decision to axe the congressman as the event’s keynote speaker: In Martin County chapter president Jerry...

Long-simmering tensions within the Republican Party spilled into public view Wednesday as the pragmatic and conservative wings of the GOP blamed each other in blunt terms for the party’s failure to capture the Senate. With tea party-backed candidates going down in Delaware, Colorado and Nevada, depriving Republicans of what would have been a 50-50 Senate, a bloc of prominent senators and operatives said party purists like Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) had foolishly pushed nominees too conservative to win in politically competitive states. (snip) Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott put it plainly: “We did not nominate our...

Long-simmering tensions within the Republican Party spilled into public view Wednesday as the pragmatic and conservative wings of the GOP blamed each other in blunt terms for the party’s failure to capture the Senate. With tea party-backed candidates going down in Delaware, Colorado and Nevada, depriving Republicans of what would have been a 50-50 Senate, a bloc of prominent senators and operatives said party purists like Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) had foolishly pushed nominees too conservative to win in politically competitive states. Movement conservatives pointed the finger right back at the establishment, accusing the National Republican Senatorial...

The Left Wing Media Machinus Maximus once more trundles the old rusty guns into place and starts firing…sort of. These old cannons date back to at least the late 1940s. Let's run the list. 1966: Ronald Reagan runs for Governor of California. RESPONSE: Reagan is accused of being an extremist, a nut, a member of the John Birch Society, an idiot, stupid, dumb a Fascist and a racist. 1988: Dan Quayle is nominated for vice president by the GOP. RESPONSE: Quayle is accused of being not very bright, dumb, an air-head, a fool, a draft-dodger. 2004: Dick Cheney is re-nominated...

In a strange departure from Morning Joe's typical spontaneity, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski issued what was clearly a scripted, teleprompted, manifesto this morning. The statement purported to be non-partisan condemnation of "angry voices" and a call, citing a WWII poster, to "keep calm and carry on." But even a cursory analysis reveals that the manifesto's message suits Dem themes to a 'T', and carries clear echoes of a recent partisan speech by Pres. Obama at a political event. The manifesto amounted to a condemnation of the "angry voices" and the "political extremists" who, claimed Scarborough, "are dominating the airwaves...

Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday tried to find the upside to a possible Democratic landslide in November. Talking to Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, he wondered if major Republican gains could be "a blessing in disguise for President Obama." (Snip) At one point during the interview, O'Reilly derided the President's plan to let tax cuts for upper income groups expire as "class warfare." He pressed the ABC host, "Would you agree with that?" The ABC journalist unsurprisingly quipped, "Not necessarily."

Americans increasingly are convinced — incorrectly — that President Barack Obama is a Muslim, and a growing number are thoroughly confused about his religion. Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 percent. The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 percent who said that in early 2009. The survey, conducted by the...

One of things for which Sarah Palin gets criticized, in this case often by Republicans, is her willingness to get into “pissing matches” with members of the media. This is described as either “un-presidential” by those who think nothing in life matters but presidential politics, or otherwise just bad form because of the cliche that says you can’t win an argument with people who buy ink by the barrel. Whether it’s good political strategy or not – and I don’t think Palin cares about that as much as her critics suppose – it’s God’s work and it’s about time someone...

Katie Couric, whose real name is Katherine Anne Couric, mocked the names of Sarah Palin’s children during a rehearsal in her studio. Her comments, made during the 2008 presidential campaign, are being discussed in the blogosphere today after being leaked. “Where the hell do they get these names from?” she asked, referring to Palin children Trig and Track, sending her crew into peals of laughter. I have some new names for CBS. In a tragedy in Louisiana this Monday, six young teenagers drowned. Their names were: Takeitha, JaMarcus, JaTavious, Litrelle, LaDairus and Latevin. These, like the names of Palin’s children,...

One of the delights about the Internet is watching new people use a new technology to make the same old mistakes. Consider the admissions by Politico and Greg Sargent that they regularly run items on Sarah Palin simply to drive traffic. From Politico: “More traffic comes from an item on Sarah Palin’s ‘refudiation’ faux pas than from our hundreds of stories on the complexities of health care reform or Wall Street regulation.” Perhaps if Politico were as vigilant in its coverage of health care reform and Wall Street regulation as it is every slip by Sarah Palin readers would be...

This tripe from Kathleen Parker is something. She bemoans the loss of privacy and kinship when the Journolist blew up in the faces of some 400+ reporters: It should come as no surprise that self-identifying liberals have liberal thoughts and friends, so no foul there, as Carlson has said. And, indeed, some of the comments are, on their face, condemnable, not to mention banal. But some also have been presented out of context and, besides, were offered as part of an ongoing argument among colleagues who believed they were acting in good faith that theirs was a private conversation. Were...

Once a long time ago I was upgraded on a flight to Orlando and found myself next to a gray-haired German who had been visiting his family in Minnesota. Over drinks I learned that he had emigrated to the US after the 1939-45 war, and that during the war he had shot down a de Havilland Mosquito and a Messerschmitt Me262. He'd achieved this unusual, quite possibly unique distinction as the commander of a gun crew using the 88mm L71, the highest-performing version of the classic 88. The Luftwaffe had designated free-fire zones in which anything would be fired on,...

First, I want to make a quick statement that we will also issue. The Department of State is currently reviewing the diplomatic visas or A visas of individuals who are members of the de facto regime in Honduras, as well as the derivative visas for family members of these individuals. We have already revoked diplomatic visas issued to four such individuals. These individuals received their diplomatic visas in connection with positions held prior to June 28th under the Zelaya Administration, but who now serve the de facto regime. And with that – well, I’ll just also there is a press...

Residents are up in arms over a push by the Education Department to open a school next door to a popular Bay Ridge shooting range. The school, proposed inside the recently shuttered Fortway Theater on Fort Hamilton Parkway, would bring about 440 students within earshot of the 40-year-old Alpine Arms shooting range - an FBI and NYPD favorite. "We're trying to get children away from guns, not near them," said Donna Sbordone, a mother of three who lives three blocks from the 67th St. site. "It's just not a good place for a school."

SACRAMENTO — Despite mounting opposition, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to rebuild the worst of California's ailing infrastructure with a long-term, piecemeal plan that taps tens of billions from varying bonds, partnerships with the private sector and user fees. Disclosures by administration officials clarified that voters won't face a stunning $50 billion bond measure next year, as originally indicated by Schwarzenegger during his trip to China. "We're looking at creative ways to do financing, at a lot of competing needs and at how much you can get moving all at one time," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the governor's Finance...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...