Free Republic

Former President Shimon Peres addressed the upcoming elections in March for the first time publicly on Saturday, hinting that he would like to see a replacement for current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. "These elections are crucial," Peres said. "We have an opportunity to make the best out of the situation we find ourselves in. Some things have changed for the worse and need to be fixed, but there are good things and we should take advantage of them." One issue Peres said had improved was Israel's relationship with the "moderate" Arab world. "The position of the Arab world has changed,...

This video (via Leslie of Temple of Mut) of Rick Santorum has made the rounds as evidence that Santorum is hostile to the Tea Party movement. The key sentence, in which he expresses and intention to “vocally, publicly oppose” the Tea Party, is ambiguous. Was he saying he would oppose the Tea Parties, or only those in the Tea Parties who in his view are distorting conservatism? Regardless, I find the dialogue troubling. I would describe myself as a “conservative with a libertarian streak,” and I think that description probably would be used by a lot of Tea Party supporters....

The Bush Record : Keeping America Safe

The postmortems on the presidency of George W. Bush are all wrong. The liberal line is that Bush dangerously weakened America's position in the world and rushed to the aid of the rich and powerful as income inequality worsened. That is twaddle. Conservatives--okay, not all of them--have only been a little bit kinder. They give Bush credit for the surge that saved Iraq, but not for much else. He deserves better. His presidency was far more successful than not. And there's an aspect of his decision-making that merits special recognition: his courage. Time and time again, Bush did what other...

Washington -- Love him or hate him, George W. Bush leaves office among the most consequential presidents in modern history. Like his home state of Texas, his presidency was big. He sought "to end tyranny in the world." He began two wars. He cut taxes three times, tried to privatize Social Security, and added the biggest expansion of Medicare since it was created under Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. He took on AIDS in Africa and redrew the federal role in education. He named two relatively young conservatives to the Supreme Court. He declared by himself a "global war on terror"...

History should judge President George W. Bush as one of America’s great Presidents. His record of accomplishment in both domestic and foreign policy, his grace in the face of unrivaled malevolence, his courage in the face of dreadful pressure, and his vision of a world made free are the stuff of greatness. Here is an abbreviated catalog of his accomplishments and virtues: President George W. Bush has liberated 50 million people from two of the most ghastly regimes in world history. For those who would minimize those achievements, a comparison with the two other Presidential liberators is appropriate. Abraham Lincoln...

In case any Freeper is interested Rudy Giuliani will be Hannity and Colmes.

Long dismissed by Washington insiders as incapable of receiving the Republican Party's presidential nomination because of his pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights and pro-gun control views, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was lavished with praise Friday by an icon of American conservatism. "He is much stronger than anyone could have predicted six months ago," said former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich from Georgia. "New York is four times safer than it used to be. It's one of the greatest achievements of government capability in the 20th century. And Rudy just has to go out and say, 'This is who...

Breaking on Fox News. Giuliani Files Statement of Candidacy for President No article yet.

But for neocons or any other conservatives to turn against George W. Bush would be a terrible mistake. Presidents invariably disappoint their strongest supporters. Their powers are limited, and they must cope with Congress, public opinion, unwieldy agencies and, where foreign policy is concerned, other nations that can help or hinder us. Middle Eastern terrorists had been coldly murdering Americans for three decades, but from Nixon through Clinton, no president dared face the issue head-on. This led to the Sept. 11 attacks, putting Bush to the test. Liberals said we should continue to treat terrorism as a law enforcement issue....

Prosecutor admits theft --- TURKMENISTAN'S former general prosecutor publicly confessed to taking bribes yesterday, begging president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov for forgiveness in a tearful plea broadcast on state television. Kurmanbibi Atadzhanova was accused of taking bribes and stealing state property including 25 cars, 36 villas, 2,000 cattle and 30,000 buckets. "Great Leader, I admit everything, but I beg you to forgive me, don't jail me," she said in a sobbing confession on television. "I have three daughters." An indifferent-looking Mr Niyazov appeared in the same programme and told Atadzhanova: "You have to return everything you've stolen. The president can't forgive everyone....

March 8, 2005, Pyongyang, North Korea Kim Jong il, the Chia Pet (center) Alive and kickin' folks. Live sighting. Second or third live sighting in North Korea in the last several weeks, another one at a Russian ballet presentation in Pyongyang.For the Free Republic KIM JONG-IL file (the "when was he last seen alive?" file)....

Pyongyang, July 16 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il's famous work "Let Us Carry out the Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung's Instructions for National Reunification" was published in pamphlet on July 8 by the Ceszin Publishing House. The work, brought out on August 4, Juche 86 (1997), deals with the immortal exploits performed by the President for the cause of national reunification and formulates the three principles of national reunification, the proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo and the ten-point program of the great unity of the whole nation as the three charters for national reunification.

Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday condemned North Korea's decision to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and said the matter would have to go to the U.N. Security Council. The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said the Security Council would have to take up the withdrawal within weeks if diplomatic efforts did not resolve the crisis. "It will ultimately have to go to the Security Council. When and through what process and what one would ask the Security Council to do at that time remains to be determined," Powell told reporters after talks with...