Free Republic

CODE PINK'S MANIPULATION OF THE MEDIA. Code Pink's leader, Medea Benjamin, was arrested in Pakistan and deported. She claims that she was abused by the Pakistani police, but her claims are just more staged media manipulation from a master manipulator. Arrest Not Spontaneous The arrest of Medea Benjamin in Pakistan was not a spontaneous event even though, at first glance, it may appear that way. It was timed to coincide with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on U.S. funding for Pakistan. The hearing, which was scheduled for Dec. 6, was advertised well in advance of that date (See Schedule...

While on the House floor, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), took the SCHIP debate to a new low. He said, “You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement.” So not only is Stark accusing President Bush of waging a war for "amusement," but he's accusing American troops of "blowing up innocent people." Pete Stark should apologize immediately to our troops, and President...

The Peace Racket Bruce Bawer An anti-Western movement touts dictators, advocates appeasement—and gains momentum. If you want peace, prepare for war.” Thus counseled Roman general Flavius Vegetius Renatus over 1,600 years ago. Nine centuries before that, Sun Tzu offered essentially the same advice, and it’s to him that Vegetius’s line is attributed at the beginning of a film that I saw recently at Oslo’s Nobel Peace Center. Yet the film cites this ancient wisdom only to reject it. After serving up a perverse potted history of the cold war, the thrust of which is that the peace movement brought down...

An official with the Institute on Religion and Democracy says it is outrageous that a leader in the United Methodist Church has called for the removal of U.S. flags from the denomination's churches. Minister Clayton Childers of the Capitol Hill-based United Methodist Board of Church and Society said the presence of a national flag can imply endorsement of national policies, which often are counter to the teachings of Christ. Childers even noted that the Swastika flag was displayed prominently in German churches during the Nazi era. Mark Tooley is with the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD). "Obviously," he notes,...

The FBI files on the VVAW reveal that on many occations the North Vietnamese Government would call the VVAW in the United States and advise them in advance about an upcoming NV attack on the South and US troops. In these contacts the NV would advise the VVAW leaders to start ramping up for anti-war protests because as soon as the NV invaded the South Nixon would start bombing the north. This is what allowed the VVAW and other anti-war groups to mount such large anti-war protests on what seemed to be very short notice, ie Nixon starts bombing and...

VIDEO: 'You're a racist and anti-Semite,' one caller shouted at Carter during C-SPAN2 broadcast... Developing...

From Propaganda Information Clearing House (now only via Google Cache): Are FOX News Employees really “Noncombatants”?By Mike Whitney08/24/06 "Information Clearing House" -- Are FOX employee’s innocent bystanders or an integral part of the American war machine? That may turn out to be an important question now that 2 FOX workers have been captured by a group of Palestinian militants.It would be hard, if not impossible to draw a line of separation between the US military and FOX News. Their anchors may shun the camouflage fatigues and jack-boots, but that is where the difference ends. FOX is a fully-integrated cog in...

AMERICA’S LITTLE MONSTER In 1990 a teen named Hugh became part of our Church youth group. Hugh’s parents formed a wall of protection around their son. When Hugh came into conflict with teachers, peers and other parents his mother and father came to the rescue, sparing Hugh from any accountability. As a consequence Hugh became Middletown’s little monster. On June 30th, 1946 the word “terrorist” was coined announcing that British occupation troops in Palestine had arrested 2700 men responsible for kidnapping, killing, raping, and torturing British soldiers and Palestinian civilians. These terrorists were Zionists a movement dedicated to force the...

If there were poetic justice, if Hollywood or the publishing industry had true courage, the story of Rachel Corrie would be coming to a big screen or bookstore near you. For now, the streets of Seattle will have to do. Tonight marks the third anniversary of the day Rachel died. A public reading of her mature writings will be held at 5 p.m. at Westlake Plaza. Rachel was in the Middle East, trying to protect the home of a Palestinian from immoral demolition, when an Israeli soldier driving a Caterpillar bulldozer killed her. He ran her over. Maybe the young...

ACTOR and political activist Jane Fonda says coalition forces should leave Iraq and has labelled the conflict "disgusting" and "despicable". Fonda, once dubbed Hanoi Jane for her opposition to America's role in the Vietnam War, said too many lives were being lost after an invasion of Iraq that was based on lies. "I think it is a crime, a tragedy, disgusting and despicable," Fonda said in Sydney. "It is almost beyond comprehension how we could have been brought into this war based on lies and continue to lose so many lives, both American and Iraqi. "It makes my skin crawl...

Address to: Summer Sounds Symposium Punga Cove, New Zealand February 11 2006 For the past three decades and more, many of the leading opinion makers in our universities, the media and the arts have regarded Western culture as, at best, something to be ashamed of, or at worst, something to be opposed. Before the 1960s, if Western intellectuals reflected on the long-term achievements of their culture, they explained it in terms of its own evolution: the inheritance of ancient Greece, Rome and Christianity, tempered by the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the scientific and industrial revolutions. Even a radical...

Seymour M. Hersh, the famous investigative reporter, brought the fighting in Iraq into the halls of the Park School the other day. Nobody there got wounded, unless they imagined themselves a few years into the future. Hersh, the man who delivered some of the worst news out of Vietnam three decades ago and some of the worst news out of today's Middle East, painted a pretty bleak picture. "You guys," he said, gesturing to an auditorium packed with about 250 upper-school students, "are going to be the generation that has to clean up our mess. We're leaving you with a...

Bishops want to apologise for Iraq war By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent BISHOPS of the Church of England want all Britain’s Christian leaders to get together in public to say sorry for the war in Iraq and its aftermath. The bishops say that the Government is not likely to show remorse so the churches should. They want to organise a major gathering with senior figures from the Muslim community to make a “public act of repentance”. The bishops admit that their suggestion is provocative and bound to attract massive criticism, but insist it is not “a cheap gesture”. Their renewed...

Memorandum of Understanding between United for Peace and Justice and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition UFPJ-ANSWER Agreement for S24 By reposted from ufpj@lists.mayfirst.org Many of the member groups of United for Peace and Justice have asked about the content of the agreement we reached with the ANSWER Coalition about the joint rally and march on Sept. 24th. Because there is a lot of interest in this issue we are sending you, the groups that are part of UFPJ, a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two coalitions. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions of...

As famine swept through Russia in 1921, claiming five million innocent peasants’ lives, President Herbert Hoover sent $24 million of food and medical aid to the recently formed Bolshevik government. When asked why he was helping the Russian Communists, Hoover replied, “Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!” Sunday’s devastating tsunami has given the United States another opportunity to showcase its immense compassion and limitless humanitarian instincts. And, as with every such act of national charity, our altruistic efforts have been rewarded with a fit of ingratitude from the Hate America Left.  As of this...

<p>WHAT do Howard Dean, Vermont's former governor, and Osama bin Laden have in common?</p> <p>Hatred of America's success.</p> <p>One of the few things more painful to watch than a kiddie talent show is the desperate effort of the Democratic Party's White House hopefuls to gain any traction against President Bush.</p>