Free Republic

By 1 hour, 10 minutes ago OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - As U.S. gays and lesbians prepare to battle a raft of state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage that will likely be on the ballot next fall, activists are recasting the issue as one that needs to be fought on moral rather than political grounds. That is the message Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest and leading U.S. grass-roots gay and lesbian coalition, has taken to more than 2,500 gay rights organizers at its annual conference held in Oakland this week. "What I...

Powerline notes the outlandish claims being made by Michael Scheuer, formerly of the CIA: The pathetic Michael Scheuer claims that, “in the war against al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein was one of our best allies.” And the selectively pathetic Chris Matthews gives Scheuer a free pass on his big lie. Thomas Joscelyn has the details. JOHN adds: That’s an interesting change of heart on Scheuer’s part. Scheuer was the head of the CIA’s bin Laden unit in 1998, when Clinton’s Justice Department indicted bin Laden. Here is a paragraph from Count 4 of the indictment: Al Qaeda also forged alliances with...

WASHINGTON, November 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former US President Jimmy Carter knows how to play his audiences. Last week Carter appeared on MSNBC's Hardball slamming President George W. Bush in a fashion perhaps never before seen from an ex-President, but also last week Carter spoke to the conservative Washington Times newspaper, revealing his apparently new-found strong pro-life views. Not surprisingly, Carter did not mention his anti-abortion stand with Hardball's Chris Matthews. Stephen F. Hayward, PhD., who last year wrote a book on Carter noted Carter's political exploitation of abortion in the past. In an interview with National Review, Hayward recalled...

BALTIMORE -- For the first time, the operators of a California-based Web site are revealing they have evidence that an e-mail address from the Maryland Democratic State Party is associated with MD4BUSH. WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins said the operators of FreeRepublic.com are not revealing the name behind MD4BUSH. But this is the first time that they are suggesting the state democratic party is associated with the MD4BUSH account on their Web site. Jim Robinson, the president of the conservative Web site, issued the following statement: "Free Republic has evidence that an mddems.org (Maryland Democratic Party) e-mail address...

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's push to meet pollution targets agreed under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change could dent its economies and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs by 2010, according to research published on Monday. Compliance with Kyoto's greenhouse gas reduction targets could hit gross domestic product in Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy as energy energy bills soar, said pro-business thinktank International Council for Capital Formation (ICCF). "The findings of our research suggest that an alternative approach (to climate change) is urgently needed for both the developing and developed world," said Margo Thorning, Managing Director of the Brussels-based ICCF....

Doug just filed a brief After-Action report via cell phone, posted here on his behalf. Self-described rape victim and attorney Susan Estrich came to Pomona College and gave a speech about the media. About 75 mostly Liberals were in attendance. From the back of the room, DFU asked the second question of the evening of Estrich-- specifically why she would avoid speaking with Clinton rape accuser Juanita Broaddrick. According to Doug, she said several words in reply and quickly changed the subject, calling on another audience member. Is it possible that DFU was the ONLY person with a REAL question...

MANSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Representatives of Episcopal congregations in Massachusetts sidestepped a vote on whether to endorse a report that condemns appointments of gay bishops and calls on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada to enact a moratorium on same-sex blessings. Instead, voters at the 220th convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts endorsed a neutral resolution that calls for more study of the 2004 report, commissioned by the head of the Anglican Communion. At issue was the 2003 ordination of New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, and divisions...

Last night Arnold Schwarzenegger was grilled in a televised appearance by a supposedly "demographically and politically balanced audience". However, the questioning was biased strongly against him, and this appearance is the latest in a long line of dirty tricks: at least three of those who questioned him were Democratic Party activists. The L.A. Times does not mention this in their report Governor Stays Cool as Voters Fire Questions: Appearing live on a KNBC-TV Channel 4 forum at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Republican governor was peppered with hostile questions from a crowd of about 75 voters screened...

Johannesburg - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa has come out in support of polygamy and homosexuality - provided they promote the cause of the Gospel. The church's bishop, Louis Sibiya, said on Sunday that there was not a simple "yes" or "no" answer as to whether a self-confessing gay person could be married and even ordained in the church, or whether a polygamist could be ordained into the ministry. "Rather, we should ask how the acceptance and/or non-acceptance of these promote the course of the Gospel," he said, speaking at 30th anniversary celebrations of the church in southern...

I just caught an interview on CNN of Aaron Broussard, a Democrat who is the President of Jefferson Parish, Lousiana. The essence of his rant was that the federal government in general and FEMA in particular are "covering their butts" by concealing the number of dead. At one point Broussard said, verbatim, that FEMA was trying to hide the fact that they had "murdered" thousands of people through their bureaucratic incompetence. This is how the Democrats will try to exploit this tragedy. A couple sidenotes: given his claim that there was an astronomical number of dead, the CNN interviewer asked...

One Clinton jets to Alaska and Iraq with Republicans, and enthusiastically sponsors legislation with GOP lawmakers who impeached her husband. The other plays golf with former President George Bush and accepts assignments from the current one. All of this bipartisan snuggling by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton has some Democrats and Republicans questioning their motives. Is this calculated politics designed to get the former first lady ready for a presidential bid in 2008?

***Please click on website for all links within this article**** The letter of Cardinal Ratzinger, and the Detroit Free Press On the front page of the Detroit Free Press, on Tuesday, September 7, 2004, a headline read, "Catholics allowed to vote for pro-choice candidate." See article here . With all due respect to Patricia Montemurri, this was a case of irresponsible journalism, on two counts: first, the misrepresentation of what the Church has to say, and second, the fact that she refers to a memo written about two and a half months ago as if this is somehow today's news....