Free Republic

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Rev. Billy Graham turns 95 next week, and Sarah Palin and real estate mogul Donald Trump are among the 800 people planning to attend his celebration.---snip---Graham spokesman Jeremy Blume says there are ties between the Graham family and Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican presidential candidate. Relief aid headed to Russia provided by Samaritan's Purse, the international charity run by Franklin Graham, is staged in Alaska....

Today's hearing on Benghazi is just sad. We have the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the outgoing Secretary of Defense testifying to the Senate hearing that even though it was 9/11, who everyone and their mother understood is the anniversary of the worst attack on American soil...even though, due in no small part to Obama's actions, Libya had become a hotbed of al-Qaeda activity, AND even though the ambassador to Libya had sent warning of impending threats, they did nothing to ensure the security of the embassy and our citizens. Their excuse? “The United States military is...

When the presidential campaign began in what now seems like an eternity ago, only a fool would have bet that anything other than the economic future of the country would determine the outcome. But as the hours count down to Election Day, President Barack Obama’s mishandling of the nation’s defense capability is coming front and center — and not only because Americans were slaughtered in Benghazi, Libya. Among those raising grave concerns is Gen. Patrick Brady who asks: ‘Would I want this man with me in combat?’ Brady sports impeccable credentials having served more than 34 years in the Army...

President Obama is touting his foreign policy experience on the campaign trail, but startling new statistics suggest that national security has not necessarily been the personal priority the president makes it out to be. It turns out that more than half the time, the commander in chief does not attend his daily intelligence meeting. The Government Accountability Institute examined President Obama’s schedule from the day he took office until mid-June 2012, to see how often he attended his Presidential Daily Brief (PDB) — the meeting at which he is briefed on the most critical intelligence threats to the country. During...

Last weekend, Tea Parties throughout the country held Tax Day rallies to protest bloated government budgets, ever increasing debt, and the ballooning entitlement state. Some among the Left were not content to let the Tea Party own Tax Day. In Arkansas, an anti-Tea Party rally dubbed "Make Them Pay" took place on the steps of the state capitol. Jim Lendall, a former state representative and 2010 Green Party Gubernatorial nominee, was applauded when he took the podium to call for the beheading of businessmen and conservatives. The French, inspired by our American Revolution, knew how to deal with the wealthy...

Rocco Landesman is the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Boy, does he know how to spin the official line on offensive art. In a recent interview in Cincinnati, he was asked vaguely about controversy. "The best art taps into deep feelings, sometimes to comfort and sometimes to confront. Art can be very uncomfortable," Landesman said. "That can lead to strong reactions. For some of us, it draws us into the arts over our lifetimes and careers. For others, it creates strong negative feelings." Landesman wasn't being asked specifically about negative feelings over the Loveland Museum Gallery in...

A Montana woman faces criminal charges after she used a crowbar to destroy a blasphemous exhibit at a gallery in Colorado. Kathleen Folden was arrested after she smashed an exhibit that depicted Jesus in a lewd act. The exhibit, by artist Enrique Chagoya of Stanford University, had caused outrage among Christians.

Even as Israelis and Palestinians plunged deeper into conflict, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama remained silent, refusing to budge from his one-president-at-a-time mantra. Obama takes office on Jan. 20 but has not commented on the Middle East crisis since Israel launched attacks on Gaza nine days ago. His advisers insist that only President George W. Bush can speak for America until then. The Palestinian death toll in nine days of Israeli attacks has risen to more than 500. Hamas, which ended a six-month ceasefire, has fired rockets deeper into Israel than ever before, hitting major cities and killing four Israelis. While...