Free Republic

Joe Biden was not informed of the prostate cancer diagnosis of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin until today, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at Tuesday’s White House press briefing. Kirby said Biden was told of Austin’s illness by White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients in the morning. A press release earlier Tuesday by doctors treating Austin revealed his cancer diagnosis. ..... Snip..... Biden spoke by phone with Austin on Saturday, reported Politico’s Alex Ward, “Biden held a “cordial conversation” with Austin on Saturday night, per one of the U.S. officials. “The president has complete trust and...

A photographer snapped an image of the document when Biden held it up backward at a meeting with wind-industry executives, which he attended after skipping his administration’s morning meeting with oil companies about combatting record gas prices. The prepared instructions for Biden — titled “Offshore Wind Drop-By Sequence of Events” — tell Biden to “enter the Roosevelt Room and say hello to participants.” Then, the paper says, “YOU take YOUR seat.” The typed-up note says that after reporters arrive, “YOU give brief comments (2 minutes).” When reporters depart, “YOU ask Liz Shuler, President, AFL-CIO, a question” and then “YOU thank...

"My gut reaction," Joe Biden reportedly declared in 1973, "is that they [homosexuals] are security risks, but I must admit I haven't given this much thought…I’ll be darned!’” He made that remark during a meeting with constituents, concerning the issue of gay people working in the federal government, according to a local news article unearthed last year by The Washington Free Beacon. As the nation celebrates Pride Month, that comment from Biden's first year in the U.S. Senate, and other previous remarks, stand in stark contrast to more recent positions and the image the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is now...

Baghdad, Iraq - The Iraqi Governing Council is using Monday's car bombings in Baghdad to argue that the U.S. occupation authority should turn over internal security to Iraqis, council members say. The U.S.-appointed council has tried before to convince Washington to cede control of most security functions to an Iraqi civil defense militia that would report to the Interior Ministry. But the Bush administration has resisted the idea, arguing that Iraqis are not ready to take control of their own security. After Monday's bombings, the council renewed its push for a civil defense force that would hunt down insurgents and...