Free Republic

The last thing US President Barack Obama did during his trip to Russia for the G20 summit was meet Friday with a group of Russian human rights activists, including members of the gay community, in an encounter that attendants described as symbolic, and a signal to the Russian authorities. The group of nine activists who met with Obama for a little over an hour included three gay activists from LGBT organizations that have not traditionally been invited to take part in meetings with visiting senior US officials. Russia passed a controversial new law earlier this year banning the “promotion of...

Before leaving for home after the Group of 20 summit, President Barack Obama sat down with Russian civil society activists on Friday evening to assure them that he would keep pressing Moscow to respect human rights, some of the activists said. But Obama also explained to them why this wasn't always possible. The meeting was held several hours after two dozen of gay activists rallied in St. Petersburg to protest Russia's new law banning gay propaganda, which prompted some activists to call for the boycott of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Igor Kochetkov, the head of LGBT Network, who...

We know every detail about other presidents and their families, why not this one? Onyango Obama, U.S. President Barack Obama’s uncle, was charged this week in Boston with drunk driving. Turns out he’s also an illegal immigrant. When he was arrested, he told police he wanted to call the White House. Why not? If President Obama bailed out General Motors, why not his own uncle? In one of his autobiographies, President Obama talks fondly about Onyango, calling him “Uncle Omar.” So it’s not like they were long lost relatives. But Uncle Omar isn’t the only embarrassment in the Obama family....

In what could be a way of lowering expectations for next Thursday's big economic speech, aides to President Obama are privately spreading word that he will not present his entire jobs plan in his address to a Joint Session of Congress. Aides say Thursday's speech will be part of a bigger plan the White House will roll out throughout the fall with the president hitting the road for speeches and town hall appearances. Aides have already confirmed that Obama will be traveling to California, Colorado, and Washington state for one three-day swing later this month that will include economic events...