Free Republic

Speaker Mop & Glo made headlines for her call to investigate opponents of the Ground Zero mosque, but there was something else about her remarks that should have raised your hackles: “There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded,” she said. “How is this being ginned up that here we are talking about Treasure Island, something we’ve been working on for decades, something of great interest to our community as we...

Tobacco sales on Navy ships and in stores on Navy and Marine Corps bases would be a thing of the past under a plan being considered by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, but some congressional members are pushing back. The Navy Department, which includes the Marine Corps, would be the first military department to prohibit tobacco sales. […] Congress is considering a measure that would prevent Mabus from instituting a sales ban, with the prohibition’s opponents arguing it overreaches on a habit that is unhealthy but still legal. …

Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter is speaking out against a reported proposal being considered by the Navy to ban the sale of tobacco products on all its bases and ships, calling it a “political decision.” The Military Times reported Monday that Navy officials are considering removing tobacco from all retail outlets, including exchange-operated sales venues and Morale, Welfare and Recreation program outlets. Navy commissaries do not sell tobacco products. Hunter, a Marine veteran who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, said in a letter to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus he strongly opposes the ban, saying it...

A "force structure" review that is about to be completed is likely to recommend that the Navy needs around 300 ships to meet its future demands. The study is not yet finished, but could be presented to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus as early as next week, said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert. A 300-ship Navy is slightly larger than the current fleet of 285, but it is smaller than previous recommendations. Navy leaders since 2006 have said the fleet should grow to 313 ships. During a breakfast with reporters March 16, Greenert said the review is not...

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus confirmed Thursday that the cost overrun for the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is projected to reach $1 billion, bringing the ship’s total cost to some $12 billion — but said it’s on track to be delivered on schedule. The admission took place under questioning from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who pointedly asked Mabus “what have you been doing on your watch” to control the costs on the new ship. Mabus said the Navy’s deal with shipbuilder Huntington-Ingalls Industries is such that the government has “recovered...

The USS Medgar Evers? The USS John Murtha? The USS Cesar Chavez? Our Navy Secretary, Ray Mabus, has this diversity thing down cold. Each one of those ships was in a class that previous names of their sister ships had nothing to do with civil rights, or corrupt Democratic politicians. Ships are usually named after states, cities, even famous explorers and war heroes. But Mabus has injected partisanship into this tradition, naming another ship for Democrat Gabriel Giffords, who has shown courage in her recovery from an assassination attempt but had expressed little interest in the military during her career...

Retired Rear Admiral George Worthington, former commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, told The Daily Caller that there are many people more worthy of a ship bearing their name. “Here is the issue. There are a lot of dead Marines out there whose names could go on anything that appears to be an amphibious ship,” he said, explaining that a past recipient of the Medal of Honor, Dakota Meyer, might be a good candidate. Worthington added his email “inbox” has been filled with messages from military friends who are “shocked and angered” by the decision. “We think fallen Marines...

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is back again using a U.S. Navy warship as a vessel of political pandering. At a hurriedly convened Pentagon ceremony Friday, Mr. Mabus announced that the next littoral combat ship, LCS-11, would be named for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona Democrat. Mrs. Giffords recently resigned her congressional seat to focus on recovering from wounds she received in a tragic January 2011 shooting. There are many appropriate ways to honor Mrs. Giffords, but this is not one of them.

The Secretary of the Navy announced on Friday that a new littoral combat ship will be named after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). The announcement comes the same day that President Obama signed the last piece of legislation sponsored by Giffords, a bill aimed at reducing drug trafficking along the American borders with Canada and Mexico. Giffords, who recently stepped down from office, was the target of a shooting rampage in early January 2011. “The name this ship bears and the story represented by that name will inspire all those who come in contact with her,” said Navy Secretary Ray...

Navy Secretay Ray Mabus said Tuesday the investigation into a Marine sniper squad urinating on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan will be "thorough and will be done fast." Mabus's remarks followed a ceremony in which he awarded the Navy Cross posthumously to Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan of San Clemente, who was killed while saving fellow Marines from a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2009. Mabus presented the award to Hogan's parents and sister during a ceremony in the Camp San Mateo section of Camp Pendleton. The ceremony took place in front of the recently completed Lance Cpl. Donald J....

Vice President Biden is slated to deliver the keynote address at a Las Vegas energy summit hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) later this month. The fourth annual National Clean Energy Summit will also feature remarks from Center for American Progress President John Podesta, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), among others. “The Obama administration has proven time and again it understands the importance of building a competitive 21st-century economy through clean energy investments and policies that are focused on putting people back to work, reducing costs for consumers and...

The U.S. Navy is sailing into politically correct waters, sometimes at a speed too fast for the Obama administration to keep up. Whether it is policies on gays and women, or naming ships after social activists, the Navy is charting a course that has some “old salts” worried. “It’s pretty dire,” said John Howland, a 1964 U.S. Naval Academy graduate who manages a web site on naval issues called USNA-At-Large. “We’re back to ‘H.M.S. Pinafore,’ ” he added, a reference to the comic opera about English shipboard life. “The leadership of the military is pretty much politically correct kind of...

Military: What's the U.S. Navy doing naming a ship after a leftist activist? If it wants to honor American Hispanics, there are scores of military heroes more worthy than Cesar Chavez. Apparently, even the military isn't immune to being reimaged into the Obama world view. It was announced Tuesday that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, a former Democratic governor of Mississippi, had chosen to name a Navy cargo ship under construction in San Diego after the migrant labor leader. Chavez will join aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, astronauts Alan Shepard and Wally Schirra, and assassinated civil rights hero Medgar Evers, whose names...

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) disagrees with the Navy's decision to name a cargo ship under construction in San Diego for California farm labor leader Cesar Chavez. The decision, announced Tuesday, "appear[s] to be more about making a political statement than upholding the Navy's history and tradition," Hunter said in press release....

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower, is introducing an amendment today designed to prohibit military chaplains from performing same-sex marriages on military bases. The amendment will be offered to the Defense authorization bill, which the Armed Services Committee is considering today. The amendment comes in the aftermath of an apparent about-face by the Navy on a decision to allow Navy chaplains to perform same-sex marriages in Navy chapels, as the military makes preparations to remove its ban on homosexuality. On Tuesday afternoon, the Navy's chief of chaplains said the new...

According to the Obama administration, formulating a long-term Gulf Coast restoration plan can be done in someone's spare time. And all the duties of the Secretary of the Navy can be accomplished in less time than it takes the average person to do their full-time job. That's the message coming from the White House in response to complaints that current Navy Secretary and former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus will keep his current position even after President Barack Obama chose him to develop that restoration plan. "The president talked to the governor about this, and they both agreed that he had...

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- The Navy is naming its next amphibious ship after the late western Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus made the announcement Friday at the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. Murtha's family and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were in attendance.

JACKSON, Mississippi - President Barack Obama has nominated former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus to be the secretary of the Navy. The White House made the announcement in a statement Friday. The 60-year-old Democrat campaigned extensively for Obama last year. He was governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994-96 under President Bill Clinton.

JACKSON, Miss. -- President Barack Obama on Friday nominated former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to be secretary of the Navy, choosing a political supporter with a two-year career in the service. Mabus, 60, is a Democrat and campaigned extensively for Obama last year. He had been previously talked about as a candidate for a place in Obama's cabinet as secretary of education. If confirmed, Mabus would succeed Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter. The secretary is the civilian leader of the service and is responsible for a wide range of duties, from recruiting and mobilizing to overseeing the construction and repair...

Democrats Are Fined $243,000 for Fund-Raising Violations WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Democratic National Committee has agreed to pay civil fines and turn over to the Treasury a total of $243,000 to settle accusations that it took more than $1 million in illegal foreign contributions in 1995 and 1996, according to Federal Election Commission records released today. The documents also state that the election commission's general counsel found in 1999 that there was "reason to believe" that the People's Republic of China "knowingly and willfully" violated federal election law. But the heavily redacted documents also state that the commission voted...