Free Republic

The man at the heart of a high-stakes mix-up that rippled through global political journalism in the final days of the New York mayoral campaign was neither “falsely claiming” to be former Mayor Bill de Blasio — as the Times of London suggested — nor, as The New York Times wrote, a “de Blasio impersonator.” He is, instead, a 59-year-old Long Island wine importer named Bill DeBlasio, who merely responded to an email from a journalist seeking his views on Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s policies. “I’m Bill DeBlasio. I’ve always been Bill DeBlasio,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted Wednesday evening...

Katie Porter’s “unhappy experience” in a viral interview has become the news cycle from hell. The bipartisan pile-on following the widely-circulated clip of her contentious sit-down with a local CBS news reporter was only hours old when a new video surfaced from POLITICO of the former House member berating a staffer in 2021 — the two clips fueling long-simmering concerns about her temperament and judgment. Together, they suddenly boiled over into the broader political zeitgeist, raising questions about just how durable Porter’s lead in California’s gubernatorial race really is. “Is this a disaster? Yes,” said Gale Kaufman, a veteran Democratic...

My daughter just tipped me off to this - it makes me chuckle. As a Cruz supporter, I urge FR to not make a flame war out of this. (Due diligence: a Google search doesn't show that this has previously been posted.)

SALT LAKE CITY -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the top pick of Utah voters in the GOP presidential race but is closely followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to a new poll released Monday. The national front-runner for the Republican nomination, business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, trails behind Cruz, Rubio and "don't know" in the UtahPolicy.com poll. The poll comes the same day as Trump supporters in Utah were scheduled to announce the formation of the Trump for President-Utah organization in a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol. Trump backers in the...

Turkish court to decide if comparing Erdogan to 'Rings' character Gollum a crime It can't be flattering to be compared to "Lord of the Rings" character Gollum, but a Turkish court is trying to determine if it is a crime. A doctor who likened President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the pasty, cave-dwelling creature is facing up to two years in prison in Turkey, where insulting the president is a crime, reports said Wednesday. Bilgin Ciftci is accused of sharing images of the two, but it is up to a court to determine whether a comparison to the muttering, gangrel creature...

Unidentified Ghoul Fauxtography Model Usually, as children, we are reassured that the monsters we see on film are only fakes and not to worry, that such creeps and fiends are created only for the camera by crafty directors and special effects crews. Unfortunately, nowadays, that's the very reason to fear them.

I saw the picture below on another thread, posted by FReeper "Operation Clinton Cleanup": It brought to mind this man: I originally thought the resemblance was the beard, I had no idea they were both so short. Is Ahmadijenad's bluster just a bad case of "short man's complex" ??

LOS ANGELES — Some pharmaceutical companies are telling their employees to look out for the scruffy guy in the baseball cap. The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that at least six drug companies have released internal communications telling employees to be wary of filmmaker Michael Moore (search). Moore's targets have included General Motors (search) ("Roger & Me"), the gun lobby (the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine") and President Bush ("Fahrenheit 9/11"). Moore, normally seen sporting a beard and a ball cap, has now set his sights on the health care industry, including insurance companies, HMOs, the Food and Drug Administration (search)...

Here's my early suggestions: Looking for parts in Iraq the movie? Saddam Hussein: Vicente Fox Vladimir Putin: Gollum from Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers Dominique de Villepin: Barbara Streisand

Peter Arnett....................................................... Benedict Arnold