Free Republic

The White House announced Wednesday it has postponed a ceremony for President Obama to accept transparency award from a government watchdog group. -snip-The right-leaning Drudge Report played up the award ceremony Wednesday on its site under the headline, "All WH events Wednesday 'closed press' -- except for ceremony praising Obama's 'commitment to transparent government'..."

"Obama Struggling to Show He's in Control," reads the headline on The Washington Post's story on Barack Obama's Thursday press conference, where most of the questions were about the Gulf oil spill. "Defensive, unauthoritative and equivocal," wrote Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford of Obama's performance. "He came across as a beleaguered bureaucrat in damage control." Uh-oh. People, even people in the Obama-friendly press, are beginning to say that the oil spill is Obama's Katrina. That it destroys his reputation for competence. At this point, you may expect a comparison between George W. Bush's handling of Katrina and Obama's handling of the...

CBNNews.com - Virginia Beach, Va - Before the celebrating came the turning of tassels and accepting this charge: "I want you to strive for greatness through service," said CBN founder Pat Robertson. The largest class in Regent's history sang a hymn bowed their heads in prayer. "Father," prayed Pastor Jack Hayford. "We come with hearts of gratitude for each of these graduates." {snip} Some say they were initially skeptical about having a Mormon address a Christian audience. "There were some people who were alarmed," said Regent graduate Cassy McLauchlin. "I was surprised because I just didn't think he was the...

A new poll on Thursday underscored deep Arab unhappiness with the United States but said the negative image could be repaired if Washington brokered a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement. The survey of 3,850 people in six Arab countries rated President George W. Bush as the most disliked world leader, while the United States and Israel were viewed as significantly greater threats than Iran. The results show the Arab-Israeli conflict "remains the central prism through which people are evaluating the United States", even when the international focus is on the Iraq war and nuclear crisis with Iran, said Shibley Telhami of...

The scene may seem familiar to Californians: a Republican governor warning that fiscal meltdown is imminent unless voters approve new rules on how much money the state can spend each year. But Colorado Gov. Bill Owens isn't looking for the kind of budget cap that California Republicans want voters to approve next month. That was imposed 13 years ago. Now he is pleading with voters to lift it. The problem: Colorado's spending controls appear to have worked too well. Now some of the most strident fiscal conservatives in Colorado — long viewed as a model for others considering such restraints...

Republican leaders, eyeing an opportunity to appease their radical right-wing constituents, convened Congress over the weekend to shamelessly interject the federal government into the wrenching Schiavo family dispute. They brushed aside our federalist system of government, which assigns the resolution of such disputes to state law, and state judges. Even President Bush flew back from his ranch to Washington on Sunday to be in on what amounts to a constitutional coup d'etat. .... Congress does act in other extraordinary cases on behalf of a specific individual, such as when it grants someone U.S. citizenship. But here, Congress is breaking new...