Free Republic

President-elect Barack Obama arrived at Andrews Air Force Base tonight, aboard a presidential aircraft for the first time as the principal passenger, as he moved to Washington from his home town of Chicago 16 days before being sworn into office. After posing for pictures on the windy tarmac with the ground crew, Obama, wearing a navy suit, blue tie and black overcoat, boarded a Boeing 757 painted like Air Force One. This particular jet is frequently used to carry the vice president, first lady and other top officials. Obama ordered a cheeseburger and french fries from Dickson, who joked with...

Leon Panetta, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the CIA, could be "a fabulous choice" to lead the agency or a nominee who is inexperienced with intelligence matters and will have a chilling effect on the agency, according to top former CIA officials.

My Predictions for the New Obama "Presidency" Now that America has shown us all that affirmative action even works in politics, I've compiled a list of things that you can probably expect to happen. These predictions are 80% gleaned from information all of us have access to, and 15% gut instinct based on many years of research, historical study, and being glued to current affairs. The other 5% is just anger at my countrymen's stupidity--I admit it. Websites and mass emails offering "free grants," courtesy of the government and "Obama's wealth redistribution." Actually, this one's a freebie, because I have...

I have posted a total of 216 threads and 784 replies, and now every post and every reply is being reviewed by the Mods. I'm confused as to why this is happening, all of a sudden?

With the elevation of Barack Obama to the White House, we have successfully centrifuged enough beefcake uranium to reach critical mass and transform the press corps into Malibu/Waikiki paparazzi. Nobody could have avoided the front-page pictures of Obama’s naked torso, toothy grin, backwards ball cap, and hip-hop hand salutes. They trumped the latest Israeli retaliation in Gaza; they eclipsed the Democrat embarrassment in Chicago; they moved the Madoff mess to page E4; and they bumped Britney’s comeback tour. And these photos and stories — “The girls had fruity shaved ices; dad had a tuna melt …” — weren’t targeted at...

Cohesive states with a rule of law and old democracies – the Anglosphere, Holland, France, Scandies – will muddle through. They will start to enjoy a political premium in investor psychology, despite horrendous debts. Obama's America will shine. The country will reemerge as undisputed top dog, the only one with real demographic, scientific, and strategic depth. As first into the crisis, it will be the first to hit bottom. Those expecting the dollar to collapse will have to wait. The damage to core Europe will take longer, but run deeper. Belgium will face a break-up scare. Markets will test highdebt...

The liberals are getting very restless. Why hasn't Obama spoken out about Gaza? He should be condemning Israel or at the very least calling for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire. The Arab states are saying much the same. But through it all the President-elect has been silent, using the old standard "we only have one President at a time." Of course CANDIDATE Obama spoke out about the Russian invasion of Georgia, and PRESIDENT-ELECT Obama spoke out about Mumbai and the economic crisis. Even Liberal Columnist Kristin Powers is upset. She feels that Obama has not taken the Anti-Israel stance of...

Petition for Point of order: Barack H. Obama II is not qualified to become president. Grievance: Barry Soetoro/a.k.a. Barack Hussein Obama II is not qualified to become president, having had primary allegiances to other nations, and not providing unambiguous evidence he is a "natural born Citizen" without other allegiance, to satisfy the Constitution Article 2 Sect. 1. Prayer: By your oath to uphold the Constitution, your privilege to raise a Point of Order, by the 10th Amendment powers retained by We the People, and by the right of petition for redress of grievances, I pray that you cosign/raise an Objection/Point...

Here is video from 2001 of a much younger-looking Barack Obama - then a state senator in Illinois - appearing on a restaurant review program called "Check, Please." He reviews two Chicago area eating places. It's hard to believe that seven and a half years later, he is about to be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. . . . (see video)

Economics: When is a tax cut not really a tax cut? President-elect Obama's economic program will reduce your tax bill if you jump through a series of hoops — or fail in business.Considering how difficult it always is to control the growth of government, it's tempting to embrace what might be called the Will Rogers school of economics: "I never met a tax cut I didn't like." Maybe any tax cut is better than no tax cut, but a clear view of what the incoming Obama administration has planned raises serious concerns. Not surprisingly, considering the class-warfare rhetoric of his...

Breaking News A burning car was rammed into a synagogue door in southwest France as the interior minister convened Muslims, Jews and police in Paris to warn against contagion from the Gaza conflict.

A new wave of excitement has gripped Kogelo village in Siaya District as relatives of the US President-elect Barack Obama prepare to fly to America for his historic inauguration as America's 44th President. The President-elect's grandmother, Sarah Obama, is set to lead the delegation to US and was in Nairobi just before Christmas. Sources say the US embassy has already given her a travel visa. Initial reports that Prime Minister Raila Odinga would lead the Kenyan delegation were refuted by an official in the PM's office. He said Raila would travel to the US in February. The Standard On Saturday...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Vic Scuderi is loaded with weaponry. His booth is stocked full of customers who are looking to wipe out his arsenal of firearms. It's business he won't shoot down. "I've probably seen a 25 percent increase in sales from last year," said Scuderi. While the economy may be wounded, gun dealers say sales are exploding at the annual Arms Fair at the City Center in Saratoga Springs. "This is my best show ever. I've sold more ammunition and more magazines than I've ever sold, so in that regard it's been a very good show for me,"...

The latest NIC Global Trends 2025 Report is out… and it’s not good news for those determined to insure the Bush legacy is portrayed as one consisting of nothing but of utter failure. Download the 120 pg, 8.2MB report hereI had summarized for Larry Weisenthal here just a few days ago… as well as blogged about it on my old haunt Sea2Sea back in February 2008… PLUS Wordsmith’s post May 29th here on FA… about what? There’s been more than a few of us becoming aware that one of the side benefits of the Iraq war was the decline of...

As he stands on the sidelines, seemingly oblivious to what's going on in the world, President-elect Barack Obama opts out of the game by proclaiming that there's only one president at a time. That's another way of saying, "Let George do it," when the Middle East erupts in violence, the economy continues to slump, and the governor of his state defies demands that he step down. His almost nonchalant approach to the turmoil around him has thus far protected him from adverse reactions from his real base -- the media -- but that immunity from harsh criticism has not extended...

In filling four senior Justice Department positions Monday, President-elect Barack Obama signaled that he intends to roll back Bush administration counterterrorism policies authorizing harsh interrogation techniques, warrantless spying and indefinite detentions of terrorism suspects. The most startling shift was Obama's pick of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen to take charge of the Office of Legal Counsel, the unit that's churned out the legal opinions that provided a foundation for expanding President George W. Bush's national security powers. Johnsen, who spent five years in the Office of Legal Counsel during the Clinton administration and served as its acting chief, has...

A month ago I wrote an article titled, "Obama Searches In Vain For CIA Director Who Won't Offend Left." Well, Obama has at last found a CIA Director, but only at the expense of abandoning any intelligence experience whatsoever as a prerequisite for the job. I return to the same Star Tribune article I cited on December 4: Finding a candidate for CIA chief who has the operational experience and is politically “clean” will be difficult, agreed a current senior intelligence official. John Radsan, a former assistant general counsel at the CIA, said Obama has to strike a difficult balance....

Accepting a friend's challenge to prove that Barack Obama was a college acquaintance has forever changed a suburban St. Paul woman's life. Lisa Jack dug out negatives of a photo shoot she did in 1980 with the future president, and several of the black and white images were published by Time magazine in its "Person of the Year" issue last month. They include him in various "thoughtful, cool and fun" poses, taken while Obama and Jack were students at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Jack said Monday. "I have a photo agent for this now" to handle the flood of...

Former California congressman and Clinton aide has little experience with spy agencies. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, indicates she might oppose the pick. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who this week begins her tenure as the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said today that she was not consulted on the choice and indicated she might oppose it. "I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA director," Feinstein said. "My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in...

US President-elect Barack Obama was among a number of high-profile people whose Twitter accounts were hacked overnight. After breaking into Twitter's system, the hackers posted defamatory and offensive messages to the celebrity profiles, news.com.au reports..

For decades, there have been black Americans, specifically descendants of slaves of African decent, who demanded reparations from the U.S. Government. They claim these reparations would be compensation for over 200 years of their ancestors’ unpaid labor. Now that the United States will have its first president of African decent, many blacks are hopeful that Barack Obama will be sensitive to their demands. However will President Obama give heed to their demands? A group called the Los Angeles Reparations NOW-Promissory Note Coalition seeks to get President Obama’s attention by an open letter which invokes Dr. Martin Luther Kings’s speech in...

Memo to Barack Obama. And his voters.  This is what Joe the Plumber was talking about. Like most business owners, we spent the last weeks of 2008 doing the annual year end fiscal dance.  Whether a business is a Subchapter S cash basis taxpaying entity (like LLC's, for example) or a C Corp accrual basis taxpaying entity (like INC's), this annual exercise involves making your business look as "poor" as possible for that magical midnight moment January 1, 2009. The parameters for defining "poor" are different for cash versus accrual tax payers, but the need to position a business for...

Today, JudicialWatch.org posted a press release with documentation they obtained through a FOIA request related to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s contacts with Barak Hussein Obama and his transition team: Washington, DC — January 5, 2009 Includes December 3, 2008, Letter to “Rod” Signed by Obama Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich through the Freedom of Information Act related to Blagojevich’s contacts with President-elect Obama and his transition team. The documents include a December 3, 2008, letter from Barack Obama...

Barack Obama, itching to implement his gigantic stimulus package as soon as possible, is dangling the idea of combining his spending package with a tax cut in hopes of securing another kind of stimulus: Republican support for his package. Republicans should remember that when you polish manure, you still have manure. Obama went to Capitol Hill Monday to promote his stimulus plan of between $675 billion and $775 billion. An estimated 40 percent of the package (between $270 billion and $310 billion) would consist of tax cuts. Obama strategists say the proposed tax cuts are based on historical and empirical...

Obama Jobs Program: The Draft? January 5, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: John, Palm Springs, California, you're next on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hello, sir. CALLER: Hey, Rush, it's always a pleasure. This is the second time in the history of man I've spoken to you. Let's see, just to not take away from your main themes but just a quick aside here, if you don't mind me tweaking you and striking a blow for those who are right, for it to mean something when we're right, and I believe I'm right about this, your characterization on the -- I...

Lowering expectations for quick passage of an economic stimulus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid rejected setting "some false deadline" for delivering legislation to President-elect Barack Obama in favor of a more deliberate approach that allows Congress to get the package right "the first time." Congressional leaders had hoped to hand Obama an economic assistance package immediately after he is sworn in Jan. 20, but that looks increasingly doubtful as the legislation grows in complexity and size. In separate interviews this morning, Reid (Nev.) and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said the process could take six more...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the chamber has the authority to block the appointment of Roland Burris but left open the possibility that he could still be seated. "There is clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to do," Mr. Reid said in an interview aired on NBC News's "Meet the Press" Sunday. But he later added: "There's always room to negotiate." Because of the federal corruption charges hanging over Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Mr. Reid said any appointment Mr. Blagojevich makes is "tainted." Mr. Blagojevich announced the appointment of Mr. Burris, 71 years old,...

Corrupt Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich rubbed his fellow Democrat's nose in their own manure last week. In Blagojevich's own words at the press conference announcing his decision to appoint Roland Burris to Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat: Let me say again that the law requires that the governor make an appointment of a United States senator in the absence of any other law that would have given the people of Illinois a chance to be able to elect the successor to the United States Senate. And when the legislature didn’t act on this legislation they said they were considering,...

Rahm Emanuel is now on the political equivalent of the missing person’s list. Since his name emerged as one of the players in the “pay to play” corruption allegations against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) last month, Emanuel has rarely been seen, and hasn’t been heard from at all, except to perfunctorily submit a letter to Speaker Pelosi, and resign his House seat, so he can take the position of White House chief of staff in the forthcoming Obama administration. But, it’s really no wonder why Emanuel has chosen to live his life underground. According to published reports, Emanuel is...

For nine days, as European and United Nations officials have called urgently for a cease-fire in Gaza, the Bush administration has squarely blamed the rocket attacks of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for Israel’s assault, maintaining to the end its eight-year record of stalwart support for Israel. Mr. Bush, in his weekly radio address on Saturday, said the United States did not want a “one-way cease-fire” that allowed Hamas to keep up its rocket fire, and Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday echoed the point, declaring that only a “sustainable, durable” peace would be acceptable. Many Middle East experts say...

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer about $300 billion in tax cuts to individuals and businesses, a move aimed at attracting Republican support for an economic-stimulus package and prodding companies to create jobs. The size of the proposed tax cuts -- which would account for about 40% of a stimulus package that could reach $775 billion over two years -- is greater than many on both sides of the aisle in Congress had anticipated, and may make it easier to win over Republicans who have stressed that any initiative should rely relatively...

Authorities are organizing what appears to be the largest security operation ever for an inauguration, bringing in thousands of extra police, agents and troops to handle crowds as President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in. Security officials are bracing not just for the ceremony and parade Jan. 20 but also for at least 70 concerts, balls and other events surrounding the inauguration. Those include the welcome celebration featuring Obama on Jan. 18 at the Lincoln Memorial, which could draw 500,000 people, according to the D.C. mayor's office. "You've gone from a one-day event to a four-day event," said Joseph Persichini Jr.,...

Dear President-Elect Obama, Congratulations on your historic election as the next President of the United States. Last year, you pledged to ""take an active role, and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of [Israeli-Palestinian] peace from the start of my Administration."" We are eager to work with you to fulfill this goal. To do so, your Administration should break with past policies of unconditional support for Israel's illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, and change U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and...

Ann Coulter, the right-wing political polemicist and US TV pundit, has thrown a well-aimed knife into the back of Michelle Obama. It comes in her latest book, Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and their Assault on America, in which she diverts her pen from the book's main argument – that the liberal left play the victims when in fact they are the victimisers – to berate the soon-to-be First Lady's fashion sense. Writes Coulter: "Her obvious imitation of Jackie O's style - the flipped-under hair, the sleeveless A-line dresses, the short strands of fake pearls - would have been laughable if done...

Months ago I reported Barack Obama’s deranged and inexplicable attachment to Planned Parenthood and his dedication to the murder of helpless infants so the would be mothers will not be punished with a baby or the knowledge they created one.One News Now is reporting that Obama has plans to grant $1 Billion taxpayer dollars for “international abortion groups like Planned Parenthood.” According to the article, The report, titled “Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration,” also calls for a 133-percent increase in funding for the Title X program, which funds Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. Stop the...

I have been holding off on commenting on the Israeli actions in Gaza against Hamas, primarily because the handwringing from the Surrendercrats on the left has just been too embarrassing even to discuss. I tend to view these events similar to how Alan Dershowitz recently described the situation: Israel’s decision to take military action against Hamas rocket attacks targeting its civilian population has been long in coming. … Over the past four years, Palestinian terrorists – in particular, Hamas and Islamic Jihad – have fired more than 2,000 rockets at this civilian area, which is home to mostly poor and working-class...

[...] The story Team Obama continues to foist on the world is that his father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., was a Kenyan. [...] What if this entire story isn’t true and what does this have to do with Michelle Obama’s red & black dress, the one she worn in Grant Park the night Barack became the President Elect? Well, plenty if I’m right. [..]The supreme irony is that if Malcolm X is Obama’s father then Obama meets the eligibility requirements of the Constitution! Malcolm X was a natural born citizen thus making Barack (Barry?) a natural born citizen. [...] I...

January 05, 2009, 7:00 a.m. The Upside of ObamaWill he end white liberal guilt? By Mark Goldblatt If the election of Barack Obama — a 47-year-old black man with a political resume as ephemeral as a Mets pennant drive and a governing philosophy as dubious as Paris Hilton’s choice of boyfriends — accomplishes nothing else, it should illustrate the peculiar distorting effect on American society of white liberal guilt. The final nail in the coffin of John McCain’s presidential candidacy, it now seems clear, was the fact that the American economy tanked in the months before the election. Fairly...

Have you ever seen so many controversies swarming around a President who HASN'T EVEN been sworn in? I'm happy for all for the folks who are still haplessly drooling over President-Elect Obama's victory... Good for you. Hopefully his win will shut the race-rioters up good Or awhile, at least. And hopefully, when your hope and change bubble is shattered under what will ultimately be poor leadership, you Obama-drones wont lose faith in our great nation. But until then All of these controversies have got to have you AT LEAST a little worried. It's just a shame that the first African...

Humans have been cooking food since before they were Homo sapiens....but ... There was a raw food festival in Novemeber 20-23, 2008 in Kalapana....and now this.... (From the Star-Bulletin) Jan 5, 2009: ...Halda said he and a friend, Silka Strauch, who live in Black Sands between Pahoa and Kalapana, have been eating raw vegetables and taking precautions by cleaning the produce with a peroxide rinse. He suspects they may have accidentally consumed tiny larvae of slugs lodged in the deep folds of peppers.

“The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection.” US Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison (1803) All citizens should be alarmed that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is attempting to use political pressure to force the State of Hawai`i to abandon its “ceded lands” appeal to the US Supreme Court....

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns over President-elect Obama's citizenship. I appreciate hearing from you. Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the United States Constitution states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States." President-elect Obama demonstrated his citizenship during his campaign...

The Twitter accounts of Britney Spears, Barack Obama and Stephen Fry have all been hijacked by phishers When Barack Obama's followers on Twitter.com, the short-form blogging service, received the president-elect's latest update, they were probably expecting more thanks for their support. Instead they were asked "What is your opinion on Barack Obama?

Ineligible Obama, Playing with Constitutional Fire JB Williams, Right Side News.com Numerous legal challenges have been filed in an effort to force president-elect Barack Obama to validate his constitutional eligibility for the office he seeks and while it is true that suit after suit has been denied in the courts, it is also true that all of them have been denied on a technicality rather than on the merits of the case against Obama. And although Obama could have ended the debate months ago by simply delivering a $10.00 certified copy of his official birth records to prove his constitutional...

The candidate for secretary of Commerce faced pressure from a federal investigation into one of his political donors. President-elect Obama’s smooth assembly of his cabinet has hit a jarring pothole with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s decision to withdraw his name from consideration as the next secretary of Commerce.Governor Richardson announced on Jan. 4 that he would not pursue the Commerce job due to a federal investigation into how one of his political donors landed a lucrative state transportation contract.While insisting he would ultimately be cleared in the grand jury probe, Richardson said the matter “would have forced an untenable...

The rumors are true: Elena Kagan, the celebrated dean of Harvard Law School, is President Barack Obama’s choice for Solicitor General of the United States. Below is a copy of the email Kagan sent to the Harvard Law School community to deliver the news, along with new year’s wishes and love for what she calls a “wondrous law school.” From: Elena Kagan Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 11:15 AM To: HLS Alumni Subject: Announcement Dear colleagues and friends: I am writing to all of you - the community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Harvard Law School - to...

As Mata wrote about here, Bill Richardson was jettisoned from the Obama camp because of another “pay to play” scheme. But there is another one coming down the pike and this one involves the Clintons. I know…big shocker! Apparently in October of 2004 Hillary pushed through some bond legislation that allowed a developer named Robert Congel to use tax-exempt bonds to help construct an expansion of the Carousel Center in Syracuse called the Destiny USA entertainment and shopping complex.So what you say? Well, the next month a hundred grand shows up as a donation to the Clinton Foundation.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama, commencing face to face consultations with congressional leaders Monday, is embracing an unexpectedly large tax cut of up to $300 billion. Obama said the country faces an "extraordinary economic challenge." Besides $500 tax cuts for most workers and $1,000 for couples, the Obama proposal includes more than $100 billion for businesses, an Obama transition official said. The total value of the tax cuts would be significantly higher than had been signaled earlier.

Here is video of President-elect Barack Obama meeting today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the "Speaker's Office" at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Obama said he is looking forward to working with Pelosi to improve the lives of the American people and tackle the nation's economic problems because "the people's business can't wait." Obama used the word "extraordinary" to describe Nancy Pelosi at least three times during his brief comments. . . . (see video)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama filled top Justice Department posts on Monday with four former Clinton administration lawyers, including naming the Harvard Law School dean to argue the government's position in U.S. Supreme Court cases. Obama selected Elena Kagan, who served in the Clinton White House in the 1990s, to argue before the nation's highest court. She would be the first female solicitor general, a Justice Department official said. Kagan, who became the Harvard dean in 2003, worked with Obama when both were on the University of Chicago Law School faculty in the 1990s. The 48-year-old Kagan has been...