Free Republic

Some cast aside traditional loyalties... Adam Hunter, an ambitious law student with bright eyes, an easy smile, and plenty of charisma, seems practically destined for politics... a first-year law student at Howard University, a historically black campus with a long record of liberal activism. He has political ambitions of his own -- but not with the Democrats. Instead, Hunter, who as an undergraduate headed Howard's chapter of College Republicans, sees himself as part of a younger generation of African-Americans. He is ready to cast aside traditional loyalties to the Democratic Party and forge his own political identity. ''There's a lot...

There were some eye-opening remarks from Bryant Gumbel on the most recent episode of HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. According to a transcript posted by a television columnist named Seth Frelich, Gumbel said the following in his closing monologue last week (emphasis mine): "Finally, tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don’t care about them and won’t watch them ... Because they’re so trying ... Like, try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when...

Remembering My Friend Richard Pryor Armstrong Williams Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005 It was January 1983 when I came face to face with Richard Pryor at Washington's Dulles airport. He was in town to give the first straight speech of his life, to memorialize the death and contributions of the great civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was an intense moment; just a few months earlier the Jester had come close to death after free-basing cocaine in the basement of his California home. When he arrived in Washington, one could readily see where his face had been burnt...

Chief Justice Rehnquist, 80, has died. With the recent retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the impending retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, the composition of the nation’s highest court is about to undergo a profound change. The result could effect on issues as pervasive as affirmative action, the level of separation between church and state, gun control, and abortion rights. President Bush has consistently said that he favors Justices who tend toward protecting state rights and restricting national power. Rightly so. Unelected and unaccountable judges ought not be given the power to create law. At the same time,...

Pseudo Leadership and Black GroupthinkArmstrong Williams October 5, 2004Black groupthink and the pseudo leaders that tout it are destroying the black community. The black pseudo leader is the community activist who is dedicated solely to getting us to pay attention. Nattily dressed in a Brooks Brothers suit, he stands tall at phony press conferences, studding his speech with racially charged words that solicit knee-jerk reactions from the crowd. The black pseudo leader is a parasite. He nourishes himself on the suffering of others. He exists by satisfying the mob's voracious appetite for excuses and easy solutions. If there is no...

If the images are made public, "riots, violence and attacks by insurgents will result", General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement in support of the Pentagon's case. Myers claims that the release "would aid the recruitment effort and other activities of insurgent elements." He also said it will "endanger the lives and physical safety of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in the United States Armed Forces presently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan." The documents, which show both the high level and the determination of the Pentagon officials who are engaged in...

In previous columns I have been adamant that we must remain in Iraq. There was, foremost, the need to respond to global terrorism. For much of Clinton’s term, for example, terrorists were allowed to attack American interests without fear of serious repercussion. They bombed the World Trade Center, destroyed US embassies in Africa, and attacked the USS Cole, killing hundreds of Americans. Clinton’s rousing response: hurl a few missiles at an empty training site in Afghanistan. A lack of popular support for war—due to a lack of popular understanding—was a straightjacket that he never cared to escape. Terrorists knew this....

Full Blown Humanitarian Crisis in NigerArmstrong Williams August 8, 2005Niger is facing a holocaust. Famine has ravaged the nation. Inflation is vertical and shows no signs of slowing down. Nearly a million children are facing starvation, after severe drought and locust swarms wiped out much of Niger's vegetation and livestock last year. Already the second poorest nation in the world, where one in four children under the age of 5 dies each year of hunger, the death toll now threatens to exceed any war or famine in the modern era, if only because no end appears in sight. Each day...

Armstrong Williams was castigated in the Press for taking advertising money to advocate a program he was already advocating. The crime? He didn't "disclose" his financial "relationship" with the Education Department. So why is it that the Press can discuss the shield law in a manner that can only be described as ADVOCATING it, without disclosing "Oh by the way, we reporters and anchorpeople who are reporting this? We're the major beneficiaries of this law. This law is seeking to give us an exemption that other Americans don't have. This law won't for example protect bloggers...just us." Personally, I think...

July 4th is more than a time to celebrate America’s birthday by grilling hot dogs and buying on credit. It is an opportunity to reflect upon the deeds of our founding fathers and to consider the means by which we might continue to guard those essential freedoms that we associate with happiness. Over two centuries ago, these men sacrificed their lives, their families, their homes to create conditions by which every American has a chance to better himself, to determine his own fate, to pursue happiness on his own terms, and most importantly, or simply to be left alone. In...

Throughout Europe, people are standing idly by as Muslim women are being murdered for having the audacity to date, or to not wear their head scarves outside, or to yearn for a life outside of the home. The problem is most pronounced in Germany. Last month six German women were murdered by their Muslim families for flirting with Western culture. Most recently, Hatin Surucu, a twenty-three-year-old Turkish woman who had been forced into marrying her cousin at age 16, was gunned down at a German bus stop. The attack had been planned. The motive-- Surucu had divorced her husband, discarded...

Scandal-stung Bee columnist talks to SN&R Diana Griego Erwin says she never made anyone up, criticizes the American journalism ‘witch hunt’ By Jeffrey M. Barker Diana Griego Erwin says she didn’t put this T-shirt on specifically because a reporter would be coming over to interview her. But as I am invited into her McKinley Park-area home, her white top is the first thing I notice. Its pink lettering reads: “Speak freely, while you still can.” The irony of the phrase will become increasingly apparent over the course of the morning. I’ve come here armed with a Manila folder packed with...

Newspaper Columnist Resigns After Inquiry The Sacramento Bee says Diana Griego Erwin could not confirm the identities of her sources. The writer says she did nothing wrong. By James Rainey Times Staff Writer May 13, 2005 The Sacramento Bee announced Thursday the resignation of an award-winning columnist, the latest in a series of cases across the nation in which journalists had been forced from their jobs because of questions about the veracity of their reporting. In an explanation to readers, Bee Executive Editor Rick Rodriguez wrote that Diana Griego Erwin could not adequately answer questions that first arose last month...

Rick Rodriguez: Griego Erwin resigns amid internal inquiry into her columns By Rick Rodriguez -- Bee Executive Editor Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, May 12, 2005 Diana Griego Erwin, whose column has appeared in this space three days a week, resigned Wednesday amid an internal inquiry into whether some people mentioned in several recent columns actually existed. During our inquiry we found we could not authenticate the existence of several people even though they were identified by name, age and sometimes by the neighborhoods in which they were reported to have lived. We used extensive online database searches as well...

In the past, U.N. agencies have also sponsored "traveling seminars" for journalists so they write positive stories about U.N. projects. When conservative commentator Armstrong Williams was exposed for taking money from the Bush administration, his credibility was cast into doubt and news organizations expressed regrets for having had him on the air to comment on public policy issues. Williams was tainted by a conflict of interest that should have been revealed to the viewing audience. He was said to be a channel for Bush administration propaganda.

Federal Probe: Pundit Hire Not Unethical Education Department Probe: Hiring of Pundit Not Illegal or Unethical, but Showed Poor Judgment By BEN FELLER The Associated Press Apr. 16, 2005 - The Bush administration's hiring of a pundit to tout its education agenda was not illegal or unethical, but it was a poor decision and continued even after concerns were raised to the White House, an internal investigation found. The report by the Education Department's inspector general cited a pattern of blunders that led to the $240,000 contract with conservative commentator Armstrong Williams. Senior officials showed poor management, information didn't...

Congressional investigators will look into whether the Bush administration violated any laws when it paid syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher to help promote a marriage initiative, Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy and Frank Lautenberg said. The Government Accountability Office told the two senators, who had requested the inquiry, that it would investigate in a letter sent to their offices late Thursday. The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, is already looking into the Education Department's relationship with several public relations firms, which includes the agency's $240,000 contract with syndicated columnist and TV personality Armstrong Williams. The Education Department had hired Williams to...

The advent of CNN and the 24-hour news cycle has created tremendous pressure on the print media to fill their pages with something—anything—to keep the readers coming back. Amid this brutal competition, high mindedness is often an afterthought. The question became how to grasp the attention of this fractured audience. If there aren’t any good stories to report, make one up--create the news, print a few salacious details, anything to fill your pages and shock readers into paying attention. I believe this is what Historian Daniel J. Boorstin dolefully referred to as a pseudo event—the act of creating news just...

Post Mortem The Washington Post catches the Star with its pants down -- and it ain't pretty. AS TOLD TO TONY ORTEGA While the Strip was on a brief vacation, sunning its meaty goodness half a world away, loyal readers kept us abreast of the hometown news by e-mail. That's how we first learned about one of the most embarrassing episodes for this town's major daily newspaper. If you missed it, we don't blame you. The Kansas City Star didn't draw much attention to its gaffe. Only an eagle-eyed reader might have noticed that there was anything unusual about political...

Armstrong Williams, the conservative commentator embroiled in controversy after being paid to promote Bush administration policies, has signed a contract to be a co-host of a daily radio talk show in New York. The three-hour show, "Drive Time Dialogue," will begin on March 15 on WWRL, 1600 AM. Broadcasting from a studio installed in his Capitol Hill offices, Mr. Williams will present the conservative point of view. He will be countered by Sam Greenfield, as the liberal voice, from New York. Adriane Gaines, the general manager of WWRL, said Mr. Williams was hired as part of an effort to "bring...