Free Republic

In recent days the readers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been subjected to a great deal of disinformation about the Post-Gazette. It is time for the rest of the story. Let’s start with this: Editors at this newspaper did not single out a black reporter and a black photographer and ban them from covering Pittsburgh protests after the killing of George Floyd. And we certainly did not single out two people and keep them from covering local protests because they were black. That is an outrageous lie - a defamation, in fact. We assumed the lie was so outrageous that...

<p>An armed woman crashed her car into a barrier near the White House on Friday, briefly sending it into lockdown, authorities said.</p> <p>Jessica R. Ford, 35, of La Vergne, Tenn., — about 20 miles southeast of Nashville — barreled through a barrier at 17th and E Streets NW near the Old Executive Office Building while holding a pistol, police said.</p>

A man in Henderson, Kentucky has been arrested, accused of damaging with a vehicle more than 150 crosses that were part of a Memorial Day display commemorating those serving in the military. Police said about 160 crosses were knocked down, and 20 were destroyed on Saturday, the Gleaner reported. They were part of a park display of 5,000 crosses that included the names of Henderson residents who have served in the military. Anthony Burrus, 27, was arrested after his vehicle was found parked with pieces of a cross in its tires. Burrus denied responsibility for the damage but said he...

An already bizarre trial involving allegations an African despot hired a pair of obscure South Side businessmen to overturn U.S. sanctions against his regime — with the help of Illinois politicians — took an even stranger detour Friday. In the process, former U.S. Sen. Roland Burris got sideswiped, if not outright run over, with completely unrelated — and to this point unsubstantiated — accusations he once tried to shake down a contractor while in office. Burris might be asking what he did to find himself in the middle of this mess, or just maybe he knows. I’ve always been as...

When Mark Kirk is sworn in this afternoon, the U.S. Senate will once again have no African-Americans. Since Reconstruction, there have only been four black senators. Three of them -- Carol Moseley Braun, Barack Obama and Roland Burris -- have held the seat that Kirk is about to occupy. For reasons that go back more than a century, all the way to the First Great Migration from the South, Illinois has led the nation in black political empowerment. We’ve elected more black statewide officials than anyone else. We produced the first black president. And it was a matter of pride...

WASHINGTON--As his controversial tenure nears its end, Sen. Roland Burris gave a farewell address Thursday lamenting there will be no blacks at all in the next Senate. "This is simply unacceptable," he said. "We can and we will and we must - do better." Today, highlighting a long list of his accomplishments in the Senate, including among them the passage of health care reform, Burris joked that he may return to the Senate to vote to let gays and lesbians serve openly in the military. "I'm from Chicago," he quipped. "I'll vote twice."

For One Senate Seat in Illinois, Two Elections on the Same DayBy MONICA DAVEY Published: July 31, 2010 CHICAGO — In all the fuss over the Senate seat that President Obama left behind here, and whether it was offered up in a nefarious trade, some people demanded a clean start. Let the voters of Illinois elect someone to fill the vacancy. The simple idea has been granted. But as only Illinois, and its topsy-turvy politics, might execute such things, the new election has been set for Nov. 2 — almost two years after Mr. Obama left the seat and on...

Whoever qualifies to run for the U.S. Senate in Illinois also qualifies to run for the special election. That's the final decision U.S. District Judge John Grady made today. He had toyed with letting party leaders pick the candidates but he opted for the less confusing route. That means Rep. Mark Kirk with be the Republican candidate. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias will be Democrat. LeAlan Jones will be the Green Party candidate. (Snip) Grady said the state Board of Elections must certify a winner in the race by Nov. 24, though they could do it even earlier, giving the winner...

Politics: The Democratic Senate candidate from South Carolina is not a GOP dirty trick but an appropriate representative of a party detached from reality. An incoherent and off-the-wall empty suit, he is a perfect fit. Late Thursday night, the South Carolina Democratic Party's Executive Committee rejected a protest of the June 8 primary for U.S. Senate, in which Alvin Greene, who has a felony arrest for showing porn to college girls, defeated Vic Rawl, a former state representative and judge. Greene has been declared the party's legitimate nominee, much to the chagrin of MSNBC's Chris Matthews, whose leg no longer...

Harry Reid's now-famous statement [from 2007] that America was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate the likes of Barack Obama -- a "light-skinned" African American "with no Negro dialect", has touched off a firestorm of controversy as to whether Reid may or may not be harboring racial bias. In January of 2009, a similar, but lesser-known controversy arose with regards to Harry Reid's candidate[s] of choice to fill Barack Obama's vacant senate seat: Days before Gov. Rod Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid...

Election 2010: The back-to-back Senate retirements of Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd may be just the beginning. The people have seen the future of health care reform and found it doesn't work. Apres moi, le deluge. We don't know what the Mayan calendar says about 2010, but it's starting to look like the end of the world for Democratic electoral prospects. Americans who watched in shock as government tried to step between them and their doctors, may have the last laugh. The tea party isn't over until the angry mob votes. As rage grew over the attempt to nationalize one-sixth...

Washington, DCJudicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.”  The list, in alphabetical order, includes: 1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT):  This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him.  In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat.  In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against...

Without sixty votes in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) would not be able to invoke cloture, or cut off debate. Anything short of sixty would allow a filibuster and doom Obama’s health care plan. The present 60-vote majority is artificial, the result of undemocratic means. Consider how three of these votes came to be: Roland Burris- Appointed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich just prior to his removal, Democratic leaders including Harry Reid pledged that he would never be seated. Barack Obama, along with other Democratic officials in Illinois, called for a special election to fill the seat. When...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- On a day when Democrats emerged triumphantly from a meeting with President Barack Obama appearing to have won the vote of Joe Lieberman for their pro-abortion health care bill, they may not be ready to celebrate yet. The Lieberman vote appeared to allow Democrats and Obama to secure 59 votes. The only holdout left appeared to be pro-life Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska who says he won't vote for the bill because it funds abortions. Political observers need to hang on to their hats because pro-abortion Sen. Rolland Burris of Illinois, ironically the lawmakers appointed to...

The backlash has begun. Senator Roland W. Burris, Democrat of Illinois, has vowed that he will not vote for a health care bill that does not include a government-run insurance plan, or public option. And on Monday, after Democrats indicated that they were prepared to meet the demands of Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and strip the last vestige of a public option from their bill, Mr. Burris went to the Senate floor to warn that he had not committed to vote for the legislation. Mr. Burris, however, did calibrate his language: “I am committed to voting for...

Dear [Forgiven Sinner]: Thank you for contacting me about healthcare reform. I appreciate the benefit of your views. As your United States Senator, one of my top priorities is to ensure that my constituents have access to affordable, quality healthcare. Today, nearly 3.5 million Illinois residents, 30.8% of the under 65 population, lack health insurance. Those who remain covered face rapidly rising premiums. A Kaiser Family Foundation report found that average insurance premiums have more than doubled in the past nine years, and the New America Foundation projects that, by 2016, coverage costs for an average Illinois family could top...

CHICAGO (AP) - The White House and Illinois Democrats said Tuesday that their bid to hold on to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat won't be easy and their difficulties aren't just because of the scandal that engulfed ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Next year is the first major election for Democrats since Blagojevich was arrested last year on federal corruption charges and removed from office. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to sell or trade Obama's Senate seat. "No one ever said it was going to be easy. There's a dark cloud over everyone's head," said...

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has completed its investigation of Sen. Roland Burris, and his office is trumpeting its finding that he committed no "actionable violations of the law." What his press release didn't mention is that the committee also found he had provided "incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information" about his appointment to the Senate. Which is senatorese for, "Pants on fire!"

About a year ago, thousands jammed Grant Park in Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama's election to the White House, a communal civic defining moment. But those giddy days are long gone as Democrats in Illinois face the potential of losing the Senate seat President Obama once held next November. * * * Democratic Party leaders in Washington -- and the Obama White House -- failed to recruit a candidate strong enough to scare Rep. Mark Kirk -- the Republicans' best bet -- from the race. The only luck they had was the decision by Sen. Roland Burris -- appointed by...

Your Concerns From: Senator Roland Burris Dear [Forgiven Sinner]: Thank you for contacting me regarding the Senator Leahy Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390) regarding hate crime legislation. Current law defines hate crime as any crime against either person or property in which the offender intentionally selects the victim because of the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, or disability. Currently, hate crimes are not distinct offenses under federal law; rather, they are crimes that are committed by individuals who are motivated by one or more biases that are considered to be...