Free Republic

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Ralph Nader should be allowed on the Michigan ballot as an independent candidate for president, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Friday. Nader earlier had lost a bid to get on the Michigan ballot as the Reform Party's presidential candidate.U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman ruled Wednesday that Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land could not be expected to decide which of two rival Reform Party factions in Michigan was the proper representative. One has nominated Nader, but Land has said she wouldn't recognize the nomination until the two factions decide which one was the legitimate...

CORUNNA, MI – Sam Burwell, third generation UAW member and autoworker, Local 362, today issued the following statement: "President Bush has presented a clear agenda for a more hopeful America and a more prosperous economy, but John Kerry has responded with nothing but cynicism and false attacks. John Kerry's plans for higher taxes, increased regulation and more government spending would devastate Michigan's economy. “Kerry's proposal for higher CAFE standards would kill 450,000 jobs and has been criticized by the UAW for its harmful impact on the American auto industry. Michiganders aren't going to trust a candidate who cares more about...

Foes fear ballot issue will take away benefits GRAND RAPIDS - At least one poll shows solid support among Michigan residents for a constitutional ban on gay marriage, but a clergyman says that doesn't guarantee voters will endorse the idea. The state Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage in Michigan as a union between one man and one woman should appear on the Nov. 2 ballot. Opponents including the Rev. Doug Van Doren, pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church in Grand Rapids, fear the amendment will be used to take away benefits for same-sex partners....

COLCHESTER, Conn. -- A church in Colchester was leveled by an explosion Friday morning. St. Mary's Ukrainian Church on Route 16, also known as Linwood Ave., was flattened by the explosion just before 7 a.m., according to state police. State police spokesman, Sgt. J. Paul Vance, said the area had been cordoned off and the highway was shut down in both directions. Vance said there was no initial report of injuries and there was no immediate indication of what caused the explosion. The state fire marshal was called to the scene as well utility company crews.

Here's part of how this story got here . . . from a little Marc Ambinder back-lurking on the blogs . . . At 8:00 pm ET Wednesday night, CBS News does the story . . . at 8:59 ET — before the broadcast is finished!!! — the documents come into question via a poster named Buckhead on the Free Republic Web site: LINK Buckhead seems well-read on his forensic document examination skills. "Howlin, every single one of these memos to file is in a proportionally spaced font, probably Palatino or Times New Roman. In 1972 people used typewriters for...

THE CBS PAPERS [Jed Babbin] I spoke to Col. Bill Campenni (USAF ret) earlier this morning. As I've written before, Campenni was a member of the President's squadron and flew with him often. Campenni told me that there are a whole slew of reasons -- beyond those being debated now -- to question the authenticity of the CBS papers: 1. The 4 May 1972 order and the 1 August 1972 memo both have a letterhead for the wrong organization. Correspondence and orders in those days would be issued in the name of the parent organization -- the 147th Fighter Interceptor...

Bush Guard Memos Under MicroscopeNEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2004 Questions were raised Thursday about the authenticity of newly unearthed memos purporting to have been written by one of President Bush's National Guard commanders in 1972 and 1973. The memos, which were publicized on CBS News' 60 Minutes, say Mr. Bush ignored a direct order from a superior officer and lost his status as a Guard pilot because he failed to meet military performance standards and undergo a required physical exam. The network defended the memos, saying its experts who examined the memos concluded they were authentic documents produced by...

"Politics in a Time of War" in the latest USNews shows liberal Sen. John Kerry on a war footing with President Bush, as a possible prelude to a presidential run by eternal hopeful Kerry in 2004. Kerry is a Vietnam War hero, as he reminds us every chance he gets. According to US News: “Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts sat at his Senate office desk next to the bullet-punctured American flag that used to fly from the gunboat he commanded in Vietnam and implied that anybody who tried to question his patriotism was going to run into a buzz...

Kerry to Bush: 'We're coming, you're going' 12:12 AM CST on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 From Wire Reports DES MOINES, Iowa – John Kerry's voice was so hoarse when he woke at 4:45 a.m. Monday that he sent stand-ins to three get-out-the-vote rallies. But by late afternoon he hopped back on his campaign bus, the Real Deal Express, saying he wanted to see undecided Iowa caucusgoers one last time to "fight for every vote." Those four words became the Massachusetts senator's political vow in the final weeks before the nation's first presidential caucuses – which Mr. Kerry won easily over...

Some Duplicates. 1985-1986 S885 - Prohibits the obligation of funds during FY 1985 and 1986 for the testing of anti-satellite weapons against objects in space unless the President certifies to the Congress certain findings on actions taken by the Soviet Union. (Way to react instead of Act Johnny) S.1363 - A bill to prohibit the use of the mails to send dangerous martial arts weapons (We need Karate Control!!!) S.1553 - Prohibits the sale of beverage containers without a minimum refund vale. Prohibits the sale of metal beverage containers with detachable openings. (Like Michigan's refund system, but federalized) S1920 -...

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's surprising victory in Iowa Monday has led his Jewish supporters to predict that more members of the Jewish community will now back his campaign. Kerry, 60, defied expectations – and recent polls – with the victory. North Carolina Sen. John Edwards placed a strong, surprising second. And the frontrunner for months, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, came in third. "People want to nominate a Democratic candidate for president who can beat George Bush and can lead this country in a different direction, who basically meets those two tests," Alan Solomont, co-chairman of Kerry's campaign in Massachusetts,...

WHO IS JOHN KERRY? (RNC RESEARCH)Posted on 01/22/2003 7:41 PM PST by PhiKapMom Who Is John Kerry? A Massachusetts Liberal Out Of Touch With America. “Kerry is .     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1062408/posts Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry (apparently new web site)Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry ^ | on or before January 21, 2004 | U.S. Veteran Dispatch     http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1062220/posts What You Don’t Know About John KerryNewsmax. ^ | Jan. 20, 2004 | Chuck Noe It's about time somebody put together the real biography of John Kerry. All one hears nowadays is his "Vietnam hero" lines. Before this campaign is over,...

Heard of Watergate? Get ready for Lowellgate. On Sept. 18, 1972, the evening before the primary election during his second attempt for Congress, Kerry's brother Cameron and one Thomas Vallely, both part of his current campaign team, were arrested by Lowell police at 1:40 a.m. and charged with breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny. The two were apprehended in the basement of a building whose door had been forced open, police said. It housed the headquarters of candidate DiFruscia. The Watergate scandal was making headlines at this time, and it was called the Lowell Watergate. "They wanted...

Rick Perry was on Fox to talk about the forged memos possibility, and Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson was scheduled to be the "other side" of the argument. Richardson backed out by making himself "unavailable at the last minute". Thoughts? Comments? Laughter?

<p>More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian.</p> <p>The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer." According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign.</p>

George W. Bush sits in an F102 fighter jet while serving in the Texas Air National Guard in this undated photo. President Bush was in the National Guard from 1968-1973.Austin American Statesman/AP Photo False Documentation? Questions Arise About Authenticity of Newly Found Memos on Bush's Guard Service ABCNEWS.com Sept. 9, 2004— Questions are being raised about the authenticity of newly discovered documents relating to George W. Bush's service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. Marjorie Connell — widow of the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, the reported author of memos suggesting that Bush did not meet the...

<p>September 10, 2004 -- THE populist revolu tion against the so- called mainstream media continues. Yesterday, the citizen journalists who produce blogs on the Internet — and their engaged readers — engaged in the wholesale exposure of what appears to be a presidential-year dirty trick against George W. Bush. What the bloggers and their audiences did was call into profound question the authenticity of four documents proudly trumpeted by CBS News in a much-heralded investigative report on Wednesday night's edition of "60 Minutes" about the president's National Guard service in the early 1970s.</p>

New Questions On Bush Guard Duty CBS) The military records of the two men running for president have become part of the political arsenal in this campaign – a tool for building up, or blowing up, each candidate’s credibility as America's next commander-in-chief. While Sen. Kerry has been targeted for what he did in Vietnam, President Bush has been criticized for avoiding Vietnam by landing a spot in the Texas Air National Guard - and then failing to meet some of his obligations. Did then-Lt. Bush fulfill all of his military obligations? And just how did he land that spot...

NEW POLL: I'm told that the new ABC News/Washington Post poll, which will be released later today, has lots of bad news for John Kerry, especially on issues of leadership and national security. The three-way horserace among likely voters is Bush 52%, Kerry 43%, Nader 2%.

Brit Hume announced story coming up now on National Guard docmunents